JPrideauxMusic

Hiraeth (2010)

 

Premiered  by Sinfonia Newydd Chamber Orchestra

(Tim Harrison - Conductor) in the Dora Stoutzker Hall, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff.

 

‘Hiraeth - the link with the long-forgotten past, 

the language of the soul, the call from the inner self. 

Half forgotten – fraction remembered.

It speaks from the rocks, from the earth, from the trees and in the waves.

It’s always there.’

 

- Val Bethell (excerpt from Hiraeth)

 

 

The Welsh word hiraeth has no literal translation into English, but is generally thought to mean longing, a feeling of nostalgia or yearning for something past. The word hiraeth was of great importance to me whilst I was composing this piece, as I looked forward to being surrounded by the Welsh countryside once again.