Wonderful reviews for Sadie Harrison’s ‘Owl of the Hazels’ on the CD ‘Bass Clarinet and Friends a miscellany’
From MusicWeb International, John France describes the background to this piece by accounting how this ‘piece features two Lithuanian folk-songs which tell the story of a bride’s journey ‘from first love, to the walk home from church and finally a week later.’ David DeBoor Carfield from Fanfare similarly accounts this mournful tale as ‘a bride’s journey from the point of her first love to her walking home from the church after her wedding and ending with her lamenting the loss of her mother a week later.’
France then states that ‘there is also a jazz feel to parts of this work: certainly, some of these tunes seem to swing along. The second half, which clearly represents a degree of disillusion on the bride’s behalf is a morose but satisfying commentary on her thoughts.’ Carfield, commenting on the playing of Ian Mitchell, notes that ‘Mitchell’s tone isn’t particularly pleasant in this range, nor I suspect would be anyone else’s—and doubtless that is intentional on the part of the composer.’ On the music, he recounts that it ‘often seems rather more anguished than these song texts would suggest, but it also contains its quieter episodes, and is enjoyable strictly on a musical level. The character of the piece is often quite mysterious, with hints of Eastern influence as the bass clarinet soars to the top of its register.’
We at UYMP are sure that further brilliant reviews will soon be coming in for this CD and Harrison’s work. To purchase and listen to this CD for yourself, please follow the link here.
(7 Feb 2019)
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