Escape Velocity

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Wallfisch has the knack of sounding edgy and assured simultaneously. His use of colour and dynamics is striking yet subtle, and all these pieces, despite the obvious skill and deliberation that... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2007 More…

Release Date: 27th Nov 2006
Catalogue No: QTZ2049
Label: Quartz
Length: 77 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Wallfisch: Escape Velocity

Work length8:00

$1.50

$2.10

John Schmolck
St. John's Orchestra
Benjamin Wallfisch

Wallfisch: Clarinet Concertino

Work length15:01

$3.00

$4.20

Michael Collins
St. John's Orchestra
John Lubbock

I. —

Track length3:52

$1.00

$1.40

II. —

Track length6:10

$1.00

$1.40

III. —

Track length4:59

$1.00

$1.40

Wallfisch: Spectra

Work length17:18

$4.00

$5.60

Garfield Jackson
Gould Piano Trio

I. —

Track length2:42

$1.00

$1.40

II. —

Track length5:05

$1.00

$1.40

III. —

Track length6:08

$1.00

$1.40

IV. —

Track length3:23

$1.00

$1.40

Wallfisch: Speed

Work length13:00

$2.00

$2.80

Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Benjamin Wallfisch

Wallfisch: Trio

Work length9:55

$3.00

$4.20

Trio Tagarela

I. —

Track length4:11

$1.00

$1.40

II. —

Track length2:14

$1.00

$1.40

III. —

Track length3:30

$1.00

$1.40

Wallfisch: Requiem

Work length4:20

$1.00

$1.40

Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, Simon Wallfisch, Raphael Wallfisch

Wallfisch: Impulse

Work length4:49

$1.00

$1.40

O Duo, York 2

Wallfisch: Nocturne

Work length4:52

$1.00

$1.40

Jemima Phillips

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About

Described by Humphrey Burton on BBC Radio 3 as "a major new name on the new music horizon", Benjamin Wallfisch's fast-growing list of large-scale orchestral, vocal and chamber works shows him to be a serious composer for our times. Over thirty works have been commissioned to date.

A 2005 commission from Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra was the genesis of the symphonic movement entitled Speed which displays the juxtaposing of extremes in Benjamin Wallfisch's language "great energy contrasted with slow-moving, long-breathed and yearning melody. His first String Quartet was composed for the Belcea in 2001, followed by a second for the Coull. His works outside the concert hall include a major ballet score entitled 21, commissioned by the Rambert Dance Company and premiered at London's Sadler's Wells, and a feature film score for Thomas Vinterberg's and Lars von Trier's Dear Wendy, nominated as "Discovery of the Year" in the 2005 World Soundtrack Awards. From his Opus 1, the luminous and glistening Sudden Light (commissioned by the Manchester Camerata), to his latest works including the stratospheric Escape Velocity, a piece which received its premiere the 2006 BBC Proms, there is a consistent, compelling integrity and a palpable, powerful personality.

He begins a new work by building a strong idea of its overall structure into which he feeds ideas and 'elements which all share the same DNA', and where everything, from the overall rhythmic impetus to the tiniest melodic cell, justifies its existence through its place in a complex network of interconnections. Characteristically, he places emotion at the core of the music, along with a clarity of message that must be communicable, and he taps into a rich and instinctive vein of melody which is both attractive and challenging. Ben's music is, by design, vivid and disciplined, passionate and intense.

He has also built an important parallel career as a conductor and believes that conducting, just like composition, is creative, working to achieve a clearly defined vision that must be communicated with respect and conviction.

Reviews

July 2007

Wallfisch has the knack of sounding edgy and assured simultaneously. His use of colour and dynamics is striking yet subtle, and all these pieces, despite the obvious skill and deliberation that have gone into them, have a seemingly spontaneous fluidity of line.

Escape Velocity

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