Michael Csányi-Wills: The Last Letter - Symphony No. 1 - Seagull Nebula Cardiff University Symphony Orchestra & Mark Eager

• Michael Csányi-Wills (b. 1975): The Last Letter [Arr. for Cello and Orchestra]:
• 1 Csányi-Wills: The Last Letter [Arr. for Cello and Orchestra] 07:45
• Symphony No. 1:
• 2 Csányi-Wills: Symphony No. 1: I. Andantino 08:08
• 3 Csányi-Wills: Symphony No. 1: II. Scherzo 05:47
• 4 Csányi-Wills: Symphony No. 1: III. Sarabande 12:39
• 5 Csányi-Wills: Symphony No. 1: IV. Con moto 08:53
• Seagull Nebula:
• 6 Csányi-Wills: Seagull Nebula 12:01
• Total Runtime 55:13

Info for Michael Csányi-Wills: The Last Letter - Symphony No. 1 - Seagull Nebula

Prima Facie is pleased to release this collection of orchestral works by Michael Csanyi-Wills. Symphony No. I was released in 2020 and was met with great critical acclaim. Keen to continue the working relationships between Prima Facie and Cardiff University, Mark Eager successfully organised the recording of two more works by Michael, The Last Letter and Seagull Nebula and a re-release of the 1st Symphony.

Following the death of my Grandmother, Gabriella Csanyi, I found a letter among her possessions. Written on a folded piece of paper were the words: The Last Letter.

As one of the Axis powers, Hungary had a minimal Nazi German presence until 1944, when the pro-fascist Arrow Cross Party began their reign of terror. Jews were deported to concentration camps or shot and thrown into the Danube.

Irene Csanyi was born to a wealthy family in Szeged. She lost her husband to cancer in 1936. Her daughter Gabriella went to London before the war. Her son Charles was dispatched to the forced labour camps in 1943. Irene kept herself locked away in the family apartment in Budapest, seeing no one but the elderly concierge; out on the streets, the Arrow Cross stalked the city's remaining Jews. One day in October, she ventured out, leaving behind everything she owned. And an extraordinary letter.

Award winning composer and pianist Michael Csányi-Wills has written works ranging from chamber, choral and orchestral music to scores for a wide range of of successful films. He has been composer in residence with the Welsh Sinfonia since September 2013. His recent orchestral works have been widely performed throughout the UK, while regular commissions have given him an international audience in Europe, Australia and the USA.

In his collaboration with Prima Facie, conductor Mark Eager is keen to promote both new music by notable contemporary composers and hitherto forgotten music by the great figures of the past. His previous disc of Debussy premières with the same orchestra attracted particular praise from Geoff Brown in The Times: "The novelty that really made me excited this week was Debussy's Chinese ballet score No-ja-li, another unfinished work, originally earmarked for a 1914 London stage revue, more recently restored to life in a brilliantly effective reconstruction by Robert Orledge. Its première performance by the excellent Cardiff University forces is the highlight of City of Light: New Discoveries."

Steffan Morris, cello
Cardiff University Symphony Orchestra
Mark Eager, conductor

No biography found.

This album contains no booklet.