Work of the Week – Huw Watkins: Dawning

A powerful start to the day: Dawning by Huw Watkins receives its UK premiere with the Ulster Orchestra on August 16 2023 in Belfast  during the BBC Summer Invitation Concerts. Angus Webster will be the conductor.

The piece begins with a light melody in the flutes and clarinets, underpinned by gentle sounds in the strings. This delicate beginning, however, soon develops into powerful music in the entire orchestra. After an initial melodic climax, a quieter passage follows with a slow string chorale and delicate wind fanfares. This calm is short-lived, however, and the work soon returns to its energy and maintains it until the end.

Vitality to the end: Dawning by Huw Watkins

The BBC Summer Invitation Concerts are a long-standing institution in Northern Ireland. The concert series was established in 1985 and takes place annually in the Ulster Hall in Belfast. Rarely performed pieces and works by female composers are performed as well as symphonic classics.

“It [the piece Dawning] begins quietly with playful flutes and clarinets over gentle strings, but quickly develops with energy and momentum into lush music for the full orchestra.” - Huw Watkins

Dawning was commissioned by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne as a coupling piece for Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 4.

Links:

Huw Watkins: Composer Profile

Dawning: Work Details and Online Score

Website Ulster Orchestra

Website BBC Radio 3 Summer Invitation Concerts

Photo: B. Ealovega