Breaking Waves (SACD)

Three works by three female composers from three different countries, each piece with its own unique style, are performed here by the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra under the direction of its dynamic conductor and artistic director Malin Broman: Three works that undoubtedly deserve a larger audience. Sea Sketches" by Welsh composer Grace Williams is the opening piece. Inspired by the beaches of Glamorganshire and the seascape there, this five-part work seems to be in constant motion and development. You can literally taste the spray and feel the power of the waves. The second work is Grazyna Bacewicz's "Fourth String Quartet", here in an arrangement for string orchestra. Bacewicz was an important figure on the Polish music scene in the mid-20th century, and her quartet is very accessible - which has undoubtedly contributed to it being her best-known work - with influences from folk music and passages that, according to Malin Broman, can only be described as heavenly. The "String Quartet" by Vienna-born Johanna Müller-Hermann, also in an arrangement for string orchestra, concludes the program. This exciting, beautiful and powerful work with its post-romantic language is a testimony to Vienna's heyday, when the music of Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss and their teacher Alexander von Zemlinsky dominated the musical world.