Breaking Waves

Three works by three female composers from three different countries, each piece with its very own mode of expression, 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 wider audience. The program opens with "Sea Sketches" by the Welsh composer Grace Williams. Inspired by the beaches of Glamorganshire and the seascape there, this five-movement work seems to be in constant motion and development. You can practically taste the sea spray and feel the power of the waves. The second work is Grażyna Bacewicz's "String Quartet No. 4," presented here in an arrangement for string orchestra. Bacewicz was an important figure in 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 the 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 testament to the heyday of Vienna, when the music of Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, and their teacher Alexander von Zemlinsky dominated the musical world.