Prima Facie Records

The Beachcomber (PFCD135) £12.50/£17.50

Music by Lynne Plowman
Performed by Michael Bennett, tenor, Sandrine Chatron, harp, Oliver Cox, percussion, Owen Gunnell, percussion, James Harrison, percussion, Joanna Lam, piano, Jinny Shaw, oboe d’amore, Lucy Wakeford, harp

1. Logs and Shells - Percussion Duo (from A Field Guide to Pebbles) 1.26
2. Fred to Samantha - Tenor and Harp (from Songs of the Sea Dreamer) 3.20
3. Pedalling Man - Percussion Duo (from A Field Guide to Pebbles) 2.30
4. Mermaid - Tenor and Harp (from Songs of the Sea Dreamer) 2.03
5. Panjangle - Percussion Duo (from A Field Guide to Pebbles) 2.54
6. The Mermaids’ Lagoon - Solo Harp 7.22
7. Lullaby for Ianto - Solo Piano 4.08
8. Harrison’s Stone - Percussion Duo (from A Field Guide to Pebbles) 2.15
9. Another set of footprints in the snow (after Debussy) - Solo Piano 3.45
10. Long, Lone - Tenor and Harp (from Songs of the Sea Dreamer) 2.34
11. Bell Patterns - Percussion Duo (from A Field Guide to Pebbles) 2.10
12. The Owl-Woman - Tenor and Harp (from Songs of the Sea Dreamer) 3.10
13. floating turning spinning - Oboe d’amore and Harp 6.44
14. Rain - Percussion Duo 3.03

Track 12, 'The Owl-Woman', is available as a FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD

A Wales Arts Review Welsh Albums Best of 2020

"...three settings of some witty Russell Hoban poems for tenor and harp... beautifully sung by Michael Bennett, whose perfect articulation is a pleasure in itself... Floating, Turning Spinning for oboe d’amore and harp is contained, concentrated and richly romantic." Kevin Mandry, British Music Society

"this is a highly original and, through sensitive interpretations, immediately appealing and memorable production... don’t miss Beachcomber, Lynne Plowman and her wonderful performers." Remy Franck, pizzicato

"... an intimate, resonant and very worthwhile release." Noel Gardner, Buzz

"This disc from the enterprising Prima Facie label can be safely recommended." Paul Conway, Musical Opinion Quarterly *****

"There are two works which form the framework for this album, both composed in 2017 - 'A Field Guide to Pebbles' (five short pieces for percussion duo) and 'Songs of the Sea Dreamer', a song-cycle for tenor and harp - settings of four poems by Russell Hoban. As with much of Hoban’s work, the subconscious – dreams, imagination and obsession – perforate his ‘ordinary’ world. I have drawn these four poems together, to tell a story of love, loneliness and the sea. The individual movements are separated and intertwined with short instrumental solos and duos composed during the last twenty years. Curating this album has brought together themes and sound-worlds in my music that perhaps I hadn’t connected before.

Huge thanks go to all the wonderful musician friends who have commissioned these pieces and contributed to this recording with special thanks to producer Steve Plews."
Lynne Plowman

This recording has been generously supported by the RVW Trust and Prima Facie Records.
Cover image by Andrew Rafferty.
Produced by Lynne Plowman and Steve Plews.
Mastered by Phil Hardman.

For more details of this recording, including the musicians' biographies, please see the CD booklet notes.

Lynne Plowman is a composer and flautist based in Wales. Her compositions range from delicate instrumental solos to dramatic large-scale vocal, theatrical and orchestral works. Commissioners and collaborators include Welsh National Opera, Glyndebourne, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the London Mozart Players, Presteigne Festival, Piano Circus, UPROAR, the Berkeley Ensemble, O Duo, Okeanos, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the BBC Singers.

Awards include a British Composer Award (2003) for her first opera, Gwyneth and the Green Knight, for family audiences, described in the Times as “One of the most brilliantly accomplished new operas I have heard in many a year”. A further three operas were created in the following years, including commissions from Welsh National Opera and Glyndebourne. A ‘Creative Wales Award’ in 2012 supported Lynne’s orchestral writing - Catching Shadows was premiered by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. “The result is a thrilling muscularity and sureness of design.” (Wales Arts Review, 2016)

Lynne Plowman is a composition tutor and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and resident composer for the Dyfed Young Composers scheme, which encourages and supports music composition in schools across West Wales. Her work is published by Chester Music and Composers Edition.