Dutch composer Carlijn Metselaar is an emerging talent in the compositional world, currently based in Cardiff. Having moved to the city to complete a postgraduate degree in composition at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, during which time she took part in Â鶹ԼÅÄ NOW’s Composition: Wales project, she went on to be awarded places on both the LPO Young Composer Programme in 2018-19, and the RSNO Composers’ Hub in 2019-20. Time for your Walk was written in 2019 during her time on the LPO Young Composer Programme and revised in February 2021.
On Time for your Walk Carlijn says:
Time for your Walk is about a recurring feeling of joy and excitement. This recurrence is the cantus firmus of the piece: a sense of delight so irresistible you could almost start singing. This could be a dog realising over and over again that it’s playing in a park, or every time you see the face of a loved one. This interpretation of cantus firmus is expressed with two main ideas. The first is a galumphing, leaping gesture which starts in the brass. The second is a tingling texture. The music constantly flows in and out of these two ideas, impulsively taking up new thoughts as it goes. Raucous tutti sections are contrasted with solos and duets which highlight the virtuosity of all the players. After a gentler, more introspective middle section with avian avalanches in the woodwinds, the piece finds its way back to previous material and charges headlong toward the end.
Programme Note © Amy Campbell
