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David Wallace: Cliff Edge

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Details

Composer
David Wallace
Artist
Heather Roche, Chenyin Li, Jean Kelly, James Widden, Alsion Holford, Jonathan Parkin, Thomas Lessels
Format
CD
Discs
1
Label
Metier
Released
Oct 02, 2026
Catalog #
MEX77150
UPC
809730715020

About

September 2026, Metier Records presents Cliff Edge from Irish-born composer David Wallace: a striking new album of six works that illuminate his distinctive approach to material-led composition. Scored for forces ranging from solo bass clarinet to mixed chamber ensemble, the album presents a world where musical ideas behave like living organisms - shifting, resisting, and revealing themselves through pressure and transformation. The performers include Heather Roche, Chenyin LI, Jean Kelly (harp), James Widden (violin/viola), Heather Holford, and other leading UK and international soloists and chamber musicians. Wallace's compositional style blends classical elegance with modern innovation, often including elements of traditional Irish music, at times also featuring extended techniques or electronics. His music takes shape organically, instinctively allowing the music to go where it wants emotionally, balancing tradition with a fresh, contemporary perspective to create a unique voice. The pieces on Cliff Edge were written between 2006 and 2025 for different performers and circumstances, yet they share a common thread: each begins with a musical material that finds it's own path throughout the piece. These materials can be as simple as a grain of an instrument, the weight of a harmony, the friction between two lines, or the memory of a place. Some are intimate gifts; others are studies in instability or quiet acts of devotion. What unites them is a belief that music has it's own agency - that if you listen closely, the material will show you how it wants to unfold. At the heart of the album is the title work, Cliff Edge, a turbulent and finely etched piano piece that explores instability as a structural force. Surrounding it are five contrasting but deeply connected works: the fragile, breath-driven L'Oiseau mis en cage for bass clarinet; the ritualised, keening energy of Banshee for harp and voice; and H.B.J.W., a theme and five variations for violin and cello, written as a 50th birthday gift. The album also features Five Vignettes from the River Avon, a set of distilled landscape impressions for clarinet and basset horn, and Canticles, a luminous triptych for harp, flute, clarinet, and string quartet that closes the disc with a sense of quiet devotion. 'These works are not stories,' Wallace writes. 'They are environments. Each one begins with a material that behaves in a particular way, and the piece grows from listening to that behaviour.' David Wallace studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with Richard Baker and in Ireland with Rhona Clarke, and his music has received international recognition, including awards from Boston Metro Opera and the Tracey Chadwell Memorial Prize. Residencies at the Guildhall School, the Cork School of Music, and Clapham Chamber Concerts have shaped his distinctive voice, and his works are performed widely in the UK and abroad. He is Head of Junior Music Courses at the Guildhall School.

Tracklist 18 tracks

  1. 1 L'Oiseau mis en cage 03:38
    Track
    1
    Title
    L'Oiseau mis en cage
    Duration
    03:38
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    Heather Roche
  2. 2 Imeall na h'Aille (Cliff Edge) 06:22
    Track
    2
    Title
    Imeall na h'Aille (Cliff Edge)
    Duration
    06:22
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    Chenyin Li
  3. 3 Banshee 08:41
    Track
    3
    Title
    Banshee
    Duration
    08:41
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    Jean Kelly
  4. 4 Theme: Andante e sempre tranquilo 01:01
    Track
    4
    Title
    Theme: Andante e sempre tranquilo
    Duration
    01:01
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    James Widden, Alison Holford
  5. 5 Variation 1: Con moto 00:43
    Track
    5
    Title
    Variation 1: Con moto
    Duration
    00:43
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    James Widden, Alison Holford
  6. 6 Variation 2: Valse 00:32
    Track
    6
    Title
    Variation 2: Valse
    Duration
    00:32
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    James Widden, Alison Holford
  7. 7 Variation 3: Lento quasi una preghiera 00:44
    Track
    7
    Title
    Variation 3: Lento quasi una preghiera
    Duration
    00:44
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    James Widden, Alison Holford
  8. 8 Variation 4: Presto 00:42
    Track
    8
    Title
    Variation 4: Presto
    Duration
    00:42
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    James Widden, Alison Holford
  9. 9 Variation 5: Andante a piacere 01:22
    Track
    9
    Title
    Variation 5: Andante a piacere
    Duration
    01:22
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    James Widden, Alison Holford
  10. 10 Coda: Allegro con brio 00:57
    Track
    10
    Title
    Coda: Allegro con brio
    Duration
    00:57
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    James Widden, Alison Holford
  11. 11 No. 1. Visiting Swans 03:42
    Track
    11
    Title
    No. 1. Visiting Swans
    Duration
    03:42
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    Jonathan Parkin, Thomas Lessels
  12. 12 No. 2. Fading Light 02:35
    Track
    12
    Title
    No. 2. Fading Light
    Duration
    02:35
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    Jonathan Parkin, Thomas Lessels
  13. 13 No. 3. The Weir 03:30
    Track
    13
    Title
    No. 3. The Weir
    Duration
    03:30
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    Jonathan Parkin, Thomas Lessels
  14. 14 No. 4. Constant Flow 04:16
    Track
    14
    Title
    No. 4. Constant Flow
    Duration
    04:16
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    Jonathan Parkin, Thomas Lessels
  15. 15 No. 5. Walk to the Crown Inn 03:40
    Track
    15
    Title
    No. 5. Walk to the Crown Inn
    Duration
    03:40
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    Jonathan Parkin, Thomas Lessels
  16. 16 I. Lauds (Morning Prayer) 05:43
    Track
    16
    Title
    I. Lauds (Morning Prayer)
    Duration
    05:43
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    Elizabeth Marr, Jonathan Parkin, James Widden, John Haworth, Rebecca Breen, Alison Holford, Lise Vandersmissen
  17. 17 II. Vespers (Evening Prayer) 04:09
    Track
    17
    Title
    II. Vespers (Evening Prayer)
    Duration
    04:09
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    Elizabeth Marr, Jonathan Parkin, James Widden, John Haworth, Rebecca Breen, Alison Holford, Lise Vandersmissen
  18. 18 III. Compline (Night Prayer) 04:22
    Track
    18
    Title
    III. Compline (Night Prayer)
    Duration
    04:22
    Composer
    David Wallace
    Performer
    Elizabeth Marr, Jonathan Parkin, James Widden, John Haworth, Rebecca Breen, Alison Holford, Lise Vandersmissen