A JERSEY-BORN composer has released his first CD album of music with some of Europe’s leading orchestral musicians.
Charles Mauleverer’s Overture, a disc of music written between 2003 and 2022, features a selection of “very personal” works interpreted by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Prague Symphonic Ensemble.
“This is my first full professional album release. It’s taken years to get to this point and an awful lot of perseverance,” Mr Mauleverer said.
“I’ve thought about a lot of the details – the artwork and the notes, and the package itself is about as eco-friendly as you can make a CD with no plastic other than the disc itself.”
Overture has its genesis in a trip Mr Mauleverer made with a fellow composer to Prague some years ago for a recording session.
The conductor of the ensemble, Jérôme Kuhn, was strongly attracted to his music and gifted the musicians’ three recordings to the composer to use as he pleased. However, it did not make enough music for a CD and although the composer had other recordings – including one conducted by his friend John Wilson who directs the Sinfonia of London – conditions surrounding their use meant they were not available for the disc.
As a result it was a case of making new recordings of as much music as he could, using a limited budget of his own savings.
Mr Mauleverer continued: “I was able to go to Bratislava where orchestras cost about a third as much as they do in the UK, so the last four tracks are recorded by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – conducted by Johannes Vogel – which is a fantastic orchestra with wonderful resources.
“The first three with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, conducted by Lee Reynolds, are tied on to a big project sponsored by the States of Jersey to record my second and third symphonies – my Jersey symphonies – and we got through those quickly enough to have a bit of studio time to spare to record these extra pieces here.”
Mr Mauleverer said: “I hope it grabs and moves those who get the chance to listen to it. I like to tell stories in music, and to bring people together. I care about the audience a lot so, particularly on this album, the music is not scary. Its aim is to bring the audience along with me.”
All the works are strongly personal, whether springing from his own connection with specific events – like a composition for his brother’s wedding or another inspired by the awe he felt in the presence of a snow leopard in Jersey Zoo – or stimulated by films or stage productions.
Overture is available from Island Music, Chaos, Fotosound, W.H. Smith and online at: charlesmauleverer.com. It costs £9.99.
