The Waltz is Over

Soprano, flute, cello and piano
20 minutes
Text: Tolstoy

Commissioned by the Vale of Glamorgan Festival. First performed 1998 at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival.

“John Hardy’s The Waltz is Over… is a gem of a piece with a fascinating provenance… Hardy, with his usual perception, has taken the music far further than the novelty of that connection [with Tolstoy]… [there is] an intimate, reflective atmosphere, the poems beautifully articulated and the instrumental writing both supporting and eloquently amplifying the words.”
Rian Evans, Western Mail.

...on the way to heaven

Soprano and piano
4 minutes
Commissioned for the Lower Machen Festival. First performed June 1998 at the Lower Machen Festival.

Wind Quintet 2 - Archaeologies: Wild Wales (myths & legends)

Flute, oboe or cor anglais, clarinet, horn and bassoon
8 minutes
First performed May 1999 at the Norwegian Church, Cardiff by the Vale Wind Quintet.

Gloria Tibi Trinitas

Orchestra: 3(I+picc, II+picc, III+al).3(II+ca, III+ca).3(I+Eb, III+bcl) - 3.Eb(+C, +picc).2(I+Eb, II+Eb).2(I+alt).btn.2 - timp.perc - 3 hp - pno - org - 2sp.al.tn.bs - str    
38 minutes
First performed 1979 by Oxford University Orchestra.

Hedd Wyn Suite

Orchestra: 2.alto.2.ca.2.bcl.2.cbn - 4.2.1.2btbn.1 - timp.perc - 2hp - str
29 minutes
Suite from the soundtrack to the Oscar-nominated, BAFTA-winning film.

Hedd Wyn is an oscar-nominated epic biopic on the life of a promising poet.

Synopsis: A young poet living in the North Wales countryside competes for the most coveted prize of all in Welsh Poetry - that of the chair of the National Eisteddfod, a tradition dating back a hundred years. Before the winner is announced Hedd Wyn gets sent to fight with the English in the trenches of the First World War. 
(Gavin Adams, IMDb)

Directed by Paul Turner, Hedd Wyn was the first Welsh-language film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1994. The film won seven awards including the Royal Television Society Television Award for Best Single Drama in 1993 and BAFTA Cymru awards in 1994 for Best Original Music, Best Drama in Welsh, Best Editor, Best Screenwriter in Welsh, Best Design and Best Director, with a further nomination for Best Make-Up.

The film has been exhibited in cinemas through the UK, Europe and the USA and has been broadcast on Channel 4 and S4C in the UK.

The soundtrack for Hedd Wyn is scored for full orchestra, with the addition of an operatic mezzo soprano voice (Penelope Walker) in a battle scene, and a young child’s voice during the end credits.

“John Hardy’s symphonic score… reinforces the mystical atmosphere.”
Derek Elley, Variety, 5 October 1992

DVD available at Sain.

Fighting the Clock

Orchestra: picc.2.2.ca.sop.1.bcl.2.cbn - 4.3.2.btn.1 - 3perc - hp - str with children's voices and percussion
6 minutes
Composed with Luke Carver Goss. Commissioned by BBC National Orchestra of Wales for BBC Radio 3. First fully performed 2000 at St. David's Hall, Cardiff by BBC National Orchestra of Wales and school children, conducted by John Hardy and Luke Carver Goss.

Commissioned and broadcast by BBC Radio 3 as part of the ambitious TIME project for performance by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and fifty children, Fighting the Clock was composed with the active input of Luke Carver Goss and children from 2 schools in Beddau, a former coal village.

The piece has been performed at St. David's Hall by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, at the St Asaph Cathedral for the North Wales International Festival of Music by the Welsh Sinfonia, and in a later arrangement for 9 instrument chamber ensemble by the The Hardy Syndicate.

"From all of us at North Wales International Music Festival we would like to say a big thank you to the Welsh Sinfonia for delighting us and our audience with a wonderful performance."
Heather Jones
Administrator for North Wales International Festival of Music, 2004

Fever

Orchestra: picc.2.2.ca.2.bcl.2.cbn - 4.3.2.btbn.1 - 4perc(III timp, IV+mar) - hp - str
10 minutes

Fever was commissioned by St. David's Hall, Cardiff for the Last Night of the Welsh Proms in 2000.

The ten minute piece was premiered by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Owain Arwel Hughes on 29th July 2000, to a packed and ecstatic audience.

A.C.T.I.O.N. - sing Wales 2000

Orchestra: picc.2.2.ca.1.ssx.bcl.2.cbn - 4.3.2.btbn.1 - 4 perc - voice - hp - str
11 minutes
Concept & lyrics by Heledd Wyn.
Commissioned by BBC National Orchestra of Wales. First performed 22/03/00 at St. David's Hall, Cardiff by BBC National Orchestra of Wales with 800 school children who sang, rapped and used their bodies as percussion, conducted by Grant Llewellyn.