Photograph by Stephen Lewis, www.landscapesofwales.co.uk
“……The descriptives that come to mind while listening to this music are “exquisite”, “ethereal”, and most of all “lovely” ….. .” Song of the Heart (Cân y Galon) is a setting of five Welsh poems for soprano and string quartet, and the score is ravishing. Poems of the Evening (Poésies du Soir) was composed for a young Margaret Price in 1961, when the soon-to-be famous soprano was still a mezzo….Three evocative French poems are set beautifully in this cycle for mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra.”
(Henry Fogel in Fanfare classical music magazine, 2013)
“………It turns out that Walters studied in Paris with Jean Rivier and Olivier Messiaen. He obviously ingested the salutary influences of Debussy and Ravel as well……these are beautifully and expertly set songs. The quartet writing is highly expressive – in fact exquisite. …..Walters makes all his instruments sing. Then there are the enchanting Little Suite for Flute and Harp and the Berceuse for harp that both could easily pass for French in their charm. The longest work on this CD is a substantial Violin Sonata that shows that Walters is not only a sophisticated jeweler but can sustain the longer line of larger musical forms. What expertly-made, fluent, lively music this is. If you care for the works of Ravel, don’t hesitate here”.
(Robert Reilly in Musica (USA) 2012)
“……….an astute judgement of instrumental colour, an ability to evoke atmosphere with often limited resources, and a Britten-like response to the texts he set…….As with many other Celtic composers, his music often suggests autumnal landscapes – although it always retained the Gallic clarity underlined by his years in Paris.”
(Martin Anderson in The Independent, July 2012)
“…From the early Divertimento for Strings to the Poésies du Soir (Poems for Evening) his music has displayed a remarkable commitment to purity of craft… Poems for Evening…surely one of the most beautifully conceived works of its kind in post war British music making…with its nod towards Britten and yet its wholly individual approach and poetical utterance, a simplicity without ever being simple and Gallic compositional milieu wholly in keeping with the text.”
(Dr. Lyn Davies: University of Wales; Arts Council of Wales; Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama)