Jack Frost – A Winter Story
TRAILBLAZING COMPOSER/CONDUCTOR DEBBIE WISEMAN OBE AND WORLD-RENOWNED GARDENER, WRITER & BROADCASTER, ALAN TITCHMARSH MBE RELEASE COLLABORATIVE NEW ALBUM FOR THE WINTER SEASON: ‘JACK FROST – A WINTER STORY’
Music by Debbie Wiseman / Story, Lyrics & Narration by Alan Titchmarsh
Album Released on 22nd November 2024 on Silva Screen Records
1st advance track, the ‘Jack Frost Theme’: out 1st November feat. award-winning soprano, Grace Davidson
The album additionally features two brand-new carols with music by Debbie Wiseman and lyrics by Alan Titchmarsh and feat. special guest artists Cerys Matthews and her young son, Red Abbott Matthews plus two musical suites and three solo piano pieces, performed by Debbie Wiseman
Trailblazing composer/conductor, Debbie Wiseman OBE and world-renowned gardener, writer and broadcaster, Alan Titchmarsh MBE, announce their brand new collaborative recording for the winter season: ‘Jack Frost – A Winter Story’, with music composed by Debbie Wiseman and story, lyrics and narration by Alan Titchmarsh.
‘Jack Frost – A Winter Story’ is their eagerly anticipated brand-new, enchanting wintery tale, as unique as every snowflake and exquisitely told here in words and music. This tale of winter wonderment has at its core the retelling of the myth of Jack Frost and is set to become a treasured perennial addition to the winter season’s entertainment. The album is rounded out by the addition of two brand new carols showcasing music by Debbie Wiseman and lyrics by Alan Titchmarsh: ‘The Stable Carol’, sung by award-winning soprano, Grace Davidson who appears throughout the album and ‘Tell Me, Star’ sung in a special version here by celebrity guest artist, Cerys Matthews, together with her young son, Red Abbott Matthews, singing here on record together for the very first time. Also featured on the recording are two musical suites and three solo piano pieces, performed by Debbie Wiseman.
This new tale follows in the wonderful tradition of classical works with narration such as ‘Sparky’s Magic Piano’, ‘Tubby the Tuba’ and ‘Peter and the Wolf’ and in recent years, the symphonic poem ‘The Snowman’, appealing to a young audience and beyond.
It is also not the first time that Debbie and Alan have pooled their immense talents, having had a successful association in 2018 with ‘The Glorious Garden’ album.
Alan Titchmarsh comments: “I wanted to evoke that magical feeling in childhood when you wake up one bright winter’s morning and find that while you were asleep, the whole world has been transformed into a wonderland. The icy fingers of Jack Frost have crept across your windowpane and out there in the freezing cold, in the towns, hills and valleys, the houses and the trees are all dusted over with sparkling crystal”.
Debbie Wiseman notes: “Alan’s evocative, poetic and inspiring story and lyrics lent Jack Frost both a magical quality and an ethereal character and once I put the words on my piano and started to compose, the music to accompany Jack Frost flowed easily. From the first written note to the last second of the recording sessions, this has been such a joyful collaboration and it has been such fun melding the serenity of the music with the charm and wonder of Alan’s creations”.
Adds Cerys Matthews: “I met Debbie Wiseman on BBC Radio 4’s popular music show, ‘Add To Playlist’. I was a fan of her intelligence, love of music and exceptional repertoire, especially her ‘Wolf Hall ‘ compositions. A few months later, a song appeared in my mailbox, written by Debbie to words by Alan Titchmarsh: Tell Me, Star’. Its appeal is instant – a song of innocence and hope for the Yuletide season. There’s a question there, an appeal to a guiding star, (witness, perhaps, to all of human history) for comfort and perspective on this complex, imperfect world on earth. This made it feel right to ask a young person to join me in singing the carol to add a touch of wonder to the proceedings. So it’s Red, my son aged 14, who you hear with me on this recording. It’s a beautiful carol to sing at Christmas and we hope you’ll love to sing it too”.
Debbie Wiseman OBE, whose distinguished career encompasses the worlds of TV, film and concert music is one of the UK’s most successful female music ambassadors with over 200 film and TV credits and many commissions for royal events. In 2012, as part of the Diamond Jubilee River Pageant, Debbie Wiseman was asked to write new ‘Water Music’ and conducted an on-board orchestra travelling down the River Thames as part of a 1,000-strong flotilla. She composed the ‘Overture and Finale’ for the late Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebration in 2016 as well as the tender ‘Elizabeth Remembered’, following the death of the Queen in 2022. In May 2023 her two ‘Gospel Alleluias’ featured at the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. She has just composed a special piece of new music ‘I’m Walking With You’ for young pianist, Lucy, winner in 2023 of the first series of Channel 4’s ‘The Piano’. Debbie Wiseman is currently working on the score for the second series of ‘Wolf Hall’ for the BBC.
Alan Titchmarsh MBE While best known as a gardener, writer, novelist and broadcaster, Alan Titchmarsh is also an accomplished concert presenter, frequently at the Royal Albert Hall. For four years he hosted the BBC Proms and has hosted many of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s Christmas celebrations since the
1980s.
He has presented the Big Screen series from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and works with both the Royal Ballet and the Birmingham Royal
Ballet as guest narrator and presenter. His own writings, collected together in the books ‘Fill My Stocking’ and ‘Marigolds, Myrtle and Moles’, have been used in ‘Carols from Kings’ and ‘With Great Pleasure’. In 2012 Alan hosted ‘The World Comes to Windsor’ in celebration of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. In 2016 he was a part of The Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebration and in 2022 appeared with Tom Cruise and Dame Helen Mirren in the celebration of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. In 2014 Alan made his West End theatre debut as the on-stage narrator Kenneth Grahame in The Royal Ballet’s production of ‘The Wind in the Willows’ and in 2019 sang ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ on the stage of the London Palladium in ‘All-Star Musicals’, receiving top marks from
the judges. On television, since the glory days of ‘Ground Force’, Alan has presented such diverse programmes as ‘British Isles- A Natural History’, ‘Pop Star to Opera Star’ and ‘Elizabeth – Her Life, Our Times’. His chat show ‘The Alan Titchmarsh Show’ was broadcast on ITV for eight years, along with thirteen series of ‘Love Your Garden’.
He now presents ‘Love Your Weekend’ on ITV, ‘Underdog to Superdog’ on Channel 5 and hosts a regular Saturday afternoon radio show on Classic FM, where he plays the music he loves best alongside gardening tips. He is an Ambassador for The King’s Foundation and has presented several programmes about the royal family.
Cerys Matthews is a musician, author and radio programmer. Her three BBC Radio music shows are multi-award winning, including the Prix Italia and Prix Europa. Cerys has collected multi-genre music since she was a child. Her books include Sunday Times bestseller ‘Hook, Line and Singer’; a folk cookbook with playlists ‘Where the Wild Cooks Go’; ‘Under Milk Wood’ – an illustrated edition for children and her most recent ‘Out of Chaos Comes Bliss’, a new Dylan Thomas poetry collection published by Pushkin Press.
Red Abbott Matthews studied as a chorister at Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, which has an exceptional music department. He has sung professionally before, as part of the children’s chorus during opera performances at ROH and ENO. He’s also sung at Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Abbey and worked as a solo voice for recording sessions for film soundtracks.
‘Jack Frost – A Winter Story’ will be released on 22nd November 2024 on Silva Screen Records, a label with whom Debbie Wiseman enjoys a long-standing and highly successful association.
‘Jack Frost – A Winter Story’ – Tracklisting:
Midnight
Jack Frost (Grace Davidson)
The Girl Shivers
Mountains Gleam
Children Slide
The Winter Grass
Azure Blue
Sleigh Ride
Whirling Air
The Lull
Christmas Eve
Jack Frost reprise (Grace Davidson)
Summer’s Long Gone (Orchestral Suite 1)
The Milky Moon (Orchestral Suite 2)
Tell Me, Star (Grace Davidson)
The Stable Carol (Grace Davidson)
Stars and Stardust (solo piano)
Dream On (solo piano)
The Lull (solo piano)
Tell Me, Star (Cerys Matthews, Red Abbott Matthews)
‘Jack Frost – A Winter Story’
Music composed by Debbie Wiseman
Story, lyrics and narration by Alan Titchmarsh
Piano Solos – Debbie Wiseman
Vienna Synchron Stage Orchestra; Conductor – Gottfried Rabl
Choir feat. children of Old Buckingham Preparatory School; Choir Master – David Mitchell
Soprano – Grace Davidson
Features a special guest appearance by Cerys Matthews and Red Abbott Matthews
Album produced by Andrew Sunnucks
Special ‘Jack Frost’ – A Winter Tale’ artwork illustration by Stuart Manning
Release date: 22nd Nov 2024
Label: Silva Screen / UK Distributor : Proper Music
Cat. No. CD: SILCD1771 / Digital album: SILED1771
TPT 60+ minutes
www.debbiewiseman.co.uk
Instagram: alantitchmarshmbe
www.silvascreenmusic.com
For further information, please contact Karen Pitchford: pitchfordkaren@gmail.com