Welsh links Puw's music is rooted in the language and literature of Wales, with a particular affinity to the poetry of
R. S. Thomas. Welsh titles and settings of poetry in Welsh, such as
Mecanwaith,
Dawns y Sêr, and
... onyt agoraf y drws ..., feature in his work. He has won the Composer's Medal at the
National Eisteddfod of Wales twice, winning it first in 1995 for a
harp piece,
Ffantasia II. It takes its inspiration from different qualities of the human voice, including
stutters and chatterboxes. It was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 1 March 2007 as part of a programme of music by Welsh composers to celebrate
St David's Day. The concerto won Puw the 2007
BBC Radio 3 Listeners Award at the British Composer Awards. Puw had a particular affinity with the topic as his grandfather lost farmland in the Tryweryn flooding. Nevertheless, he has said that he "decided not to take the poem too literally because as a composer you can be subject to criticism for doing that." The music was used in a BBC2 Wales documentary, "Drowning a Village", broadcast on 9 March 2006. As part of his association with BBC NOW, Puw was commissioned by BBC Radio 3 to compose for the 2007
Proms. His orchestral piece, ("... unless I open the door ...") was premiered on 9 August 2007, conducted by
David Atherton. It is based on a story from the
Mabinogion, a collection of medieval Welsh tales, in which a group of warriors, lately returned from Ireland, feast in
Harlech for seven years with the severed head of their leader at the head of the table. They then feast in
Penfro for eighty years in a hall with three doors, and only remember the dreadful events that happened in Ireland when the third door opens. Each of the three doors in Penfro was represented by an instrument in a
box in the
Royal Albert Hall. The opera in three acts explores the relationship and emotions between two characters during three specific periods in their lives, during youth, middle age and finally, old age.
Other works Unusual instrumentation and unusual performance techniques, including elements of improvisation, are also important features of his work. In 1998 he composed
X-ist, a piece for IST (the Improvising String Trio, consisting of
harp, cello and
double-bass). It was described by reviewers as a "frighteningly frantic" and "challenging" piece.
X-ist uses a graphic score and includes written directions to the players that act as "creative stimuli", containing notes and motifs to be followed. Another piece requiring improvisation by performers was his commission for the 2001 Bangor New Music Festival, , which was written for ensemble (saxophone, guitar, harp, keyboard, cello, piano) and optional dancer. In his performing notes, Puw describes the pieces as a "stimulus for musical improvisation" in which any notes, normal or extended musical techniques and/or percussive effects may be applied. has two contrasting sub-sections, a and b, arranged in the form a-b-a-a-a-b-a-b to match the Welsh poetic measure of the same name, with the strings playing calmly in the "a" sections, and saxophone and keyboard (gradually joined by the other instruments) playing in a more lively manner in the "b" sections. Puw said that in the piece "Freedom is granted to the performers to make any subtle facial expressions that add to the musical interpretation". Puw describes (a piece for solo piano, composed for the 2000 Bangor New Music Festival) as an "intimate reflection" upon the music of, and a tribute to,
Robert Schumann, his "intricate compositional style" and "world of delicate expression". The music becomes "simpler and softer" throughout the piece, moving from the "rhythmic complexity" of the opening bars through to slow quavers transforming into triplets. As the picture is moved, it looks the same but is perceived in a different light. His 2005 composition for the Bangor New Music Festival,
Stereo Type, was written for
amplified typewriters and
tape. It was premiered by School of Music students from Bangor University in the Deiniol Shopping Centre,
Bangor, on 5 March 2005. ==List of compositions==