Métier is delighted to present the release of The Girl from the French Fort, an enchanting narrated orchestral work by Beijing-based composer and conductor Nicholas Michael Smith based on a children’s story by acclaimed Chinese author Hong Ying. Gerry Cornelius conducts the New Music Players, with English narration by Timothy Bentinck, best known for voicing the role of David in BBC Radio 4’s The Archers. It is coupled on the album with a version of the recording narrated in Mandarin by Niki Yan, who has starred in many Chinese and international films and TV dramas.

Hong Ying was intrigued by the old barracks she encountered on the banks of the Yangtze River when she was a child and turned it into a story for her own daughter, which has now been published with delightful illustrations by Cherry Denman. Set in 1970s Chongqing, The Girl from the French Fort tells the magical tale of a curious boy, Sangsang, who forms an unlikely friendship with a mysterious girl living inside the old French fort high above the Yangtze River. She draws him through ancient doors into a hidden, dreamlike world where time flows differently and everyday realities are charged with wonder and strangeness. What unfolds is a story of childhood, love, loss, and the gentle resourcefulness that helps us endure it all, enjoyable for children and grown-ups alike.

Structured in the tradition of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf (a work with which it is often programmed), the piece blends narration with orchestral colour to vivid effect – capturing the story and its shifting emotional landscape. Nicholas Michael Smith has lived and worked in China for over thirty years, and in 2011 was awarded an OBE in recognition of his services to music and to UK-China relations. Among his achievements has been presenting the Chinese premiere of Handel’s Messiah and setting up several choirs and orchestras. He has a distinctive and complex musical language: at times, his melodic lines float freely around a tonal centre, moving in the circularity of the pentatonic scale that is core to much traditional Chinese music; at other points, his music is propelled by the harmonic tensions and chromatic development of Western classical tradition. These elements are woven in dialogue – each seamlessly enriching the other.

The Girl from the French Fort is a poignant example of storytelling through music – lyrical, playful, and quietly resonant – a work that belongs to a creative life dedicated to building bridges between cultures. It has been enthusiastically received in China and already performed many times – it was described by Gramophone magazine after its UK premiere as “genuinely moving”.

Gerry Cornelius was born of Irish and Sri Lankan parentage. While his roots are firmly in opera, he has been active in all the main musical and theatrical genres throughout his career. He has had longstanding associations with a broad spectrum of ensembles, arts companies, and education institutions in the UK and abroad, both as a conductor and performer, and has been involved in many world-premiere productions. He was Head of Music and Associate Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and is currently Music Director of English Touring Opera.