British Music

[jowcol]

Oh....multiple apologies if I misunderstood you
I do agree about the two folders to which you refer. I think that they should be merged but that is not my business

I owe you multiple apologies for pulling your leg!   I couldn't resist teasing you.  It was very considerate of you to explain, and I appreciate all of the effort you've made to help me keep my posts clear, and identify duplicates, etc.  I would not want you to stop!

(Although I'm still not sure if I am over you leaving Scotland out of your historical discussion.... we'll discuss THAT later )

[Dundonnell]

I am just about ready to start uploading some more music from my collection, this time of music digitised from LP. This is the first time I have done this(all of my previous uploads were from reel-to-reel tape). None of the music in these performances has made it to cd, obviously.

I would be grateful if I could get feedback, as before, on recording levels: ie if too quiet let me know

The first work will be-

Matyas Seiber's Elegy for Viola and Small Orchestra(1954): Cecil Arnowitz(viola) and the London Philharmonic Orchestra/the composer (from a 1960 Decca LP).

The Elegy was written for the 1954 Donaueschingen Festival and first performed in Britain in 1956.

[Dundonnell]

Next up-

Robert Still(1910-71):

Elegie for Baritone, Chorus and Small Orchestra(1963, revised 1965) performed by John Carol Case(baritone), the Ambrosian Singers and the Jacques Orchestra/Myer Fredman

and

Concerto for strings(1964) performed by the Jacques Orchestra/Myer Fredman.

These works are from a Decca LP from 1967, the works were recorded in November 1966.

The Concerto for Strings is already in the British Collection in a modern BBC recording but the Elegie, one of Still's most important and beautiful works, is new. It is a setting of Matthew Arnold's "A Summer Night".

[Dundonnell]

Followed by a gorgeous work by one of my favourite composers-

Edmund Rubbra's "Inscape" for Mixed Choir, Strings and Harp(1965), again performed by the Jacques Orchestra/Myer Fredman with the Ambrosian Singers and Renata Scheffel-Stein(harp).

Inscape was written for the 1965 Stroud Festival of Religious Art and Drama and is a setting of poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins in the form of a Sinfonietta: first movement(Allegretto)-'Pied Beauty'; slow movement(Lento)-'The Lantern out of doors'; scherzo(Allegro)-'Spring'; finale(Largo e grandioso)-'God's Grandeur'; epilogue-a fragment from 'Summa'.

Unashamedly I will assert that Rubbra's poetic sense achieves a level of spiritual glory in his choral music which I have always found both moving and exceedingly beautiful.

[Dundonnell]

And lastly tonight-

Humphrey Searle(1915-82):

Symphony No.1(1952-53)

London Philharmonic Orchestra(Sir Adrian Boult)


This is from the Decca LP(1960) and is the sensational, more measured and baleful performance by Sir Adrian, a better performance in my opinion than the CPO BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Alun Francis. Boult probably did not fully empathise with what was, at the time, a pretty 'advanced' work yet he shows the same mastery of the idiom as he had in conducting Schoenberg before the war.

More uploads tomorrow

[jowcol]

I also noted the violin / viola issue in case of the Arnell and therefore listened to the piece itself to get things sorted. The instrument which is played is definitely a violin in my view. It's not only the sound itself, but for instance at 1'00" I am pretty sure to hear an open string. But this is an e, and only the violin has an e string, the viola hasn't.

So I guess 'for viola and strings' is simply a misattribution.

Gentlemen--

Thanks for your research-- one of the benefits Karl has mentioned in sharing his collection is that there are more eyes,ears and memories to draw from, and I'm trying to capture all of the corrections and comments to  the current descriptions. .  Please don't hesitate to send me a message also, if I'm not updating the posts appropriately.

[Dundonnell]

My next British contribution is Richard Rodney Bennett's Symphony No.1 of 1965 in a 1968 RCA Victor recording by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the enterprising American conductor Igor Buketoff.

To be entirely honest, this symphony, written for the London Symphony Orchestra, does not really appeal very much to me. It is an example of the earlier music of Bennett and is influenced by his studies at Darmstadt and with Pierre Boulez. Later Bennett is-at least to my ears-more attractive. Indeed, Bennett seems to be another example of a composer who in later life has-for whatever reason-totally changed his musical style to a much more approachable, tonal and tuneful idiom.

However I think that it is important that one of the most senior living British composers should be represented here. His Symphony No.3(1987) is on cd and I have been able to add the Symphony No.2(1968) from an old tape recording.

(Well, it WILL be my next contribution when Mediafire agrees to upload it. FOUR attempts have now failed )

[Dundonnell]

Since Mediafire is still obstinately refusing to upload the Richard Rodney Bennett here are two British works for strings:

Kenneth Leighton's Concerto for String Orchestra(1964)

and

Adrian Cruft's Divertimento for String Orchestra(1963)

both played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra/John Snashall

(Cruft removed for repair work)

[Dundonnell]

Mediafire has finally, almost grudgingly, uploaded the Richard Rodney Bennett Symphony No.1 and it should be available here soon

Next upload will be John McCabe's Symphony No.1(Elegy) from 1965. This is the 1967 Pye recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under John Snashall.
This has never been transferred to cd. I seem vaguely to recall that there was some technical problem with the master-tape I would have thought that with all the technical wizardry now available any problem can be overcome.

[semloh]

Colin - thank you for the marvellous recordings you've been sharing recently!

Not only the British ones (per this thread) but the others too, which would require a separate 'thank you' in each thread!

I recall many of these LPs, but wasn't able to purchase them at the time. Now I can hear them as a result of your generosity. It's greatly appreciated.

[Dundonnell]

Glad to be able to share the music

Thanks for your post

[Dundonnell]

Since Mediafire is still obstinately refusing to upload the Richard Rodney Bennett here are two British works for strings:

Kenneth Leighton's Concerto for String Orchestra(1964)

and

Adrian Cruft's Divertimento for String Orchestra(1963)

both played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra/John Snashall

I have-I hope only temporarily- deleted  the Cruft download

The problem is that the needle is sticking at the very end of the piece because of a problem with the stylus arm not being able to travel into the very centre of the record. The arm needs to be adjusted; an operation which, if I recall, is not easy on my old Garrard turntable

If/when I can sort the problem out the Cruft will return.

[Dundonnell]

Many thanks to Latvian for his uploads of the Fricker Violin Concerto No.2 and the Searle 'Labyrinth'

These are two works I have wanted to hear for a long, long time. Latvian says the Searle piece was originally intended to be his Sixth Symphony and I had read that too but actually there is no mention in Searle's autobiography of of such an intention. 'Labyrinth' was written for the 1971 Royal Concert and is a rondo based on Michael Ayrton's imaginative autobiography of Daedelus. Searle notes that despite a fine first performance the piece came in for some savage criticism from the non-musical society figures present at the concert.

It is not very easy to establish just how many concertos Fricker actually wrote. There are the Violin Concerto No.1 (Concerto for Violin and small orchestra), op.11(1949-50; first performance 1951), the Viola Concerto, op.18(1952-53; first performance 1953), the Piano Concerto(Concerto for Piano and small orchestra), op.19(1952-54; first performance 1954) and the Violin Concerto No.2 (Rhapsodia Concertante) (1953-54; first performance 1954). The Violin Concerto No.1 has been recorded and the other three are all now available here. There is however also a Piano Concerto No.2 from 1989 which remains in manuscript.

Fricker also wrote a number of concertante works:

Concertante No.1 for Cor Anglais and srings, op.13(1950): available here
Concertante No.2 for three pianos, strings and timpani,op.15(1951)
Concertante No.4 for flute, oboe, violin and strings(1968): available here
Concertante No.5 for piano and string quartet(1971)
Toccata for Piano and orchestra(1958-59): available here
Laudi Concertante for Organ and orchestra, op.80(1979): available here
Rondeaux for Horn and orchestra, op.87(1982)
(There is no Concertante No.3)

(Source: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/special-collections/performing-arts/pamss17c This list was compiled by Fricker himself a few months before his death. There is no mention of an Oboe Concerto as identified by Michael Herman).

[Dundonnell]

If Mediafire (or my broadband connection) permits I would hope today to upload two more British works-

Peter Racine Fricker's Symphony No.1(1949): Louisville Orchestra/Jorge Mester

and

Gordon Jacob's Concerto for Three Hands on One or Two Pianos(1969): Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick(piano) and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Sir Malcolm Arnold

[albion]

I have made some changes to the archive:

1. in the interests of greater clarity it is now entitled British and Irish Music - Catalogue and Archive - although broadcasts still constitute the bulk of material, the increasing inclusion of LP transfers means that it is no longer strictly a repository devoted to off-air recordings;

2. after a great deal of thought (and a great deal of work) I have rearranged the entire catalogue alphabetically by composer, on the grounds that many members may be somewhat averse to committing birth-years to memory ...



I adopted a chronological approach initially (and before the catalogue was as extensive as it has now become) because it assisted those members interested in a particular historical period. Hopefully this new 'edition' will be more comprehensively useful.