British Music

[Dundonnell]

I am delighted to hear that things have improved significantly

Responses such as yours are what encourages me to keep on with this work

[semloh]

These uploads are a real treasure trove - as we knew they would be - and the amplification has worked a treat. 

The Daniel Jones selection is splendid, and as I listen I'm reminded why I was so careful to keep my tapes of his work safe and sound, even though he's at the outer limit of my musical tastes.

Listening to all this wonderful music is going to be a source of great pleasure. 
Thanks again, to Colin and Albion!

[albion]

Two recording have just been added, one completely new and one (well, you'll see) ...

Firstly, Alan Rawsthorne's large-scale choral work Carmen Vitale (1963), performed under Donald Hunt at the 1973 Leeds Festival. Now largely remembered for his purely orchestral scores, this is a great opportunity to experience another aspect of the composer's output.

Many thanks to Dundonnell for allowing us to have such an opportunity.

Secondly, an alternative mp3 of the Havergal Brian Violin Concerto played by Ralph Holmes. I understand that a colleague on another forum has undertaken remedial work on the audio file: I have decided to include this as an alternative to rather than a replacement for Colin's original.

[albion]

I've just added the following four new items:

Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989): Nocturne; Signs in the Dark; Magnificat; Dialogue

further details, as usual, are in the listing - many thanks to Dundonnell for this varied selection from Berkeley's catalogue.



Also, there are now 'cleaned-up' files of Brian's Symphonies 3 and 20 (again, I have included these as alternatives rather than replacements).

[albion]

Holger has very kindly sent a recording of an alternative performance of Daniel Jones' Symphony No.3, again with the BBC Welsh SO but this time under the baton of Bryden Thomson (broadcast in 1991).

This has now been added to the archive, allowing an interesting comparison with the interpretation by Owain Arwel Hughes.

[albion]

The following files from Dundonnell's tapes have just been uploaded -

Peter Racine Fricker - Prelude, Elegy and Finale for String Orchestra; Concertante No.1 for Cor Anglais and Strings; Musick's Empire; Toccata for Piano and Orchestra; Concertante No.4 for Flute, Oboe, Violin and Strings; Introitus

A fantastic cross-section of music by this overlooked composer, many of the broadcasts are taken from the Radio 3 celebration of Fricker's 60th birthday in 1980. Many thanks.

As usual, I have added details to the annotated BMB list.

[albion]

At last, thanks to patmos.beje, we have the 1995 Vernon Handley broadcast of Holst's complete opera The Perfect Fool. Many thanks.

I've converted the 8 separate files from m4a and merged them into a single mp3 file for ease of use.

A full cast list can also be found in the BMB listing.

[eschiss1]

Thanks for the Mathias concerto. Probably the same year as the 1971 premiere, seems to be the same performers more or less (I don't know who played percussion in the premiere, the percussionist in the BBC recording is Charles Fulbrook; Wright claims the premiere was on 26 June 1971. Another PDF I downloaded, author not named, has interesting information on quite a few works by Mathias and less sheer opinion than the other, but does not mention tempo designations so often. (And since I'm using Google in a sort of advanced mode, figuring out its URL is difficult... but the search terms would be ""william mathias" harpsichord concerto allegro 1971" and it's the 2nd link that comes up for me- after the Wright PDF. (Allegro is a guess I use to encourage the others (the British policy in the 1770s? 1800s?, memory serves, though often believed to be the French same- anyway.) - I mean, to encourage the document to contain some tempo indication this time, dropped if it's the wrong encouragement ...  balance, balance...
Eric

[albion]

Thanks to patmos.beje we now have some rare chamber music by John Blackwood McEwen (1868-1948) in the archive -

Violin Sonata No.4 (1917)
Suite of Old National Dances (1924)
Under Northern Skies (1939)
Viola Sonata (1941)

There is no information on the performers and despite my best efforts I cannot come up with anything definitive, so they must unfortunately remain anonymous.

I have converted the files from m4a and merged each work as a single mp3.

Many thanks!

[eschiss1]

Quintet under Northern Skies  is mentioned at least once in Cadensa (not definitive, but it's a possibility?) - March 4 1968, with George MacIlwham, flute, Gabriel Hay, oboe, Andrew Brockett, clarinet, Joanna Graham, bassoon, James Dowling, horn. Haven't  listened to the upload to hear if it's a wind quintet though or other arrangement... will do soon- sorry!

[albion]

Might be, might not be - I've considered the possibilities. Without concrete information I'm loath to specify performers.

[albion]

At last - some music by Learmont Drysdale (1866-1909).

The Love Duet from his 1894 cantata The Kelpie is now in the archive thanks to patmos.beje.

Hopefully, Chandos will get round to a disc (at least) of his orchestral works as Sir Andrew Davis has expressed an interest in the Scottish Romantics.

[eschiss1]

There has been a CD recording of Under Northern Skies - movement headings are Starlight (2'52" according to the ensemble's MySpace page , which has a sample track for comparison - http://www.myspace.com/camarillaensemble ), Looking Westward, Ballad of the Isles, and Finale ; performers were the Camarilla Ensemble. Label was "CD Baby" (CD Universe listing. 2009, already NLA. Not sure what the lesson is here, if any).

[albion]

In close alphabetical proximity, the following files are now available -

Alan Bush (1900-1995) - Dance Overture; Symphony No.3, Byron; Variations, Nocturne and Finale on an Old English Sea Song

Arthur Butterworth (b.1923) - Organ Concerto; Italian Journey

As usual, fuller details can be found in the BMB listing.

Many thanks, as ever, to Dundonnell for his generosity and enterprise in sharing these important broadcasts.

[Dundonnell]

I feel that I ought to apologise in advance for two aspects of this latest batch of uploads.

Firstly, the murky recording of the Bush Byron Symphony.

Secondly, as evidenced in the lengthy introduction to the Bush Variations, Nocturne and Finale on an Old English Sea Song, the apparent deterioration in the ability of BBC announcers to read a sentence without swallowing some of their words. The introduction is in fact nothing to do with the BBC.

The recording was taken from an old (and long-deleted LP) and the introduction was read by a much, much younger incarnation of my good self