British Music

[albion]

Semloh has pointed out a problem to me - as the BMB Catalogue is effectively a 'closed' thread (i.e. not open to general posts) it would gradually disappear from view down the thread-list, thus going the way of p**r o*d G****y ...



As members may notice, Mark has now very kindly (under-) pinned it so as to prevent further slippage.

[TerraEpon]

Yes, thank you for the sticky. It was getting quite annoying.

[eschiss1]

Listened finally to the Whitlock organ symphony and there is what seems an interesting article (with movement headings - Allegro sostenuto, Elegy, Scherzo, Toccata and Fugue) here. I t also explains my confusion re Parry's concertstueck - I had forgotten indeed Stanford's concertstueck with organ. Shame on me for confusing... anyhow, good, interesting piece, the Whitlock. Reminds me of Ravel's Tombeau here and there (which fact I like- and which piece I love.)

[albion]

I have just added -

Arnold Bax (1883-1953) - Sinfonia Concertante, Winter Legends (1930); Violin Concerto (1939); Symphony No.7 (1939)
William Mathias (1934-1992) - This Worlde's Joie, Op.67 (1974)

John McCabe and Hugh Bean are the soloists in the two Bax concertante works and the Symphony is under the direction of Charles Groves. Mathias' large-scale cantata is conducted by the composer.

These performances represent the final substantial selection of broadcasts sent by Dundonnell: he has contributed files for 212 orchestral and choral items to the archive - incredible!

Colin, sincere thanks for these and all your previous contributions.

[albion]

Three more files from mikehopf -

Alexander Mackenzie (1847-1935) - La Belle Dame Sans Merci, Op.29 (1883)
Haydn Wood (1882-1959) - Variations on a Once Popular Humorous Song (1927); Fantasy Concerto for Strings (1949)

One of the most significant and attractive of Mackenzie's earlier orchestral works, it will be interesting to compare this 1984 performance by the Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra with that on a forthcoming Cameo release.

For those who may not be aware, the 'Once Popular Humorous Song' used by Haydn Wood is If You Want to Know the Time, Ask a Policeman. The origins of the Fantasy Concerto lie in Wood's Phantasie in F minor for String Quartet (1905) originally written for the Cobbett Chamber Music Competition.

Many thanks, Mike.

[albion]

I think that you will find that Albion has already moved Williamson at least into the British section

Now I am wondering about my possible Panufnik uploads

(Repeated apologies....this should be elsewhere )

This is a very interesting issue and it is right to raise it.

Without opening the floodgates, Commonwealth and émigré composers will certainly be considered on an individual basis for inclusion in BMB on condition that they became British by adoption or very substantial periods of their careers were spent in Britain to the extent that it became effectively their home: Kelly, Benjamin, Williamson, Gál and Reizenstein all qualify on this score - as would Panufnik, who became a British citizen in 1961 and gained a knighthood in 1991.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

These performances represent the final substantial selection of broadcasts sent by Dundonnell: he has contributed files for 212 orchestral and choral items to the archive - incredible!

Colin, sincere thanks for these and all your previous contributions.

Hear hear!!

[secondfiddle]

In some of the places in your list of broadcasts where there are no dates I think I may be able to add them when looking at my own list of recordings, and just checking that we are dealing with the same performance or broadcast.


Alwyn
Oboe Concerto  7.11.80

Arnold
Symphony No 4  [Thomson]   Blackburn 13.2.74  b/c 20.2.74
Symphony No 6  [Thomson]  21.8.81

Bantock
The Time Spirit  [Tucker]  15.9.84

Bax
Winter Legends  [McCabe, Leppard] 6.10.78
Symphony No 7  [RLPO, Groves]  3.6.74

Benjamin
Concerto quasi fantasia [Jones, BBC Welsh SO, Thomson]  8.4.80

Brent-Smith
Elegy to Elgar  15.9.84

Alan Bush
Violin Concerto  [cond. Keeffe]  28.3.82
Symphony No 2  2.3.81

Cooke
Concerto for Orchestra  fp Dec '87   (also b/c with same performers 14.5.90)

Delius
Violin Concerto  [Bean, Groves]  2.11.70

Dyson
St. Paul's Journey  [Joly]  16.4.00

Holbrooke
Ulalume  [Leaper] 9.1.95

Jacobson
Hound of Heaven  RCM 20.11.75 b/c 2.1.76

Jones
Symphony No 9  [Jones]  f b/c 7.10.76

Mathias
This World's Joie  [Mathias]  1.7.87 b/c 24.8.87
Organ Concerto  fp 12.9.84
In Arcadia  fp 30.5.92

McCabe
Violin Concerto No 2  fp 20.3.80 b/c 19.5.80

Moeran
Farrago  20.12.84  re-b/c 14.3.95
Cello Concerto  [Igloi] 22.4.74

Parry
Piano Trio No 2  12.10.85
Ode to St Cecilia's Day   [Tucker]  14.10.78
Eton  [Tucker]  15.9.84

Prout
Symphony No 4  [Joly]  9.10.87
Symphony No 3 – Intermezzo  BBC CO, Leaper  July '89 b/c 30.9.89

Rawsthorne
Clarinet Concerto  +  Concertante Pastorale   26.4.74  [Rawsthorne memorial concert]
Carmen Vitale  Leeds Nov. 1971  b/c 27.5 73

Rubbra
Symphony No 3  [Bedford]  22.12.81  b/c 10.6.83

Somervell
Christmas  possibly - soloists, New SO, de Rivera 21.12.83 ?

Spain-Dunk
The Kentish Downs   6.2.02

Stanford
Suite of Ancient Dances   30.11.77
Much Ado About Nothing – excerpts  12.2.83  [and other operatic excerpts by Smyth and others from the same Leslie Head concert]

Steel
Symphony No 5  23.8.87

I hope these dates are helpful.

[albion]

In some of the places in your list of broadcasts where there are no dates I think I may be able to add them when looking at my own list of recordings, and just checking that we are dealing with the same performance or broadcast [...] I hope these dates are helpful.

This is enormously helpful, and just the sort of thing that I hoped members might be able to assist me with!

Thanks very much for going to the trouble of finding all these extra dates and filling some of the gaps in performer details - I've added them into the catalogue.

[Dundonnell]

Immensely helpful, indeed

As several of these are my original uploads they do help to place the recordings in my own "historical context"

[Dundonnell]

I have just added -

Arnold Bax (1883-1953) - Sinfonia Concertante, Winter Legends (1930); Violin Concerto (1939); Symphony No.7 (1939)
William Mathias (1934-1992) - This Worlde's Joie, Op.67 (1974)

John McCabe and Hugh Bean are the soloists in the two Bax concertante works and the Symphony is under the direction of Charles Groves. Mathias' large-scale cantata is conducted by the composer.

These performances represent the final substantial selection of broadcasts sent by Dundonnell: he has contributed files for 212 orchestral and choral items to the archive - incredible!

Colin, sincere thanks for these and all your previous contributions.

I am pleased to say that there are still a number of non-British works to come Not quite 212 (I am glad, for my own sanity, to admit ) but a reasonable number nevertheless. Many were taped from LPs and the music has subsequently found its way to cd-so they are, obviously, ineligible but some works have not or are in BBC broadcasts so could qualify if the performances seem worthy of preservation.

[eschiss1]

Re the much-appreciated Rubbra in BMB, I gather ? that his "missa brevis" is a later mass (opus 137) and that the only nickname attaching to opus 98 is missa a tre/à 3. Cadensa lists recordings by Redman and Martin for opus 98, of Joly and Squibb for opus 137, and of Poole for Rubbra's Mass for 4 voices, but the date of Poole's recording of the opus 98 is a mystery to me at present too.

[albion]

Yes, Eric, Rubbra wrote a further setting for boys' voices only in 1969 (Op.137) which he himself styled Missa brevis.

The use of the term in relation to Op.98 is a generic description in the same sense as cantata or oratorio - I've tried to make this clearer now by swapping the italicization.

[albion]

Some interesting broadcasts from mikehopf -

Alexander Mackenzie (1847-1935) - Rhapsodie Ecossaise, Op.21 (1879); Burns, Second Scotch Rhapsody, Op.24 (1880)

Gustav Holst (1874-1934) - King Estmere, Op.17 (1903); Fantasia on Hampshire Folksongs (1916, originally Phantasy on British Folksongs for String Quartet, Op.36, revised and arranged for String Orchestra 1970 by Imogen Holst)

Thanks, Mike.

I have split the original files and re-uploaded them into the archive so that each work is now separate.

[semloh]

Some interesting broadcasts from mikehopf -

Gustav Holst (1874-1934) - King Estmere, Op.17 (1903); Fantasia on Hampshire Folksongs (1916, originally Phantasy on British Folksongs for String Quartet, Op.36, revised and arranged for String Orchestra 1970 by Imogen Holst)[/b][/color]

So, you were taping these at the same time as me, Mike!  There was quite a group of, us all those years ago, all doing the same thing. Your recordings are far superior to mine, though, and it's great to hear these performances again.

Thank you.