British Music

[albion]

From jowcol -

Richard Arnell (1917-2009) - Canzona and Capriccio for Violin and Strings, Op.37 (1946)
Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006) - Symphonic Study, Machines, Op.30 (1951)

Many thanks.

[jowcol]

I've posted Lennox Berkeley's Stabat Mater in the downloads section

( I was unable to find another version on this site...)

Stabat Mater, for 6 voices and 12 instruments, was written for Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group and was first performed in Zurich 1947, and the radio premiere was later that year.


Extract form Contemporary British Music by Francis Routh (Macdonald  1972) - used without Permission

Lennox Berkeley, who was born in 1903, developed a distinctive style within the traditional idiom, and has maintained it consistently. His most characteristic features are a textural lightness and lucidity, a harmonic piquancy, an eighteenth-century galanterie, and a thematic brevity; and these intrinsic qualities are more effectively realized in the more intimate forms than in the large structures; in works of limited and precise emotional range, rather than in those of broader sweep or more profound import; in such orchestral works as the Serenade or Divertimento, rather than in the symphonies; in chamber operas, such as A Dinner Engagement, or Ruth, rather than in the more heroic, grand opera Nelson; and particularly in songs and chamber music.

Berkeley spent five years in France (1928—1933) under Nadia Boulanger, when he also met some of the French composers of this period—Poulenc, Milhaud, Honegger, Sauguet. The influence of Fauré, Ravel, Stravinsky was very strong on him; his style was firmly orientated at this time towards a French logic, precision and clarity, rather than towards an English romanticism or modalism.
Many parallels can be seen in Berkeley's music with the styles of other composers and other periods. The closest is with Mozart; the Divertimento, the Horn Trio, A Dinner Engagement, to mention just three examples, are entirely Mozartian in conception. Among French composers, he has close affinities with Faur6 and Poulenc; with Faur6 particularly in the songs, though Berkeley's harmonic style is piquant and without Fauré's subtlety; with Poulenc in his melodic and harmonic style. The second set of Ronsard Sonnets was dedicated to Poulenc's memory. Among British composers, he and Britten share many qualities. A similar receptivity to literature and the poetic image, which finds its chief outlet in song—writing; a similar interest in opera, and particularly chamber opera—Lennox Berkeley's works were performed by the English Opera Group, one of them at Aldeburgh; a similar concern for church music. Points of contrast, however, between the two composers are equally instructive. Berkeley's style has not evolved as much as Britten's has; he has written little if any Gebrauchsmusik for the less talented or amateur performer—indeed, though his work does not call for virtuoso performance, polish and refinement are essential ingredients in his musical personality; finally, unlike Britten, he is one of the oldest— established teachers in this country, and his numerous pupils at the Royal Academy have included Richard Bennett and Nicholas Maw.

His works cover every genre. Among the first of his orchestral works to win distinctive recognition were the Serenade for string orchestra, and the Divertimento for chamber orchestra; among chamber works, the Sonatine for violin and piano. His characteristically short-winded melodic style, aptly suited to such a piece as the Sinfonietta, which Berkeley wrote for Anthony Bernard's London Chamber Orchestra, is not so amenable to the more sustained development and growth of the symphonies. He has also written concertos for piano and violin, and some early piano pieces; he himself is a pianist.

Berkeley's songs include poetry from many sources, and the words, depending on their content, add a correspondingly extra dimension to his pliant style. His response to a text resembles Britten's in this respect. Berkeley's most intense and powerful expression is reserved for those texts with a religious significance: the Donne settings, or the Four Poems of St. Teresa of Avila. His strong religious sense finds expression in several sacred works, some of them liturgical. His early Stabat Mater (1946), dedicated to Britten, was for six solo voices and instruments; his later Magnificat (1968) was more in the grand manner of the older choral tradition, and was written for performance in St. Paul's Cathedral during a City of London Festival.

His first opera, as in the case of Britten, was his most successful. The librettist for A Dinner Engagement was Paul Dehn, who also co-operated in the later work, The Castaway. In the brilliant writing of Dehn's libretto, Berkeley found the perfect foil. The short—winded, ridiculous plot, and its total lack of innuendo or intricacy, ideally suited Berkeley's style; the result was a highly successful comic opera. The story of the next opera, Ruth, was biblical, with a libretto by Eric Crozier, while The Castaway was an adaptation by Paul Dehn of the Homeric story of the ship—wrecked Odysseus and the princess Nausicaa.

It appears that, just as English composers during the inter-war years responded in a mood of romantic nostalgia to the movements that occurred on the continent of Europe some twenty years previously, so the wistfulness and the elegance that characterised the music of certain French composers in the twenties, of whom we may chiefly mention Poulenc, was reflected—again some twenty years later—in the work of Berkeley.

[britishcomposer]

Thank you so much for the Arnell Canzona and Capriccio, jowcol! 

I wrote about this piece last year but I didn't know that a recording existed!
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1719.msg20827.html

Albion, you saved the piece as 'Canzona and Capriccio for Violin and Strings' in the BMB folder. It is however written for viola and strings!

I just noticed there are two threads to discuss British Music: one called 'British Music' the other 'British Music Discussion'. Is this a deliberate splitting or where should one post replies?

[albion]

Albion, you saved the piece as 'Canzona and Capriccio for Violin and Strings' in the BMB folder. It is however written for viola and strings!

See -

1. http://www.richardarnell.com/worklistr.html

2. http://www.vlncto.net/database.html?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=107&sobi2Id=10973

3. http://copac.ac.uk/search?rn=1&au=arnell&ti=canzona&sort-order=ti%2C-date

4. http://www.kalmus.com/product_detail.php?id=33679

5. http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1719.0.html (!)

etc.

I just noticed there are two threads to discuss British Music: one called 'British Music' the other 'British Music Discussion'. Is this a deliberate splitting or where should one post replies?

This anomaly is not of my creation.

[Holger]

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.

[britishcomposer]

Okay, okay, Albion, you have won! 

Yes, I should have listened first. And, after all, you were so kind to remind me of my own posting...   

[albion]

An excellent choral addition from jowcol -

Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989) - Stabat mater, Op.28 (1946)

Many thanks.

I have added performance details to the catalogue.

[Dundonnell]

Ah...the Berkeley Stabat Mater

Now, this is an interesting upload because the Stabat Mater exists in a number of different versions

(a) The original version(1947) scored for an instrumental ensemble of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, harp, percussion and string quintet.
(b) The composer's 1954 version for the Rural Music Schools Association scored for string quartet, string orchestra and piano
(c) Christopher Headington's rearrangement for full orchestra.
(d) Michael Berkeley's expansion of the string quintet to string orchestra for the 12 May 1978 performance celebrating his father's 75th birthday.

If this is the 1965 Del Mar performance, as Albion has indicated, is it the Headington version

I have a taped recording of the Stabat Mater in Michael Berkeley's arrangement and the only reason why I have not yet uploaded it is that the tape is twisted and I need to work out how to untwist it

[albion]

(c) Christopher Headington's rearrangement for full orchestra.

Do you have a date for Headington's version - presumably a "rearrangement for full orchestra" would entail more than merely beefing up the solo strings to chamber orchestra size?

[Dundonnell]

I don't have a date for the Headington version-none if given in Peter Dickinson's study of the composer. However the Headington version is held in the BBC Music Library, misc.sc.3102.....if that is any help to you in determining a date

Neither the Berkeley website nor his publisher's catalogue help at all

[jowcol]

I've just posted the Piano Concerto by Huw Watkins in the British Music folder-- if it needs to go in a different folder, I trust someone will provide me guidance or an Admin can take care of it.



Wikipedia Entry:

Huw Watkins (born 1976) is a British composer and pianist. Born in South Wales, he studied piano and composition at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, where he received piano lessons from Peter Lawson. He then went on to read Music at Kings College, Cambridge, where he studied composition with Robin Holloway and Alexander Goehr, and completed an MMus in composition at the Royal College of Music, where he studied with Julian Anderson. Huw Watkins was awarded the Constant and Kit Lambert Junior Fellowship at the Royal College of Music, where he is now a Professor of Composition.[1]


Career
In 1999, the Nash Ensemble premiered Watkins' Sonata for Cello and Eight Instruments, which had been commissioned by Faber Music. The review in The Times declared that "at 22, Huw Watkins is already a composer to be reckoned with". The work has since been performed by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group in London, Paris, Copenhagen and Aldeburgh under the direction of Sakari Oramo and Peter Rundel.

In 2000, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales gave the first performance of Watkins' Sinfonietta under Grant Llewellyn, and as a result of the collaboration, a piano concerto was commissioned for the same orchestra. This was given its premiere - with Watkins at the piano - in May 2002, under Martyn Brabbins.

His works include a Nocturne for solo horn and chamber orchestra - first performed and recorded in March 2002 by David Jolley and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra under Mischa Santora; a Cello Sonata, recorded with his brother Paul Watkins for Nimbus Records on a CD of 20th Century British cello music; String Quartet No. 3, written for the Belcea Quartet and premiered at London's Wigmore Hall in 2004.

More recent works include a London Concerto, commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra to mark their centenary in 2005; Rondo for Birmingham Contemporary Music Group; a Nash Ensemble commission celebrating their 40th Anniversary, and a Double Concerto for viola, cello and orchestra premiered at the 2005 BBC Proms. His composition Dream has been released on the Britten Sinfonia own label, on an album entitled Songs of the Sky.

Chamber music has always been central to Watkins' output: in 2001 his String Quartet No. 2 was premiered at the Cheltenham Festival by the Petersen Quartet, and the Brahms Ensemble Hamburg gave the first performance of his Variations on a Schubert Song at the Gstaad Festival. He recorded his Cello Sonata with Paul Watkins for Nimbus Records and premiered Fantasy for viola and piano with Lawrence Power in 2006. His String Quartet No. 3 was written for the Belcea Quartet, who gave its premiere at the Wigmore Hall in February 2004. Also at the same Hall, the Nash Ensemble premiered their commission Gig in 2005, and Alina Ibragimova gave the world premiere of Partita for solo violin. This was broadcast as part of BBC Radio 3's 2006 lunchtime concert series.

Song settings are another area of compositional interest. Watkins' setting for tenor and string quartet of Dylan Thomas' In My Craft or Sullen Art was premiered by Mark Padmore and the Petersen Quartet at the Wigmore Hall in May 2007. Watkins' Three Auden Songs (2009) were commissioned by Mark Padmore. The Five Larkin Songs (2010), which were premiered by Carolyn Sampson, won the Vocal category of the 2011 British Composer Awards.[2]

As a pianist, Huw Watkins is regularly heard on BBC Radio three, both as a soloist and with artists such as Alina Ibragimova, Daniel Hope, Nicholas Daniel and Alexandra Wood. He has given premieres of works by Alexander Goehr, Peter Maxwell Davies and Mark-Anthony Turnage. He has performed concertos with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra of the Swan as well as being the Britten Sinfonia's pianist. He has recorded Thomas Adès' song cycle The Lover in Winter with the countertenor Robin Blaze for EMI Classics, and his recording of contemporary British music for violin and piano with Alexandra Wood was released on Usk in 2005. His most recent recording was of the piano cycle Symmetry Disorders Reach by Alexander Goehr, for Wergo.

Watkins' Violin Concerto was premiered at The Proms on 17 August 2010, performed by Alina Ibragimova, for whom it was written.[3][4]

[Dundonnell]

The Principality of Wales is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. referred to often as simply 'Britain', so there is no issue with including the Watkins in the British folder

The Republic of Ireland is a separate, independent country. There is an Irish Music downloads folder but music written by composers from (southern) Ireland a is also being incorporated by Albion into the British Music Broadcasts folder, presumably on the grounds that the Republic is, geographically, part of the British Isles and, politically, was part of the United Kingdom until 1922 when it became a self-governing Dominion(like Canada or Australia within the British Commonwealth). In 1948 the Republic left the Commonwealth and became a completely separate Republic.

(Here endeth the History lesson )

Also grateful thanks to Latvian for the download of the two Gerard Victory symphonies The 3rd was claimed as his masterpiece(or at least the work he would wish to be remembered by) by the composer himself so it will be very interesting to hear it

[jowcol]

The Principality of Wales is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. referred to often as simply 'Britain', so there is no issue with including the Watkins in the British folder

The Republic of Ireland is a separate, independent country. There is an Irish Music downloads folder but music written by composers from (southern) Ireland a is also being incorporated by Albion into the British Music Broadcasts folder, presumably on the grounds that the Republic is, geographically, part of the British Isles and, politically, was part of the United Kingdom until 1922 when it became a self-governing Dominion(like Canada or Australia within the British Commonwealth). In 1948 the Republic left the Commonwealth and became a completely separate Republic.

(Here endeth the History lesson )

Also grateful thanks to Latvian for the download of the two Gerard Victory symphonies The 3rd was claimed as his masterpiece(or at least the work he would wish to be remembered by) by the composer himself so it will be very interesting to hear it

For the history lesson, I'm a little bit disappointed that you didn't touch on Robert the Bruce, ,pre-Culloden Scotland, or for that matter, the autonomous period of  Lundy when it was offering its own stamps,  but I know you were trying to be brief.   

My confusion was between the British Music Folder and the British Music Broadcasts folder.  If we know something is from a BBC broadcast, should it go into the latter?   This may be obvious-- but I often miss the obvious.

[Dundonnell]

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

[Dundonnell]

The Victory Symphony No.3 is indeed a very impressive piece on first hearing