British Music

[semloh]

.... I inadvertently numbered a second copy of the finale as the first movement before uploading the work. .......

It's still a fine piece to listen to, Mark .... and I'm enjoying it regardless! 

[jowcol]

jowcol, regarding the Hoddinott Taliesin.... for which many thanks  .... is this the BBC National Orchestra of Wales?

The names seem to change so often that I can't keep track, so it may not be! I wonder what was wrong with "the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra" as a name.

In any case, at least the word "Orchestra" is retained! Here, the great symphony orchestras have had the word dropped from their titles, so we now have "the Sydney Symphony" ...... crazy. We have accepted for over a century that a symphony is a musical composition, not a group of musicians. I hate all this name changing, just to be considered fashionable or''cool' or 'hip' or 'PC' - or whatever it is nowadays.

I pulled the orchestra name from here: http://www.musicweb-international.com/SandH/2009/Jul-Dec09/swansea1010.htm

If there is a consensus about the proper name, I'll gladly post a change.   I'll try very hard not to quote the different political factions from Monty Python's the Life of Brian.

[oleander55]

Re:  Brian 21st repair

Hooray, John!  Great work... and what's even better, it keeps me from thinking I should be attempting it!   

[Dundonnell]

The correct name is the B.B.C. National Orchestra of Wales. It has had that name since 1993. Before that it was the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra.

The change was made to emphasise that the orchestra is the Principality's "national" orchestra.

No such change would have been appropriate for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra because of the existence of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra

[JimL]

Yes, I am covered in shame!

I have a towel.  Well, it's actually a washcloth.  OK, it's really a napkin, but it's VERY absorbent! 

[semloh]

The correct name is the B.B.C. National Orchestra of Wales. It has had that name since 1993. Before that it was the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra.

The change was made to emphasise that the orchestra is the Principality's "national" orchestra.

No such change would have been appropriate for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra because of the existence of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Thanks for the clarification, Colin.

It suggests an inferiority complex to me, but then I'm an old-fashioned chap who believed in the unity of the United Kingdom.... but that's another forum! 

[Richard Moss]

Mark,

Re your v. recent upload for Radio 3 English Festival; can you please clarify the composer's full name for the CURTIS - Festival Overture piece.  The BBC Radio 3 listing doesn't give any more information either and not being a fully-fledged cognescenti, I haven't come across this composer before.

Many thanks

Richard

[albion]

The composer is Matthew Curtis (b.1959) and Festival Overture was specially written for the EMF in 2008.

From musicweb -

Matthew Curtis, born in 1959 and educated at Worcester College, Oxford but self-taught in a musical sense. During the 1980s he began writing a succession of shortish pieces which in their fluent, lyrical melody and neat, professional scoring are firmly in the best traditions of British light music. Some, perhaps all, of them would have sounded perfectly in keeping with the great days of light music between the wars. Fiesta (1984) sounds similar to a piece such as Coates' The Merrymakers Overture. Romanza (1982), beautifully written for strings and with a melting solo for oboe in the middle, Autumn Song (1995) - the solo here is for the viola, a suitably autumnal instrument - and Pas de Deux (1981) all have big romantic tunes and may have been inspired, consciously or unconsciously, by Elgar's lighter music. Curtis's feeling for rhythm is exemplified by the Scherzo Capriccioso of 1985 and the Festive March (1982), the latter piece almost a challenge to Coates' marches. Interlude (1982) is a pretty imagination with a lovely violin solo and somewhat longer than many British light intermezzi; the main theme of Rondo Brillante (1985) has something of a Spanish feel to it and Spanish colour is, of course, something purveyed by many British light music figures, most notably Frederick Curzon. Several of Curtis's works have been pioneered in Yorkshire by the Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra: Suite for Orchestra, the overture An Improbable Centenary (1990), Amsterdam Suite, Divertimento for Orchestra and The Open Road (1997). The first two were specifically written for the SPO. Curtis's music shows many influences, but most particularly that of late nineteenth century French composers such as Délibes and Massenet. Curtis has also composed a number of shortish choral pieces. His music deserves a wider hearing.

[Sicmu]

And this is a short unidentified orchestral piece from my own collection.
The recording is about 15 years ago from Dutch Radio 4.
It sounded quite interesting and so I pressed the record button.
Unfortunately I had to leave the room before the end and the tape ran out. Therefore I missed the closing announcements.

I suppose this is a commercial recording but it's uncomplete and in a bad condition, so I thought I may risk to upload it.
I will of course remove it as soon as it has been identified.

This is the Intrata of Constant Lambert's "Summer's Last Will and Testament" (his masterpiece IMO) and probably the Hyperion recording

[semloh]

Atsushi - The English Music Festival is absolutely wonderful! And brilliantly recorded. A thousand thanks.  I will be enjoying this for years to come.

The VW Fantasia is a sweet thing indeed - and its composer not immediately obvious. The Moeran/Yates Symphony is glorious... 

[Dundonnell]

I very much like the VW Fantasia too

[Jimfin]

I'm so sorry, I posted the same question about Curtis, before seeing this, and, to make it worse, posted it in the 'other' British Music thread, where we're not supposed to. Sorry!

[lechner1110]

 

Atsushi - The English Music Festival is absolutely wonderful! And brilliantly recorded. A thousand thanks.  I will be enjoying this for years to come.

The VW Fantasia is a sweet thing indeed - and its composer not immediately obvious. The Moeran/Yates Symphony is glorious... 

  It's my pleasure
  In fact, I have many things to listen in this weekend, so I didn't listen this concert yet.  But I'm sure they are fine music and performance

[John Whitmore]

The correct name is the B.B.C. National Orchestra of Wales. It has had that name since 1993. Before that it was the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra.

The change was made to emphasise that the orchestra is the Principality's "national" orchestra.

No such change would have been appropriate for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra because of the existence of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Thanks for the clarification, Colin.

It suggests an inferiority complex to me, but then I'm an old-fashioned chap who believed in the unity of the United Kingdom.... but that's another forum! 

I think it's a rebranding job and an attempt to distance the current excellence of the Welsh Orchestra from it's very shoddy state when it was the BBC Welsh. Do you remember how dreadful they were sometimes? Some of their broadcasts were horrendous.Things have moved on - they are a very good orchestra now and more than a match for many an English regional orchestra. 

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

In 1995 the BBC National Orchestra was in Amsterdam for the Mahler Festival, conducted by Mark Wrigglesworth. I can still remember the flute solo from the Finale of the Tenth, which was heart-rendingly well-played.

Oh, and John - you did an excellent job on the Brian 21!