Australian Music

[eschiss1]

I was able to download the 2nd movement of symphony 9 but it was very slow...

[Mark Thomas]

MediaFire has obviously been having a senior moment. I have no idea where the Second Symphony's first movement went or why the Ninth's second movement wouldn't download properly. Anyway, I have uploaded replacement movements in each case and all seems fine now. Do let me know if that isn't the case. The links given in the Downloads Board remain the same.

[Dundonnell]

Thanks very much!

Problems solved

[eschiss1]

Hrm. I see that the BBC recorded Goossens' phantasy concerto op.63 for violin at some point (unclear- it became a Chester promotional CD, can't work out the date)... (I'd hoped to find listed too a recording of his 2nd string quartet though maybe Australian Radio recorded that at some point. Or maybe there's a commercial recording of it that I've missed or know of but have forgotten about ) Anyone have this perchance and would it be legal to upload ? ...

[semloh]

Sorry eschiss1 - all I have is the 3-CD set from ABC. Do you particularly like Goossens'music?

I must say that although I really don't care much for his symphonies, the other works - such as the Variations on a Chinese Theme, Kaleidoscope, and the Concertino - are are quite engaging. Although I have no knowledge of the intricacies of musical composition, he strikes me as a technically expert composer, the orchestration always sounds ideal, and his string writing seems especially good. I think the Concertino stands up well alongside similar works by British composers like Bridge and Finzi.

[eschiss1]

don't know it all that well, though a look at the 2nd quartet in score back in college intrigued greatly.

[Dundonnell]

Can I raise the name of Malcolm Williamson?

Chandos launched a Williamson series with the Iceland Symphony Orchesrra under Ramon Gamba but, after two releases(optimistically headed Volumes I and II), seem to have aborted it.

Symphony No.2(1969)
Symphony No.3 "The Icy Mirror" for soprano, mezzo-soprano, two baritones, chorus and orchestra(1972; Cheltenham Festival)
Symphony No.4 "Jubilee"(1977)-the work which, notoriously, the composer delivered too late for the Queen's Jubilee and never performed
Symphony No.6(1982)-the massive work written for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's orchestras

...have not been recorded.

Nor, of course, has Williamson's huge Mass of Christ the King

I wonder...surely someone in Australia must have at least recorded Symphony No.6?

[eschiss1]

Hrm. Symphony 1 has been recorded twice, but - good question.

BBC has tapes of George Hurst's recording of the 2nd symphony (broadcast April 7 1970), Del Mar's of the 5th (broadcast January 6 1982).

[semloh]

I think it's fair to say that the music of Malcolm Williamson is almost unknown here in Australia, Dundonnell, apart from the suite from Our Man in Havana. The ABC has no doubt broadcast them at some time, but I don't recall hearing any of his symphonies.

Apart from the first Chandos CD, I have only his 5th Sym. - a r2r tape recording of the BBC R3 broadcast of 1982 mentioned by eschiss1.... no idea if/when I would be able to get it digitized. 
I do hope someone has something to share.

[eschiss1]

My alma mater has a score of the 5th symphony (it's also in New Jersey, nowhere near me) and LPs and CDs of a few chamber works and concertante works (2-piano concerto, organ concerto, violin concerto, e.g.) of his. I checked since I was fairly sure it was in their open stacks I first heard of his music (not a viola concerto- that was probably an alphabetically nearby composer ). (Actually, the library of my ex-grad-school, which -is- just up the street, also has sym. 5 in score, and syms. 1 and 2 too, now I check. Hrm.)

[Dundonnell]

Chandos recorded Symphonies Nos. 1 and 5 in their 2 Volume "Series"

[eschiss1]

and symphony 1 was recorded on Argo, I think, years before. I am guessing that this impression I had that symphony 7 was recorded at some point is illusory...

[Dundonnell]

and symphony 1 was recorded on Argo, I think, years before. I am guessing that this impression I had that symphony 7 was recorded at some point is illusory...

No...Symphony No.7 IS available on cd

[JollyRoger]

How long does the Hughes symphony last? According to the scanned materials there are 2 symphonies in the recording but no durations are  listed..
Please clarify

Thanks

[Dundonnell]

Three works by Malcolm Williamson will be uploaded shortly:

Piano Concerto No.2 (for piano and strings: 1960) in a performance in which the composer is the soloist. The work is not available on cd.

Serenade and Aubade for strings(two movements from his Symphonic Variations of 1965): authorised as a separate work.

Hammarskjold Portrait for soprano and strings(1974) sung by April Cantelo and not otherwise available.

Hard to be sure whether works by Williamson should go here. Arthur Benjamin seems to have become an honorary Englishman