RPC Vol. 54

[Revilod]

Volume 54 will be included in the discussion of new releases on tomorrow's edition of CD Review (11.00 Radio 3) - I wonder if it will find favour ...

Well, they were very enthusiastic...especially about  Cowen's "Concertstuck" and Somervell's "Highland Concerto" but surely Cowen's piece isn't "Brahmsian" as they said.  The piano writing is very much in the tradition of Liszt/Saint-Saens and the orchestration doesn't sound remotely like Brahms. Cowen was, apparently, famed for his light touch as an orchestrator and the "Concertsuck" is full of colourful effects (e.g. those little harp touches) which aren't really part of Brahms' style.  The melodic material isn't Brahmsian either. It's just too quirky! Could anyone confuse Cowen's piece with a Brahms Piano Concerto? Isn't the word "Brahmsian"  carelessly used?

[Gareth Vaughan]

Isn't the word "Brahmsian"  carelessly used?

I agree completely - far too carelessly used. There is very little (at least, that I can hear) Brahmsian about Cowen's Concertstuck. I'm afraid many reviewers (and I include here, many whom I respect) just don't seem to listen properly and seriously when it comes to non-mainstream repertoire. One suspects they bring to it the prejudice that it's not worth taking seriously so why give it proper attention?!  Sorry to be so cynical.

[Dundonnell]

Just realised that this post, added to the thread about F.H. Cowen, should better have been placed here:

"I listened today -in the car actually- to the new Hyperion coupling of the Cowen Piano Concertstuck and the Somervell Piano Concerto 'Highland' and Normandy Variations.

I am always (I hope )  more than happy to admit when I am wrong about music I confess to expecting some subfusc, sepia-tintented, cobwebbed relics from the tailend of the 19th century/beginning of the 20th which would confirm my expectations.

I was more than pleasantly surprised, indeed delighted to hear three such vibrant, tuneful and such confident pieces. Had tremendous fun listening to them and found myself tapping along on the steering-wheel(wretched bad practice, I know ), particularly to the Highland Concerto. (Helps being Scottish myself, I suppose "

[albion]

Yes, I was (strangely enough) more than pleased to hear that the reviewers were greatly taken with Cowen's effervescent Concertstuck, and I also agree that some of the comments were a little off-beam as regards listener-orientation (certainly no Brahmsian intellectualism here, thank you very much).

However, they did rightly pick up on the individuality of the style - "couldn't possibly be German", etc. - to our satiated ears, an amalgam of Saint-Saens, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak (i.e. the prevailing melodic and harmonic idiom of the 1880s-1890s), but handled in such a fresh and attractive way that really is Cowen's own (as greater exposure to his best music will show).

I also agree that Somervell's Highland Conceto is more immediately appealing that his Normandy Variations, but I nevertheless felt that they were more than a little harsh on the latter piece, which repays repeated listening to appreciate just how skilfully it is constructed.

All in all, a very positive response which will have (no doubt) encouraged many listeners to purchase the recording.

[Revilod]

Actually, to be fair, on listening again, the word "Brahmsian" wasn't used although Brahms was described as "clearly the man for people like Cowen" and, in the "Concertstuck", "you hear a bit of Brahms". Contradicting this, though, "it couldn't be German;it's definitely English". Tchaikovsky and Dvorak are also mentioned but, curiously, not Liszt. (If anything, it's the "Normandy" Variations which show the influence of Brahms.)

The main thing is that, concerning Cowen's piece, "you hear a lot of something quite fresh" and it's "a very, very fine piece indeed". A slightly confused review, then, but certainly an enthusiastic one and that's the main thing!

[Alan Howe]

As with the reviews of Rufinatscha 6, when a genuinely good unsung piece comes along the reviewers are often stumped. Unsung music, it appears, has to be defined in terms of the known repertoire instead of being heard first and foremost on its own terms. After all, if it's unsung, it must be derivative, mustn't it?

[JimL]

As with the reviews of Rufinatscha 6, when a genuinely good unsung piece comes along the reviewers are often stumped. Unsung music, it appears, has to be defined in terms of the known repertoire instead of being heard first and foremost on its own terms. After all, if it's unsung, it must be derivative, mustn't it?

Do you think that perhaps it's because the "great" composers are such cultural icons that they have evolved into adjectives?

[eschiss1]

or concepts, and I think only sometimes well-understood ones at that (Brahms at his best and most Brahmsian does not sound "Brahmsian" and they can chew on that until they understand that if ever they do)- a byproduct of our being concept/tool-using creatures, ok, but...

[markniew]

following the earlier post on more or less possible upcoming inputs to the RPC series
all interested can find the link to the Piano Concerto by Wladyslaw Zelenski - in the download section/Polish Symphonics.

[Alan Howe]

Well, the Concertstück is certainly the best major piece by Cowen that I have heard so far - and by some distance. I wouldn't call it earth-shattering or particularly original, but it is what it is - a thoroughly engaging, well-crafted, colourful piece that certainly deserves an occasional public airing. Bravo to Hyperion for recording it!

[alberto]

I own, with satisfaction, the CD since about ten days and, through the forum, I could read in advance a lot about the three works performed.
Therefore I was disappointed to read in November BBC Music (available to me today) a review (pag.99 "Brief notes"), albeit positive, of the size of a stamp, long as a cheap telegram.

[Alan Howe]

Unfortunately, that's an example of the dumbing down of journalism in this field. It has happened (to a lesser extent) to the Gramophone magazine too. Reviews the size of a postage stamp are worse than useless...

[albion]

I was disappointed to read in November BBC Music (available to me today) a review (pag.99 "Brief notes"), albeit positive, of the size of a stamp, long as a cheap telegram.

I gave up on that tuppence-coloured rag (along with Gramophone) several years ago. Now I only get International Record Review or read reviews on informed sites such as Musicweb, Unsung Composers (or Amazon!).

[albion]

There is an enthusiastic review of RPC 54 today on musicweb (by John France )- http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Oct11/Somervell_Cowen_CDA67837.htm

[alberto]

On the March release of the French review Diapason (page.100) there is a substantial review (no "brief notes") about the Cowen-Somervell recording. Works and performances get high (if not quite full) marks. The composers get space enough to be put on the British (if not world) musical map, in order to allow the possibly unaware French reader (or reader in French) to understand. BTW one or two months ago "Diapason" dedicated a substantial appreciative review to Hyperion Brian Gothic Symphony (even if not so enthusiatic, detailed and well argued like the later one on "Classica").
I would say that since at least 10-20 years British Music of, say, years 1880-1950 is almost never object of condiscendence by the main French reviews. I would say that no one on those magazines has doubts about the worth of at least Britten, Elgar, Delius, Tippett, Vaughan Williams, Bax, Walton. I have read a lot of praising reviews about, let'say, Bridge, Holst, Scott, Brian, Stanford, Parry, Holbrooke, Bowen, Bliss, Ireland, Finzi, Warlock....the list could go on.