Charles O'Brien Symphony in F minor

[Alan Howe]

...which is precisely what the O'Brien Symphony won't do! Mark is 100% right.

[eschiss1]

Announced in the latest Records International catalog.

[Mark Thomas]

There is some very attractive music in the two works on this recording. The first thing to say is that although the Overture was written in 1912 and the Symphony ten years later, there is absolutely nothing in either which would have seemed out of place in the 1880s. They are both written in a thoroughly romantic idiom. The Ellangowan Overture is unmistakeably, and refreshingly, Scottish in its colouring - you'll instantly be reminded of Hamish MacCunn's Land of the Mountain and the Flood. The famous Scottish "snap" is everywhere in evidence and O'Brien's orchestration is masterfully atmospheric throughout. He's no mean melodist either - this is most attractive music. It's clear that O'Brien is following some sort of programme, but he doesn't volunteer it beyond the work's title, which is the name of a house in one of Sir Walter Scott's novels. It's undemanding music, but very enjoyable if you want an 18 minute dose of Scottish colour.

At 45 minutes duration, the Symphony is an expansive work and opens with a dramatic and weighty movement, which remains generally upbeat despite some darker passages. O'Brien's orchestration is still colourful, but appropriately is less individual than in the Overture and that also signals that this is a serious work. It reminded me more than once of the vibrancy of Stanford's orchestration, but his melodic material here, whilst still memorable, doesn't somehow have the immediate attraction of that in the Overture. There's a long repeat too which stretches this opening Con moto moderato e serioso to 16 minutes duration - arguably rather too long to maintain its full impact. That said, the drama is really ramped up towards the end of the piece and the final few pages, with alternating strongly contrasting passages from the brass and the rest of the orchestra, is tremendously effective and exciting. O'Brien follows this with an astonishing contrast: a little lightly-scored Menuetto, which is almost balletic in it's dancing character and interrupted by two trios which still maintain the mood. The melting, sustained lyricism of the slow movement (Andante sostenuto e cantabile) reminded me very much of both Tchaikovsky and Elgar. It's delicately scored, with some atmospheric interplay between the woodwinds, and then a lovely interjection from the horns. Altogether it's a very welcome discovery. The finale is a boisterous affair, but not an empty one, and returns us to the fiercely dramatic world of the first movement, but this time it has an edgier quality and some effectively contrasted material. Once again, the closing pages are really exciting.

The notes quote a reviewer criticising the length of the overture by writing: "About the last thing which any composer learns is the fine art of letting things alone, and Mr O'Brien's principal defect is that he has tried to get a little too much into his score." That's certainly fair comment as far as the overture is concerned, and interestingly O'Brien did write a shorter version in parallel with the one we're given here, which would make for an interesting listen. On the whole, despite the Symphony's ambition, O'Brien manages to sustain it's length pretty well, although I do think that the dramatic impact of the first movement would not have suffered from some judicious editing.

The Liepaja Symphony Orchestra are clearly not a large band, but the weight and sonority which they deliver under Paul Mann belie their numbers. The recording itself is first rate and the booklet notes (again, mostly by Mann) are up to Toccata's usual very high standard. All in all, this is a thoroughly recommendable release and we should be grateful to Martin Anderson not only for this recording, but for the other two planned CDs of O'Brien's orchestral music which are promised.

[FBerwald]

Thank you Mark. Most intriguing. Has O'Brien's music been cataloged? Any concertos in his output?

[Mark Thomas]

According to the booklet notes, his other orchestral music consists of:

Berceuse and Mazurka (1898)
Concert Overture: To Spring Op.4 (1905)
Concert Overture: The Minstrel's Curse Op.7 (1904–5)
Suite Humoristique Op.8 (1905)
Scottish Scenes Op.17 (1915)
Four Orchestral Waltzes Op.26 (c. 1924–25)

If I've interpreted the booklet notes correctly all, bar the Berceuse and Mazurka, will be available on the two further CDs planned by Toccata. It doesn't look as if there are any concertos, no.

[eschiss1]

Assuming we're speaking of Charles Henry Fitzgerald O'Brien, there do seem to be some other works- a piano sonata and a clarinet sonata at least (published in 1914 and 1995 - possibly earlier- respectively)- and some arrangements by him.
Saw a mention of "To Spring" as programmed ca.1919 (in a contemporary journal), but will be nice to hear it too.

[Gareth Vaughan]

The Piano Sonata Op. 14 has already been recorded by Toccata: http://www.toccataclassics.com/composer-cds.php?ID=693, as noted earlier in this thread, but not, as yet the clarinet sonata.

[edurban]

Thanks for your description/evaluation, Mark.  Sounds enticing.  Onto the list it goes...

David

[jerfilm]

I certainly agree with Mark.  The Symphony is intriguing and a very nice discovery.  The Overture, on the other hand, has nice melodies but after a few minutes, you feel like you're hearing the same Irish tune again and again.  At least that was my feeling.

A recording well worth exploring

Jerry

[edurban]

Irish tune?

David

[Alan Howe]

'Celtic' covers both...

[jerfilm]

Thanks, Alan.  I didn't say it WAS an Irish tune, I simply said it sounded like one......

Jerry

[Alan Howe]

Quite.

[sdtom]

I received my copy over the weekend but have not yet listened to it enough to make an evaluation. Overall I liked it.
Tom

[Alan Howe]

I'm liking it too. The Symphony is a very nice, strong work, with plenty of 'guts', written in an idiom clearly derived from Stanford/Brahms, but with a (modestly) more modern cut to the melodies and harmonies. There is a particularly fine, stormy climax beginning around the fourteen-minute mark in the first movement, followed by a terrifically exciting coda.

This is just the sort of thing that Martin Anderson/Toccata Classics do really well. An extremely enjoyable discovery: my listening ears are thoroughly refreshed! Thank you!