Joseph Holbrooke on CPO

[Ilja]

Yes, I don't think this is a question of who influenced whom; but the use of dance rhythms by "art composers" in the 1920s is interesting nonetheless. It might be a question of wanting to incorporate elements of jazz, popular at the time and considered to be a much more "rebellious" form of music. Van Gilse's concerto is very jazzy, as is for instance Eduard Künneke's.

[Gareth Vaughan]

You are quite right, Ilja, But Joseph was always interested in dance and "light" music and I really do think it stemmed from his (or rather his father's) Music Hall background. You can hear it in some of the rather "louche" chromatic harmonies in his more serious works (e.g. the Piano Concerto "Song of Gwyn ap Nudd").

[semloh]

Thanks, Gareth - interesting insights. I'll be listening with refreshed ears!

[Jimfin]

Holbrooke definitely had a love of the popular. All those variations on extremely well-known and easy tunes like Three Blind Mice, Auld Lang Syne and of course the Ships Finale (I have an earworm of 'We'll go no more a-rovin'" now. I suppose he was more the Cockney Mahler than Wagner.

[Alan Howe]

I admire Holbrooke immensely for his sense of mastery, but his 3rd Symphony doesn't really do much for me - the humour's a bit too 'laid on'. However, The Birds of Rhiannon is something else. It is absolutely superb, beautifully written for the orchestra and quite unforgettable in its sense of mystery.

We must be exceedingly grateful to cpo for giving us so much Holbrooke to enjoy - particularly in such committed and well-prepared performances as we have here.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I'm not sure I understand your remark, Alan, about the humour in "Ships" - I don't think there is (or is meant to be) any. There is humour in the Variations on "The Girl I Left Behind Me" and if you found that too 'laid on', I concede you might not be far off the mark. Josef was not always known for his subtlety. What stands out for me, among other things, in both "Ships" and the Variations ("The Birds of Rhiannon" too, of course) is the magnificently imaginative and effective orchestration - undoubtedly Holbrooke's forte IMHO.

[Gareth Vaughan]

How many of his 9 ... symphonies survive in performable form, by the way?

Mea maxima culpa, Eric. I never answered your question from months back. Nos. 1-7 exist in full scores and parts (mostly MSS); No. 8, as I explained, exists only in a 2-piano score, but could be orchestrated without too much difficulty - and, in any case, is really a piano concerto; No. 9 "Milton", supposedly a choral symphony, does not seem to exist (if, indeed, it ever did!) - there was also supposed to be another choral symphony, "Blake", which Josef never finished and which has apparently disappeared; there is, however, a late "Symphonietta in D major" for winds and brass, Op. 111, which seems to have been written about the same time as No. 8, the score and parts for which are extant.

I hope this helps.

[Alan Howe]

I suppose what I meant, Gareth, in my ham-fisted way, was that the finale of 'Ships' occasionally put me in mind of Henry Wood's Fantasia on British Sea Songs. Of course, Holbrooke is many times more sophisticated than Wood, but the thought remains...

Sorry! My fault, I know. And the virtuosity of the orchestral writing is absolutely mind-blowing...

[Gareth Vaughan]

I quite understand, Alan. I never think of you as 'ham fisted'!

[Alan Howe]

I didn't express myself very clearly, though.

My goodness, didn't Holbrooke know how to handle the orchestra...

[semloh]

As a trivial aside, The Birds of Rhiannon was premiered in 1923 at Hastings Pier! Such a humble venue for such a great work.

[eschiss1]

OOC, I think the cpo recording of Ships has since come out- any opinions?