Arnold van Wyk

[kolaboy]

This afternoon, whilst doing a bit of painting, I put a disc of Wyk's music that I'd bought back in 1990 - and promptly lost, until recently . It contains his Symphonies 1 & 2 as well as the sprawling tone poem Primavera, and though I remembered that I had enjoyed the pieces way back then I'd forgotten just how engaging AVW can be - especially in his large scale works. I also have a disc of his chamber music which I haven't returned to very often. I feel personally that he's best on a large canvas. So little of his music has been recorded that it's difficult to gauge his strengths with any accuracy...

[eschiss1]

there's been at least these recordings of his works according to Worldcat, counting some radio transcription recordings and not counting some tapes they also list-

1. Chamber Music (5 elegies (1947), string quartet, duo concertante (1962-76)) (1993)
2. Orchestral Music (1990, GSE) (symphony 1 (1941-1943, prem. Cheltenham?), symphony 2 (1952?), Primavera (1960))
3. Missa in illo tempore (1979) (Gallo? rec. ca. 1980?)
4.Drie improwisasies op Nederlandse volkswysies (on an EMI LP ca.1960)
5. "Nagmusiek" (1988 CD, SAUK Radiobemarking)
6. several songs (Decca, 1960?)

[kolaboy]

Oh, I've not heard any of his songs. Definitely need to track that lp down...

[britishcomposer]

Strange!!! The same day that you started this thread, kolaboy, I planned to make a van Wyk topic myself! 
Just wanted to know if any of you have heard his music and can tell me a bit about it. I didn't know that both symphonies had been commercially recorded. Still available via amazon though too expensive for me at the moment. I will keep watching that space though!
The Musical Times published a fine introductory article about van Wyk in the December 2008 issue.

[kolaboy]

Strange!!! The same day that you started this thread, kolaboy, I planned to make a van Wyk topic myself! 
Just wanted to know if any of you have heard his music and can tell me a bit about it. I didn't know that both symphonies had been commercially recorded. Still available via amazon though too expensive for me at the moment. I will keep watching that space though!
The Musical Times published a fine introductory article about van Wyk in the December 2008 issue.

Great minds. eh? 

I love his orchestral works - the ones that I've heard, at any rate. Primavera is a very outgoing piece. Quite lyrical, with even a few jazzy touches here and there. I also discern the influence of Holst and Vaughan-Williams in places, though more so in the symphonies. Harmonically he can be quite bold, but he never strays far from tonality's neighborhood (nice neighborhood).

The chamber music... well, I've had the disc (Claremont CD GSE 1525) for twenty years and have listened to it twice. It may just be a matter of personal taste, but his outings in the chamber genre did not leave me with any great longing to return.

I would whole-heartedly recommend the orchestra pieces, however.