announced as forthcoming in November - only a download page that I see, no description yet?? - here (http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67839). Not sure I saw a topic about it elsewhere. Brabbins conducting, in their viola concerto series, with Flos campi as the coupling which they've already recorded (an arguable-one-way-the-other choice I suppose.) The McEwen composed 1901 for Tertis.
(1901? I thought the Forsyth- premiered 1903- composed-ok, not sure when- was "considered the first full-scale viola concerto by a British composer." The McEwen lasts about 30 minutes, I think he is or was considered British... ... erm.)
It's a November release on CD...
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/al.asp?al=CDA67839 (http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/al.asp?al=CDA67839)
Yay! hope the Viola Concerto is as good as his String Quartets that were also recorded by Hyperion..
IMHO it's not a great work - but anything by McEwen is of real interest.
I agree with the above. For years I longed to hear McEwen's Viola Concerto and thought Chandos were the best bet for releasing it. Having heard it last year and listened to it several times since I was disappointed, largely because it was unexpectedly romantic and not what I was expecting from McEwen based on my knowledge of the Chandos CDs (orchestral and chamber music) and knowing McEwen's later Viola Sonata from a recording I obtained from the Scottish Music information Centre many years ago.
I think it may have been the first Viola Concerto written for Tertis and first performed in 1901. It is a big boned romantic work wholly lacking in the impressionistic, or Scottish snap, one associates with McEwen's later music, hence my disappointment. However, based on the type of romantic music that many other people on this blog seem to enjoy, I think it could create a favourable impression. It is certainly a virtuosic piece and well orchestrated. It compares favourably with other romantic Viola Concertos such as the Bowen.
Its coupling with the Vaughan Williams' Viola works which, so far as I am aware, have never previously been coupled together on CD or LP, suggests it may have been partially sponsored by the VW Trust who sponsored the Chandos McEwen chamber music CDs.
Notwithstanding my reservations, I will purchase the Hyperion CD and well done to Hyperion for rescuing this historic piece by a very fine composer for a modern recording.
Yes, it sounds right up my ultra-romantic street.
Although I'm glad to have the McEwen, I'm not greatly taken with it in all honesty. A dramatic opening doesn't seem to me to be fulfilled by the remainder of the movement, the 'slow' movement strikes me as charming but inconsequential, and the finale seems to meander all over the place before the composer draws the threads together. A nice enough listen, but I can't see violists queuing up to perform this...
That's disappointing to hear :(
I shall order the cd anyway :)
You may well like it better than I. I listened to it after auditioning the magnificent new Widor CD on Hyperion, which may have been a mistake...
The Vaughan Williams couplings are really good in sound quality. The Flos Campi is better quality than the earlier Hyperion version and the Suite made a bigger impact on me than the earlier Chandos version which I've had for years.
The McEwen recording is good quality but I still prefer his later and much more modest Viola Sonata which, to me, is musically more memorable.
Subject to moderator approval, McEwen's Viola Sonata will appear on the British Music Broadcasts downloads page soon together with 4 other McEwen pieces not commercially available. This will enable a comparison to be made with the Viola Concerto. The Sonata was composed in 1941 40 years after the Concerto.
I have to disagree with a lot of people and say I really like the new viola concerto. The central 'grazioso' movement is a welcome change from the endless central slow movements of string concertos everywhere or the fast ones of Walton's works in these genres. Very pleased to have this, plus the Vaughan Williams ones, which are always welcome.
Where in that continuum would you characterize the central panel of Rubbra's viola concerto, out of curiosity? :)
This thread's about McEwen, Eric. Just a gentle reminder...
Ok- had gotten the impression (http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1681.msg20280.html#msg20280) that thread drift rule interpretation and enforcement had been relaxed somewhat. Thanks, clarity is appreciated.
We're all guilty from time to time of 'topic drift' (myself included), but recent communications to me from forum members have indicated...
1. that there is frustration when topics get hijacked - after all, members have the opportunity to start a new thread if they wish;
2. that incessant 'jokiness' can also be very off-putting.
There's a chance to hear the new Hyperion disc assessed on CD Review (Radio 3) tomorrow around 10.30.
:)
I have just downloaded the McEwen Viola Concerto and I am so delighted by it I wanted to tell someone. Possibly some of the lukewarm reception it has received on this Forum is because listeners were expecting a more Impressionistic and Scottish folk influenced sound like the Solway Symphony, however the Viola Concerto is from early on in McEwen's career. The sound world is Romantic, but not the kind of Romantic music that takes itself too seriously, after the pugnacious C minor start the first movement calms down to a quiet C major ending and thereafter the concerto is humorously contented with its lot. I found the characterisation of the central movement by the Liner Notes as 'fairy music' a little odd, these must be substantial fairies! It seems to me more of an Intermezzo in the manner of some of the inner movements of Brahms' sonatas and symphonies. I did wonder if the orchestra had fully comprehended some of the intricate interplay in this movement, at times the entwined musical lines don't quite meet up as phrase follows phrase. That is to be hypercritical, the overall standard of playing is highly professional. Despite there being no obvious Scottish influence the main theme of the finale does sound very British to me although I am struggling to discern why.
I find this a dramatic, melodic and well constructed piece of music idiomatically written for viola and orchestra, and more to the point, I find very emotionally engaging.
Thanks for the recommendation. I'm keen to hear anything by Scotland's greatest composer (when I suggest this people often seem sceptical but then can't think of a plausible alternative). In their string quartet cycle the Chillies unaccountably omitted the 7-movement Nugae from 1917 (SQ No.5 in New Grove) so I put a rendition on imslp, just for tasters.
I echo Matesic's thanks - this work had completely passed me by. It's now safely bedding down on my hard disk!
I was surprised when I realized that the Solway Symphony was his 5th. Does anyone have any idea about his other symphonies or perhaps other concertos. Sadly I can't find a work list of this composer.
Did the Chilingirian Quartet finish their cycle? I'm not sure they did. In 3 volumes they recorded 10 of 17 (plus 2 unnumbered, apparently) quartets- was there a 4th volume?... (or are fully _nine_ of the 17+2 quartets missing? Ow.) (Yes, I know it's been 14 years since volume 3. ... ... Hrm.)
Maybe they intended to save Nugae for a disc that never did get released?
Also, one of the other symphonies (A minor, 1895-99) exists in a modern edition (see http://hdl.handle.net/1842/7703 (http://hdl.handle.net/1842/7703). See the downloadable PDF on the left side of the page, too.) It contains a partial list of compositions on page 25 (as listed by the composer from an inventory of manuscripts sent, not meant to be a full list, but still intriguing.)
Wikipedia lists over 100 works but just one other symphony (the A minor). Goodness knows what else remains to be discovered. Any Scots reading this post..?
btw the symphony in A minor relates to the string quartet of 1895/99, if that's not already known to fans of the composer... (but originally had a 5th movement, discarded, which became "Coronach".)
Also Manuscript collection list (all items linked with McEwen found @ U Glasgow) (http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/manuscripts/search/results_n.cfm?NID=3922&RID=&Y1=&Y2=).
I tweeted them a question. Hrm. Now it occurs to me that maybe this wasn't the best time, since--well- are they even playing now given that they may be in the process of choosing a new cellist, or...?? ... I don't know :(..
As to the viola concerto (sorry!!!! :( ), does it seem a work that will be recorded again or just the once on Hyperion?...
To return to the Viola Concerto: I was hoping to revise my previous lukewarm opinion....but no, I still find the piece promises far more than it delivers. Which, I'm sorry to report, I find the case with most of McEwen's music. I'd say the best Scottish composer was probably born later than those covered by UC's remit. It's definitely not McEwen!
FWIW, I'd say the best piece of romantic Scottish music is Hamish MacCunn's The Land of the Mountain and the Flood. I can hear it my mind's ear as I type...
A question that could get its own topic though only if people remember "reasons, reasons!!" or similar. (And does Eugen d'Albert count for this nationality? In the event, a quick look at the lists on Wikipedia suggest that the competition probably isn't -that- thin, even with "flourished-in-a-reasonable-range-of-1915-or-earlier" or such. Even if I still wish for the days when we still allowed discussion of William Brocklesby Wordsworth, e.g., here.)
I didn't spot any more symphonies in the U.of Glasgow manuscript collection, which may be all that survives of his unpublished works (quite enough I should think!). So why should he designate Solway No. 5? I suspect it could have been his publisher's idea.
QuoteI still find the piece promises far more than it delivers
Oh really? I thought it a surprisingly strong and well put together work on first hearing, but maybe that initial impression will be revised downward as time goes by.
Think of that magnificent opening, Mark: where does it all go? After a few minutes, the whole momentum has dissipated. It is, of course, an early-ish work. Not a patch on his Solway Symphony which has much greater coherence and purpose.
I haven't heard the concerto, but I was checking to see if his Viola Sonata also had a magnificent opening and quickly dissipated. It doesn't, and it's utterly beautiful and always engaging, but then I suppose that like the Symphony it's a much later work.
I think David Hurwitz - on this occasion - gets the Viola Concerto about right:
John McEwen's Viola Concerto, which dates from the early years of the 20th century, falls very much into the Parry/Stanford English conservative romantic school. It's quite substantial, lasting longer than half an hour, and like so many late-romantic concertos it has a completely dysfunctional first movement in which several attractive ideas, including a main theme in a quasi-Habanera rhythm, follow one another with scant regard for why anything happens before (or after) anything else. If we ignore this problem the music is thoroughly enjoyable, and McEwen has no issues in dealing with the formally simpler slow movement and finale, which are touching and lots of fun, respectively. Once again, it would be difficult to imagine more persuasive advocacy than the music receives here from both soloist and conductor.
https://www.classicstoday.com/review/vaughan-williams-and-mcewen-works-for-viola-orchestra/?search=1 (https://www.classicstoday.com/review/vaughan-williams-and-mcewen-works-for-viola-orchestra/?search=1)
McEwen's mature music is quite different. One can hear the influence of Wagner, Sibelius, the Russian nationalists, Scriabin and others. Particularly magnificent - and in a quite different league to the Viola Concerto - are the Three Border Ballads, especially Grey Galloway (1908 - the last of the three to be written). Try the superlative recording on Chandos: https://www.amazon.co.uk/McEwen-Border-Ballads-Sir-John/dp/B000000ATT/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1533803678&sr=1-3&keywords=McEwen (https://www.amazon.co.uk/McEwen-Border-Ballads-Sir-John/dp/B000000ATT/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1533803678&sr=1-3&keywords=McEwen)
Perhaps McEwen has claims to national greatness after all...
Ah! Its always disappointing when others don't share your enthusiasm! I will add this then give up. Being disappointed the McEwen Viola Concerto isn't impressionistic or overtly 'Scottish' is like heading into the baker's and complaining they don't sell sausages. The music has it's own qualities. I also think it is difficult to follow the dramatic narrative of movements that start in one character and key and end in another character and key, like the first movement of the viola concerto. The drama of the opening is not dissipated it is transformed, from pugnacious energy to wistful poetry. It reminds me a little of the first movement of Parry's E minor symphony which has a similar dramatic narrative.
And the Habanera rhythm? Could that not in fact be a Scotch snap?
QuoteBeing disappointed the McEwen Viola Concerto isn't impressionistic or overtly 'Scottish' is like heading into the baker's and complaining they don't sell sausages.
I think it's more like heading into the baker's and complaining that their rolls are half baked...
It's not that I think the Viola Concerto's a bad piece - it isn't - and I rather like it. I just think that McEwen composed better pieces a little later, when he'd found his true voice. Do try them if you don't know them...
I just surprised myself with his Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity - not at all Christmassy until the final chorus (in fact I was rather glad not to be able to make out much of the text) but absolutely thrilling in places. Just the faintest touch of Gerontius, more than a touch of Verdi's Requiem and I even thought I heard a pre-echo of Belshazzar's Feast, written in 1906! All three of Alasdair Mitchell's Chandos CDs can be heard on youtube, as well as NML.
I do agree with Alan about the merits of the Three Border Ballads, which really are very fine, but I haven't come across McEwen's Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity either, which I really must try, too. I have just been enjoying, rather to my surprise, Dyson's Choral Symphony (the recent Naxos release), so perhaps I'm ready for it now.
I will try to have more of a listen than before to the recorded string quartets (from both before and after the viola concerto; they seem to cover his whole career, unsurprisingly). No response from the Chilingirians yet, but I suspect that even if they answer such questions over Twitter ever at all, I chose a bad time...