Hyperion are to record Eric Chisholm's two piano concertos in their RPC series, according to an article on Chisholm's piano music in this month's IRR. The soloist will be Danny Driver.
Absolutely great! Having very much enjoyed the Dutton recordings of Chisholm's Ossian and Pictures of Dante, this will be in my shopping list for sure. Are these concertos recorded before? I seem to remember a topic on this forum mentioning something about it.
Morten
I'll admit to total ignorance of Chisholm's music, barring the clips which appear on the Eric Chisholm site, but is his idiom really romantic in any way?
The first concerto has been recorded before - http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com/db/CART/product_details.php?product_id=3821 (http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com/db/CART/product_details.php?product_id=3821), but the second hasn't.
From the website of the Erik Chisholm Trust:
The Piobaireachd Concerto [No.1]: First performed in 1935 with the composer at the piano. Quotes from reviews of early performances show it was very well received.
"Erik Chisholm as a composer has never been at a loss for ideas and the score of the concerto is marked by steady application on the part of all concerned. Interest is properly shared by orchestra and soloist, the ideas are often happily treated and variety of colour and effect has been carefully provided. The Scherzo worked up towards the close to a brilliant climax. The finale also finished brilliantly and included plenty of vivacity" Glasgow News, 1935.
"Undoubtedly one of the most ambitious attempts at a large scale work in a Scottish idiom from the pen of a native composer. Of Erik Chisholm's originality there can be no question. The concerto is no mere stringing together of snatches of idiomatic Scottish phrases, but a skilful piece of workmanship in which the resources of the full orchestra and the solo instrument are well exploited" Evening Times, 1940.
"The concerto was full of Scottish character. The composer himself played the solo part in brilliant style" The Scotsman.
It took 60 years for this work to return to the concert platform. Read in Archive Section of the performance at the RASMD Glasgow in 2000.
In August 2000 Murray McLachlan played the concerto with the Kelvin Ensemble conducted by Julian Clayton at a NAYO festival concert in Glasgow.
Piano Concerto No. 2 ['Hindustani']
The Piano Concerto No.2 was first performed in Cape Town in 1949 and in the following year was broadcast on the BBC Radio Third Programme. It was enthusiastically received by the critics, Ernest Newman writing of it 'I was particularly intrigued by the skill with which the composer has managed to fuse Hindustani modes of expression and European ways of thought and factors of design into a single organic whole. I was greatly intrigued by it'.
It had many performances and broadcasts in the composer's life time but after his death, was not heard again until 2007 when it was specially recorded for broadcast one evening in 'Scotland's Music", a BBC Radio Scotland's series of weekly programmes.
John Purser, writer and presenter of the series which ran for a year, comments 'The Concerto emerges as a major achievement in terms of over-all conception, technical innovation and brilliance and superb handling of the orchestra'
The soloist, Dutch pianist Ronald Brautigam, said of his experience "It is a great privilege to be working on such a wonderful Concerto! I have completely fallen in love with the piece. The work is definitely challenging, but the wealth of musical ideas, the refinement of the slow movement, the humour and boisterousness of the finale make one forget that at times fingers need to be scraped off the keyboard'.
As yet a full broadcast has not taken place and no commercial CD is available but the Erik Chisholm Trust has a copy of the BBC SSO recording, which it is pleased to lend out to interested listeners.
Quote from: Mark Thomas on Thursday 06 January 2011, 17:29
is his idiom really romantic in any way?
Reading parts of the Chisholm site you refer to, I see that the composer is described as a modernist, progressive etc.
That wasn't my first thought in my encounter with his music, but maybe Albion can give us a better introduction of the composer's musical idiom than I can? Musical terms is not my thing..
When I hear the piano pieces available via the Chisholm-site I think of Bartok and Geirr Tveitt. Chisholm's music has this distinctive use of Scottish folk music in his output, in the same way as the other two used the folk music of their countries. Calling Chisholm's music for romantic might be wrong, but it's certainly tonal and a safe composer to investigate if you like British music from the same period.
Morten
I admire these works (although they are presently on the edge of what is acceptable to my ears) & i am glad they are being re-recorded, but in my humble opinion (which is often wrong), they have absolutely nothing to do with the romantic movement as i know it.
Thal
Quote from: M. Henriksen on Thursday 06 January 2011, 21:28
Quote from: Mark Thomas on Thursday 06 January 2011, 17:29
is his idiom really romantic in any way?
Reading parts of the Chisholm site you refer to, I see that the composer is described as a modernist, progressive etc.
That wasn't my first thought in my encounter with his music, but maybe Albion can give us a better introduction of the composer's musical idiom than I can? Musical terms is not my thing..
When I hear the piano pieces available via the Chisholm-site I think of Bartok and Geirr Tveitt. Chisholm's music has this distinctive use of Scottish folk music in his output, in the same way as the other two used the folk music of their countries. Calling Chisholm's music for romantic might be wrong, but it's certainly tonal and a safe composer to investigate if you like British music from the same period.
Morten
Put it this way - on the strength of their very considerable merits, I wouldn't be surprised if Hyperion
have decided to record Chisholm's piano concertos with the excellent Danny Driver as soloist - on the other hand, I'd be
very surprised if they were truly scheduled to appear as part of the RPC Series!
That is a good point, Chisholm doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the names in Hyperion's RPC series. Still, that is what Alan wrote in the first post.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see!
Morten
Apologies if this has already been discussed but I thought that Chisholm's 'Pictures from Dante' (with the Bates 3rd Symphony on Dutton) was a sensational work. I also liked his 'Ossian Symphony' on Dutton.
Quote from: vandermolen on Thursday 06 January 2011, 22:35
Apologies if this has already been discussed but I thought that Chisholm's 'Pictures from Dante' (with the Bates 3rd Symphony on Dutton) was a sensational work. I also liked his 'Ossian Symphony' on Dutton.
Strongly agree with all these appraisals - I sincerely hope that the Hyperion project isn't a red herring!
I was simply going on Robert Matthew-Walker's report in IRR this month, p.19. In any case, if the Hyperion RPC series can include Korngold, Ireland and Bowen, then why not Chisholm?
My ears detect a gigantic difference between the concerti of Chisholm and the likes of Bowen.
Musically I have not the ability to explain it, it is only an opinion on what i have heard.
Thal
The Korngold definitely didn't belong in the RPC Series. Even a work such as Dohnanyi PC 2 stretches the limits of Romanticism, although the 1st (from 44 years earlier) doesn't.
Romanticism...what's in a name? Don't we want Hyperion to record these things?
Of course, but not in that particular series. It would somehow erode it to start recording concerti that are clearly not romantic.
Suggest scrap the Chisholm and do the Kenmuir.
Thal
I agree with Alan's point above - what's in a name? Besides any insistence on a straight-jacketed conception of 'romantic' would itself be a decision inconsistent with what I understand to be one tenet of romanticism, namely, there can't be tight rules determining what counts as 'romantic'.
But that's just an academic squabble. What is great news is that the Chisholm concertos are to be recorded by Hyperion - whether or not they are included in RPC doesn't matter too much.
I had been dimly aware of the name Chisholm for some years. But he became a name to be reckoned with after I'd read his book on the Janacek operas (marvellous accounts of them!) Then for the first time I heard two pieces of orchestral music - the Pictures from Dante and the Ossian symphony. Like many others I thought these truly stunning things - and hence my excitement (aided and abetted by the passages quoted above by Albion) over the projected recording.
However main point of the posting: what do people think of the Murray McLachlan recordings of the solo piano music on Divine Art, of which so far we have 6 volumes, with (I think) another 2 to go?
I've been dipping into them over the past 2 months, and am still finding my way. I got them largely as a consequence of the high praises by John France, Rob Barnett & others on MusicWeb - here is stuff to get the teeth (or rather the ears) stuck into, I thought. There are some extraordinary things here: some of it, extracts from the Piobaireachd (and thank heavens I'm not a R3 announcer!), I'm having difficulty with not quite knowing how to listen to it. Other things are truly stunning - try the Sonata in A called 'An Riobain Dearg' in Vol 1. This is an amazing work (that also calls for pianism of a very high order). Imagine if you can Debussy, Busoni, Bartok and Sorabji all thrown together - but then the music is very distinctive and not at all like any one of them. Not just amazing stuff, but I'm coming to the conclusion that here we have what is very great music. The 6 Nocturnes with the collective title 'Night Song of the Bards' on Vol 6 is similarly impressive.
In short, I'm really glad to have got these CDs and will certainly add the remaining volumes. But question: what do others make of this music? I'd be very interested to read of reactions.
Peter
Chisholm's Hindustani Concerto is a wonderful piece, albeit it required repeated hearings for me to form this view. It ranks as one of my favourite newly discovered pieces from 2010. According to John Purser, in his 2009 biography 'Erik Chisholm, Scottish Modernist 1904-1965: Chasing a Restless Muse' (p.140), Chisholm much preferred his second concerto to his first, the Piobaireachd Concerto, which is also a splendid piece.
However, by no stretch of the imagination could either Concerto be described as 'romantic'. I would be astonished if they featured in the Hyperion RP Concerto series as they are a far cry from the type of music that is typically discussed on this forum. I don't think one can really regard Chisholm as a romantic composer. He promoted modern music through the 'Active Society for the Propagation of Contemporary Music' through which he brought Bartok, Casella, Sorabji, Hindemith, Medtner and Walton, among others, to Glasgow. Schoenberg was also invited but required fees which the Society couldn't meet.
In 1997 I spoke to Hyperion who, at that time, were considering recording works by Chisholm, presumably on the recommendation from John Purser who completed the sleeve notes for several of Hyperion's Scottish Romantics series. However, I never got the impression Chisholm was to be included in the Scottish Romantics series. Nothing came of Hyperion's plans until I saw the recordings by Danny Driver announced in a newsletter on the Erik Chisholm site http://www.erikchisholm.com/ect/index.php. In recent communications with Chisholm's daughter Morag, initiated by my purchasing a private CD from the Chisholm Trust, it was clear that she is fully aware of the Hyperion recording.
I mentioned the anticipated Hyperion recording to a senior QC at the Scottish Bar who is the current organiser of the Scottish Piano competition. He informed me that Danny Driver is a previous winner of the competition's Erik Chisholm prize, which may partly explain why he is to record the Chisholm piano concertos.
Ronald Brautigam's very fine performance of the Piano Concerto No 2 'Hindustani' with the BBC SSO conducted by Clark Rundell is available on a non-commercial CD which can be purchased from the Scottish Music Centre, subject to the purchaser signing a contract not to distribute the recording. See http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com/catalogue/c34367/
However, the Hyperion recording, which presumably will come out in 2011/2012, will certainly be on my list of CD purchases.
I hope Hyperion or Dutton will record Chisholm's Violin Concerto of 1950 which is another of his pieces influenced by Hindustani music.
Thanks for all the information patmos.beje! I read your post with great interest.
Wether Chisholm's music has romantic elements or not (and I'm not musically educated to discuss that anyway), I think it's great to see the composer increasingly represented in the catalogues.
I don't think it's a problem discussing Chisholm on this forum, even though he might be in the outskirts of the main theme here. I let our Administrators decide.
Thanks again!
Morten
There are two whole pages about Chisholm and some very detailed reviews of the Divine Art cd's of his piano music in the January edition of International Record Review,for anyone who doesn't know. The article is so enthusiastic I think I'm going to have to buy one myself & bung on those ' Pictures from Dante',forthwith.
Of course,most of you know,but someone might not,and the article is so detailed it could justify paying £5 to IRR,for the Jan 2011 copy,if you're not a subscriber.
I'd pay double the cover price for IRR. Good job they don't know... ;)
Perhaps it boils down to expediency. It must be easier to put together the forces and score for a Chisholm disc, than, say, to do the same thing for a Helen Hopekirk PC or Arthur Whiting. I have no problem with them releasing the Chisholm, but please, not as an RPC.....
Jerry
I think it very unlikely that Erik Chisholm's PCs will be issued by Hyperion as part of the RPC series. On the other hand, I think it very likely they will be recorded by Hyperion.
...must have been a slip (or an off-target guess) by Robert M-W, then.
I could be wrong. It just doesn't seem likely they'd be in the RPC series. Anyhow, this is all just sterile speculation until the disks appear.
I have just received the following e-mail message from Mike Spring at Hyperion, which, I think, clarifies the issue:
"I've just noticed a thread has appeared on the Raff forum on the subject of Chisholm. I can confirm we are recording the piano concertos in June but they, most definitely, are NOT part of the RPC series. Please post this information - it should stop a few arguments!"
Well ferreted out, Gareth! Thank you. Would that journalists were accurate in these things...
Quote from: Gareth Vaughan on Tuesday 11 January 2011, 21:48
I have just received the following e-mail message from Mike Spring at Hyperion, which, I think, clarifies the issue:
"I've just noticed a thread has appeared on the Raff forum on the subject of Chisholm. I can confirm we are recording the piano concertos in June but they, most definitely, are NOT part of the RPC series. Please post this information - it should stop a few arguments!"
Well, send him our greetings (and remind him that we're not the Raff Forum anymore - we're the Unsung Composers Forum!)
Splendid! Bit of agitation on the UC site and record companies sit up, take note, and send a message back via Gareth. Exactly as it should be. I do hope we're gathering a reputation as a crew to be reckoned with. And heavens, if record companies took note of all the suggestions made on the site, then they might sell a few more imaginative releases instead of the umpteenth version of a tired old chestnut (or even worse 'Classics for Babes' that I noticed on the MDT site today!), and the world would be a better place. I go off on an impossible fantasy - just think of a world in which the UC site would be near redundant because any wish you had would somehow be immediately gratified. Contra Schopenhauer, it wouldn't at all be a world in which we ground to a halt through sheer boredom.
Enough of fantasy. Really ace news about Chisholm and Hyperion. I'm itching to hear this disc, and keep fingers tightly crossed that the intended project turns out well.
Incidentally, re. my earlier posting about the Murray McLachlen recordings of Chisholm's solo piano music, there's an enthusiastic review of Vol 6 in the series by Jonathan Woolf on MusicWeb tonight. With smile on my face I feel partly vindicated because he too picks out the Six Nocturnes: Night Songs of the Bard as a major piece. It is, I am sure.
Peter
Quote from: petershott@btinternet.com on Wednesday 12 January 2011, 00:00
Splendid! Bit of agitation on the UC site and record companies sit up, take note, and send a message back via Gareth. Exactly as it should be. I do hope we're gathering a reputation as a crew to be reckoned with. And heavens, if record companies took note of all the suggestions made on the site, then they might sell a few more imaginative releases instead of the umpteenth version of a tired old chestnut (or even worse 'Classics for Babes' that I noticed on the MDT site today!), and the world would be a better place. I go off on an impossible fantasy - just think of a world in which the UC site would be near redundant because any wish you had would somehow be immediately gratified. Contra Schopenhauer, it wouldn't at all be a world in which we ground to a halt through sheer boredom.
......
Peter
Hallelujah!!!!!!
An update on the website of the Eric Chisholm trust:
"Chisholm's Piano Concerti Recording
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra recording of Chisholm's Piano Concerti No.1 The Piobaireachd and No.2 The Hindustani takes place in Glasgow City Halls took place on June 8th and 9th 2011. Pianist Danny Driver, Conductor Rory Macdonald and Producer Andrew Keener, joined forces with the orchestra for our first Hyperion CD. Planned for release in 2012, this is a big event on the Chisholm road to recognition. Read short excepts from John Purser's Biography of first performances of these two works.
The Trustees were privileged to be in the recording room for the two days and to meet the orchestra. A truly amazing experience to observe at close hand the remarkable skills and interaction of a first class musical team."
A good reason for looking forward to 2012.
Morten
sounds it!
Is Murray MacLachlan still around to advocate perform and record (quite well to my mind, but I like Driver's pianism, what I have heard of it, very very much also) ? I seem to recall he recorded a disc or several of works by Chisholm...
(who I know of mostly because of his own friendship with, advocacy for, ... of Sorabji and his music, though I understand that his interests were very wide-ranging.)
Quote from: eschiss1 on Wednesday 07 September 2011, 16:50
Is Murray MacLachlan still around to advocate perform and record?
Indeed he is, and this July the 7th and last installment in MacLachlan's complete recordings of Chisholm's piano music was released. To great ovation from some critics at Musicweb:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Aug11/Chisholm_DDV24155.htm (http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Aug11/Chisholm_DDV24155.htm)
This review also contains links to all the other Musicweb reviews of MacLachlan's Chisholm discs.
Morten
I am pretty sure that this is young Rory Macdonald's first recording as a conductor.
His father(the former MD of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra) is an old friend of mine and told me about the recording some weeks ago. Apparently the concertos are fine pieces :)
According to those links the first has been recorded by MacLachlan but took some editing to get the parts and score to agree with each other (I don't think I've heard that recording yet) but the 2nd might well be a premiere. I think the public library here may have one of the solo piano discs, now I think on it- have to check and listen if so. Anycase, again, good news!!
According to the Eric Chisholm Trust the Hyperion disc will be released in April 2012.
Morten
Quote from: M. Henriksen on Friday 14 October 2011, 09:19Hyperion disc will be released in April 2012.
Thanks, Morten. I've really enjoyed Chisholm's
Ossian Symphony and
Pictures from Dante on Dutton, so I'm looking forward to this forthcoming release.
:)
Finally some details about the April 2012 release at Hyperion's website. And excerpts!! The opening of the first concerto is simply wonderful!
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67880&vw=dc (http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67880&vw=dc)
Morten
'Pictures from Dante' is terrific and I enjoyed the 'Ossian' Symphony - so I shall look out for the new disc.
The sleeve notes are now available at Hyperion's website.
Morten
The cd will be released on 26th March :)
I am very much looking forward to this cd, not just for the music itself but because the conductor's father and I are going together to the City Hall in Glasgow for a performance of the RVW 6th conducted by Andrew Manze ;D
Well, there was a lot of activity on this thread before the release of the recording. So I wondered if there are any opinions on this record and the music itself? Surely someone must have bought it!?
I'm listening to the 1st Concerto this evening. It's a long time since I've been so captivated by an opening of a work as with the slow "bagpipe music" introduction of the Pìobaireachd Concerto.
Morten
My copy just arrived this morning so I should soon be able to comment ;D
The two Chisholm Piano Concertos are both interesting pieces but they will require several listenings before I could come to any clear assessment. That would be particularly true of the rather strange Second Concerto. The First is-to my ears-more readily accessible in its somewhat late Bartokian style.
I have know the 'Piobaireachd' Concerto for a number of years based on an earlier CD release. In 2010 I obtained a private recording of the 'Hindustani' Concerto. I do not regard either as immediately accessible music. The 'Piobaireachd' Concerto is more immediately memorable in its thematic material. However, I did persevere with listening to the 'Hindustani' Concerto many times after I obtained a copy (as background music whilst I was engaged in other things) and have grown fond of the work, marginally preferring it now to the 'Piobaireachd' Concerto.
The Hyperion recording is a good quality recording and the performances are very good. They are definitely worth having.
The Chisholm Trust is funding some sort of publication of the score to Chisholm's Violin Concerto this year. Hopefully this may facilitate a recording of the work. However, it appears to be one of three works linked to Hindustani music, the other two being a never performed Concerto for Orchestra and the Piano Concerto No.2.
I would like to see a coupling of the Violin Concerto with the Symphony No.1.