Messages

The music is quite simply fab-u-lous (to quote a certain C R-H!)

As I mentioned at the start of the thread, the 4th Quartet (like the Legende) was in manuscript. There was a set of professional hand-written parts, but the parts and the score did not always match, and so I was obliged to edit. Which meant, among other things, playing the thing into my computer program to generate new score and parts. I invite you to imagine my emotions when I put the program into playback mode and heard the music back, the first time it had sounded aloud for eighty years, and realised how good it was and what I had. I shall never forget that feeling.

I was there Dr Gradus - it was an excellent concert, brilliant. Thank you.  And yes, Fenella Humphreys really brought out the violin concerto and especially the slow second movement - real goosebumps.  I hope this was recorded, it certainly deserved to be.

I am so glad you enjoyed it!

The other day at a private event I played one of SC-T's Spiritual settings, Deep River arranged by Maud Powell, and it was quite fabulous. Also the Florence Price 1st Fantasie for violin. A distinct similarity in language between the two; the distinguished American scholar-pianist Samantha Ege says he was a big influence on black American composers.

Arrived super-quick - thanks! Am listening to SQ4, which is full of incident and keeps you on your toes as to where the musical argument is going. I don't really know anything quite like it: it's more advanced than Elgar, spikier and less 'sentimental', if you know what I mean. This is music to get to grips with; I am sure it'll reward repeated listens.

That was exactly what drew us: the feeling that, despite clear debts to other composers, the voice was none the less totally individual. I hope you continue to enjoy it. We're playing it in the West Country (Beaminster) this coming Saturday, together with the Elgar Quintet which makes for interesting comparisons, and again the following Saturday in Hoddesdon. If anyone is in the area!

The one in E-flat from 1904 (don't remember if Miles wrote more than one, offhand...)? Yes.

The very same. It took a while to grow on me, but I am now truly a fan. We are thinking about trying to get a London concert organised where we can play both Reed and Miles.

The death of Mr Roche is certainly very sad news. I well recall, many years ago, leading an adhoc string quartet in a performance of the Moscheles quartet, at a Purcell Room concert organised by him featuring the music of Moscheles and Korngold.
(The quartet was stylistically somewhere roughly between Hummel and Mendelssohn, and the first violin part made me sweat - made me think of Spohr.)
Mr Roche was a true gentleman of the music profession.

[ASTONISHINGLY]

I am happy to announce that the recording is out, and sounds pretty good though I say so myself. Those who may be interested can find it here:
http://www.mikepurtonrecording.com/shop/eon3kmm6zlzwn3itk0hi1p7r0vjbur

My Quartet also had the privilege in June of recording the Clarinet Quintet of Percy Hilder Miles, with the great John Bradbury on clarinet, again for Mike Purton. That ought also to be out before the end of the year, or soon into the start of next. I've been listening back to the edits, and let me tell you this is an ASTONISHINGLY good piece of music!

I would add that I am very much looking forward to performing (with my fiddle under my chin) in the concert on the 9th at Fairfield Halls referred to earlier in this thread, the link to which I repost here: https://www.londonmozartplayers.com/whatson-event/a-fresh-take-on-samuel-coleridge-taylor/?venue=20893.

The LMP asked me to write an article about the significance of Hiawatha, which can be found on the LMP website here: https://www.londonmozartplayers.com/the-significance-of-hiawatha-2/

Fenella Humphreys will be well worth hearing in the Violin Concerto.

I can add to Mr. Enders' information that he appears to have had a connection with the Croydon String Players' Club, which had been set up in 1906 by Coleridge-Taylor. After C-T's death in 1912 Reed would seem to have conducted it for a time, as well as other amateur and (on occasion) professional ensembles. I'm looking into this with the aid of the British Newspaper Archive... fascinating.

Mike Purton, with whom we are making the recording, has set up a crowdfunder page on our behalf to help it happen. The link is here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/wh-billy-reed-string-quartets. If anyone is interested in basically pre-ordering the finished product, it would be a great help! After a couple of days we are already past 20% of our target, which is very encouraging.

Just found a 1923 review of the "Legende" we will be recording: "like all Mr. Reed's work, it shows a refined and sensitive quality of musical thought and considerable ingenuity in quartet-writing." Which is absolutely true.

Thanks for that clarification. I understand.

What I DO have, and will explore perhaps a little further, is scans of a manuscript set of parts of Quartet 5. These were taken from the RCM Archive about 15 years ago, for the person who then, many years later, passed them on to me. I will contact the RCM to see how they feel with my disseminating them. I have promised them sets of the scores and parts I have made for Quartet 4 and the Legende, so they may be favourably disposed. But, bearing in mind what you have said, I will approach them with respect. Again, this would be after the recording takes place.

Well, as I said above but perhaps did not make clear, our set of parts were copied from the ones in Uni of Cam, or so I believe. And they're long out of copyright. So it ought to be possible to scan and upload them, and I might ask our cellist (whose parts they are) if I can do so. But that'll obvs be after the recording. I do agree that the music should be out there - otherwise, I wouldn't be doing this at all!

Alas, with regard to parts of Reed 5 all I have is my own - we sourced our set, I believe, from the library in Cambridge U, and the other players, of course, have their parts. But there are parts in the BL IIRC. I really ought to go and scan them. When I feel confident enough about the work I've done on 4 and the Legende I'll see about it - but, to be honest, I might try and sell a few copies of them; they are the product of many hours' work. Though I appreciate that's not a popular position to take, these days. That's a decision I've not yet taken.

I certainly shall! I hope also to publish the results of my editing labours in some form eventually. Getting up close and personal with manuscripts is something I thought I'd put behind me 40 years ago when I opted for conservatoire instead of university - it's been one of the most fascinating experiences of my professional life.

I return to this site after a long absence to alert members to a project I have been working on for a while, that is about to come to the first stages of fruition...

William Henry Reed (1876-1942) has not been much performed since his death in 1942, and there is currently only one disc of his music available - Dutton's recording of his works for violin.

For some time my string quartet, Cirrus, and I have been working on the idea of making a disc of some of his works for string quartet, and I am happy to say we are nearly there.

Only Reed's Quartet no. 5, which placed in the 1915 Cobbett Prize, was ever published, but the score and parts of his Fourth, and a couple of smaller works, are held in MS in the RCM Library. I have now edited the Fourth and have nearly finished one smaller piece, Legende, and we hope to go into the studio in mid February to put down the Fifth and these two pieces.

It's remarkably good stuff - written by a man not only with a deep and practical knowledge of string technique, but also a remarkably good ear for timbre and sound. The writing ranges from the most delicate to an Elgarian fullness. Harmonically and stylistically Elgar is there, of course, but also I would say some French influence and some similarity to VW and Bridge, Reed's near contemporaries. There is seriousness, whimsy, passion and sensitivity.

I hope this may arouse some interest.

Well, based on the numbers and the opus numbers (op.12 and 15 for the first 2; the C major seems to be unnumbered) I would sadly surmise that they are too early for you, sir, as I said in my first post. However, Howard is a keen explorer of this kind of repertoire, so if Hyperion are pleased and the orchestra manages to survive for long enough, we may get on to some later ones at some point. You may be sure I will keep you apprised if that happens.