Sir John B.McEwen(1868-1948): A Catalogue of the Orchestral and Choral Music

[Dundonnell]

Most of this information derives from the McEwen Archive at the University of Glasgow. There must be some doubt however over the number of Suites composed by McEwen. In addition there were three early Symphonies apparently composed but not listed as manuscript copies.

SIR JOHN BLACKWOOD MCEWEN: A CATALOGUE OF THE ORCHESTRAL AND CHORAL MUSIC

1889:   Symphonic Poem "Comala"
1890:   Overture "Lanark"
1892:   Sacred Cantata "The Vision of Jacob" for tenor, chorus and orchestra
1892-98: Symphony in A minor
1892-93:Suite No.1 in E major for orchestra
              Suite No.2 in F for orchestra
1893:   "Tempo di valse" for small orchestra
1894-95:Overture to a Comedy
1898/1947: "A Scene from Hellas" for female chorus and orchestra
1898:   "The Last Chantey" for chorus and orchestra
1900:   Viola Concerto: 31 minutes    + (Hyperion cd)
1901-05:Ode "Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity" for soprano, chorus and orchestra; 59 minutes     + (Chandos cd)
1906-08: Three Border Ballads for orchestra("Grey Galloway"   *, "The Demon Lover"; "Coronach"): 52 minutes     +  (Chandos cd)
1909:   Three Scenes from the Empire Pageant at the Crystal Palace, 1910 for chorus and wind orchestra
1911:   Solway Symphony in C sharp minor(Symphony No.5): 34 minutes    + (Chandos cd)
1914:   Suite of ballet items for orchestra
1918:   "Hills O' Heather" for Cello and Orchestra: 10 minutes     + (Chandos cd)
1922:   Suite "Ballets de Lilliput" for string orchestra and harp
             "A Winter Poem" for orchestra  (lost)
1924:   Suite of Old National Dances for string orchestra   *
1925:   Prelude for orchestra
1927:   "The Jocund Dance"-Dance Tunes for string orchestra
1935:   Suite No.3 in G for string orchestra    *
1936:   Overture di ballo for chamber orchestra
             Prelude "Where the Wild Thyme Blows" for orchestra: 15 minutes     + (Chandos cd)
1941:   "Prince Charlie"-A Scottish Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra (unfinished?)   +  (Cedille cd)
             Suite in C major for string orchestra
             Suite in D major for string orchestra

and   "England, My England" for voice and orchestra
      "The woods' aglow"-Song with orchestra

[dafrieze]

My own list of McEwen's works, assembled from lord-knows-where (perhaps an old issue of the BMS newsletter), lists A Winter Poem for orchestra, from 1922.  Is that a chimera that weaseled its way unbidden into my list?

[albion]

According to Grove, A Winter Poem (1922) is currently regarded as lost.

[dafrieze]

Thanks!

[Dundonnell]

Added it anyway

[patmos.beje]

The orchestral version of 'Prince Charlie - A Scottish Rhapsody' for Violin and Orchestra is included in a Rachel Barton Pine double CD which includes Mackenzie's 'Pibroch Suite'.  If it was unfinished someone else must have completed it.  The violin and piano version was recorded by Chandos.

[Dundonnell]

Thanks for that information    Duly noted.

[giles.enders]

McEwan wrote a single movement piano concerto which I understand was left as an incomplete manuscript.  Does this still exist?

[Leea25]

Apologies if this is the wrong place to post, but I have recently acquired a score to McEwan's Suite No.3 for strings (in the archive here) and I thought people might be interested to know the movement titles and also that the recording only includes four of the five movements:

I - Prelude
II - What the Cello Said
III - Der kleine Meister (missing from archive performance)
IV - Orientale
V - Schezo

Thanks,
Lee

[Balapoel]

Chamber

   String Quartet in c minor (1890)
   String Quartet in f minor (1890)
   String Quartet in F (1893)
   String Quartet in a minor (1899)
   6 Highland Dances, 1900;
   String Quartet in e minor (1901)
   String Quartet in c minor  (1905)
   Fantasy, str qt, vc, 1911;
   Nugae, 7 bagatelles (1912)
   String Quartet in A 'Biscay' (1913)
   Martinmas Tide, 1913;
   2 Poems, 1913;
   Violin Sonata No. 1 in Eb (1913)
   Violin Sonata No. 2 in f minor (1913)
   Violin Sonata No. 3 in G (1913)
   Violin Sonata No. 4 in A, 'A Little Sonata' (1913)
   Scottish Rhapsody 'Prince Charlie', 1915;
   String Quartet in Eb 'Threnody' (1917)
   String Quartet in Eb (1918)
   String Quartet in b minor (1920)
   The Jocund Dance for string quartet (1920)
   Trivial Tunes for string quartet (1920)
   String Quartet in e minor (1921)
   Violin Sonata No. 5 in e minor 'Sonata-fantasia' (1922)
   Suite of Old National Dances (1923)
   String Quartet in c minor (1928)
   Violin Sonata No. 6 in G, 1929;
   String Quartet in d minor (1936)
   Little Quartet 'in modo Scotico' (1936)
   String Quartet in G 'Provençale' (1936)
   6 Improvisations 'Provençale', 1936;
   Piano Trio in a minor (1937)
   5 Preludes and a Fugue, vn, vn/va, 1939;
   Violin Sonata No. 7 in a minor, 1939 [arr. Sonata, va, pf];
   Wind Qnt 'Under Northern Skies', 1939;
   Viola Sonata in a minor (1941)
   Pericula (Experiments), 6 str trios, 1943
   String Quartet in c# minor 'Fantasia' (1947)
   5 Characteristic Pieces, vc, pf, 1947–8;
   Cypresses and Citron, vc, pf, 1947–8;
   Heather and Bracken, vc, pf, 1947–8

Orchestral

   Comala, Symphonic Poem (1889)
   Lanark, overture (1890)
   Suite in E major (1893)
   Suite in F major (1893)
   Tempo di valse (1893)
   Comedy Overture, 1894;
   Symphony No. 1 in a minor (1892-8)
   Viola Concerto (1901)
   3 Border Ballads -3 Coronach (1906)
   3 Border Ballads -2 The Demon Lover (1907)
   3 Border Ballads -1 Grey Galloway (1908)
   Symphony No. 2 in c# minor 'Solway' (1911)
   7 Bagatelles 'Nugae', str, 1912 [arr. Str Qt no.5];
   Ballet Suite in E major (1914)
   Scottish Rhapsody 'Prince Charlie', vn, pf/orch, 1915, rev. 1941;
   Suite no. 1 'The Jocund Dance', str, 1916 [arr. Str Qt no.10];
   Hills o' Heather, vc, pf/orch, 1918;
   Ballets de Lilliput, 1922;
   A Winter Poem, 1922, lost;
   Suite of National Dances, str, 1923 [arr. Str Qt no.12];
   Prelude, 1925;
   Suite No. 3 in G, str, 1935;
   Overture di ballo, 1936;
   Where the Wild Thyme Blows, 1936;
   5 Preludes and a Fugue, vns/(vns, vas), 1939;
   Suite No. 4 in C for strings
   Suite No. 5 in D, str, 1941

Piano

   Sonata in e minor (1903)
   4 Sketches, 1909;
   5 vignettes à la côte d'argent, 1913;
   Sonatina in g minor (1918)
   3 Keats Preludes, 1919;
   On Southern Hills, 1938

Vocal

   The Vision of Jacob, T, B, chorus, orch, 1892;
   The Last Chantry (R. Kipling), chorus, orch, 1894;
   Scene from Hellas (P.B. Shelley), S, female vv, orch, 1898;
   Romney's Remorse (A. Tennyson), spkr, pf, 1899;
   Graih my Cree (H. Caine), spkr, pf qnt, drums, 1900;
   3 Songs (Verlaine), 1905;
   Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity (J. Milton), S, chorus, orch, 1901–5;
   La lune blanche (P. Verlaine), 1905;
   3 Scenes from the Empire Pageant, chorus, military band, 1910;
   3 Pagan Songs (A. Archibald), 1942;
   14 Poems (M. Forbes), Sprechgesang, pf, 1943