Great British composers from Elgar to Britten: a French point of view.

[alberto]

I just would like to indicate that the July monthly French magazine "Classica" dedicates a long article to "20 genies de la musique anglaise a decouvrir".
In brief to any of the twenty chosen a profile is dedicated . Ten get a longer space , ten a smaller one.
Here are the ten with a longer profile (and a big picture):
-Edward Elgar
-Frederick Delius
-Ralph Vaughan Williams
-Gustav Holst
-Frank Bridge
-Arnold Bax
-Gerald Finzi
-William Walton
-Benjamin Britten
-Michael Tippett
Shorter profile (and smaller pictures) for:
-Charles Villiers Stanford
-Herbert Howells
-Arthur Bliss
-John Herbert Foulds
-Havergal Brian
-Cyril Scott
-Peter Warlock
-William Alwyn
-Malcolm Arnold
-Roberto Gerhard

[alberto]

Sorry for a mistake. The magazine is "Diapason".

[chill319]

Twenty-five years ago Bridge would have been one of the short bios. Ten years ago Scott would likely not have been listed. All the more reason to be grateful to the idealists at Chandos, Dutton, Sterling, and other "boutique" labels (not forgetting Argo, HNH, Lyrita, Cabaletta, et alia in earlier decades) --- and to this forum.

[eschiss1]

it's slightly interesting to "chart" the rediscovery of Bridge through magazine articles devoted to his life and music in the latter part of the 20th century (see http://www.cph.rcm.ac.uk/CPHBridge/Pages/Bibliography.htm ; I have the Tempo June 1977 issue in which one of those articles occurs, which is what led me to search for such a list - that, or search for the issue right now . Interesting progression. Not sure if Franck Bridge is Anthony Payne's typo or the Bequest's, but just meaning to point out some of the articles in various places from 1963 on... sort of interesting maybe; slow but progressive...)

[mjkFendrich]

From my own point of view (I am German) this list seems to be quite canonical - with one exception:
it's a surprise to have R.Gerhard (I like his violin concerto) while e.g. Rubbra, Ireland or Moeran are missing.
Another modification would be to have only nine with longer profile and put Finzi to the others.

[Alan Howe]

I suspect that Gerhard is a more important (and, by the way, much, much more difficult) composer than either Ireland or Moeran. Rubbra's status still seems to me to be controverted...