Cheltenham Symphonies

[albion]

The (usually) derisory term 'Cheltenham Symphony' comes up time and again in discussing mid-twentieth-century British music. Can anybody supply a comprehensive list with dates of modern British symphonies actually commissioned for or first performed at the Cheltenham Festival since its inception in 1945? 

[eschiss1]

hrm. quote from paper: "and there was no need in the early days to commission one..." - this may be more difficult - the best-known examples of works premiered may not have been commissioned, indeed, yes. still, can have a look into that question...  ooh. actually, that link (though you've probably found it already, of course!) may help a lot ("I'm going to reveal the source of the notorious Cheltenham symphony", the author writes with a grin) - I will read it tonight (I need a rest alas, chronic headache)

[albion]

Unfortunately the document in the link refers (on page 7) to a list of twenty-five symphonies premiered at Cheltenham between 1946 and 1964, but does not supply the list! 

So far I've got

1946 - Edmund Rubbra No.2
1950 - William Alwyn No.1
1950 - Peter Racine Fricker No.1
1951 - John Gardner No.1
1953 - Richard Arnell No.3
1953 - William Wordsworth No.3
1954 - Stanley Bate No.3
1957 - Arthur Butterworth No.1
1961 - Malcolm Arnold No.5
1964 - Alan Rawsthorne No.3
1969 - Lennox Berkeley No.3

Any others spring to mind? 

[eschiss1]

and 2 of those are after 1964 , and Fricker symphony no.4 was premiered in Birmingham, not Cheltenham- erm-... not the same thing?...
that should be Rawsthorne 3 in 1964 btw yes?

1947- Ian Whyte 1
1948- Benjamin
1951- Arnold 1 apparently
1952- Veale 1 (revised, but likewise is Rubbra 2)
1953- Iain Hamilton 2
1954- Geoffrey Bush 1?
(bracket: 1960- British, but not world, premiere of Frankel 1 )
1962- Benjamin Frankel 2 (his clarinet quintet was indeed a Cheltenham commission, btw. I forget if the symphony was. anyhow, 16 so far, continuing, not counting bracket)

[albion]

Thanks - Rawsthorne 4 was a slip of the digit and you're quite right about Fricker 4 as well (now corrected)! 

[Mark Thomas]

As a native of the lovely spa town of Cheltenham, I always wince when I hear the phrase "Cheltenham Symphony" because it is seldom heard without a sneer. But heck, they were commissioning symphonies for heavens sake! I may not like some of the results, but surely the festival deserved praise for still believing in a traditional form of music?

[edurban]

Mark, you'll be happy to hear that the pejorative term "Cheltenham Symphony" is completely unknown in my neck of the woods. 

David

[albion]

I always wince when I hear the phrase "Cheltenham Symphony" because it is seldom heard without a sneer. But heck, they were commissioning symphonies for heavens sake! I may not like some of the results, but surely the festival deserved praise for still believing in a traditional form of music?

I couldn't agree more - a brave and pioneering venture by the Festival Committee with the result that we now have quite a number of extremely worthwhile compositions to explore (and not just symphonies, but concertos, chamber music ...)! It is great to see a lot of this repertoire now becoming more accessible and finding a far more sympathetic (and reasoned) response than it did in the 1950s and 60s.

[albion]

Has anybody acquainted themselves with this recording of Symphony No.1 by John Gardner (b.1917) -


written in 1947 and first performed at Cheltenham under Barbirolli in 1951? It's one I've not got round to yet and wondered if I should! 

[alberto]

I am not really well acquainted, but I have appreciated and found rewarding the Symphony, in its very, very temperate modernity.
The Naxos CD (I bought in 2007) quotes a site www.musicweb-international.com/gardner/symphonies.html.

[eschiss1]

It speaks to the state of things here that there's no comparable term "Louisville Symphony" - except to describe, that is, works actually titled by their composers "Louisville Symphony". I mean, though, for the symphonies commissioned or more generally world- or US- premiered by the Louisville Orchestra during its heyday (iirc, a wide range of American symphonies, plus Milhaud's 6th, Martinu's 5th, Bentzon's Louisville Symphony, and a number of others. Expand the range out-symphony and one includes - I think? - Britten's violin concerto, Rosenberg's 3rd concerto for orchestra "Louisville"... etc.! - if not premiered by the orchestra I'm on surer ground saying that they received possibly their earliest recordings from them- maybe it's a good thing their name has neither the negative nor the positive connotation... I go by the no publicity is bad publicity way-of-thinking, though. well - sort of. though it's far from true that the Louisville Orchestra has had none.)

[Delicious Manager]

Has anybody acquainted themselves with this recording of Symphony No.1 by John Gardner (b.1917) -


written in 1947 and first performed at Cheltenham under Barbirolli in 1951? It's one I've not got round to yet and wondered if I should! 

I bought this CD a little while ago purely out of curiosity. I am SO glad I did. I have found this one of the most rewarding CDs of English music I have bought in a long while.  While perhaps not the most daring voice of his time, Gardner speaks with a style very much his own. The symphony is finely wrought and captures the imagination from beginning to end. I am not such a fan of English piano concertos (can't explain why), but the Midsummer Ale overture is a good romp. The style is slightly reminiscent of Vaughan Williams à la 4th and 6th symphonies and the Holst of, say, Egdon Heath. Anyone who enjoys the EJ Moeran Symphony wouldn't go too far amiss with this CD either.

Get it and enjoy!

[jimmattt]

I am a Yank, so didn't know about the required derisibility (not a word according to spellcheck) of the Cheltenham commissions, or that I shouldn't like Rubbra's 2nd, et al. I think those who deride things usually have something missing in themselves, seems unlikely that they wrote symphonies, unlikely that they premiered one if they did write one, etc. So I say Hooray Cheltenham and all things and persons Cheltenhamian (also spellcheck derided), and if you aren't currently commissioning symphonies, please recommence doing so!

[eschiss1]

... I like Rubbra 2 just fine (quite a whole lot actually- a strong work) and several of the others that I know  (and was a bit surprised to see Frankel in the list, though it was his quintet, not his less tonal symphonies, that was commissioned by the Festival.  All works I enjoy, anycase.) I will admit with an embarrassed face that I did, several decades ago, with little knowledge of Rubbra or of Cheltenham (having only recently gotten to know the former's music and knowing of the latter only by reputation) allow myself to lose interest in the former because of rumored association with the latter, for a time, but after hearing the violin and viola concertos on Conifer and some other works my interest in Rubbra was reignited, that particular foolishness shamed, etc. ...
Eric

[monafam]

I also am a huge fan of Rubbra in general, so I have a feeling that I'd like a lot of these symphonies, despite the potential sneering I might encounter.