British Music

[albion]

In the meantime, Dylan has very kindly sent a lovely performance of Liza Lehmann's exotic song-cycle for SATB soloists and piano In A Persian Garden (1896). It was recorded at Aldeburgh in 1997 - I have added all the necessary details and this recording can now be found in Folder 3 of BMB.

This has been joined by another recording with Elizabeth Harwood, Bernadette Greevy, Philip Langridge and Forbes Robinson accompanied by John Constable - the performance, which was formerly available on a long-deleted Argo LP, has also been kindly supplied by Dylan.

[eschiss1]

If Bowen Orchestral Works (Hurst) and Bowen Orchestral Works (Susskind) are supposed to be part of the same album (i notice they have consecutive track numbers, 2 and 3), they won't be treated as such by iTunes- they'll be treated as separate albums (different album names, yes...) with one item each- instead use the same album name and separate by different artist - then (unless the recipient chooses otherwise and changes the items) they will be played consecutively.

[eschiss1]

Re the Foulds cello concerto- I expect the notes to the apparently upcoming Dutton Vocalion recording will make all clear, but according to BMIC notes here it was composed in 1909, not 1911?

[albion]

Dylan has very kindly supplied the first representation of Kenneth Leighton in the archive - Dance Suite No.3, written in 1983 for the 21st anniversary of the Edinburgh Symphony Orchestra. I've added the usual details and put it into Folder 8.

[albion]

Thanks to recently-joined member calico, there has been an increase in the repertoire of songs available in the archive: selections by Herbert Howells and Charles Wilfred Orr, as recorded by Philip Langridge and Bruce Ogston for Unicorn in 1977. These are now in Folder 5.

[britishcomposer]

HUGE THANKS for the new song uploads, esp. Orr!!! 

[albion]

Another contribution from Dylan, Alec Rowley's charming Miniature Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1947) is also now to be found in Folder 5.

[albion]

Excerpts from the following British operas are now in the archive -

Folder 2

Arthur Goring Thomas: Esmeralda (1883)
Charles Villiers Stanford: Much Ado About Nothing (1901)
Frederic Cowen: Pauline (1876)
Frederick Corder: Nordisa (1887)

Folder 3

Ethel Smyth: The Boatswain's Mate (1916)
Edward Naylor: The Angelus (1909)
Frederic d'Erlanger: Tess (1906)
Gustav Holst: Sita (1900-06)

Here is the review of the original LP set from Gramophone (August 1985) -

BRITISH OPERA. Various artists with Opera Viva Orchestra / Leslie Head. Opera Viva digital ® OV101/2 (two records, nas). Notes included. Limited edition. Recorded at a public concert in 1983.

Holst (ed. C. Matthews): SITA—closing scene from Act 3. MacCunn: JEANIE DEANS—Effies cradle song. Naylor: THE ANGELUS—duet from Act 2. Smyth: THE BOATSWAINS MATE— Suppose you mean to do a given thing. What if I were young again. d'Erianger: TESS—Angel Clare's aria. Corder: NORDISA—Minna's song. Delius: IRMELIN—closing scene. Boughton: THE IMMORTAL HOUR—closing scene. Stanford: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING—ensemble from Act 1. A. G. Thomas: ESMERALDA - All is yet tranquil. . .What would I do for my Queen. Cowen: PAULINE—Dear Prince, Thy ring shall ever be.

This is an enterprising recording; everyone interested in British music should wish it well, for its proceeds will go to support future Opera Viva productions, threatened by chill economic winds. Opera Viva have given performances of many rare works and provide opportunities for young singers at that perilous stage between leaving college and obtaining a footing in a professional company. In these performances, recorded at a public concert in 1983, there are voices of whose future success one feels reasonably sure: the soprano Jeanette Wilson, for example, the mezzo Jenny Miller and the tenor David Skewes. As for the conductor, Leslie Head, his indefatigability in the cause of neglected British music is heroic.

The total rarity is the closing scene from Holst's Sita, composed in 1906 and placed third in a Ricordi competition. Two years later he composed the innovatory masterpiece Savitri but there's no hint of that kind of genius in Sita, even though the music is not without its attractions. The judges preferred Edward Naylor's The Angelus, and a duet from it gives us enough reason to revise their adjudication.

The ensemble from Stanford's Much Ado confirms the high estimate of this work held by the composer's pressure group, and what a charmer is the baritone aria from Goring Thomas's Esmeralda, persuasively sung by Mark Hoffman. For sheer professional craftsmanship in its command of pastiche, nothing on these LPs excels the aria from d'Erlanger's Tess. It's a long way from Hardy, but it explains why Zenatello sang it at Covent Garden in 1909, with Destinn as the heroine. The Ethel Smyth extract from The Boatswain's Mate has expertise too, but much more interesting, with its strange dark harmonies in the orchestra, is the song from MacCunn's Jeanie Deans. Now that there is a complete Irmelin on record (reviewed on page 268), it is good to have an alternative performance of the last scene, with Janine Osborne and David Skewes an appealing pair of lovers. Very likeable, too, is the elegant music from the 24-year-old Cowen's Pauline, rather Frenchified and written with a deft touch.

If the Delius, MacCunn and Stanford extracts are the only examples that make one eager to see the whole work staged, there is nothing here that does not refute that "land without music" gibe. The recordings are clear and, allowing for the conditions of public performance, well balanced.

[semloh]

I don't suppose anyone has an uploadable copy of Havergal Brian's 7th Symphony? It's the one missing from my collection. Otherwise, it seems I would need to purchase the double EMI set..... It would be very greatly appreciated

I see that it was always a neglected work: http://www.havergalbrian.org/sym7_3.htm   

This review of it's first public performance by Mackerras and the RLPO in 1987 says that "the Havergal Brian Deprecation Society staged a very noticeable walkout", but "Happily, what transpired was a radiant performance of what is probably the most luminous of his symphonies."

[eschiss1]

Just the EMI in my case, sorry - wonderful disc though in my opinion (the 31st put me onto that composer.)

[shamokin88]

I can't recall how the sound might be but I have the Harry Newstone premiere from June of 1966.

[Greg K]

Love the Orr songs.  Made my night.

[albion]

Did anybody happen to record a mini-series of four Radio 3 afternoon broadcasts back in 2010 of choral songs by Rutland Boughton and Cecil Armstrong Gibbs? The performers were the BBC Singers under Paul Brough -

27/9/2010

Boughton - Burglar Bill
Gibbs - Come, Sleep

28/9/2010

Boughton - The City
Gibbs - Old Age

29/9/2010

Boughton - Early One Morning
Gibbs - The Stranger

1/10/2010

Boughton - Pan
Gibbs - To Music

[britishcomposer]

Did anybody happen to record a mini-series of four Radio 3 afternoon broadcasts back in 2010 of choral songs by Rutland Boughton and Cecil Armstrong Gibbs? The performers were the BBC Singers under Paul Brough -

27/9/2010

Boughton - Burglar Bill
Gibbs - Come, Sleep

28/9/2010

Boughton - The City
Gibbs - Old Age

29/9/2010

Boughton - Early One Morning
Gibbs - The Stranger

1/10/2010

Boughton - Pan
Gibbs - To Music

Yes, Sir, I did!
How would you like me to upload the files?
It would be easiest to put them all into one zip-file but I suppose you want to put each composer in a different folder?

[albion]

Yes, Sir, I did!
How would you like me to upload the files?

Many thanks for the response - however, I've just checked and these items were sent by Dylan earlier today. These should be available (along with several other interesting items) later this evening.