British Music

[Dundonnell]

Some of you may be aware of the English composer Stephen Dodgson from a recent Dutton cd of his Essays for Orchestra.

I shall be uploading his Magnificat, the Bassoon Concerto and the Guitar Concerto No.2 later today

I would love to add the Guitar Concerto No.1 too...but it is the version on cd The cd can still be found apparently; it retails for $95 on Amazon

(Can I sell my tape-recording for that amount, please.......... )

[Dundonnell]

Future Releases

Although it will take me another week to complete uploading the British music which has never made it to cd from my taped collection, I have been in discussion with Albion about uploading historic performances I recorded in the 1970s of works which have been commercially recorded but by other performers.

It was with tremendous excitement that I discovered that amongst these is the BBC Symphony Orchestra performance of Malcolm Arnold's Symphony No.7 conducted by the composer. In his Chandos recording Rumon Gamba takes 31 minutes for this symphony, Vernon Handley clocks in at 38 minutes on his Conifer recording. Arnold took almost an hour for the symphony ....essentially turning it into a different work. I had no idea that I actually possessed this historic and important recording

It may interest members to know that I can also upload-

Sir Andrew Davis conducting Robert Simpson's 4th and 5th Symphonies
Charles Dutoit conducting the premiere of John McCabe's 3rd Symphony
Sir Charles Groves conducting Bax's 7th Symphony, Lennox Berkeley's 4th Symphony(first performance), Rubbra's 9th Symphony and Robert Simpson's 6th Symphony(fp).
Daniel Jones conducting is own 8th and 9th Symphonies
Bryden Thomson conducting Malcolm Arnold's 4th and 6th Symphonies.

and concerto performances by Hugh Bean(Bax Violin Concerto), Jack Brymer(Finzi Clarinet Concerto), Christian Ferras(Walton Violin Concerto), Colin Horsley(Ireland Piano Concerto), Julian Lloyd Webber(Bliss Cello Concerto), Gervase de Peyer(Rawsthorne Clarinet Concerto), Franz Reizenstein(his own 2nd Piano Concerto) and Paul Tortelier(Britten Cello Symphony).

Hope this whets a few appetites

[Latvian]

Hope this whets a few appetites

It does indeed! I look forward to any portion of the above you're able to provide!

Would an Arnold 6th conducted by the composer also be of interest to you? Also with the BBC SO, live.

[Dundonnell]

Oh.......hopefully, all of it-  unless some recordings prove to be in hopeless sound(as did the first British performance of the Arnold 8th symphony unfortunately )

Given that Arnold was a fine conductor I am sure that any performance conducted by him would be of value

[albion]

Notification of the latest additions -

Adrian Cruft (1921-1987) - Overture, Tamburlaine (1962)
Stephen Dodgson (b.1924) - Bassoon Concerto (1969); Guitar Concerto No.2 (1972); Magnificat (1975)
John Purser (b.1942) - Intrada for Strings, Op.17 (1966)

Many thanks, Dundonnell.

[Dundonnell]

The Dodgson Magnificat is a particularly lovely work, in my opinion

Next up....

Peter Racine Fricker's Oratorio "The Vision of Judgment"

[Dundonnell]

Albion has persuaded me to upload Daniel Jones's huge and important Oratorio "St. Peter" of 1962.

It is a beautiful, moving and very accessible work in the great British choral tradition, lasting just over an hour I reckon.

There is however a problem    Something went wrong with the recording or the tape all those years ago back in 1980. The last ten minutes of the work are missing(well, actually, they are there but cannot be heard).

I am deeply apologetic about this All I can say is that I hope that those of you who choose to listen to what there is will forgive me and enjoy the bulk at least of what I think is a very fine piece.

[albion]

Albion has persuaded me to upload Daniel Jones's huge and important Oratorio "St. Peter" of 1962.

Members can probably guess my arguments for not jettisoning this almost-complete (rather than incomplete) recording.

[Dundonnell]

"St. Peter" is 57 minutes long. My recording has the first 47 minutes.

[albion]

The following additions are now in BMB, with performance details in the catalogue:

Peter Racine Fricker (1920-1990) - Oratorio, The Vision of Judgement, Op.29 (1957-58); Song-cycle, O longs désirs, Op.39 (1963); Laudi Concertati for Organ and Orchestra, Op.80 (1979)

Many thanks to Dundonnell for these broadcast recordings, especially The Vision of Judgement, a key work in Fricker's early career.

There are now 16 important scores by this composer in the broadcast archive, illustrating the enormous gulf that exists between the privately-recorded and the commercially-recorded.

[albion]

Having finished listening (twice) to Fricker's The Vision of Judgement, a work hitherto only available in the form of enthusiastic commentary, this seems to me to be a rather wonderful addition to mid-twentieth century British choral music, just the kind of piece that Richard Hickox would have done so well for Chandos, perhaps.



Although the latter part of the broadcast has a degree of unavoidable interference, I would (as always) urge members to listen through this and experience the work for themselves. Thanks, Colin - a real discovery!

[Dundonnell]

Almost 50 years ago(sic) I was given the Penguin Guide to Choral Music(unfortunately currently wedged unattainably behind a large bookcase ).
Not only do I vividly remember Deryck Cooke's description of the Havergal Brian Gothic (which I read aloud to the young Mr. MacDonald) but the lengthy section on Fricker's 'The Vision of Judgment' which had been first performed only a few years before.

The writer lauded the piece as an outstanding modern example of British choral music, fully worthy to follow in the steps of Walton's 'Belshazzar's Feast'. Yet, over the next half century, it simply disappeared.

Now you can judge for yourselves

[Latvian]

Almost 50 years ago(sic) I was given the Penguin Guide to Choral Music

Ah, those Penguin Guides were wonderful, weren't they? I owned and enjoyed that choral music volume at one time, but the one I still own and treasure is Robert Simpson's 2-volume guide to the Symphony. Speaking of Havergal Brian, this was the first time Brian came within my radar, and I was amazed that he devoted an entire chapter to Brian, a composer I had then barely ever heard of! Anyway, his writing whetted my appetite, and when bits of Brian's music began to make their way across the pond, I was ready and eager to hear it, thanks to Simpson!

[eschiss1]

BTW according to Cadensa Pritchard recorded Maw's Spring Music on January 17 1987 (1987.01.17) - the recording location was in Greenvale, Long Island, NY - 6 minutes (by car) from where I used to live.
(And to add to the description of the Hans Gal cello concertino op.87, there's info about it here. Molto moderato - quasi allegro, Adagio, Allegretto ritenuto assai . )

[albion]

More welcome representation of the distaff side:

Elizabeth Poston (1905-1987) - Requiem for a Dog: Blackberry Fold (1973)
Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994) - Dramatic Monologue, Ariadne (1970); Three Poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1970); Genesis (1973)
Phyllis Tate (1911-1987) - Secular Requiem, The Phoenix and the Turtle (1967)

Many thanks to Dundonnell for these very rare broadcasts.



As with some of the latest Fricker items, I have provisionally titled the relevant files in the folders so that each will be obvious, but the temporary mediafire character-limitation means that some of these file-names do not at present include full work titles and dates -



when the problem is sorted out I will bring the affected file titles in line with the 'house-style'. As usual, though, the BMB listing can be consulted for performance information.