Cliffe Symphony No.2 Recording Project

[Alan Howe]

May I again ask everyone who has contributed financially to the making of the recording to let me have their postal address so that I can ensure that the CDs get posted out as soon as they are available. Thanks!

[Alan Howe]

Thanks to all those who have contacted me. I'll send the CDs off as soon as I receive copies.
Alan Howe

[Alan Howe]

Update: the CDs are shortly to be sent to me for distribution. Thanks once again to contributors for your patience.

Incidentally, Symphony No.2 is approx. 60 minutes long, so we're going to get our money's worth!

Additional note: please do not allow others to copy the CD when you receive it: we don't want it suddenly appearing on YouTube where anyone can download it. After all, it is a commercial recording. Enquiries re. the purchase of further copies should be addressed to Chris Fifield direct.   

[eschiss1]

"After all, it is a commercial recording."
I agree. But // and.
... This injunction against YouTube-ripping shouldn't only apply when the creator of the CD is a friend.
Just saying. In seriousness.

[Alan Howe]

... This injunction against YouTube-ripping shouldn't only apply when the creator of the CD is a friend. Just saying. In seriousness.

Well, we don't infringe in this matter - whether the creator of the CD is a friend or a commercial company. That's always been our policy. Pity the YouTubers don't follow our example...

[kuula]

Thank you so much Alan.  Patience can be rewarding!

[Alan Howe]

Talked to Chris F. yesterday: the CD is the end of a 12-year attempt to get the score in order and record the music. He's obviously put his heart and soul into the project. Wonderful. And I gather that he's planning a public performance with his Lambeth Orchestra too...

[giles.enders]

I very much look forward to receiving my copy.  Has the Coronation March been included as a make weight? 
I believe Cliffe composed some songs, are these now lost?

[Alan Howe]

The March is on the CD. No idea about the songs - sorry. Chris'll probably know...

[Alan Howe]

I'd like to take this opportunity to remind anyone who doesn't know Chris Fifield's recording of Cliffe's Symphony No.1 on Sterling that it preserves one of the very finest performances of a major piece of unsung music in the entire catalogue. The Penguin Guide indeed awarded the CD a rosette. The magic of the performance is palpable when one listens to it - and the recorded sound is positively Brucknerian in amplitude, which is entirely appropriate as it seems to this listener that Cliffe must have known Bruckner (7) - as well as Wagner.
CD: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0000E2RGL/ref=s9_simh_gw_p15_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=0NAGWZ8675ZC7NYM4Z0R&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=577049067&pf_rd_i=desktop
Download & audio samples: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Frederic-Cliffe-Symphony-Cloud-Sunshine/dp/B00OSNMAC6/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1444413998&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=cliffe+symphony

[khorovod]

It's a great performance of a great work but it sounds like it was recorded in a Victorian bath house. I love that this site promotes music that is unsung and supports its supporters but in the interest of honesty let's please be open about shortcomings. This recording I just pulled off the shelf because of this thread and the acoustic is dreadful, like a 60s soviet recording in its echoey reverberation.

I  think enthusiasm can sometimes outweigh judgement here and it devalues the valuable insights the site could and does provide.

[Mark Thomas]

I was listening to the Cliffe Symphony No.1 recording only the other day. I'm no audiophile, but I must say that I heard none of the "Victorian bath house" about the acoustic at all. It maybe doesn't have the noticeably splendid sound that one gets from a Chandos recording, say, but to my ears (and on my equipment) there was nothing about it which prevented one from focussing entirely on the music itself.

[Alan Howe]

Agreed, Mark. The generous acoustic, as I'd prefer to describe it, plays a vital part in creating the conditions required to enjoy Cliffe's marvellous symphony to the full.

[Alan Howe]

...and surely Cliffe must have heard Bruckner 7. It's impossible to hear the towering climaxes in Cliffe's Symphony without being reminded of the Austrian master. Consider this: Hans Richter conducted Bruckner 7 in London on 23rd May 1887; Cliffe's Symphony was premiered under August Manns in London on 20th April 1889...

[Jonathan]

If anyone else uses Spotify, the first symphony is available for streaming. I'll have a listen later on as I've not got round to listening to anything by Cliffe.