Hubert Parry

[Jimfin]

Oh, I'll give that a go, thank you.

[eschiss1]

I noticed but have not yet heard a piece for organ and orchestra on a recording with his first symphony- I assume though that the treatment of the organ isn't concertante in style in that work (I do not know, not having heard it)?

[Jimfin]

I have no idea: Jeremy Dibble's biography doesn't list anything like that. Stanford wrote a Concert Piece for Organ and Orchestra: it couldn't be that, could it?

[albion]

I noticed but have not yet heard a piece for organ and orchestra on a recording with his first symphony- I assume though that the treatment of the organ isn't concertante in style in that work (I do not know, not having heard it)?

The only two recordings of Symphony No.1 are on Chandos -



and Nimbus



From Death to Life (1914), included on the Nimbus disc, does feature an organ in the orchestration and the instrument is also used in several choral scores, including Invocation to Music (1895) and The Soul's Ransom (1906).

There is, however, no concertante work by Parry for organ and orchestra.

[eschiss1]

for some reason I thought the concertstück included a part for organ- I think I am thinking of a work by another composer or am just confused. Sorry about that! (However, I must correct- Nimbus is not a sublabel of Chandos, and probably would take exception to being so considered.)

[albion]

However, I must correct- Nimbus is not a sublabel of Chandos, and probably would take exception to being so considered.

I don't think I implied that it was.

[Jimfin]

Yes, the title 'Concertstueck' is a bit confusing, as many romantic composers seem to have used it for works for piano and orchestra (York Bowen, Walter Macfarren and Frederic Cowen, for example), but Parry's is a work for orchestra alone.

[eschiss1]

ah.  you said both recordings were on Chandos- I misunderstood. Sorry!

[mikehopf]

Re: critics and their meritricious comments about meritorious composers, see:

Lexicon of Musical Invective: Critical Assaults on Composers Since Beethoven's Time

Nicolas Slonimsky (Author)

[albion]

ah.  you said both recordings were on Chandos- I misunderstood. Sorry!

There's a little bit of relevant text between the two cover illustrations.

[eschiss1]

ah. I'm more pro-text than con-text...er... apologies, I mean. Anyhow. Whoops...
I wonder also if Parry's first two (MS) string quartets were ever broadcast (I have somewhere or other a tape of a BBC broadcast of the 3rd, possibly incomplete)...

[Peter1953]

Does anyone have a special opinion about the Chandos set of the 5 Symphonies?

[Alan Howe]

They are magnificent. How's that?

[Peter1953]

Thanks, Alan. That's the push I need to purchase the set.

[albion]

They are magnificent. How's that?

I agree with Alan on the high merit of this set - Bamert imparts gravity without pomposity and shapes the music beautifully - try the slow movement of Symphony No.1. Apart from one or two minor niggles (including the intermittent absence of a second flute during parts of the 5th Symphony) these interpretations represent a very impressive achievement indeed.

This is also the only recording of the wonderful Symphony No.4 (1889, revised 1910) - if you want to also hear the Scherzo from the first version of the symphony there is a recording in BMB which I made back in 1995.