Eugene Goosens

Started by schweitzeralan, March 02, 2009, 02:48:40 PM

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schweitzeralan

Recently I was browsing the website Records International and discovered the newly released 1st Symphony and Piano Concerto on chandos.  Of course he's been universally recognized as a significant conductor.  I am famliar with a few piano works.  He was quite prolific in piano compositions.  However, I am unfamiliar with his first symphony as well as with his concerto.  Also available is his 4th Symphony.  I am unfamiliar with Goosen's orchestral works and was wondering if anyone in the forum is familiar with Goosen's orchestral compositions. If reviews and/or analyses are positive I may procure.

Dundonnell

The other symphony which is available is No.2-Goossens only wrote two symphonies.

The Symphony No.1 is a fine piece and the Chandos recording with the late Richard Hickox conducting is a fine performance. However, since (sadly) there will be no Hickox recording of Symphony No.2, you might instead consider this box set-

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2005/June05/Goossens_Handley_4767632.htm

Handley's performances are exemplary and if you like Bax and others of the lush romantics you should like Goossens :) I cannot honestly say that I was particularly struck by the other works in the box set or even that Goossens would be anywhere near my own personal favourite British symphonist(I prefer something a little 'leaner') but recommended nevertheless.

This article is also helpful-

http://www.musicweb-international.com/GoossensE/index.htm

schweitzeralan

Quote from: Dundonnell on March 02, 2009, 04:17:15 PM
The other symphony which is available is No.2-Goossens only wrote two symphonies.

The Symphony No.1 is a fine piece and the Chandos recording with the late Richard Hickox conducting is a fine performance. However, since (sadly) there will be no Hickox recording of Symphony No.2, you might instead consider this box set-

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2005/June05/Goossens_Handley_4767632.htm

Handley's performances are exemplary and if you like Bax and others of the lush romantics you should like Goossens :) I cannot honestly say that I was particularly struck by the other works in the box set or even that Goossens would be anywhere near my own personal favourite British symphonist(I prefer something a little 'leaner') but recommended nevertheless.

This article is also helpful-

http://www.musicweb-international.com/GoossensE/index.htm

Thanks for the reply.  I shall access the 2nd Symphony through the local library.  Goosen's works may be quite interesting according to your statement.

vandermolen

#3
I enjoy both symphonies and have the ABC individual CD releases with Handley and the new Chandos recording with Richard Hickox. It is a fine memorial to Hickox. The performance and recording of Symphony No 1 is excellent and I enjoyed the Piano Concerto too. Goossens is one of the best conductor/composers. There is a Baxian quality to his music which I respond to.

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

schweitzeralan

#4
Quote from: Dundonnell on March 02, 2009, 04:17:15 PM
The other symphony which is available is No.2-Goossens only wrote two symphonies.

The Symphony No.1 is a fine piece and the Chandos recording with the late Richard Hickox conducting is a fine performance. However, since (sadly) there will be no Hickox recording of Symphony No.2, you might instead consider this box set-

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2005/June05/Goossens_Handley_4767632.htm

Handley's performances are exemplary and if you like Bax and others of the lush romantics you should like Goossens :) I cannot honestly say that I was particularly struck by the other works in the box set or even that Goossens would be anywhere near my own personal favourite British symphonist(I prefer something a little 'leaner') but recommended nevertheless.

This article is also helpful-

http://www.musicweb-international.com/GoossensE/index.htm
I'm uncertain where I got the idea of a 4th Symphony.  I shall order the 1st Symphony from ArkivMusic and wait until I hear the 2nd before or if I decide to buy the Symphony No. 2.

vandermolen

Quote from: schweitzeralan on March 03, 2009, 04:39:08 AM
I'm uncertain where I got the idea of a 4th Symphony.  I shall order the 1st Symphony from ArkivMusic and wait until I hear the 2nd before or if I decide to buy the Symphony No. 2.

There's a CD of Goossens conducting Antheil's 4th Symphony. Maybe that's where you got the idea from (on Everest -good CD).
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

david johnson

there was a 'rite of spring' with him conducting that was around for quite awhile.
he & beecham conspired on my favorite, totally non-hip recording of 'messiah'.

dj

Dundonnell

Goossens was a very fine conductor. He recorded a good deal for the Everest label and some of these recordings are now being transferred to cd. I have him conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in Antheil's 4th Symphony, Ginastera's 'Estancia', the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances, Respighi's Pines of Rome and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. He also recorded Robert Still's 4th Symphony for Lyrita and that recording will also soon be released on cd. All of these recordings were characterised by both precision but also excitement and colour.

schweitzeralan

Quote from: vandermolen on March 02, 2009, 10:42:02 PM
I enjoy both symphonies and have the ABC individual CD releases with Handley and the new Chandos recording with Richard Hickox. It is a fine memorial to Hickox. The performance and recording of Symphony No 1 is excellent and I enjoyed the Piano Concerto too. Goossens is one of the besat conductor/composers. There is a Baxian quality to his music which I respond to.



Glad to hear it.  I've "Baxized" since the release of "Garden of Fand" back in the fifties.  Bax is, in my view, a tremedous composer; and, I am looking forward to listerning to the Goosens symphony.

Wanderer

Quote from: schweitzeralan on March 02, 2009, 02:48:40 PM
...and discovered the newly released 1st Symphony and Piano Concerto on chandos.

A fine issue, impeccably presented, recorded and conducted. The works themselves, though, failed to make a strong impression; rather diffuse and meandering, yet pleasing and dramatic.

Dundonnell

Quote from: Wanderer on March 05, 2009, 05:16:29 AM
A fine issue, impeccably presented, recorded and conducted. The works themselves, though, failed to make a strong impression; rather diffuse and meandering, yet pleasing and dramatic.

That pretty well sums up my view too.

Sean

I third this view, after exploring the Second symphony and Oboe concerto.

vandermolen

I like the Goossens symphonies and would rate them both higher.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Christo

Quote from: vandermolen on March 07, 2009, 06:05:50 AM
I like the Goossens symphonies and would rate them both higher.

Me too, me too.  ;) I really find both symphonies first class, especially the First from 1940. But it took a long time before I really began to admire it. I now find it an epic symphony, full of tension and grandeur and of a rugged beauty that, for me, resembles similar aspects in e.g. Gustav Holst's Uranus from The Planets or, on the symphonic front, Walton 1 or Vaughan Williams 9.  ::)

Look forward to the new Chandos release of it. Untill now, my personal preference is David Measham's fine account of it with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra for Unicorn-Kanchana from the early 1980s, but only available on a long deleted Unicorn Kanchana LP (a cherished treasure, for me).  :)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

vandermolen

Quote from: Christo on March 07, 2009, 07:40:28 AM
Me too, me too.  ;) I really find both symphonies first class, especially the First from 1940. But it took a long time before I really began to admire it. I now find it an epic symphony, full of tension and grandeur and of a rugged beauty that, for me, resembles similar aspects in e.g. Gustav Holst's Uranus from The Planets or, on the symphonic front, Walton 1 or Vaughan Williams 9.  ::)

Look forward to the new Chandos release of it. Untill now, my personal preference is David Measham's fine account of it with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra for Unicorn-Kanchana from the early 1980s, but only available on a long deleted Unicorn Kanchana LP (a cherished treasure, for me).  :)

I very much agree and wish that the Measham, on that fine old Unicorn LP, was transferred to CD.

Walton Symphony No 1 - now, that IS a very fine score  ;D
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Dundonnell

Quote from: vandermolen on March 07, 2009, 08:39:04 AM
I very much agree and wish that the Measham, on that fine old Unicorn LP, was transferred to CD.

Walton Symphony No 1 - now, that IS a very fine score  ;D

Based on the praise of both Jeffrey and Johan, I shall try to find time to give the two Goossens' symphonies another shot :)

(And I shall ignore the outrageous provocation from Jeffrey ;D)

vandermolen

Quote from: Dundonnell on March 07, 2009, 03:25:13 PM
(And I shall ignore the outrageous provocation from Jeffrey ;D)

What a pity!  ;D ;)
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Dundonnell


schweitzeralan

Quote from: vandermolen on March 07, 2009, 06:05:50 AM
I like the Goossens symphonies and would rate them both higher.

I finaloy got to listern to the symphonies. Strong works indeed.  I'll need to listen to them more to appreciate them in their totality and in their details.

Scion7

Good composer but somewhat "eh??" when you read his biographies and discover the incident with the crazy pagan woman and his stash of what the authorities deemed pornographic material in his luggage.  This interest in the occult derailed his career.

I've been listening to his various chamber works and the Phantasy Concerto for Piano & Orchestra today.
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."