Herbert Howells 1892-1983

Started by vandermolen, June 17, 2010, 12:46:58 PM

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71 dB

Quote from: vandermolen on November 10, 2018, 01:16:26 PM
The Willcocks is my favourite version (I have them all  ::)).

That's why I bought it (I have to say I love EMI's British Composers cover art and that helped too  ;D ).

Quote from: vandermolen on November 10, 2018, 01:16:26 PMThere are many modern recordings of Collegium Regale.

Sure!  0:)
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vandermolen

Quote from: 71 dB on November 10, 2018, 02:11:36 PM
That's why I bought it (I have to say I love EMI's British Composers cover art and that helped too  ;D ).

Sure!  0:)

Do you have the CD coupled with Dies Natalis or Music for Strings?
"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).

71 dB

Quote from: vandermolen on November 10, 2018, 02:27:02 PM
Do you have the CD coupled with Dies Natalis or Music for Strings?

Music for Strings (the last minute of that work doesn't play). I have that Finzi's Dies Natalis on another disc that has also works by RVW and Holst. So I have these:

[asin]B000026BZL[/asin]
[asin]B000005GSD[/asin]
Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

vandermolen

Quote from: 71 dB on November 11, 2018, 01:32:34 AM
Music for Strings (the last minute of that work doesn't play). I have that Finzi's Dies Natalis on another disc that has also works by RVW and Holst. So I have these:

[asin]B000026BZL[/asin]
[asin]B000005GSD[/asin]

Both terrific CDs - amongst my very favourites.
"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).

71 dB

Quote from: vandermolen on November 11, 2018, 08:59:37 AM
Both terrific CDs - amongst my very favourites.

Sound quality of course not the cleanest "21st century digital audio", but otherwise I agree. Very very good performances.
Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

SymphonicAddict

My curiosity was piked by the conversation, so I sampled some tracks from this CD, especifically St. Paul's Service:



How awe-inspiring this is! The choir sings with such an intensity and beauty that is difficult not to be moved. I'm really delighted by this heavenly music. I'll have to investigate further this composer.

vandermolen

Quote from: SymphonicAddict on November 11, 2018, 08:13:33 PM
My curiosity was piked by the conversation, so I sampled some tracks from this CD, especifically St. Paul's Service:



How awe-inspiring this is! The choir sings with such an intensity and beauty that is difficult not to be moved. I'm really delighted by this heavenly music. I'll have to investigate further this composer.

Glad you liked it Cesar. His music is always worth hearing I think. Do you know Hymnus Paradisi? His masterpiece I think.
"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).

Roasted Swan

I would agree with Vandermolen that Howells' "Hymnus" is probably his finest work but do listen to his chamber music as well.  The interesting thing with Howells is that he was considered one of the brightest of his generation at music college but after the tragedy of his son's death his music became much more inward and centred on the church and vocal music on which his current fame rests.  The is a new Naxos disc due out which features some of the chamber music including the 1st recording of a fantastic piece for string quartet called "Lady Audrey's Suite".  Its a much more substantial and impressive work than the title (and movement titles) would suggest

vandermolen

#68
Quote from: Roasted Swan on November 11, 2018, 11:17:06 PM
I would agree with Vandermolen that Howells' "Hymnus" is probably his finest work but do listen to his chamber music as well.  The interesting thing with Howells is that he was considered one of the brightest of his generation at music college but after the tragedy of his son's death his music became much more inward and centred on the church and vocal music on which his current fame rests.  The is a new Naxos disc due out which features some of the chamber music including the 1st recording of a fantastic piece for string quartet called "Lady Audrey's Suite".  Its a much more substantial and impressive work than the title (and movement titles) would suggest

Well, I shall keep my eye out for that. Thanks for alerting us to it. I know little of the chamber music although I greatly admire the Sonata No.1 for Violin and Piano (1917-19), described, accurately I think, by its original reviewers as a 'contemplation' in music rather than a sonata.
"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).

Irons

Quote from: vandermolen on November 12, 2018, 06:19:03 AM
Well, I shall keep my eye out for that. Thanks for alerting us to it. I know little of the chamber music although I greatly admire the Sonata No.1 for Violin and Piano (1917-19), described, accurately I think, by its original reviewers as a 'contemplation' in music rather than a sonata.

Lyrita - where would we be without British recordings by Lyrita - released on LP and I assume on CD too, Howells Piano Quartet, Fantasy String Quartet and (deep breath) Rhapsodic Quintet for Clarinet, Two Violins, Viola and Cello by the Richards Ensemble with Thea King (clarinet).
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

kyjo

The epic and gloriously ecstatic Missa Sabrinensis was a fantastic recent discovery of mine, easily comparable with Hymnus Paradisi.
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

vandermolen

Quote from: kyjo on November 14, 2018, 04:14:49 PM
The epic and gloriously ecstatic Missa Sabrinensis was a fantastic recent discovery of mine, easily comparable with Hymnus Paradisi.
Glad you liked it Kyle. I must listen to it again soon as I have the Chandos recording.
"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).

calyptorhynchus

Quote from: kyjo on November 14, 2018, 04:14:49 PM
The epic and gloriously ecstatic Missa Sabrinensis was a fantastic recent discovery of mine, easily comparable with Hymnus Paradisi.

This was my cue to dig out my copy. Not being a Christian I don't often listen to music with Christian texts (doesn't seem logical), but with the Missa Sabrinensis you can barely hear that it's a setting of the mass, it's more like a five movement 74 minute symphony with vocal and choral melismas. And it is very good, I'd say it probably has some of Howells' best music in it.
'Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing melancholy that it causeth.' Robert Burton

Maestro267

I love all three of the major choral-orchestral works (Missa Sabrinensis, Hymnus Paradisi and Stabat Mater).

DaveF

Cross-posting from Super-Duper bargains thread: Priory Records have some special offers on box sets, including the complete Mags & Nuncs, and complete organ music: https://www.prioryrecords.co.uk/index.php?route=product/special.  Not all reviewers seem convinced by the Collegiate Singers - women's voices, insufficiently reverberant acoustic - but they sound good on Spotify to me.  And am I right in thinking these are the only recordings of some of the less-performed sets of canticles?
"All the world is birthday cake" - George Harrison

vandermolen

Quote from: calyptorhynchus on November 15, 2018, 11:30:51 AM
This was my cue to dig out my copy. Not being a Christian I don't often listen to music with Christian texts (doesn't seem logical), but with the Missa Sabrinensis you can barely hear that it's a setting of the mass, it's more like a five movement 74 minute symphony with vocal and choral melismas. And it is very good, I'd say it probably has some of Howells' best music in it.
I'm not a Christian either but I listen to a fair amount of choral music, including by Howells, with Christian texts but have never had a problem with this. Vaughan Williams was agnostic but wrote a fair amount of music featuring Christian texts. He called his Christian 'Pilgrim' in his 'The Pilgrim's Progress' to make it accessibly to everyone. Paradoxically Bloch, a Jewish composer, wanted his 'Sacred Service' to Jewish texts to be open to anyone of any religion or none.
"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).

calyptorhynchus

Quote from: Roasted Swan on November 11, 2018, 11:17:06 PM
I would agree with Vandermolen that Howells' "Hymnus" is probably his finest work but do listen to his chamber music as well.  The interesting thing with Howells is that he was considered one of the brightest of his generation at music college but after the tragedy of his son's death his music became much more inward and centred on the church and vocal music on which his current fame rests.  The is a new Naxos disc due out which features some of the chamber music including the 1st recording of a fantastic piece for string quartet called "Lady Audrey's Suite".  Its a much more substantial and impressive work than the title (and movement titles) would suggest
Has this disk appeared? I can't find any trace of it.
'Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing melancholy that it causeth.' Robert Burton

Roasted Swan

Quote from: calyptorhynchus on March 07, 2019, 11:12:57 AM
Has this disk appeared? I can't find any trace of it.

Due to appear very soon I think.  On the Facebook Howells group page someone involved in the disc's production was mentioning it and saying how good it was.....

vandermolen

Quote from: Roasted Swan on March 07, 2019, 11:28:49 AM
Due to appear very soon I think.  On the Facebook Howells group page someone involved in the disc's production was mentioning it and saying how good it was.....
Oh thanks. Must look out for that one.
"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).

Symphonic Addict

A new recording of Missa Sabrinensis:

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