Englande's Gordon Jacob jellybeans (1895-1984)

[Scion7]

This boy was a busy bee over his 60+ years career:

Orchestral                                                                 Chamber
========                                                              =======
Viola Concerto No.1, 1925                                           String Quartet in C, 1928;
Concerto for Piano & Strings, 1927                              Terzetto, string trio, 1930;
Symphony No.1, 1929                                                Oboe Quartet, 1938;
Symphony No.2, 1944                                                Clarinet Quintet, 1940;
Violin Concerto, 1954                                                 Serenade, 8 woodwinds, 1950;
Viola Concerto No.2, 1979                                          Piano Trio, 1956;
Cello Concerto, 1955                                                  Sextet, wind quintet & piano, 1956;
Prelude & Toccata, 1955                                            Divertimento, 8 winds, 1968;
Trombone Concerto, 1955                                          Suite for 4 Trombones, 1968;
Concerto for Bassoon, Strings & Percussion, 1947       Suite, bn, str qt, 1968;
Rhapsody for English Horn & Strings, 1948                 Piano Quartet, 1969; 
Fantasy on the Alleluia Hymn, 1949                            Introduction and Rondo, clarinet choir, 1972;
Flute Concerto, 1951                                                Suite, 8 violas, 1976;
Oboe Concerto No.1, 1933                                        Sonata for Viola & Piano, 1978
Flute Concerto No.2, 1981                                         Trio for Clarinet, Viola & Piano, 1969
Oboe Concerto No.2, 1956                                         String Trio, 1921
Piano Concerto No.2, 1957
Denbigh Suite, str, 1929;
Variations on an Air by Purcell, str, 1930;                    Ballet
Passacaglia on a Well-Known Theme, 1931                 ========
Symphony for Small Orchestra, 1957                         Uncle Remus, 1934
Concerto for Timpani & Wind Band, 1984
Suite no.1, F, 1939;
Sinfonietta, 1942
Suite No.2, 1949
Suite No.3, 1949
Suite for Tuba & Strings, 1972                                  Various Choral works & Songs
Variations on an Original Theme, 1936;
Divertimento, 1938;
Horn Concerto, 1951
Prelude and Toccata, 1955
2 Overtures, 1963, 1964
Concerto for Piano duet (3 hands), 1969;
Concerto for Band, 1967

        The Sextet is especially interesting.  This is/was an unknown composer to me.  Having discovered him over the weekend, I am searching out more.
Besides composing, he wrote four books on music.  He studied with Holst, Vaughan Williams, Stanford, Boult, and others.
He wrote the coronation music for ol' warhorse Queen Liz II (will she last forever?? will we ever again have an aggressively imperialistic monarch? My God, Iceland's just sitting there!!   )
His music strikes me as a Romantic Hindemith, somewhat.  Very technically competent, which in chamber music is much appreciated.

[vandermolen]

I liked the Piano Concerto for three hands. Never released on CD. 

[Scion7]

https://r5---sn-p5qlsnlr.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id=80d2792c1a84c0d6&itag=141&source=youtube&requiressl=yes&nh=IgpwcjAzLmlhZDA3KgkxMjcuMC4wLjE&pl=20&mm=31&mn=sn-p5qlsnlr&mv=m&ms=au&ratebypass=yes&mime=audio/mp4&gir=yes&clen=34799196&lmt=1394488907550939&dur=1091.477&fexp=9407641,9407700,9408210,9408544,9408710,9409069,9409208,9415365,9415485,9416023,9416126,9416494,9416525,9417707,9418153,9418200,9418448,9418999,9419444,9419861,9420348,9420514,9421013&upn=fyBr8_P3n5Q&mt=1442819777&key=dg_yt0&sver=3&signature=306B823B479549D0A83B408F2F7B5A808A95A2DB.7F01F6A600F8B1C552405F26B43D73B3F9C5FD53&ip=98.67.184.186&ipbits=0&expire=1442841490&sparams=ip,ipbits,expire,id,itag,source,requiressl,nh,pl,mm,mn,mv,ms,ratebypass,mime,gir,clen,lmt,dur

^ You can make your own.   

[lescamil]

https://r5---sn-p5qlsnlr.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id=80d2792c1a84c0d6&itag=141&source=youtube&requiressl=yes&nh=IgpwcjAzLmlhZDA3KgkxMjcuMC4wLjE&pl=20&mm=31&mn=sn-p5qlsnlr&mv=m&ms=au&ratebypass=yes&mime=audio/mp4&gir=yes&clen=34799196&lmt=1394488907550939&dur=1091.477&fexp=9407641,9407700,9408210,9408544,9408710,9409069,9409208,9415365,9415485,9416023,9416126,9416494,9416525,9417707,9418153,9418200,9418448,9418999,9419444,9419861,9420348,9420514,9421013&upn=fyBr8_P3n5Q&mt=1442819777&key=dg_yt0&sver=3&signature=306B823B479549D0A83B408F2F7B5A808A95A2DB.7F01F6A600F8B1C552405F26B43D73B3F9C5FD53&ip=98.67.184.186&ipbits=0&expire=1442841490&sparams=ip,ipbits,expire,id,itag,source,requiressl,nh,pl,mm,mn,mv,ms,ratebypass,mime,gir,clen,lmt,dur

^ You can make your own.   

Do you have any information on this?

[vandermolen]

https://r5---sn-p5qlsnlr.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id=80d2792c1a84c0d6&itag=141&source=youtube&requiressl=yes&nh=IgpwcjAzLmlhZDA3KgkxMjcuMC4wLjE&pl=20&mm=31&mn=sn-p5qlsnlr&mv=m&ms=au&ratebypass=yes&mime=audio/mp4&gir=yes&clen=34799196&lmt=1394488907550939&dur=1091.477&fexp=9407641,9407700,9408210,9408544,9408710,9409069,9409208,9415365,9415485,9416023,9416126,9416494,9416525,9417707,9418153,9418200,9418448,9418999,9419444,9419861,9420348,9420514,9421013&upn=fyBr8_P3n5Q&mt=1442819777&key=dg_yt0&sver=3&signature=306B823B479549D0A83B408F2F7B5A808A95A2DB.7F01F6A600F8B1C552405F26B43D73B3F9C5FD53&ip=98.67.184.186&ipbits=0&expire=1442841490&sparams=ip,ipbits,expire,id,itag,source,requiressl,nh,pl,mm,mn,mv,ms,ratebypass,mime,gir,clen,lmt,dur

^ You can make your own.   

Can't open this on my iPad but will try later on a laptop. The slow movement of his Symphony 1 is very moving, dedicated to his brother killed in World War One - best music of his I have heard.

[cilgwyn]

Q: Do you think this justifies shelling out on the Lyrita cd?

[vandermolen]

Q: Do you think this justifies shelling out on the Lyrita cd?

Personally yes, if nothing else for the slow movement of Symphony 1. I enjoyed the CD more than the other reviewers on Amazon UK. Here is the link:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jacob-Symphonies-Nos-1-2/dp/B000PGTID4/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1442852117&sr=1-2&keywords=gordon+jacob

[Christo]

Q: Do you think this justifies shelling out on the Lyrita cd?

Agree with Vandermolen: both symphonies are much finer than these reviewers would acknowledge; I too was misled and didn't play them until much later, only to be positively surprised by their qualities.

[Scion7]

That link is for the 256kps audio file for the YouTube video of a live performance of the piece.
Just go to YouTube and look it up.    :-)

[lescamil]

That is actually the Rhapsody for piano 3 hands, which is not the same work as the concerto for piano 3 hands, which I have a recording of.  I'll see if I can upload the concerto if anyone is interested!

[vandermolen]

That is actually the Rhapsody for piano 3 hands, which is not the same work as the concerto for piano 3 hands, which I have a recording of.  I'll see if I can upload the concerto if anyone is interested!

I'd be very interested!
Last night I listened to the symphonies 1 and 2 on Lyrita. The slow movement of No.1 and the whole of Symphony 2 were the highlights. I had not quite realised how good Symphony 2 was.

[lescamil]

Gordon Jacob - Concerto for Three Hands on One (Or Two) Pianos (1969)

Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick, piano
Sir Malcolm Arnold, conductor
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

From an EMI LP (1970) (I don't have more info, and unfortunately, the sound isn't great and there is some skipping and noise)

https://mega.nz/#!kc40HJrK!k4SfA4ATVrJksL-2va7orgwQyJYVJXddkG2h12HL67M
(click "download through your browser")


As a bonus:

Gordon Jacob - Rhapsody for Piano and Band (revised version of Rhapsody for Three Hands and Brass, 1970)

Valerie Tryon, piano
Geoffrey Brand, conductor
GUS (Kettering) Band

broadcast date unknown

https://mega.nz/#!JIgQyALa!FkPamJKIbrN2uECvE-3SpNxI31nxEf7QDGtss39objQ
(click "download through your browser")


I didn't do either of these rips, so all credit goes to whoever did!

[vandermolen]

lescamil,
Thank you very much for doing this - I can't wait to hear it. I have not heard that Jacob Concerto since the days of LP. The other music on the LP by Malcolm Arnold and Bliss were all subsequently released on CD but the fine Jacob concerto was left out in the cold. I'm off to work in a minute but when I get home I will try to download it on my wife's laptop.
Thanks again. 
Jeffrey

[Scion7]

thanks for uploading that - pressing has seen some better days   :-)

at the very least, it isn't boring!

[Scion7]

musicweb:

The pianist Cyril Smith had a stroke in 1957 and lost the use of his left arm. His four-handed partnership with his wife Phyllis Sellick had to be modified to a three-handed one. Jacob not only rearranged music for them but composed his Concerto for Three Hands and Orchestra in 1969, which is a most attractive work. Bold and percussive in the first movement, it gives way to a second movement Nocturne with just strings and horn in the accompaniment, very "Delian" as the composer remarked to me at a run-through concert prior to the work being recorded for an LP by the soloists. A gently running Minuet with a contrasting Slavonic style Trio section, followed by the last movement in the form of a boisterous Tarantella, brings the concerto to a spirited finish.

Maestoso - Nocturne (molto adagio) - Intermezzo (Allegretto a la menuetto) - Tarantella (Presto)


** photo uploaded and updated March 2017 - stupid eBay get took it down!

[vandermolen]

Gordon Jacob - Concerto for Three Hands on One (Or Two) Pianos (1969)

Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick, piano
Sir Malcolm Arnold, conductor
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

From an EMI LP (1970) (I don't have more info, and unfortunately, the sound isn't great and there is some skipping and noise)

https://mega.nz/#!kc40HJrK!k4SfA4ATVrJksL-2va7orgwQyJYVJXddkG2h12HL67M
(click "download through your browser")


As a bonus:

Gordon Jacob - Rhapsody for Piano and Band (revised version of Rhapsody for Three Hands and Brass, 1970)

Valerie Tryon, piano
Geoffrey Brand, conductor
GUS (Kettering) Band

broadcast date unknown

https://mega.nz/#!JIgQyALa!FkPamJKIbrN2uECvE-3SpNxI31nxEf7QDGtss39objQ
(click "download through your browser")


I didn't do either of these rips, so all credit goes to whoever did!

lescamil,

I finally managed to download the Concerto for Three Hands. Thank you so much for linking it here. I enjoyed it so much and it was a huge nostalgia trip for me - I found the experience of listening to this fine, inspiriting work (after a 30 year break) to be very moving, the whole experience oddly enhanced by the LP surface noise. It is my favourite work by Gordon Jacob. The repeating theme of the first movement is highly memorable but so is the work as a whole, down to the heart-warming last movement (I had forgotten that there were four movements but as his Symphony 1 has five I should not have been surprised). It was also a lovely tribute to the soloists - one of whom had lost the use of a hand due to his stroke - I can't imagine a better performance. Why is it not available on CD?  Gordon Jacob's music is often dismissed for being 'academic'; I can't think of anything further from the truth here.

Thank you so much again for giving me such pleasure.
Jeffrey 

[vandermolen]

musicweb:

The pianist Cyril Smith had a stroke in 1957 and lost the use of his left arm. His four-handed partnership with his wife Phyllis Sellick had to be modified to a three-handed one. Jacob not only rearranged music for them but composed his Concerto for Three Hands and Orchestra in 1969, which is a most attractive work. Bold and percussive in the first movement, it gives way to a second movement Nocturne with just strings and horn in the accompaniment, very "Delian" as the composer remarked to me at a run-through concert prior to the work being recorded for an LP by the soloists. A gently running Minuet with a contrasting Slavonic style Trio section, followed by the last movement in the form of a boisterous Tarantella, brings the concerto to a spirited finish.

Maestoso - Nocturne (molto adagio) - Intermezzo (Allegretto a la menuetto) - Tarantella (Presto)

Scion7

Great to see the original LP sleeve again. Thank you  . I think that this must have been the original release. My one, featuring the same photo was green - a later budget-price release. That was a great LP but my favourite work (they are all good) was the only one not reissued on CD - shame on EMI.

[Scion7]

Here's the back cover:

[snyprrr]

you're really going to have to improve that ThreadTitle

'Jacob's Jabberwocky'

'Jacob's Latter Works'

'Jacob's Jackboots'

'Jacob's _______'

[vandermolen]

Here's the back cover:

Thanks so much - another great nostalgia trip - complete with the composers' autographs (I have a genuine one for Malcolm Arnold).
I've tried to get Somm interested in releasing the three handed Piano Concerto - they did not dismiss the idea.