What are you listening 2 now?

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Hah! "The influence of low class, vulgar Japanese folk music" --- this makes it sound like he is Japan's Dvořák or Bartók. I actually identify Ifukube as one of the first Japanese composers in that it seemed that, while he was obviously inspired by Western classical music, he felt that Japan lacked a musical identity hence his reasoning for using source material from his own country. Most of the Japanese composers around his time were heavily influenced by Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Schoenberg et. al., Ifukube seemed to be coming out of left-field. After him, Takemitsu would probably be seen as the most important composer from Japan.

  I agree with what you say about his approach. I heard that young Ifukube admired Ravel. Also he, just like Delius, liked the music of Ainu- ethnic minority lived (and discriminated) in Hokkaido.

[Operafreak]

[Mirror Image]

NP:

Walton
Sinfonia Concertante (original 1926 version)
Eric Parkin, piano
London Philharmonic
Jan Latham-Koenig

[Mirror Image]

Last work for the night:

Walton
In Honour of the City of London
The Bach Choir
The Philharmonia
Willcocks



Such a joyous romp!

[Mirror Image]

I have to say the more time I spend with Walton's music, the more he is slowly working his way up my own favorites list. Such a consistent composer. My understanding is he was a perfectionist, so his oeuvre isn't as large as many composers. I always said that England produced three incredible composers: Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Britten, but I'll add Walton and Arnold as well. Tippett has also been impressing me a lot lately.

[Roasted Swan]

I have to say the more time I spend with Walton's music, the more he is slowly working his way up my own favorites list. Such a consistent composer. My understanding is he was a perfectionist, so his oeuvre isn't as large as many composers. I always said that England produced three incredible composers: Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Britten, but I'll add Walton and Arnold as well. Tippett has also been impressing me a lot lately.

Funnily enough when I started collecting Classical LP's in my teens Walton and Arnold were the two composers who fixated me the most.  With both I love the sheer brilliance of their orchestraion and use of rhythm but also that both could write such good tunes.  I collect scores of Walton's music and now have pretty much them all.  The one I was missing until recently was Varii Capricci.  This really is vintage/late Walton - buzzing with energy and dynamism.  For sure late Walton does tend to re-work styles and musical gestures from earlier works but this is a cracker.  Which makes the fact that there is just a single recording all the more of a head-scratcher.  Of course that is again part of the Chandos Walton Edition;



Fortunately the Thomson Symphony 1 is a fine one so this is a substantial bonus to an already fine disc.  I simply do not understand why orchestras have not sought this work out more.  Perhaps the idea of transcribing a solo guitar piece for full orchestra seems impossible to achieve - but Walton really does manage it.  There is a curious hybrid version for guitar and orchestra here;



and also here



which is certainly interesting but somehow a bit too much of a case of being neither one thing or the other.....  I agree completely that the Walton Edition is a major achievement.  In the main the "core" works are well done - Belshazzar the only relative let down - but for me the main fascination is the less-known works.  I love Christopher Palmer's orchestration of the Violin Sonata for example.  Palmer was a genuine genius and was lost far too young

[Roasted Swan]

NP:

Arnold
Guitar Concerto, Op. 88
Craig Ogden, guitar
Northern Sinfonia
Hickox



Followed by another favorite guitar concerto:

Villa-Lobos
Guitar Concerto
Julian Bream, guitar
LSO
Previn

Ooops - hadn't scrolled back through the thread before posting about the Ogden recording.  Its NOT true to say the orchestration is NOT Walton - it is - see my reference below to the Varii Capricci - the Walton orchestration was adapted to accomodate the hybrid guitar and orchestra version of the bagatelles

[Que]

[Papy Oli]

Good morning all,

Miaskovsky - Symphony No.6

[Operafreak]

Symfonie nr. 6

[vandermolen]

William Alwyn: Symphony No.3. David Lloyd-Jones, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

Killer. Very dark, intense, and mysterious, almost proto-Arnoldian.

John Ireland thought that it was the best British symphony since Elgar.

[vandermolen]

'A Saami Requiem' (Gunnar Idenstam/Ola Stinnerbom)
Powerful, brooding, hypnotic, mysterious - I'm greatly enjoying this:


Here's a taste of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fazs4LcWQL0

Here is the opening:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfFpb5paCRg

[vandermolen]

Good morning all,

Miaskovsky - Symphony No.6

Great stuff, despite the absence of the choir at the end.

[vandermolen]

NP:

Walton
As You Like It Suite
London Philharmonic
Carl Davis

That's a great CD! 

[aligreto]

Bach: St. John Passion [Fasolis] - Part I

[vandermolen]

Another composer I've heard of, but with whose music I was unfamiliar:

Kenneth Leighton
*Cello Concerto
#Symphony no. 3
*Raphael Wallfisch, cello
#Neil Mackie, tenor
Scottish National Orchestra
Bryden Thomson
(on Spotify)



Really evocative, introspective music. I especially enjoyed the Cello Concerto, in which the solo part is stunningly played by Mr. Wallfisch. The Third Symphony is from much later; I'm generally not one for vocal parts in symphonies, but Mr. Mackie's singing is quite fine. Leighton's style is difficult to pin down; I heard faint echoes of Walton and Britten, but he doesn't take strongly after either one.

That's my favourite Leighton CD. I need to listen to more of his music.

[aligreto]

Great stuff, despite the absence of the choir at the end.

Jeffrey, could you kindly recommend a version with the choir please so that I can further educate myself.

[Traverso]

Jacobus Handl-Gallus

Moralia (29-47)

Moralia Harmoniae Morales (1-19)

[Tsaraslondon]

This wonderful two disc set brings together most of Dutoit's Ravel recordings from the 1980s, though we only get the second suite from Daphnis et Chloé. Still, it's a superb set in gorgeous 1980s digital sound.

[aligreto]

Well, I'm not Jeffrey, but my go-to version of that symphony is Neeme Järvii with the Göteborgs Symfoniker. He apparently revised the symphony (either to add the chorus or to take it out, I can't remember which way round now, in about 1946). Personally, I imprinted on the choral version and always find the non-choral one a bit of a disappointment in consequence! However, either version is terrific, really.

I attach the album art for the Järvii below.

Thank you for that.