Stanley Bate(1911-1959)

[vandermolen]

Yes,the slow movement is a peach! The trouble is,if I bang on about something I like too much I can bet my bottom penny that someone will pop up and say that they don't think it's much cop (in no uncertain terms!). I'm just glad that someone else likes this piano concerto,Christo! It has a different quality to allot of other British works for piano and orchestra. It makes me think of some of those lighter soviet concertos like those of Kabalevsky,for example;yet quintessentially english. Bax's two big works for piano and orchestra have a special closeness to my heart,because I grew up listening to them. Ireland's Piano Concerto because of my interest in Celtic (particularly Welsh) folklore and Arthur Machen;but the Bate is a wonderful piano concerto. I like the Sinfonietta No 1,too;and it would be nice to hear No2,if it's still extant (and some other scores)?
I have to say I much prefer Boult's performance of the third symphony,to the Dutton recording. It has an intensity and atmosphere to it,which grabs me so much more than the new recording,despite the rough sound. I wish some recording label would transfer it to cd. I think it would be well worth the trouble!

I like everything I have heard from Bate, especially the Viola Concerto, the Piano Concerto and symphonies 3 and 4. Yes, it would be great if Boult's performance of Symphony 3 was released on CD.

[calyptorhynchus]

I've been listening to pieces by Bate that are on YouTube. I find his music very odd, it seems to be stitched together from bits of others composers: Walton, Bax, VW, Hindemidt &c. There was even a Brucknerian passage in the 4th Symphony!

[DavidUK]

I must say I'm highly impressed by my recent discovery of Stanley Bate. The 3rd and 4th symphonies are magnificent, especially the 4th. I assume that the 4th was his last symphony. Has the 2nd ever been recorded? Apparently the 1st was destroyed by the composer.
NB  I've been browsing this forum for a while before registering and it's been extremely helpful reading through the old threads, sometimes more than once! Whilst I love the usual suspects, Mahler, Shostakovich, Beethoven, Nielsen, Dvorak, etc, I have a particular interest in 20th century British composers which was ignited by stumbling across the EMI copy of Malcolm Arnold's 1st symphony in a charity shop. 

[vandermolen]

I must say I'm highly impressed by my recent discovery of Stanley Bate. The 3rd and 4th symphonies are magnificent, especially the 4th. I assume that the 4th was his last symphony. Has the 2nd ever been recorded? Apparently the 1st was destroyed by the composer.
NB  I've been browsing this forum for a while before registering and it's been extremely helpful reading through the old threads, sometimes more than once! Whilst I love the usual suspects, Mahler, Shostakovich, Beethoven, Nielsen, Dvorak, etc, I have a particular interest in 20th century British composers which was ignited by stumbling across the EMI copy of Malcolm Arnold's 1st symphony in a charity shop.

You might enjoy Richard Arnell's 3rd and 5th symphonies as well. No.3 is a wartime epic and I find No.5 to be very endearing.

[DavidUK]

You might enjoy Richard Arnell's 3rd and 5th symphonies as well. No.3 is a wartime epic and I find No.5 to be very endearing.

Many thanks. Yes a similar genre.  I have 4 5 and 7 and 3 arrived today.  I think the Arnell 7 is superb.

[vandermolen]

Many thanks. Yes a similar genre.  I have 4 5 and 7 and 3 arrived today.  I think the Arnell 7 is superb.

Oh, I'm sure that you'll enjoy No.3 - Arnell's mother was killed in the Blitz on London and I'm sure that this tragic experience impacted on the 3rd Symphony.

[DavidUK]

Oh, I'm sure that you'll enjoy No.3 - Arnell's mother was killed in the Blitz on London and I'm sure that this tragic experience impacted on the 3rd Symphony.

I listened to it on YouTube before ordering but will let you know on the Arnell thread once I've assimilated the symphony properly. 

[vandermolen]

I listened to it on YouTube before ordering but will let you know on the Arnell thread once I've assimilated the symphony properly.

Excellent!

[foxandpeng]

I listened to it on YouTube before ordering but will let you know on the Arnell thread once I've assimilated the symphony properly.

Arnell is a fine composer. Enjoy!!

[Albion]

Revisiting Bate's music, I'm increasingly impressed with his command of the orchestra and melodic fluency: no wonder that Boult and Barbirolli were enthusiastic. Dutton have done him proud with

Sinfonietta No.1, Op.22 (1938) - CDLX 7282
Piano Concerto No.2, Op.28 (1940) - CDLX 7282
Symphony No.3, Op.29 (1940) - CDLX 7239
Viola Concerto, Op.46 (1944-46) - CDLX 7216
Symphony No.4 (1954-55) - CDLX 7255

Please find time to explore this music, it's well worthwhile (along with Arnell discussed above). Here is a BBC documentary on Bate...

https://www.mediafire.com/file/dlaqulss89rtrwr/BATE%252C_Stanley_-_The_Lonely_Death_of_Stanley_Bate.mp3/file

 

[Albion]

And if you want a bit more, here is Bate playing his Piano Concerto No.3, Op.67 (1951-52) in Oklahoma on the 4th of February 1958...

https://www.mediafire.com/file/yn17ws4fq6rw68e/Bate_-_Piano_Concerto_No.3%252C_op.67_%25281951-52%2529.mp3/file

 

[relm1]

Oh, I'm sure that you'll enjoy No.3 - Arnell's mother was killed in the Blitz on London and I'm sure that this tragic experience impacted on the 3rd Symphony.

Oh, I didn't realize that.  Wasn't he also a contentious objector?  Such complex reactions he must have felt to his home country being bombed and the resulting death of his mother yet objecting to the concept of war.  No doubt his mother being murdered during the Blitz had a tremendous impact on him.  Traumas travel long and far.  I would like to hear The War God.  Have you heard that?

[vandermolen]

Oh, I didn't realize that.  Wasn't he also a contentious objector?  Such complex reactions he must have felt to his home country being bombed and the resulting death of his mother yet objecting to the concept of war.  No doubt his mother being murdered during the Blitz had a tremendous impact on him.  Traumas travel long and far.  I would like to hear The War God.  Have you heard that?

No, never heard that - sounds most interesting. It was apparently premiered by Bernard Herrmann.

[Scion7]

A shame there isn't any of Bate's chamber music available.

Ran across this - haven't read back to see if anyone else had noted it:

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/life-on-that-score-composer-was-an-original-20111202-1ob0d.html

[Scion7]

Mucking about, I found that someone has loaded their own recording of the 2nd piano sonata:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH4RB8K2_VM

[relm1]

Mucking about, I found that someone has loaded their own recording of the 2nd piano sonata:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH4RB8K2_VM

Thanks, I liked it!  Will check out more of this pianist's recordings since he seems to like music off the beaten path.

[Albion]

Am I alone in thinking that Bate's Cello Concerto, released on Lyrita coupled with the Bax (SRCD 351), is a "non-happening" work? After the splendid and ear-opening Dutton releases of Symphonies 3 and 4, the Sinfonietta No.1, the Viola Concerto and the Piano Concerto No.2 I suppose that I set my expectations too high. This simply sounds to me like music running on a pretty low voltage: the Cello Concerto goes nowhere and is not melodically memorable. It's nice to have of course, but I wish that we could be given the Violin Concertos and the ballets (of which there are several)...

 

[kyjo]

Am I alone in thinking that Bate's Cello Concerto, released on Lyrita coupled with the Bax (SRCD 351), is a "non-happening" work? After the splendid and ear-opening Dutton releases of Symphonies 3 and 4, the Sinfonietta No.1, the Viola Concerto and the Piano Concerto No.2 I suppose that I set my expectations too high. This simply sounds to me like music running on a pretty low voltage: the Cello Concerto goes nowhere and is not melodically memorable. It's nice to have of course, but I wish that we could be given the Violin Concertos and the ballets (of which there are several)...

 

I totally agree - it pales in comparison to his other works that have been recorded. It doesn't help that the soloist in that Lyrita recording isn't exactly a world-class virtuoso either....

I was recently listening to his PC No. 2 and Sinfonietta No. 1 on the below Dutton CD:



What splendidly invigorating music, full of irrepressible energy! True, the concerto isn't exactly the most original work out there - there's clear echoes of Poulenc in the 1st movement, Ravel in the 2nd, and Prokofiev in the 3rd, but then again, those certainly aren't bad influences to have! The Sinfonietta improves with each movement until a turbocharged, almost American-sounding finale!

We haven't had any new Bate from the record companies for a while now - let's hope they haven't forgotten about the poor chap! Like you say, Albion, there's plenty more to explore in his output.