George Lloyd

Started by Thom, April 14, 2007, 12:37:44 PM

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J.Z. Herrenberg

#420
Quote from: vandermolen on September 26, 2021, 01:36:55 AM
+1 or Symphony No.4


Certainly! I think, though, that the Seventh is the greater work, possibly his symphonic masterpiece...
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Maestro267

I need to listen to the Fourth again. It still hasn't fully hooked me in.

vandermolen

Quote from: Maestro267 on September 26, 2021, 04:29:14 AM
I need to listen to the Fourth again. It still hasn't fully hooked me in.
I think that the performance conducted by Edward Downes (Lyrita) is the best.
"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).

kyjo

#423
Quote from: vers la flamme on September 25, 2021, 10:19:59 AM
It's always an odd feeling seeing so much enthusiastic discussion about a composer about whom I know absolutely nothing. Is there a work any one of y'all would recommend to someone like me who has never heard a quaver of this George Lloyd's music?

I agree with those who have recommended the 7th Symphony - knowing your tastes, I think you'll enjoy it! It's his darkest symphony, but it's far from depressing and is filled with so much variety, color, and drama. If you enjoy it, then go ahead and check out the 4th and 5th symphonies and the Symphonic Mass - just don't expect them to be quite as dark as the 7th!
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

kyjo

Quote from: vandermolen on September 26, 2021, 07:26:18 AM
I think that the performance conducted by Edward Downes (Lyrita) is the best.

+1 The recording conducted by the composer is quite good from an interpretive point of view, however the Albany Symphony noticeably struggles a bit with the considerable technical demands of the music when compared to the Philharmonia in Downes' recording.
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

aligreto

Lloyd: Symphony No. 5 [Downes]





This is a big, large scale work. Symphony No. 5 has a wonderfully lyrical and pastoral opening. I like the wonderful texture that the woodwinds add. The opening movement also has a wonderfully engaging and interesting musical language with particularly interesting harmonies. The occasional dark clouds in the sky and the disconcerting undercurrents all augment and enhance the atmosphere of the movement.
I like the form and the tempo of the slow movement. I find that they enhance the music. I also like the wonderful sonic textures created by the scoring. The dynamic range is also very exciting.
Once again, the woodwinds play a prominent part in the scoring, texture and atmosphere of the third movement. This movement is a very fine contrast to the preceding one in many ways. It flits about energetically and excitedly and it has a beguiling trio section. This is an enchanting sound world.
The fourth movement is also a slow one and it is laden with drama, tension and atmosphere helped along wonderfully by a pulsating rhythm.
The Finale is a movement filled with excitement, energy and drive. It is constantly moving forward. Once again, the orchestration is very effective and engaging. The movement is well driven and wends its way to a fine, triumphant conclusion.

J.Z. Herrenberg

Another excellent write-up. No. 5 is masterly. It all sounds so natural and 'easy'. A balm for a wounded world. A pity that music like this was deemed 'passé' and 'regressive' for so long.
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

aligreto

Quote from: J.Z. Herrenberg on October 02, 2021, 12:11:59 PM
Another excellent write-up. No. 5 is masterly. It all sounds so natural and 'easy'. A balm for a wounded world. A pity that music like this was deemed 'passé' and 'regressive' for so long.

I am a latecomer to the music of Lloyd but I find it consistently engaging and delivering of enjoyment and satisfaction. I do enjoy his sound world very much.

classicalgeek

Quote from: aligreto on October 02, 2021, 12:06:20 PM
Lloyd: Symphony No. 5 [Downes]

This is a big, large scale work. Symphony No. 5 has a wonderfully lyrical and pastoral opening. I like the wonderful texture that the woodwinds add. The opening movement also has a wonderfully engaging and interesting musical language with particularly interesting harmonies. The occasional dark clouds in the sky and the disconcerting undercurrents all augment and enhance the atmosphere of the movement.
I like the form and the tempo of the slow movement. I find that they enhance the music. I also like the wonderful sonic textures created by the scoring. The dynamic range is also very exciting.
Once again, the woodwinds play a prominent part in the scoring, texture and atmosphere of the third movement. This movement is a very fine contrast to the preceding one in many ways. It flits about energetically and excitedly and it has a beguiling trio section. This is an enchanting sound world.
The fourth movement is also a slow one and it is laden with drama, tension and atmosphere helped along wonderfully by a pulsating rhythm.
The Finale is a movement filled with excitement, energy and drive. It is constantly moving forward. Once again, the orchestration is very effective and engaging. The movement is well driven and wends its way to a fine, triumphant conclusion.

Quote from: J.Z. Herrenberg on October 02, 2021, 12:11:59 PM

Another excellent write-up. No. 5 is masterly. It all sounds so natural and 'easy'. A balm for a wounded world. A pity that music like this was deemed 'passé' and 'regressive' for so long.


The Fifth Symphony is easily my favorite of Lloyd's I've heard so far. Lyrical and heartfelt and poignant all at once. I think concert audiences would love this... but they hardly get to hear it!
So much great music, so little time...

Original compositions and orchestrations: https://www.youtube.com/@jmbrannigan

aligreto

#429
Lloyd: Symphony No. 6 [Downes]





No. 6 begins very assertively but settles down quickly into quite a buoyant mood. The music is very lyrical and it is well driven. There is a slightly disconcerting tone lurking there in the music somewhere but it is disguised by the forward momentum. The slow movement is a very attractive piece of writing. The yearning melodies and the wonderful harmonies and counterpoint are all enhanced by a keen sense of musical language and expression as well as scoring. It all seems to be very well presented here to me. Even though attractively animated there is more of a sunny profile to the tone of the music in the final movement. It is a fine contrast to the slow movement and it is very engaging. Once again I find Lloyd's orchestration to be very appealing and imaginative.

J.Z. Herrenberg

Nice write-up! That Sixth Symphony is masterly. It's so natural and seemingly effortless.
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

aligreto

#431
Quote from: J.Z. Herrenberg on October 23, 2021, 11:05:37 AM
Nice write-up! That Sixth Symphony is masterly. It's so natural and seemingly effortless.

I am half way through the symphonic cycle and Lloyd has been a real "discovery" for me I music must say.

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: aligreto on October 23, 2021, 01:30:10 PM
I am half way through the symphonic cycle and Lloyd has been a real "discovery" for me I music say.


It seems 'music' is a 'must'...  ;)
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

aligreto

Quote from: J.Z. Herrenberg on October 23, 2021, 10:55:38 PM

It seems 'music' is a 'must'...  ;)

:laugh: It certainly is. Well spotted, Sir  ;)

aligreto

Lloyd: Symphony No. 7 [Downes]





The opening of this symphony has a different "feel" to it based upon my previous listening to the music of Lloyd. It is, however, good different and it is an intriguing listen. It is very interesting music. There is a wonderful culmination to the movement which is both agitated and powerful.
The slow movement contains some very attractive music. The melodies and the inherent harmonies are wonderful and they generate a particularly different and somewhat enigmatic sound world which is very engaging and compelling.
The final movement is something of a tour de force; it is a flurry of drama, tension and excitement. It is a whirlwind of forward momentum which is well driven in this presentation. The music is always interesting and engaging.
There is quite a lot of tension and drama throughout the work and that is coupled with varied and exciting orchestration which achieves wonderful sonic results.

VonStupp

I see The George Lloyd Society started a podcast this year, although I missed it. For those interested, here is the link:

https://georgelloyd.com/watch-and-listen-menu/podcasts

VS
"All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff."

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: VonStupp on December 24, 2021, 07:10:03 AM
I see The George Lloyd Society started a podcast this year, although I missed it. For those interested, here is the link:

https://georgelloyd.com/watch-and-listen-menu/podcasts

VS


It was news for me, too.
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

foxandpeng

Quote from: VonStupp on December 24, 2021, 07:10:03 AM
I see The George Lloyd Society started a podcast this year, although I missed it. For those interested, here is the link:

https://georgelloyd.com/watch-and-listen-menu/podcasts

VS

Thank you. I obviously missed this, too.
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: foxandpeng on December 24, 2021, 08:20:30 AM
Thank you. I obviously missed this, too.


Just listened to the first one. Short but sweet. Nice to hear the voice of William Lloyd, the composer's nephew. I have been in contact with him, but only in writen form. This was an extra bonus.
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

aligreto

This latest activity in this thread showed me that I had neglected to post my listening thoughts on Lloyd's Symphony No. 8 here.

So, cross post from the Listening Thread from a while ago:


Lloyd: Symphony No. 8 [Downes]





The wistful woodwinds and strings create a wonderful atmosphere at the opening of the work. This tone becomes prolonged and also somewhat disconcerting and also a little menacing when the dynamics are augmented. The further into it I go the more sinister sounding it becomes. This is all the more unnerving as this is played against a somewhat comical passage which I find unnerving and yet quite engaging and inventive. I do not know what Lloyd is trying to say with this music to be honest but I do like its heightened musical language, its wonderful scoring and its sense of drama and tension. The brass has great bite throughout the movement. 
The slow movement appears like a dream-like sequence of passages layered with different sonorities each yielding up its own individual atmospheric sound picture. Each individual thread weaves itself into a grand plan to create an atmospheric, mysterious and enchanting tapestry.  This I find very inventive, interesting and effective.
The tempo, dynamics and the tone all pick up in the final movement. We have a return to that element of levity that occasionally appears in the first movement and which, likewise, is countered here by a sense of menace. All of this, however, never distracts from the sense of power and drama in a movement that is very well driven throughout with a great conclusion.