George Lloyd

[Maestro267]

This is going to sound stupid but forget that...it sounds normal now. I have no idea why my brain processed the reissue as being pitched differently.

[Symphonic Addict]

I don't know those works - must seek them out Cesar. 

The Concerto for violin and strings is particularly lovely, and the Cello Concerto contains some poignant music.

[Maestro267]

Acquired the Piano Concertos set today. These works are all new to me. I've started off with the big Third Concerto.

[Symphonic Addict]

To be released on November 1st:



I think these works represent his only contribution to chamber music.

[Maestro267]

Found the original issue on Presto and both works are around half an hour each, so a reasonable amount of music on this lone disc of Lloyd chamber music.

I assume we're running out of works to reissue now, outside of Pervigilium Veneris and the operas.

[Irons]

To be released on November 1st:



I think these works represent his only contribution to chamber music.

He wrote 'A Miniature Triptych' for Brass Quintet and numerous pieces for piano.

[Symphonic Addict]

He wrote 'A Miniature Triptych' for Brass Quintet and numerous pieces for piano.

Ah, yes, I did see that work for brass in the previous release.

[Maestro267]

I notice the finale of the 2nd Symphony is titled Andante, con malinconico. Is that a typo? Shouldn't it be malincolico, as in melancholy?

[DaveF]

I notice the finale of the 2nd Symphony is titled Andante, con malinconico. Is that a typo? Shouldn't it be malincolico, as in melancholy?

It's not right (one for Il brontolio grammaticale di Catone, perhaps) - malinconico is spelt correctly, but is the adjective, so means 'melancholic'.  What Lloyd should have put was con malinconia - with melancholy (or alternatively Andante malincolico).  Nielsen gets it right in his second symphony.

[relm1]

I notice the finale of the 2nd Symphony is titled Andante, con malinconico. Is that a typo? Shouldn't it be malincolico, as in melancholy?

I think it's correct.  "Con Malinconico" from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/italian-english/malinconico

[Roy Bland]

Scarce sound quality  Josephs/Llloyd I prefer Albany

This seems better

[foxandpeng]

This seems better

The Lloyd #10 seems pretty good to me.

[Roy Bland]

Will they publish again also "Birth of Venus"?

[Maestro267]

The Vigil of Venus, I assume you mean. Not sure about that one as it was originally an Argo Records release rather than the Albany Records of all the reissues we've had this year.

[Roy Bland]

The Vigil of Venus, I assume you mean. Not sure about that one as it was originally an Argo Records release rather than the Albany Records of all the reissues we've had this year.

[Maestro267]

Yeah that's the one. I have that volume. If it was going to be reissued with the Albany catalogue I'd've thought it would've gone in as a third disc alongside the Symphonic Mass/A Litany set that came out in the spring.

[Brian]

Listened to the Fourth Symphony for the second time this year (first time was in July). Probably the 10th or 12th listen ever.

With time, I am liking the first movement more and more and the finale less and less. At first I liked the whole symphony more or less equally, but the difference is now getting unfortunately stark to me.

Bad news first. The finale is just too repetitive, I think...the slow introduction is important structurally, and the moment when the tempo accelerates is thrilling, but by the end, the main themes have been played too many times, I feel. This is especially true because some of the repetitions are not necessary. Lloyd is very much about being on an emotional journey, and when he loops back to repeat material, it feels like the journey is being held back. Near the very end, the passage at 18:55-19:20 is then repeated at 19:53-20:13 (Lloyd's own recording; on Downes, 18:14-18:40 and 19:08-19:25). I actually find the second version more convincing and would have found a way to cut the first. I also thought the exposed violin line at 14:00-14:10 (Lloyd) / 13:40-50 (Downes) was an unconvincing way of bringing the development section to a climax. It felt more like he had written the music Too Big and didn't know how to bring it back down again.

But the first movement. Goodness! Part of the reason that the finale's development section does not quite persuade me is because the first movement's is astonishingly great. It really snaps, snarls, and roars - motives piling up onto each other, the menace of war asserting itself, those catchy martial rhythms locking into place like the solution of a Rubik's cube. Everything fits together gloriously, and the music is a sonic spectacular. And then the way that the storm clears and the lyrical second subject returns...well, I darn near cry every time. This section is actually a lot like the corresponding section of Tchaikovsky's Sixth. I mean that as a compliment - now for me it is maybe one of the all-time great allegros in a romantic symphony.

Listened to Downes today. He really helps the first movement because he keeps the danger and bite in the foreground at all times. The first movement's ending is really rather scary with him.

[kyjo]

I certainly agree with you about the dramatic effectiveness of the first movement's development section, Brian. The way Lloyd keeps screwing the tension up higher and higher leading up to the climax with the percussive "gunshots" is just thrilling! (The development section of the first movement of his Seventh is similarly inexorable and gripping.) But to me, the finale is one of those movements where the tunes are just so damn good that I stop caring about structural matters! I do agree that Lloyd could've easily shaved off 4-5 minutes off this movement, but then again I think the same of several symphonic movements by such revered symphonists as Bruckner, Mahler, and Shostakovich. BTW, it's also worth mentioning what an absolute delight the scherzo of Lloyd 4 is! It's every bit as extraordinarily catchy as the finale, just with a tighter structure and less bombast.