EJ Moeran

[Irons]

Thank you Greg. I think that the Dilkes has a special quality to it which is difficult to pin down and I must be aware that my very positive opinion of it may well be determined, or at least influenced, by it being my first contact with the work in its EMI LP manifestation (with its fine Ring of Kerry cover photograph). However, I know that someothers admire it as well. I'm not aware of many other recordings conducted by Neville Dilkes, except some shorter British works including Walter Leigh's charming and poignant (he was killed in World War Two) Harpsichord Concerto.

There is a third. Neville Dilkes was a great advocate for British music, yet for some reason he never got credit for it.



Edit: The front cover is of The Long Minn, Shropshire.

[vandermolen]

There is a third. Neville Dilkes was a great advocate for British music, yet for some reason he never got credit for it.



Edit: The front cover is of The Long Minn, Shropshire.

Yes, I have that LP. The Bridge is an especially fine work.

[Irons]

A lovely recording - at St. Peter's, Notting Hill - of Moeran's String Trio. A poster in reference to another recording of the trio said he thought it Moeran's best chamber work. I am coming round to that view myself. The Hanson group are excellent.

They are equally fine in the early first string quartet by Frank Bridge. I have a problem with the work itself though. The two middle movements are excellent but the two outer movements did nothing for this listener. I read that this quartet was written as a competition piece and Bridge composed it over a few short weeks. Perhaps this is why I find the work uneven.

[vandermolen]

A lovely recording - at St. Peter's, Notting Hill - of Moeran's String Trio. A poster in reference to another recording of the trio said he thought it Moeran's best chamber work. I am coming round to that view myself. The Hanson group are excellent.

They are equally fine in the early first string quartet by Frank Bridge. I have a problem with the work itself though. The two middle movements are excellent but the two outer movements did nothing for this listener. I read that this quartet was written as a competition piece and Bridge composed it over a few short weeks. Perhaps this is why I find the work uneven.

I also have that LP somewhere in the attic.

[vandermolen]

A bit of information on Neville Dilkes, the conductor of my favourite version of Moeran's Symphony:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Dilkes

[Irons]

A bit of information on Neville Dilkes, the conductor of my favourite version of Moeran's Symphony:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Dilkes

A depressingly small discography.

[vandermolen]

A depressingly small discography.

Absolutely my thought as well. I've just been listening to his wonderful recording of the Moeran Symphony.

[cilgwyn]

I also have that LP somewhere in the attic.

A nice view. I wonder where it was taken? But you've have to climb up into your attic!! By the way? Is it a nice floored one,or the kind you have to squeeze through a trap door,to get into?! I remember having a nice floored one,accessed via a trapdoor. I took my cd player up there,so I could play loud music without annoying the people underneath me. Unfortunately,it was a hell hole estate. Judging from the stones,and rocks,rolling down the roof,the local's didn't enjoy classical music!! Playing Brian's Gothic symphony and Gliere's Ilya Murometz,only brought larger missiles!

[Irons]

A nice view. I wonder where it was taken?

River Lune, Kirkby Lonsdale.

[cilgwyn]

River Lune, Kirkby Lonsdale.

Thanks,Irons! Otherwise,I'd have to buy the Lp,s/h,to find out!

[vandermolen]

River Lune, Kirkby Lonsdale.

A place I know well from my days at Lancaster University. I recall Kirkby Lonsdale as a most beautiful place. I think Turner painted there. I seem to recall a commemorative plaque. I even played football (soccer) their in my youth. 

[Roasted Swan]

Absolutely my thought as well. I've just been listening to his wonderful recording of the Moeran Symphony.

Vandermolen - further down this thread you mention Dilkes' disc which included the Leigh Harpischord Concertino which was absolutely my favourite piece.  The Moeran Symphony is pretty luck on disc as all the versions are at least good - the Naxos/Lloyd-Jones possibly the least amongst equals simply because it was done as a replacement/pick-up session and does sound like a good read through.  But for me the Dilkes must bow to the Boult not least for the power of the Lyrita recording.  But as you say - a conductor who deserved to have a larger legacy.

[Irons]

Vandermolen - further down this thread you mention Dilkes' disc which included the Leigh Harpischord Concertino which was absolutely my favourite piece. 

Totally agree. Like Moeran's symphony Lyrita also made a recording of the Leigh Harpsichord Concertino. On LP it is rare and second-hand not cheap! One of the few Lyrita Edition missing from my shelves, but with the excellent Dilkes recording not too bothered by the omission.

[Oates]

A place I know well from my days at Lancaster University. I recall Kirkby Lonsdale as a most beautiful place. I think Turner painted there. I seem to recall a commemorative plaque. I even played football (soccer) their in my youth. 

I hadn't spotted that this was Kirkby Lonsdale - maybe because the angle of the scene is a bit deceptive. It is taken from the path from the back of the churchyard that opens to the panorama known as "Ruskin's View" (which in fact was made famous by Turner, as you say). The classic view of the river and Casterton Fell is more to the left of the photo on the LP - odd that they went for the less obvious. A great place and a great LP!

[vandermolen]

Vandermolen - further down this thread you mention Dilkes' disc which included the Leigh Harpischord Concertino which was absolutely my favourite piece.  The Moeran Symphony is pretty luck on disc as all the versions are at least good - the Naxos/Lloyd-Jones possibly the least amongst equals simply because it was done as a replacement/pick-up session and does sound like a good read through.  But for me the Dilkes must bow to the Boult not least for the power of the Lyrita recording.  But as you say - a conductor who deserved to have a larger legacy.

Roasted Swan - my first encounter with Moeran's Symphony was the Dilkes LP which I think was its first release on LP  and the first tecording since the Heward version, made with Moeran in the studio. This is one of the reasons why I have such a strong attachment to the Dilkes recording. It is a less grand affair that the Boult or less beefy than the Handley but I think that it does have a special, intimate quality to it maybe because it was performed with a slightly smaller orchestra than those other versions. I find the end of the slow movement, in particular, to be very moving and especially so with Dilkes's recording and, oh yes, I love his recording of the Leigh Harpsichord Concerto - a most lovely and charming work. I will listen to the Boult recording of Moeran's Symphony soon. His recording of the Sinfonietta is my favourite version but also my first encounter with the work on a Lyrita LP.

[cilgwyn]

Less Beefy than this,rare,Black Kerry Cow?!! Seriously,I quite like Handley's performance;but beefy,is a good way of describing it! Dilkes and Heward are my first stop,then,Boult. But,I like all three,really! I haven't heard the Naxos recording. With some exceptions,I'm not a fan of their recordings..................for various,incomprehensible,reasons!!

[vandermolen]

Less Beefy than this,rare,Black Kerry Cow?!! Seriously,I quite like Handley's performance;but beefy,is a good way of describing it! Dilkes and Heward are my first stop,then,Boult. But,I like all three,really! I haven't heard the Naxos recording. With some exceptions,I'm not a fan of their recordings..................for various,incomprehensible,reasons!!

No, definitely less beefy than the Kerry Cow 
I thought that 'beefy' was a good word too. I'm with you on the relative values of the recordings of the Moeran Symphony. The Naxos was done in a rush when another recording was cancelled and it's my least favourite version.
Dilkes and Heward are my first stops too then Boult, Handley, Lloyd-Jones and finally the Shrewsbury Philharmonic.

[cilgwyn]

One great thing about the Handley recording,though. And I think you will agree with me about this?! The photograph on the front! As I have said before! It was my first encounter with the symphony,and I used to prop the Lp,in front of me,while I was listening. I remember when I bought the Chandos Enchantment series reissue (?) it just wasn't the same! In the end I just had to buy the one with that photograph. Only then,did I really enjoy it again! Silly,I know?!!

[vandermolen]

One great thing about the Handley recording,though. And I think you will agree with me about this?! The photograph on the front! As I have said before! It was my first encounter with the symphony,and I used to prop the Lp,in front of me,while I was listening. I remember when I bought the Chandos Enchantment series reissue (?) it just wasn't the same! In the end I just had to buy the one with that photograph. Only then,did I really enjoy it again! Silly,I know?!!

Yes, the original Chandos photo was good - also the reissue (Rock in the sea) but not the Enchantment release. Totally agree with you about that. Dilkes's original 'Ring of Kerry' was best I think.

[vandermolen]

A nice view. I wonder where it was taken? But you've have to climb up into your attic!! By the way? Is it a nice floored one,or the kind you have to squeeze through a trap door,to get into?! I remember having a nice floored one,accessed via a trapdoor. I took my cd player up there,so I could play loud music without annoying the people underneath me. Unfortunately,it was a hell hole estate. Judging from the stones,and rocks,rolling down the roof,the local's didn't enjoy classical music!! Playing Brian's Gothic symphony and Gliere's Ilya Murometz,only brought larger missiles!

Contextual information for cilgwyn re: my attic.

The attic is too low to stand up in so sadly I can't convert it into my secret CD or LP listening chamber. When we first moved in I did put boards on the floor of the attic, although, in general,  I'm most certainly not a 'DIY Type' (God forbid). However, the boards mean that I can crawl around up there without falling through the floor. Once I fell off a ladder I had put up to get into the attic. Stupidly, I'd put the ladder on a rug which then shifted so I fell out the attic and landed concussed on the floor. My wife was working on her computer in the same room but did not apparently notice that I had come crashing out the attic and was lying on the floor, in a catatonic state, behind where she was quietly working on her computer.