The British Composers Thread

Started by Mark, October 25, 2007, 12:26:56 PM

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vandermolen

"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).

Maestro267

Anyone heard the new Daniel Jones symphony recording? Listening now on spotify.

vandermolen

Quote from: Maestro267 on March 10, 2021, 04:32:06 AM
Anyone heard the new Daniel Jones symphony recording? Listening now on spotify.
Not yet, although I suspect that I will order it. I liked the sound of it on You Tube.
"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).

Roasted Swan

Quote from: Roy Bland on March 09, 2021, 06:59:43 PM
Bostock release
https://www.douglasbostock.net/single-post/british-women-composers

I see from Bostock's own website that CPO will be releasing 2 further volumes of thei new "British Music for Strings" series this year as well as this volume of Bristish Women composers - so 4 volumes in all.  Each volume will have unrecorded repertoire.

calyptorhynchus

It would be nice if this series included Simpson's unrecorded Variations and Fugue on a Theme of J. S Bach, but I'm not holding my breath.
'Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing melancholy that it causeth.' Robert Burton

Maestro267

Picked up a whole bunch of British repertoire today, all of it unheard by me before, and a lot of it by new composers. Currently listening to George Dyson's Violin Concerto.

vandermolen

Quote from: Maestro267 on March 13, 2021, 10:52:06 AM
Picked up a whole bunch of British repertoire today, all of it unheard by me before, and a lot of it by new composers. Currently listening to George Dyson's Violin Concerto.
I'd recommend his Symphony as well.
"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).

Daverz

The mention of Dyson has inspired me to listen to Malcolm Arnold's A Grand, Grand Overture.

vandermolen

Quote from: Daverz on March 13, 2021, 06:12:25 PM
The mention of Dyson has inspired me to listen to Malcolm Arnold's A Grand, Grand Overture.
Haha  ;D
"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).

Maestro267

Quote from: vandermolen on March 13, 2021, 12:35:12 PM
I'd recommend his Symphony as well.

I do have that, although I haven't listened to it for a while. I should rectify that, given how much I enjoyed the Violin Concerto. As far as Dyson goes, I've also got The Canterbury Pilgrims (Chandos) and the Choral Symphony (Naxos).

Irons

Quote from: Maestro267 on March 13, 2021, 10:52:06 AM
Picked up a whole bunch of British repertoire today, all of it unheard by me before, and a lot of it by new composers. Currently listening to George Dyson's Violin Concerto.

For me a concerto that has everything. A big favourite.
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

Papy Oli

Quote from: Daverz on March 13, 2021, 06:12:25 PM
The mention of Dyson has inspired me to listen to Malcolm Arnold's A Grand, Grand Overture.

You simply wiped the floor with this well-polished entry ;D
Olivier

vandermolen

Quote from: Papy Oli on March 14, 2021, 03:28:04 AM
You simply wiped the floor with this well-polished entry ;D
Haha x 2  ;D
"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).

Maestro267

The Dyson concerto felt quite broad. More like a symphony with violin solo rather than a traditional Violin Concerto.

Speaking of symphonic, the slow movement of the Bax Violin Concerto which I listened to earlier had a climax which wouldn't have been out of place in a symphony.

kyjo

Quote from: Irons on March 14, 2021, 12:41:04 AM
For me a concerto that has everything. A big favourite.

+1 The Dyson VC is a wonderfully warm-hearted work, truly symphonic in scale.
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Irons

Quote from: kyjo on March 15, 2021, 07:01:09 PM
+1 The Dyson VC is a wonderfully warm-hearted work, truly symphonic in scale.

I like it when a composer grabs me by the lapels at an opening with listen to this! Dyson does that.
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

Maestro267

Coming to the end of Arthur Somervell's Symphony in D minor ("Thalassa"). This is fascinating. For a D minor symphony, the inner movements certainly go all over the place tonally. Slow movement is in the E flat minor/B major realm, and the scherzo begins in B minor.

Symphonic Addict

#877
Quote from: Maestro267 on March 16, 2021, 11:41:52 AM
Coming to the end of Arthur Somervell's Symphony in D minor ("Thalassa"). This is fascinating. For a D minor symphony, the inner movements certainly go all over the place tonally. Slow movement is in the E flat minor/B major realm, and the scherzo begins in B minor.

That could be the only "interesting" feature of that work, and I'm being very optimistic about that.  :D

For me it's one of the most insipid, bland, tasteless British symphonies I've ever heard. A complete bore.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Roasted Swan

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on March 16, 2021, 04:19:44 PM
That could be the only "interesting" feature of that work, and I'm being very optimistic about that.  :D

For me it's one of the most insipid, bland, tasteless British symphonies I've ever heard. A complete bore.

"tasteless" - how so?  My feeling has long been that this is an interesting work and one that deserves a proper/well played recording.  Some years ago I used to conduct an amateur orchestra and I got a set of parts of this work out for a repertoire/reading session.  This was before the one recording there is was released.  It made quite an impression on everyone - especially the "in Memoriam" movement.  I'm not saying its a work of undiscovered genius but its a lot better than your impression would suggest as far as I can tell.

Maestro267

It's certainly more interesting than, say, any of Stanford's symphonies. Because of it's interesting tonal diversions in the middle movements, it reminded me a bit of Holst's "Cotswolds" symphony in F major, whose slow movement is in the most distant key imaginable, B minor.