The British Composers Thread

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

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Papy Oli

Quote from: vandermolen on August 12, 2019, 04:04:19 AM

I'd add Patrick Hadley (1899-1973). I consider 'The Trees so High', a symphony with vocal last movement, to be an absolute masterpiece, very poignant and moving. There is an intimacy about it which is quite different, for example, from Vaughan Williams's music. The Chandos twofer with Sainton is one of my favourite CDs.


Thank you Jeffrey for mentioning " The Trees so High". Had a first listen to this earlier today and this a gorgeous work. Definitely one for a future purchase.
Olivier

Irons

Quote from: Papy Oli on October 09, 2019, 06:01:21 AM
Thank you Jeffrey for mentioning " The Trees so High". Had a first listen to this earlier today and this a gorgeous work. Definitely one for a future purchase.

You will not regret. Also listen out for the Sainton piece "The Island" which is special and more special each time I listen to it.
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

I'm listening once again to the extraordinary Fifth Symphony by Robert Simpson. The symphony concludes with a 16-minute finale, which is a sizable chunk of the whole work. Usually when you have these lengthy finales, it's usually a slow movement, often a Passacaglia or some other variation form. But the finale of Simpson 5 is 16 minutes of unrelenting, driving energy! It's a thrill ride from start to finish.

Papy Oli

Quote from: Papy Oli on October 25, 2007, 01:33:44 PM
I'll join Marvin's shaming line-up ( :-[ )  as i only have 3 CDs off the composers' list that Mark made :

- Byrd : Masses for 4/5 voices (listening to those now thanks to this thread) 
- Holst : Planets
- Tallis : Spem in Alium

I haven't heard anything of the others yet except Elgar's Enigma variations but that wasn't to my taste, so i'll check this thread out regularly for recs  :)

Well it took 11 years for me to eventually tackle British composers but 2019 sure did bring its lot of changes and surprises :

New and definite contenders for my overall top 10

Lloyd (all symphonies except 3 & 10)
Arnold (his own 4th, Penny 9th, Dances, Overtures)
Alwyn (conducting his own symphonies, Lyra Angelica )


Great discoveries and additions to my collection

Bantock (Hebridean, Celtic)
Bliss (Colour symphony, Adam Zero particularly)
Brian (6 & 16)
Bridge (The Sea)
Dowland (Lute works - an old favorite for a few years)
Elgar (his symphonies - also enjoyed the Pomp etc...away from the Proms' stigma  :blank: )
Foulds (Dutton vol.1 - will get the rest eventually)
Gipps (2 & 4)
Holst (Planets)
Moeran (sinfonietta, symphony in G)
Rubbra (5 & 6, rest on the way, lots of promise)
Vaughan Williams (Love the London symphony, still chipping away at his edition)
Walton (symphonies 1 & 2)

In the collection but struggling with

Bax
Britten
Delius
Finzi
Purcell

Sampled on youtube, showing some potential for future additions  ;D

Coleridge Taylor
Coates
Cooke
Dyson
Ireland
Joubert
Hadley
Rootham
Stanford
Cyril Scott
Grace Williams
Wordsworth

Sampled on youtube but unsure  0:)

Arnell
Bate
Bush
Fricker
Holst (the rest)
Searle
Simpson
Tippett

Yet to investigate

Berkeley
Birtwistle
Bowen
Butterworth
Cowen
Goossens
Hoddinott
Holbrooke
Daniel Jones
Parry
Rawsthorne

Thanks again to all the contributors present and past throughout the threads offering a goldmine of information and suggestions over the years. It is a great journey to be on.  8)
Olivier

Papy Oli

Quote from: Irons on October 09, 2019, 06:31:14 AM
You will not regret. Also listen out for the Sainton piece "The Island" which is special and more special each time I listen to it.

Thank Irons, I have found it on YT, I'll listen to it.

The Hadley I listened to this morning was the Lyrita version (coupled with some Finzi).
Olivier

André

Simpson is one composer I wouldn't assess based on samples. His music is very listenable (nothing grates or offends the ear) but not especially beguiling. His symphonies and chamber music are quite complex constructions, developing through elaborate patterns. IOW it's only at the end that you can appreciate it - or not  ;D.

Irons

I like Papy Oli's list as in many ways it mirrors my own tastes. The "struggle" list I agree with fully but all five are worth the effort. I do not know Brian's music at all, and never heard of Gipps, but all the rest are worth anyone's time. I put my hand up for Butterwoth and Hadley not only for their music but for the WW1 back-story too.
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.

vandermolen

Quote from: Papy Oli on October 09, 2019, 06:01:21 AM
Thank you Jeffrey for mentioning " The Trees so High". Had a first listen to this earlier today and this a gorgeous work. Definitely one for a future purchase.
Well, I'm delighted that you enjoyed this work Olivier. As Lol (Irons) suggested you would like the Chandos double CD set featuring 'The Trees so High' with works by Sainton. His 'Nadir' is a favourite of mine - a short, tragic and defiant work which Sainton work having witnessed the death of a child during a wartime bombing raid on Bristol. I enjoyed looking through your list of British composer discoveries and we share similar tastes. Another great IMO wartime work is Arnell's epic Symphony 3 (his mother was killed in the Blitz). You might also like Hubert Clifford's 'Symphony 1940'. He was an Australian but was in England during World War Two.
"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).

springrite

Quote from: Papy Oli on October 09, 2019, 06:55:31 AM


Sampled on youtube but unsure  0:)

Simpson

Yet to investigate

Butterworth

1: I hope you eventually give Simpson another shot. It can be very rewarding in the end.
2: Time to investigate Butterworth then! And I mean, both of them! Both Butters are Worth it!
Do what I must do, and let what must happen happen.

Papy Oli

Quote from: André on October 09, 2019, 07:44:07 AM
Simpson is one composer I wouldn't assess based on samples. His music is very listenable (nothing grates or offends the ear) but not especially beguiling. His symphonies and chamber music are quite complex constructions, developing through elaborate patterns. IOW it's only at the end that you can appreciate it - or not  ;D.

Quote from: springrite on October 10, 2019, 12:35:45 AM
1: I hope you eventually give Simpson another shot. It can be very rewarding in the end.
2: Time to investigate Butterworth then! And I mean, both of them! Both Butters are Worth it!

André, Paul,

Not giving upon that section of the list by any means. I'll keep revisiting. There was only one movement of Simpson's 9th on YT i could find but it had some intriguing moments. Looking at my YT history, I listened to chunks of 3rd, 5th and 8th as well but with less success. I'll have a look at his chamber music as well as an entry point, thank you.

Olivier

vandermolen

Quote from: Papy Oli on October 15, 2019, 03:43:22 AM
André, Paul,

Not giving upon that section of the list by any means. I'll keep revisiting. There was only one movement of Simpson's 9th on YT i could find but it had some intriguing moments. Looking at my YT history, I listened to chunks of 3rd, 5th and 8th as well but with less success. I'll have a look at his chamber music as well as an entry point, thank you.

I like his Symphony No.1 (his doctoral thesis I think) 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).

Papy Oli

Does anybody have this book please ? Is it any good ?

[asin]2970065479[/asin]
Olivier

vandermolen

Quote from: Papy Oli on October 30, 2019, 03:02:16 AM
Does anybody have this book please ? Is it any good ?

[asin]2970065479[/asin]

Unfortunately not Olivier. Looks interesting.
"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).

Papy Oli

Olivier

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).

Biffo

Quote from: Papy Oli on October 30, 2019, 03:02:16 AM
Does anybody have this book please ? Is it any good ?

[asin]2970065479[/asin]

No idea about the content but Vols 1 & 2 are available fro Amazon.co.uk at a reduced price - Vol 2 is £17.02 (originally £36.00), even cheaper if you want the Kindle edition.  Vol 1 has excellent reviews on Amazon so I might buy the Kindle edition - it looks to be the sort of thing I have been looking for for a while.

calyptorhynchus



IMHO the best C19 British symphonies.
'Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing melancholy that it causeth.' Robert Burton

Roy Bland


vandermolen

#478
Quote from: Roy Bland on November 03, 2019, 05:56:29 PM
Robin Milford/Stanford Concerto
http://melodiawomenschoir.org/

Looks interesting. I've liked everything I've heard from Milford, most recently 'The Darkling Thrush' inspired by one of my favourite poems by Thomas Hardy:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44325/the-darkling-thrush

"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).

Klaatu

Hardy's "The Darkling Thrush" always comes to my mind towards the end of Mahler's 10th, when after the last of those nihilistic, muffled drum-strokes, the beautiful flute solo takes flight......as if to hint at "some glorious hope". Gets me every time.

I must listen to Milford's interpretation of the poem.