British Composers: Your Favorite Recordings

[Wanderer]

Excellent recommendations so far, especially Grainger's Warriors with Gardiner (there's no excuse for not getting that hybrid SACD), Barbirolli's Dream of Gerontius and Handley's Vaughan Williams symphonies.

I would further recommend Sinopoli conducting Elgar's First Symphony (I have it coupled with the P&C Marches, however there's this DG mid-price twofer floating around at the moment, which I'm very seriously considering buying...).

[71 dB]

Thanks to Sarge I have Elgar's 2nd by Sinopoli and while it is an interesting way to perform Elgar I'd still recommend his symphonies on Naxos.

[longears]

I struggled not to recommend a full cycle, but if I did, that Handley RVW would be it. Haitink and Boult are brilliant, but Handley nails them all (some certainly better than others, but the overall consistency is immense), and in great sound with very generous extras.

I can't pick between the Chandos and Naxos Bax cycles though, both are very competitive.

Previn's RVW is awfully good, too, but Handley's cycle is hard to beat.  I like him for Bax, too.

Thanks to Sarge I have Elgar's 2nd by Sinopoli and while it is an interesting way to perform Elgar I'd still recommend his symphonies on Naxos.

Interesting.  Sounds as if you've come a long way in the past couple of years since claiming you were unable to hear differences in performances.  Or are you recommending Naxos on price alone?

[Guido]

I have many favourite English recordings - I've listed them many times elsewhere on the forum, so I won't post them again.

One great CD is this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Charles-Villiers-Stanford-Sonata-Ballata/dp/B0002IQMY8/ref=sr_1_1/002-1405439-7612854?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1194789331&sr=8-1

My cello teacher playing two world premiere recordings and the 2nd recording of the second Standford Sonata. The second sonata and the Ballata are particularly treasurable.

[71 dB]

Interesting.  Sounds as if you've come a long way in the past couple of years since claiming you were unable to hear differences in performances.  Or are you recommending Naxos on price alone?

The price is one asset but I do understand the differenced in performance with Elgar's music. Somehow the multidimensional structures tell me if the performance works or not.

If it's Beethoven's piano music I don't have a clue what's good playing and what's not. 

[Xenophanes]

I know Mark has a British composer thread going, but was wondering what specific recordings you folks would recommend.  Links are, as always, appreciated.

Sir Macolm Arnold, Dances. Naxos 8.553526

Samuel Arnold (1740-1802), Overtures, Incidental Music to Macbeth. Naxos 8.557484
--World Premier Recordings--and this is wonderful music, from someone not widely known.

Sir Arnold Bax, Tone Poems. Chandos 8307

William Boyce, Eight Symphonies, Op. 2. Naxos 8.557278

Sir Edward Elgar, Works for String Orchestra. Nimbus 5008
_____________, Symphony No. 1, Imperial March. Naxos 8.550634
_____________, Symphony No. 2. Naxos 8.550635

Philip Feeney, Dracula (ballet music). Naxos 8.553964  Some of his Cinderella ballet music is on Naxos 8.553495.

Holst, St. Paul's Suite and Warlock, Capriol Suite are on Nimbus 5032

Sir Arthur Sullivan, The Gilbert and Sullivan Overtures. Naxos 8.554165

Thomas Tallis, Spem in alium, Missa Salve intemerata. Naxos 8.557770

Ralph Vaughan Williams, Tallis Fantasia, Oboe Concerto and other works. Nimbus 5019

[Sergeant Rock]

Absolutely great choice! Definitive performance of the Second Symphony.

Sarge

[Thom]

Arnold is one of my favourites. His 5th is great.

[BachQ]

Somehow the multidimensional structures tell me if the performance works or not.

Yes!  Yes!

If it's Beethoven's piano music I don't have a clue what's good playing and what's not.

Yes!  Yes!

[drogulus]

     Here are a couple from Classics For Pleasure:

     

     

     

[tjguitar]

His other recordings with the LPO suffer several problems but above all the wrong recording acoustic for Bax' chromatic harmonies.

So many of the orchestral works of Bax are only available from Thomson and the LPO. Do you not find them adequate?

[BorisG]

So many of the orchestral works of Bax are only available from Thomson and the LPO. Do you not find them adequate?

I think the Tone Poems and concerti are beautifully done by Thomson with either Ulster or LPO, simply because they are better music than the symphonies. Not even Handley could save them.

[tjguitar]

I think the Tone Poems and concerti are beautifully done by Thomson with either Ulster or LPO, simply because they are better music than the symphonies. Not even Handley could save them.

I don't know. it's tough. I thoguht Handley's Tone poem disc from a couple years ago was quite good. Also his recording of the Spring Fire "symphony" (tone poem?) from the 80s, one of my favorite bax discs. Or are you strictly talking about Handley's recordings of the symphonies?

I like the symphonies, but I prefer the tone poems for the most part.  But "better music"?  What exactly do you mean?

[Lethevich]

This one looks extremely good Another to add to my enormous to-buy list...

[Hector]

Difficult choice and decision.

Anything NOT conducted by Sinopauling or Hickups.

Sammons' and Harrison's Elgar might be a surprise to those that do not know it.

Campoli in the Elgar Violin Concerto, perhaps.

Lyrita has yet to issue a duff record. Braithwaite's Holst being a current favourite (has this, seemingly, ignored conductor made a bad recording?).

Another current favourite is the Boult/Lyrita of Butterworth, Howells, Hadley and Warlock. I doubt whether these performances will ever be surpassed. Boult believed in the music.

As I said, difficult, indeed.

[Montpellier]

So many of the orchestral works of Bax are only available from Thomson and the LPO. Do you not find them adequate?

I think they were recorded at All Saints, Tooting, which has an acoustic more like a cathedral; an echo that blurs Bax' chromatic harmonies - the changing harmony has to compete with the echo of what came before.  The bite of some passages gets lost.  In the 3rd for instance, the Allegro Moderato in the first movement (bar 71) worse at the Allegro Feroce (115) lose definition.  (Although I couldn't cope with Thomson's weird tempi in the 3rd anyway, the last movement especially).  Just my view, though. 

[Bogey]

I just put this set on my wish-list after a decent sampling:

[tjguitar]

I think they were recorded at All Saints, Tooting, which has an acoustic more like a cathedral; an echo that blurs Bax' chromatic harmonies - the changing harmony has to compete with the echo of what came before.  The bite of some passages gets lost.  In the 3rd for instance, the Allegro Moderato in the first movement (bar 71) worse at the Allegro Feroce (115) lose definition.  (Although I couldn't cope with Thomson's weird tempi in the 3rd anyway, the last movement especially).  Just my view, though. 

Yeah I don't disagree. i haven't even heard the Thompson symphonies, I was mostly talking about the tone poems and others symphonic works, Winter Legends for instance.

Many of the works I have only heard the Thomson version of, perhaps thats why they don't bother me as much.  The Thomson symphonies were well out of print by the time I started listening to Bax, but I have pretty much every thing else he did for the label of Bax that was reissued on the "Orchestral Works" series.

[Grazioso]

I have many. Here are a few:



Britten, Bridge, Bax, and Stanford on one disc



One of his most entertaining extended works, the Florida Suite.



Volume 3 in a series, with the famed Tintagel, along with some of Bax's other top-drawer tone poems.

[71 dB]

Crown jewels of British chamber music.
Purcell's pungent, rich and deeply profound Fantazias...
#4, beautiful, intensely chromatic dissonant music...

I have this dics and yes, Purcell's Fantazias are very enjoyable music.