British Composers: Your Favorite Recordings

[Bogey]

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

[BachQ]

what specific recordings you folks would recommend.  Links are, as always, appreciated.

[Lilas Pastia]

Ciel ! 

[Lethevich]

This recording doesn't seem to have been surpassed. A similar disc (below) is also very good.



By the way, click and check what Amazon UK is trying to bundle it with - WTF?

[Thom]

[Montpellier]

I don't know if my favourite recordings are those I'd also recommend.   

Bax 3rd symphony, my favourite is Barbirolli and the Hallé but I'd recommend the Vernon Handley or Lloyd-Jones versions with an emphasis on the latter.   I would de-recommend the Bryden Thomson version.   

Of the other Bax symphonies, I recommend the Lyrita reissues as they arise (having compared the LPs with more recend CD releases by Handley, Thomson etc.) and for the fourth, at last, the Thomson version with the Ulster Orchestra.  I think it's his only Bax Symphony recorded with that orchestra and for once it comes off well.  His other recordings with the LPO suffer several problems but above all the wrong recording acoustic for Bax' chromatic harmonies.

Is this separate thread useful though?  The other one allows people to cite their favourites.

[Sergeant Rock]

Very wicked, Duke 

Sarge

[vandermolen]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Moeran-Symphony-E-J/dp/B000N8UVRQ/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/202-1388559-5827052?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1194701252&sr=8-1

[Sergeant Rock]

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

For the most part I'll avoid the usual suspects and, instead, offer some off-the-beaten path gems. These are gold, Bogey! Gold! 


Stanford's symphonies are hit and miss (more miss than hit) but the Rhapsodies are uniformly delightful:



George Lloyd, a composer of the second half of the 20th century who never abandoned tonality or followed any fashionable trends:



I'm always looking for a way to include the McEwen quartets in my posts 



This twofer is, I think, the best introduction to Havergal Brian's music:



And let's not forget there was English music before the late 19th century: and this is one of GG's best recordings:



And one on the beaten path: Brigg Fair, In a Summer Garden, the Florida Suite, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, Summer Night on the River, the Dance Rhapsodies, the North Country Sketches, and an orgasmic Walk to the Paradise Garden:




Sarge

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I endorse, of course, Sarge's Brian recommendation.

But - I also recommend Frank Bridge's 'Oration' on Lyrita, a cello concerto in all but name, and (on the beaten track, more or less) Meredith Davies' recordings of Delius's Requiem and 'Idyll' and Sir Charles Groves' 'Mass of Life'. I like Boult's performance of Holst's 'Perfect Fool' ballet best.

[Brian]

I'm always looking for a way to include the McEwen quartets in my posts 

Can't say I blame you, Sarge! That is really an incredible work of ...................music. Makes one wish all CDs had ...............music like that.   

Second the Stanford Irish Rhapsodies recommendation. Also the excellent violin concerto of Samuel Coleridge Taylor is worth investigating; the whole piece has the feel of a gentle-hearted Dvorak had he spent a few more years in the Americas, and the slow movement is incredibly beautiful. Hyperion has a great recording as part of their Romantic Violin Concerto series.

[Mark]

Is it not universally agreed that these are very fine recordings indeed:



I confess to not having heard them, so here's a CD I can recommend thanks to extensive listening:

[Brian]

I confess to not having heard them, so here's a CD I can recommend thanks to extensive listening:

Here's another disc Mark can recommend 

[Mark]

Here's another disc Mark can recommend 

Seriously, everyone who loves British 20th century pastoral music NEEDS this disc in their collection. Along with this one:




Not owning either of these two discs should be made a crime.

[Peregrine]

Or failing that, highlights from the set on one CD:



And this glorious disc:

[Tsaraslondon]

Peregrine, you beat me to it.

I'd also recommend, of course



Not just for the Cello Concerto, but for Baker's still unrivalled version of Sea Pictures.

Also this:-



on balance, still my favourite version.

[longears]

and that should be enough for now.

[BorisG]

[SonicMan46]

Also, check out this THREAD on the OLD FORUM on early 20th century English composers - many of the same recommendations, plus plenty more - looking forward to future posts here! 

[Lethevich]

Is it not universally agreed that these are very fine recordings indeed:

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.