Sir George Dyson (1883-1964)

Started by vandermolen, March 16, 2008, 01:42:55 AM

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J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: Dundonnell on March 01, 2009, 05:49:53 AM
You know I am really becoming quite cross with the way in which Sir William Walton's music seems to invade threads about other composers! First it was the 1st Symphony which derailed two separate threads temporarily and now it is 'Belshazzar's Feast'.

You guys ought to stop this ::)

(Don't take any of that seriously btw ;D ;D Just very occasionally I miss being a schoolteacher ;D)

MEA CULPA (not)

;D
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

sul G


Dundonnell


J.Z. Herrenberg

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Dundonnell


J.Z. Herrenberg

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

schweitzeralan

Quote from: Dundonnell on March 01, 2009, 05:49:53 AM
You know I am really becoming quite cross with the way in which Sir William Walton's music seems to invade threads about other composers! First it was the 1st Symphony which derailed two separate threads temporarily and now it is 'Belshazzar's Feast'.

You guys ought to stop this ::)

(Don't take any of that seriously btw ;D ;D Just very occasionally I miss being a schoolteacher ;D)

Ok....back to Sir George Dyson :)

He was not the son of the physicist Freeman Dyson. That gentleman, born in 1923, is in fact the composer's son.
Sir George came from a relatively humble background as the son of a blacksmith in Halifax, Yorkshire(the same sort of unprivileged background as Elgar, Havergal Brian, Rubbra and, though I hesitate to mention the name ;D,  Walton.). Despite this, he rose to eminence in the world of musical education as Director of Music in succession at the Royal Naval College, Osborne and at Marlborough, Wellington and Winchester-three of the top British boys' boarding(public=private!) schools. Dyson crowned his illustrious career as Director of the Royal College of Music in London.

I suppose that it is true to say that he was not as prolific a composer as some others but he did write a considerable amount of choral and church music in addition to the Symphony in G, the Violin Concerto, the Concerto Leggiero for Piano and String Orchestra, the Concerto da Camera for String Orchestra and the Concerto da Chiesa for String Orchestra.

The Symphony has been recorded by both Richard Hickox for Chandos and David Lloyd-Jones for Naxos. I prefer the Lloyd-Jones, to be honest; one occasion on which Hickox seems less committed. If you buy the Naxos version then you get the Concerto da Chiesa as well but better to get all three string works on the excellent Chandos disc where Hickox is on better form.

The big choral works are splendid examples of the traditional British cantata. Jeffrey has mentioned "Quo Vadis"-which has some impressive passages but which is certainly too long-but I agree with him that 'Nebuchadnezzar' is a better work. The other rousing cantatas are the big(but not too long this time!) "The Canterbury Pilgrims"-Hickox on fine choral form on the Chandos discs coupled with "In Honour of the City"(Dyson's setting of the William Dunbar poem also set later by a younger composer whose first name was William ;D) and  "St. Paul's Voyage to Melita" coupled with "Agincourt"(Vernon Handley on the Somm label).

There is nothing about Dyson's music which is in any way ground-breaking. He was following in a very British tradition, but his music is well-fashioned and throughly enjoyable.








Sorry about the mistake.  To be sure, George was the son of the scientist, not the other way around.  Indeed there are wonderful moments in Dyson's Symphony. Yet the dramatic or, indeed, the thematic develpments seem to be lacking. Do like the various moments, however.











Dundonnell

Eh....no. I think that this may still be confused.

The relationships are-

Sir George Dyson, K.C.V.O., composer(1883-1964)>father of Freeman John Dyson, F.R.S.(born 1923), physicist and mathematician>father of George Dyson(born 1953), science historian.

sul G

And where does the vacuum cleaner man fit into all this?

Dundonnell


Dundonnell

Quote from: sul G on March 01, 2009, 09:27:56 AM
And where does the vacuum cleaner man fit into all this?

Ho, Ho, Ho.

Sucks to you ;D ;D

vandermolen

For Colin  ;D ;D ;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).

sul G

Now that's more like it! And see, Walton suffered from No Loss Of Suction either...

schweitzeralan

#33
Quote from: Dundonnell on March 01, 2009, 09:25:11 AM
Eh....no. I think that this may still be confused.

The relationships are-

Sir George Dyson, K.C.V.O., composer(1883-1964)>father of Freeman John Dyson, F.R.S.(born 1923), physicist and mathematician>father of George Dyson(born 1953), science historian.

Well, the Dysons were quite an informed, productive family.  I'm appreciating the symphony a little more as I continue "getting into it."  George the composer is a new one for me. I came across the name through musical insights on the internet. I was familiar with the name Freeman Dyson over the years as I've perused lay readings in particle physics and cosmology.  I'm also learning quite a bit from the sundry postings in this forum, particularly those that address many 20th century composers.

Dundonnell

Quote from: sul G on March 01, 2009, 11:08:30 AM
Now that's more like it! And see, Walton suffered from No Loss Of Suction either...

He certainly 'sucked up' to the Sitwells!!

(See there I am being dragged into yet further digressions ;D)

schweitzeralan

#35
Quote from: schweitzeralan on March 01, 2009, 08:34:19 AM
Sorry about the mistake.  To be sure, George was the son of the scientist, not the other way around.  Indeed there are wonderful moments in Dyson's Symphony. Yet the dramatic or, indeed, the thematic develpments seem to be lacking. Do like the various moments, however.














As I "get into" the Symphony in G", I'm  finding some very interesting moments.  I'll give it several listenings and probe more details.

schweitzeralan

#36
Quote from: schweitzeralan on March 05, 2009, 04:38:13 AM


As I "get into" the Symphony in G", I'm  finging some very interesting moments.  I'll give it several listenings and probe more details.

I've now listend to the Dyson symphony several times now. I like the first movement in particular, as it moves along, has that unmistakable "British" quality to it with wonderful Sibelian nuances, not unlike the Moeran symphony, although both differ in their ways. I'd give the work a good "B."

SonicMan46

Well, might as well bring this thread TTT!  ;D

The only George Dyson that I owned previously were the Three Rhapsodies on a disc w/ Howells - but just acquired the 2-CD set below (left) w/ Hickox & the City of London Sinfonia -just went through the first disc which is excellent; I'm sure that the second disc will be a joy for me (piano & string orchestral music) -  :D

Now, I'd like to acquire some of Dyson's vocal works, and the 2-CD set below (right) on Chandos which includes the Canterbury Pilgrims seems like a good start - so, let's bring this composer 'up to date'!  Is the latter a good recommendation - better options - or new choices now available?  Thanks all -   :)

 

Lethevich

I haven't heard the disc you link, but can praise the following ones:



These two discs contrast well. The music of the Hyperion disc is also right in the middle of the time period when Holst, Finzi and Vaughan Williams were writing church music of an unusually rhapsodic and sensual nature, and the Dyson pieces chosen fully reflect those practices. It's churchy, but due to those qualities not as frigidly reverential as the previous generation's (Parry, Stanford) excellent choral music. The Hierusalem piece itself is absolutely definitive of this style, and due to its late date of composition, represents sort of a fin de siècle. It throws in a bit of everything to create an orchestral and choral tone poem so far removed from a traditional church sound that it may as well be a pure concert piece. Echoes of Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music and Holst's Hymn of Jesus abound. I've never understood how so many composers at the same time took church music into such a hedonistic direction (although I suppose it has parallels in visual art), it is seemingly contrary to the whole point of the material, but the results are absolutely stunning - really exalted musical writing which expertly balances atmosphere, dynamic impact and meditation. Which reminds me, I must relisten to that piece. Insomnia sucks, but at least it can have a good soundtrack.

Excuse me for dribbling less over Nebuchadnezzar, this does not mean that it is any less good, but it is simply less perfectly to my tastes. This is a dramatic oratorio in the tradition of Walton and Coleridge-Taylor. Tremendous operatic sweep, fine choral drama, perky orchestral accompaniment, it's the usual deal. The thing which elevates this disc in my estimation is the impressive performance and deep and transparent recording from Chandos, and some delicious couplings, which are all mini masterpieces, and very intelligently cap-off the disc for a little relief after the monolithic opener.
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

Klaatu

In response to prompting on another thread, I must pipe up and say that one of my all-time favourite pieces of English music is "The Poor Parson of A Town" from The Canterbury Pilgrims.

This is quintessential romantic Englishness: Elgarian nobility combined with the spirituality of Parry's Jerusalem, combined with a certain quiet English restraint eventually overcome at the movement's passionate and radiant climax. Lovely!

Also the overture to the Pilgrims - At The Tabard Inn - is brilliant, not least because the heart of it is the same stirringly evocative "Poor Parson" theme!