A British Composer Poll

[lukeottevanger]

....although I think Tippett's Concerto is on an even more exalted plane:



(the above version being coupled with the utterly gorgeous Triple Concerto - buy, buy, buy).

Tippet would be a definite vote for this particular Brit in the poll, if I was inclined to vote at all....

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

....although I think Tippett's Concerto is on an even more exalted plane:



(the above version being coupled with the utterly gorgeous Triple Concerto - buy, buy, buy).

Tippet would be a definite vote for this particular Brit in the poll, if I was inclined to vote at all....

Is download, download, download okay, too?

Thank you. 

[karlhenning]

Luke is right, you know, Johan.

[Henk]

Apart from my vote here for RVW, who's a class apart imo, my personal list would probably also include:

Frederick Delius
Havergal Brian
Frank Bridge
Arthur Bliss
Edmund Rubbra
Eugene Goossens
Ernest John Moeran
William Alwyn
Lennox Berkeley
Alan Rawsthorne
Michael Tippett
Malcolm Arnold
Richard Arnell
Alun Hoddinott

(Btw, interesting to learn that Gerald Finzi is in this shortlist, and Frederick Delius, William Walton, Michael Tippett, to mention a few names of better-known composers, aren't.)

Don't you forget Bax, Christo?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Luke is right, you know, Johan.

Luke's infallibility in matters musical is an article of faith for me.

Most of the time.

[lukeottevanger]

Mine too, though maybe less of the time.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Mine too, though maybe less of the time.

Well, put in the hours, and you never know....

[Dundonnell]

Don't you forget Bax, Christo?

To whom I would add-

Arnold Cooke
Benjamin Frankel
Gordon Jacob
George Lloyd
William Mathias
John McCabe
Humphrey Searle
Robert Simpson
Bernard Stevens

[drogulus]

     For the Britten Piano Concerto, I'm going with the Bedford/ECO on Naxos with Joanna MacGregor on piano. It's downloading now.

     

[knight66]

A friend was at a concert this week of the Manchester Halle. Sir Mark Elder conducting Elgar's Dream of Gerontius. The singers were PAul Groves, Alice Coote and Bryn Terfel.

The reaction has been very favourable. The concert has been recorded for issue on CD.

Mike

[Dancing Divertimentian]

You won't go wrong with Richter's own reading, with Britten, either.

 

But, from my experience, this work it doesn't require having 'a case' made for it - it's just a superb piece. 

I probably should have that Richter/Britten recording too. The piece is just so overwhelming I'd love to hear an alternate take. And who better than the composer and a confidant? Thanks for mentioning it.

And as far as my "making a case for it" quip...yeah, big non sequitur. But I meant well.

[Mark]

I've gone with Vaughan Williams, as his Fifth Symphony has made such a deep impact on me this year. But if this were a poll for which on the list should be crowned king, I'd be approaching the throne of Britten - a man whose genius seemed without end, and whose musical invention astounds me time and again.

[Bogey]

After discovering some of his chamber pieces, thanks to Harry and hearing this group play his works from time to time (http://dcc1079.googlepages.com/), Handel was my choice.

[71 dB]

What is the purpose of these polls? The prove that Elgar is a mediocre composer at best?
The result does not chance anything, I still enjoy Elgar.

Perhaps I should not post at all because I am really pissed of right now (not because of the poll result but because the byrocrazy of social security. It drives me nuts!)

[DavidRoss]

The only piece of English music likely to make my desert isle top ten is Elgar's Cello Concerto.  (Polu, naturally, thinks that is one of his poorer efforts, an inferior work that only an idiot would enjoy...or so he has suggested on numerous occasions.)  That said, my choice for "greatest" has to be RVW, for no other that I know of has written so much music of such consistently high quality that also appeals to my taste.

[71 dB]

The only piece of English music likely to make my desert isle top ten is Elgar's Cello Concerto.  (Polu, naturally, thinks that is one of his poorer efforts, an inferior work that only an idiot would enjoy...or so he has suggested on numerous occasions.)

It is not an inferior work, it is a stunning Cello Concerto but in my opinion Elgar has many even better works (Violin Concerto, Symphonies, Piano Quintet, The Dream of Gerontius, The Apostles, The Kingdom,...)

[Mark]

The only piece of English music likely to make my desert isle top ten is Elgar's Cello Concerto. 

Christ!

Strong words, Dave.

[DavidRoss]

Consider that Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Sibelius, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Brahms, Debussy, Mahler, and a few others are jockeying for the other nine spots, and you'll see what high regard I have for this piece, Mark.

[Mark]

Consider that Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Sibelius, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Brahms, Debussy, Mahler, and a few others are jockeying for the other nine spots, and you'll see what high regard I have for this piece, Mark.

It's one of the great cello concerti, no doubt. I have Du Pre to thank for my love of it.

[Hector]

Consider that Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Sibelius, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Brahms, Debussy, Mahler, and a few others are jockeying for the other nine spots, and you'll see what high regard I have for this piece, Mark.

I have no problem with that as I can make an English link with all of them.

Debussy, for example, polished off 'La Mer' in Eastbourne!