Charles Villiers Stanford

Started by tjguitar, May 19, 2007, 09:06:45 PM

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Symphonic Addict

Quote from: kyjo on July 14, 2021, 09:38:17 AM
Nos. 3 and 6 are the definite standouts for me - even nos. 4 and 5 didn't really grab me. I do recall enjoying the finale of no. 1 with its catchy main theme.

The 5th has some gorgeous music. The ending is quite uplifting.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Roasted Swan

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on July 14, 2021, 09:59:09 AM
The 5th has some gorgeous music. The ending is quite uplifting.

I have to slightly step back from my earlier comments!  The disc I was listening to was the Handley recording of the 2nd & 3rd Symphonies and I wrote my comment after No.2 only.  Today I completed the disc and did enjoy No.3 a lot.  I still find the bare-faced quote from Brahms intriguing! Was Stanford thinking "If Brahms can 'quote' Beethoven in a symphony I can quote Brahms!"  Whatever the reason it sounds pretty glorious. Helped as ever by those vintage Chandos recordings from the Ulster Hall in Belfast.  The acoustic there gives a warmth and ring to the orchestra that suits the music to a tee.

Jeffrey mentioned enjoying Watts as an artist.  Many forum readers will know the Watts Gallery tucked in the hill next to the A3 in Surrey.  If not its well worth a visit - a curious oasis of Victorian ethos so close to a bustling main road to London! The italianate chapel down the hill is a minor wonder/folly too!


SonicMan46

Re-post from the listening thread - the attached reviews of Lloyd-Jones are excellent - Dave :)

QuoteStanford, Charles Villiers (1852-1924) - Symphonies w/ Vernon Handley and the Ulster Orchestra recorded 1987-1991 - I've been listening to Stanford's chamber works most of the week; will spend the afternoon and tomorrow on his symphonies, composed between 1876-1911 - listening on headphones - sound is excellent for these 30+ year old recordings (DDD) - the main competition is shown below, right, i.e. David Lloyd-Jones and the Bournemouth SO on Naxos in 4 volumes - I could find numerous reviews of the Naxos recordings (attached) but virtually none searching Fanfare, MusicWeb, AllMusic, and ClassicsToday for Handley; BUT, the reviews virtually always make mention of comparisons to Handley, which in my reading seems to be a 'toss up' although the more recent Naxos sound may have an edge at times?  Just made a Spotify playlist of the 4 Lloyd-Jones recordings and will give a listen.  Dave :)

P.S. Naxos should box these up in a 'thin' package, but likely if done will just put 4 single jewel cases together, their usually approach!

 

vandermolen

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on July 14, 2021, 09:59:09 AM
The 5th has some gorgeous music. The ending is quite uplifting.
3 and 5 are my favourite + the Irish Rhapsody No.4.
"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).

vandermolen

#64
Quote from: Roasted Swan on July 14, 2021, 11:28:50 AM
I have to slightly step back from my earlier comments!  The disc I was listening to was the Handley recording of the 2nd & 3rd Symphonies and I wrote my comment after No.2 only.  Today I completed the disc and did enjoy No.3 a lot.  I still find the bare-faced quote from Brahms intriguing! Was Stanford thinking "If Brahms can 'quote' Beethoven in a symphony I can quote Brahms!"  Whatever the reason it sounds pretty glorious. Helped as ever by those vintage Chandos recordings from the Ulster Hall in Belfast.  The acoustic there gives a warmth and ring to the orchestra that suits the music to a tee.

Jeffrey mentioned enjoying Watts as an artist.  Many forum readers will know the Watts Gallery tucked in the hill next to the A3 in Surrey.  If not its well worth a visit - a curious oasis of Victorian ethos so close to a bustling main road to London! The italianate chapel down the hill is a minor wonder/folly too!


Oh, I've been to the Watts Gallery and Chapel many times (my in-laws live quite near to it). RS is right, it's well worth a visit. I even sent one of my History of Art students there to research for her A Level coursework (the Curator was very helpful). Watts was an interesting character. He went to visit friends for the weekend and stayed for 40 years! His painting 'Hope' is one of my favourites and, in a few weeks time, I hope to visit his statue of Tennyson (with his dog) outside Lincoln Cathedral:
"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).

amw

No. 6 is the only symphony I rate. Neither of the two recordings is completely satisfactory, but I can't tell if that's the fault of overly timid interpretations or simply bad orchestration. The music seems comparable to early Strauss or early Elgar both in character and in quality, but slightly closer to the former (eg pieces like the violin and cello sonatas, violin concerto, Aus Italien etc).

aligreto

#66
I recently re-listened to Stanford's Irish Rhapsodies [Handley]





Irish Rhapsody No. 1
This is a fine, well executed work. Stanford weaves Irish folk music into a, then, modern sounding idiom. The music still sounds energetic and fresh in this presentation. The orchestration is very fine.

Irish Rhapsody No. 2
This music is very lyrical and I like its dark hues. The wonderful tone is crafted by the use of dynamics, wonderful harmonies and counterpoint, rich scoring filled with drama and tension and fine pacing. The orchestration is very fine and rich but it is never dense. This is a wonderfully multi-textured work. Handly has a very good feel for this music and it is given very fine treatment here.

Irish Rhapsody No. 3 
This is a very lyrical work. It is also a cell concertante work. Both elements combine wonderfully here. The music is both expansive and intense. There is a wonderfully natural flow to the cello line which is exciting and spirited. 

Irish Rhapsody No. 4 
I really like the tone and atmosphere of this work. The music is beguiling and very captivating. The scoring is wonderful and, as the music progresses, it becomes more expansive and atmospheric. The music is in a constant state of flux and the various changes in tone, pacing, atmosphere and levels of both tension and drama are always very compelling. This is wonderful music and music making. The levels of intensity are very engrossing. This work, and presentation, has a powerful presence.

Irish Rhapsody No. 5 
I find the tone of this work to be a curious mixture of the upbeat grounded on the disconcerting. The essentially joyful themes are not fully unleashed; something is, curiously, holding it back which I find to be quite intriguing. I find the central, slow, section to be quite idyllic yet still poignant. However, all is resolved at the conclusion. The harmonies and scoring are very fine and effective.

Irish Rhapsody No. 6 
I find that the emotionally charged concertante music of the opening section is wonderfully engaging with its relatively sparse but very effective orchestral accompaniment. I like the gradual augmentation in the orchestral forces as the work progresses. The work concludes on a jubilant and positive note. 

vandermolen

Quote from: aligreto on November 28, 2021, 07:47:17 AM
I recently re-listened to Stanford's Irish Rhapsodies [Handley]





Irish Rhapsody No. 1
This is a fine, well executed work. Stanford weaves Irish folk music into a, then, modern sounding idiom. The music still sounds energetic and fresh in this presentation. The orchestration is very fine.

Irish Rhapsody No. 2
This music is very lyrical and I like its dark hues. The wonderful tone is crafted by the use of dynamics, wonderful harmonies and counterpoint, rich scoring filled with drama and tension and fine pacing. The orchestration is very fine and rich but it is never dense. This is a wonderfully multi-textured work. Handly has a very good feel for this music and it is given very fine treatment here.

Irish Rhapsody No. 3 
This is a very lyrical work. It is also a cell concertante work. Both elements combine wonderfully here. The music is both expansive and intense. There is a wonderfully natural flow to the cello line which is exciting and spirited. 

Irish Rhapsody No. 4 
I really like the tone and atmosphere of this work. The music is beguiling and very captivating. The scoring is wonderful and, as the music progresses, it becomes more expansive and atmospheric. The music is in a constant state of flux and the various changes in tone, pacing, atmosphere and levels of both tension and drama are always very compelling. This is wonderful music and music making. The levels of intensity are very engrossing. This work, and presentation, has a powerful presence.

Irish Rhapsody No. 5 
I find the tone of this work to be a curious mixture of the upbeat grounded on the disconcerting. The essentially joyful themes are not fully unleashed; something is, curiously, holding it back which I find to be quite intriguing. I find the central, slow, section to be quite idyllic yet still poignant. However, all is resolved at the conclusion. The harmonies and scoring are very fine and effective.

Irish Rhapsody No. 6 
I find that the emotionally charged concertante music of the opening section is wonderfully engaging with its relatively sparse but very effective orchestral accompaniment. I like the gradual augmentation in the orchestral forces as the work progresses. The work concludes on a jubilant and positive note.
Interesting survey Fergus. I think that No.4 is especially impressive. I noticed today that No.3 was included in the Chandos two CD release of British Cello Concertos.
"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).

aligreto

Quote from: vandermolen on November 28, 2021, 08:49:32 AM
Interesting survey Fergus. I think that No.4 is especially impressive. I noticed today that No.3 was included in the Chandos two CD release of British Cello Concertos.

A bit of a stretch, methinks.

aligreto

I recently finished this set with the two works below:





Piano Concerto No. 2 [Fingerhut/Handley]: This work opens with a bang, literally. I find the opening movement to be very powerful with a great presence. This presentation of the first movement is frequently animated and always robust and assertive. The slow movement is also very lyrically but robustly, and eloquently, presented here with no sentimentality involved. The final movement here is an ardent, assertive affair. Both conductor and soloist are always in full control of their respective roles throughout this very fine performance. It is also a fine recording as far as  sound quality is concerned.


Down Among the Dead Men [Fingerhut/Handley]: This is my first time hearing this work. I was very impressed with both the work and this presentation. I find the work to be very interesting and engaging, musically. Intense and powerful, the work has a great presence. The performance from all concerned is lyrical but robust, assertive and always atmospheric.

Scion7

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Composer, teacher, musician. 
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

Maestro267

170, to be precise.

Listening to the 5th Symphony as commemoration.

Albion

Assuming that new releases are still going ahead (since the purchase of Hyperion by Universal) the Martyn Brabbins performance of the glorious Requiem will be released on the 5th of May.



They even chose my laptop screen-background, G.F. Watts' "Time, Death and Judgement" as the cover art (Judgement is obliterated by the title, perhaps thankfully), although they could have chosen something by Lord Leighton (who is commemorated in Stanford's work)...

 ;D

In the meantime, here is a PDF of the CD booklet which is up to Hyperion's usual high standard...

https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/notes/68418-B.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3hGVn4xx9YsriyxJzjchdy5uEaHogVRRMS5M6fifrbcsEbsp04QmNvvqA
A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)

Roasted Swan

Quote from: Albion on March 03, 2023, 06:58:29 AMAssuming that new releases are still going ahead (since the purchase of Hyperion by Universal) the Martyn Brabbins performance of the glorious Requiem will be released on the 5th of May.



They even chose my laptop screen-background, G.F. Watts' "Time, Death and Judgement" as the cover art (Judgement is obliterated by the title, perhaps thankfully), although they could have chosen something by Lord Leighton (who is commemorated in Stanford's work)...

 ;D

In the meantime, here is a PDF of the CD booklet which is up to Hyperion's usual high standard...

https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/notes/68418-B.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3hGVn4xx9YsriyxJzjchdy5uEaHogVRRMS5M6fifrbcsEbsp04QmNvvqA

Aagh - the compulsive collector's dilemma - do I really need another Stanford Requiem when I haven't listened to the other version in the catalogue which I have and is fine in years.....?!?!?!

Albion

#74
Quote from: Roasted Swan on March 03, 2023, 08:29:59 AMAagh - the compulsive collector's dilemma - do I really need another Stanford Requiem when I haven't listened to the other version in the catalogue which I have and is fine in years.....?!?!?!

Yep, you most certainly do.

 ;D

By all accounts this was a really splendid performance in Birmingham. I heard the Requiem in York Minster decades ago where the acoustic resulted in undiluted sludge and I find the Marco Polo recording dry, so hopefully Hyperion have got the sonics just right, as Naxos did with the Stabat mater under David Hill (far preferable to the Chandos under Hickox)...
A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)

Albion

#75
The great news is that Adrian Partington and the BBC NOW (who gave us a splendid "Via Victrix") are recording the 1897 Te Deum, Op.66 (premiered at Leeds in 1898) later this year, coupled with the 1884 Elegiac Ode, Op.24, probably for Lyrita. Originally this Te Deum was supposed to have been the coupling for the Hickox Stabat mater until some bright spark at Chandos realised that it's a bloody big work and would have required a second disc, so they substituted the little B flat Te Deum and the incomparably dreary Bible Songs instead. I was at the 1999 performance of Op.66 in Leeds and seem to have been the only person who bothered to record the subsequent Boxing Day broadcast (everyone else was clearly too sozzled). The FM reception was absolutely terrible, but I've tried to clean up my recording as best I can...

https://www.mediafire.com/file/64eyu9lgpj9nrmh/Stanford_-_Te_Deum%252C_Op.66_%25281898%2529.mp3/file

 ;D
A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)

Albion

I simply can't get enough of Stanford in Italianate mode (perhaps he was trying to out-Verdi Verdi, who was one of his heroes). The Te Deum will complete the cycle of his large-scale works in this vein:

Mass in G, Op.46 (EM Records)
Requiem, Op.63 (Marco Polo/ Naxos and forthcoming from Hyperion)
Te Deum, Op.66 (forthcoming, probably from Lyrita)
Stabat mater, Op.96 (Chandos and Naxos)
Mass "Via Victrix", Op. 173 (Lyrita)


Critics at the time were puzzled by his contributions to the genre, as an Irish Protestant writing to Catholic texts they questioned the composer's sincerity, but it's ultimately the music that counts and Stanford was clearly moved enough to pour some of his best inspirations into each of these scores...

 ;D
A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)

Albion

Several of Stanford's late works have required re-orchestration (either because the originals have been lost or because he simply never completed them), and the results have been mixed. Jeremy Dibble did a great job with both "Merlin and the Gleam" (which I heard done by the Broadheath Singers about twenty years ago in the same concert as Dyson's "Songs for Sailors" and Cowen's scena "The Dream of Endymion" - what a great programme that was) and the Violin Concerto No.2 (EM Records EMR CD023) but I am less convinced by Geoffrey Bush's version of Piano Concerto No.3 (Lyrita SRCD 321) although perhaps the performance is at fault as everything just seems to hang fire: Nicholas Braithwaite usually drives things along, but this is not the case here...

 ::)
A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)

vers la flamme

#78
Really enjoying the 3rd symphony and the 5th Irish Rhapsody, plus the Songs of the Sea & Fleet. Where to next with this composer? Actually I managed to pick up the 6th symphony disc (Chandos, Handley/Ulster) for five bucks, so I guess I'll check that one out. I'm definitely convinced of the value of this composer.

@Roasted Swan, I noticed that Brahms quote too (the slow movement of the 3rd, right?), though I wasn't sure whether it was intentional. Now that you mention it, I'm sure he knew what he was doing!

Reading the book Albion's Glory gave me a bit of background with regard to Stanford's pedagogical style; apparently, his critiques were limited to "I like it, my boy" or "It's damned ugly, my boy", nothing in between, which I found amusing.

Mapman

Quote from: vers la flamme on March 17, 2023, 05:46:35 PMReally enjoying the 3rd symphony and the 5th Irish Rhapsody, plus the Songs of the Sea & Fleet. Where to next with this composer? Actually I managed to pick up the 6th symphony disc (Chandos, Handley/Ulster) for five bucks, so I guess I'll check that one out. I'm definitely convinced of the value of this composer.

@Roasted Swan, I noticed that Brahms quote too (the slow movement of the 3rd, right?), though I wasn't sure whether it was intentional. Now that you mention it, I'm sure he knew what he was doing!

Reading the book Albion's Glory gave me a bit of background with regard to Stanford's pedagogical style; apparently, his critiques were limited to "I like it, my boy" or "It's damned ugly, my boy", nothing in between, which I found amusing.

I'm glad you are enjoying Stanford! The 3rd symphony was also my introduction to his orchestral music. The 6th symphony is definitely a good choice for what to listen to next. I posted enthusiastically about it last year when I first heard it. I think the 6th symphony is more original than the 3rd. The 2nd movement has one of the most beautiful English Horn solos, and the theme reappears in the Finale, leading to a very satisfying ending. I haven't listened in a while, but I recall his Intermezzi for clarinet and piano as being enjoyable, too.