There is a relatively rich collection of Cello Concertos by British composers. This tends to contrast with the situation in many other countries in which few major composers have produced a cello concerto. (I know of 7 cello concertos by major American composers-those by Samuel Barber, Philip Glass, Alan Hovhaness, Peter Mennin, Ned Rorem, Christopher Rouse and Virgil Thomson-although David Diamond, Walter Piston and William Schuman wrote concertante works for cello and orchestra).
Currently on CD there are-
multiple versions of the Britten Cello Symphony, and the Elgar and Walton Cello Concerti
4 versions of the Bridge Oration(Alexander Baillie, Alban Gerhardt, Steven Isserlis and Julian Lloyd Webber)
3 of the Bliss Cello Concerto(Robert Cohen, Tim Hugh and Raphael Wallfisch)
3 of the Delius Cello Concerto(Jacqueline du Pre, Julian Lloyd Webber and Raphael Wallfisch)
3 of the Finzi Cello Concerto(Tim Hugh, Yo-Yo Ma and Raphael Wallfisch)
and single versions of the Bax(Raphael Wallfisch), Michael Berkeley(Alban Gerhardt), William Busch(Raphael Wallfisch), Gordon Crosse(Alexander Baillie), Kenneth Leighton(Raphael Wallfisch), George Lloyd(Anthony Ross), James Macmillan(Raphael Wallfisch), Moeran(Raphael Wallfisch), Rawsthorne(Alexander Baillie), Cyril Scott(Paul Watkins), Stanford(Alexander Baillie), Bernard Stevens(Alexander Baillie), Sullivan(Julian Lloyd Webber), Tovey(Alice Neary), Hugh Wood(Moray Welsh)
So..what still remains to be recorded? Well, Arnold Cooke and Joseph Holbrooke wrote a cello concerto each but I would suggest that recording companies and cellists look at the two glaring omissions- the cello concertos by Havergal Brian and Robert Simpson. Both are comparatively short works(21 and 23 minutes respectively) and scored for modest orchestral resources-believe it or not in the case of the Brian!
I don't doubt the quality of most of the concertos which have been recorded but I certainly think that if the Bliss has three current versions available and if the Bax and Moeran(not those composers' strongest works) are available then the Brian and Simpson should join them on CD.
Come on Naxos(Brian) or Hyperion(Simpson)?
I await a completion of RVW's unfinished one. Even a single movement would be fine 0:)
IIRC, Hyperion has lost interest in recording any more Simpson for now, due to low sales of the existing discs. I could envisage a disc on Chandos perhaps containing both the Brian and the Simpson, along with some filler - they would be an interesting coupling, and should get decent sales simply because every Brian AND Simpson fan will be buying it... Any enterprising label should take note...
I think Rubbras Soliloquiy also deserves a mention in this company.
Bridge's Oration is, by far, my favourite British Cello Concerto. I also have a very high opinion of the Moeran Cello Concerto. His last great work in my view.
Quote from: erato on February 12, 2008, 11:56:45 PM
I think Rubbras Soliloquiy also deserves a mention in this company.
Yes, I absolutely agree! I did consider including this lovely work. I actually have three versions of the Soliloquy-played by Raphael Sommer(BBC Classics), Rohan de Saram(Lyrita) and Raphael Wallfisch(White Line). (Incidentally, the White Line CD also contains the Cello Concerto No.2 by Herbert Murrill, Sir George Dyson's Prelude, Fantasy and Chaconne for cello and orchestra and Haydn Wood's Philharmonic Variations for cello and orchestra!).
I can't understand why Chandos did not continue their Rubbra symphony series to include the concertos(they did record the Sinfonia Concertante for piano and orchestra). We do have modern recordings of the Violin(Naxos) and Viola (Hyperion) and Tasmin Little's version of both these concertos can still be found but we desperately need a new, modern version of the wonderful Piano Concerto-not recorded since the 1976 Malcolm Binns recording on BBC Classics.
Quote from: vandermolen on February 13, 2008, 12:35:12 AM
Bridge's Oration is, by far, my favourite British Cello Concerto. I also have a very high opinion of the Moeran Cello Concerto. His last great work in my view.
There will-presumably-be a future reissue of the Moeran played by the composer's widow, Peers Coetmore, on Lyrita.
I shall give the Moeran another listen. Perhaps I have underestimated the piece!
Quote from: vandermolen on February 13, 2008, 12:35:12 AM
Bridge's Oration is, by far, my favourite British Cello Concerto.
Do you have a preferred recording?
Quote from: Dundonnell on February 13, 2008, 04:59:05 AM
There will-presumably-be a future reissue of the Moeran played by the composer's widow, Peers Coetmore, on Lyrita.
I shall give the Moeran another listen. Perhaps I have underestimated the piece!
Yes, Lyrita will release that in due course. There were some poor reviews of Coetmore's "amateurish performance", the suggestion being that she was only selected to perform the work as she was Moeran's wife. Personally, I always found hers to be (maybe unsurprisingly) the most deeply felt of all.
Another 'Oration' fan here (I only know the Lyrita).
And I don't know the Brian Cello Concerto...
Quote from: Jezetha on February 13, 2008, 07:17:15 AM
Another 'Oration' fan here (I only know the Lyrita).
And I don't know the Brian Cello Concerto...
Malcolm MacDonald, in Vol. 2 of his book on the Brian symphonies, describes the Cello Concerto as " a sort of 'chamber concerto', predominately sunny...not major Brian but a lovable work and a distinguished addition to the cello repertoire". It is scored for strings, woodwind, 4 horns and side-drum(which, by Brian standards, is positively spartan!).
Given the reference to the Rubbra Soliloquy, I should also probably mention the Holst Invocation and the Herbert Howells Fantasia and the Threnody(which are available on CD), Sir Lennox Berkeley's Dialogues, Alan Bush's Concert Suite and the Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Sussex Folk Tunes(which I have never heard).
I also omitted the late Cello Concerto by Sir Malcolm Arnold, op 136 which-as far as I know-still awaits a recording despite the recent interest in Arnold's music.
Quote from: Dundonnell on February 13, 2008, 07:48:09 AM
Malcolm MacDonald, in Vol. 2 of his book on the Brian symphonies, describes the Cello Concerto as " a sort of 'chamber concerto', predominately sunny...not major Brian but a lovable work and a distinguished addition to the cello repertoire". It is scored for strings, woodwind, 4 horns and side-drum(which, by Brian standards, is positively spartan!).
Anorexic is the word! (I know that description, of course - MM's volumes were all I had in the early 1980s, when I hadn't yet joined the HBS and only knew symphonies 6, 8 ,9 ,10, 21 and 22...)
Quote from: Jezetha on February 13, 2008, 07:54:54 AM
Anorexic is the word! (I know that description, of course - MM's volumes were all I had in the early 1980s, when I hadn't yet joined the HBS and only knew symphonies 6, 8 ,9 ,10, 21 and 22...)
Yes, I will go with "anorexic"!!!
Quote from: Jezetha on February 13, 2008, 07:17:15 AM
Another 'Oration' fan here (I only know the Lyrita).
And I don't know the Brian Cello Concerto...
The Lyrita Oration is an excellent performance too.
I'm sure Guido, resident cello concerto expert, will know of dozens of British cello concerti not on the initial list. Ones which occur to me (I haven't heard all of them, though) are the ultra-lyrical Bryars, the Harvey (a real cello specialist, here) and those by Foulds, Maxwell Davies, Beamish, Saxton and Casken. Howells didn't finish his but the two completed movements can be performed (sounds promising, but I'm not too impressed by the first movement).
Quote from: lukeottevanger on February 14, 2008, 02:15:03 AM
I'm sure Guido, resident cello concerto expert, will know of dozens of British cello concerti not on the initial list. Ones which occur to me (I haven't heard all of them, though) are the ultra-lyrical Bryars, the Harvey (a real cello specialist, here) and those by Foulds, Maxwell Davies, Beamish, Saxton and Casken. Howells didn't finish his but the two completed movements can be performed (sounds promising, but I'm not too impressed by the first movement).
You are, of course, quite correct! I am afraid that I am not familiar with the works of the younger generation of British composers but it was particularly good of you to remind me of the early Foulds Cello Concerto(first performed in 1911 at Hans Richter's last concert with the Halle Orchestra and broadcast by the BBC in the 1980s) and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies's Strathclyde Concerto No.2 for cello and orchestra-which I have not heard.
The two movements of the unfinished Howells Cello Concerto are now known as the Fantasia and Threnody(recorded by Chandos) are they not?
Quote from: Dundonnell on February 14, 2008, 02:56:47 AM
You are, of course, quite correct! I am afraid that I am not familiar with the works of the younger generation of British composers but it was particularly good of you to remind me of the early Foulds Cello Concerto(first performed in 1911 at Hans Richter's last concert with the Halle Orchestra and broadcast by the BBC in the 1980s) and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies's Strathclyde Concerto No.2 for cello and orchestra-which I have not heard.
The two movements of the unfinished Howells Cello Concerto are now known as the Fantasia and Threnody(recorded by Chandos) are they not?
I hadn't heard of that disc, but I'm sure you are right - I've only heard the first movement, which is coupled with the Hymnus Paradisi on a BBC Radio Classics CD. It seems to ramble, to my ears, unlike the best Howelss.
Quote from: lukeottevanger on February 14, 2008, 02:59:40 AM
I hadn't heard of that disc, but I'm sure you are right - I've only heard the first movement, which is coupled with the Hymnus Paradisi on a BBC Radio Classics CD. It seems to ramble, to my ears, unlike the best Howelss.
Chandos CHAN 9410-London Symphony Orchestra(Richard Hickox)-"King's Herald" arr. for orchestra and organ from the suite "Pageantry"; Paradise Rondel; Pastoral Rhapsody; Procession; Fantasia for Cello and Orchestra; and Threnody for Cello and Orchestra(Moray Welsh, cello).
The Fantasia might have become the Cello Concerto's first movement while the Threnody was to have been the slow movement(the piano score was orchestrated by Christopher Palmer).
Warning: the below is ridiculously prolix and may not be worth reading!
Good to see another English cello concerto fan on these boards Dundonnell! I have heard all of the works that you list (the recorded ones) and I have to say that I think that there are more fine cello concertos by English composers than any other country. I am certainly not saying that cello concertos from other countries are not as good (!) - My favourite cello concertos derive from composers of all nationalities, but there seems to be some curious afinity for cello concerto writing in English composers born in the early twentieth century. I have often wondered why this is, and have come up with a few possible reasons. Elgar's cello concerto is I think we can agree the first great English cello concerto. Though Stanford composed one nice concerto in the late 19th century it would be difficult to consider it a masterpiece. This may have set a precident for a standard of cello concerto writing amongst other British composers. It's interesting to note that English composers often produced cello concertos later in life when they were in full command of their compositional powers -
Elgar - composed in 1919 aged 62
Delius – composed in 1921 aged 61
Bridge - composed in 1930 aged 51
Bax - composed in 1953 aged 49
Tovey – composed in 1936 aged 61
Howells – composed in 1937 aged 45
Moeran composed in 1945 aged 51
Finzi – composed in 1955 aged 54
Walton - composed in 1956 aged 54
Britten – composed in 1963 aged 50
Bliss – composed in 1970 aged 79(!)
Two naturalised 'English' composers also might be considered in this list:
Goldschmidt – composed in 1953 aged 50
Panufnik – composed in 1991 aged 77
Many of these composers had previously produced violin concertos. I am not just picking and choosing – I believe that these composers wrote the finest English cello concertos. Perhaps it is also because of the relative difficulty of writing cello concertos in that extremely careful orchestration must be used in order that the solo cello isn't easily covered. Perhaps, after Elgar's example, the cello concerto in England was destined to be the vehicle of an aging composers melancholic thoughts and concerns, perhaps due to the nature of the cello's 'natural' voice. Perhaps the cello naturally lends itself to 'the English style' of composition. An alternative explanation could be the growing popularity of the cello concerto as a genre in the twentieth century. I could continue listing guesses, but what we have is a body of cello concertos with a consistence of quality and that is of quite a rare order. While Barber's cello concerto (1945) is a true masterpiece, the number of other American cello concertos of similar quality from this period small. Works by Schulman, Schuman, Piston, Mennin, Thomson, Diamond, Glass, Hovhaness, Rorem, Schuller and Stevens are all of variable quality. In more recent years, more brilliant works have appeared – Feldman's Cello and Orchestra 1972, and Albert's (1990) and Carter's (2001) are both great as is Williams' (1994). The three works by Rouse, Danielpour and Kirchner that Ma premiered and recorded in the early 90's are also all quite fine.
This is not to say that all English cello concertos are great, but those by the more famous composers are generally amongst the best of their output.
Lennox Berkeley's cello concerto is a youthful work (1937) but not up to the standard of the other pieces on the list – the late Dialogue for cello and orchestra (1970) is also interesting. Leighton's concerto was composed when he was very young, and is a fine piece, but I make no claims to be being scientific, only that I have noticed a general trend!
Oh Christ, I have far too much time on my hands! Please feel free to ignore all of the boring above!
I agree that the Fantasia rambles but both of Howells' works for cello and orchestra are really very beautiful.
Goehr's Romanza is one that I haven't heard (and apt for today!) but is apparently inspired by Janacek, so I'd like to hear that one.
I also have a rather higher opinion of the Moeran - Raphael Wallfisch's account is rather brilliant (and Coetmore's certainly isn't). The Bliss concerto is one of my favourite pieces and I am convinced that its relative neglect is only to do with the high demands that are placed on the soloist. The Walton, Finzi, Bridge and Britten works are all pieces of the front rank.
Concertante works that you haven't yet mentioned are Holst's wonderful invocation and also the two by Hoddinott - Nocturnes and Cadenza's and the even finer Noctus Equi (written for Rostropovich). Then there are Tavener's works - The Protecting Veil which is quite phenominal and the less ambitious but still quite fine Eternal Memory. Casken's concerto is also brilliant. There are a few other works (Judith Wier, , but I think you have covered most of the ones that are most worth mentioning.
I agree that there are others that need recordings. Fould's is at the top of my list - Wallfisch 'repremiered' and broadcast the piece in the late 80s on BBC Radio 3 but they can't find the recording in their archives at present! It is by all accounts a brilliant work, as good, if not better than the cello sonata. Cyril Scott's concerto was recently recorded and it's quite a nice piece (nothing earth shattering), but the piece The Melodist and the Nightingales is a really fine achievement to my ears, at least as much as I have heard of it - this really does need a recording. I would love to hear Brian's concerto and also those by Osborne, Cooke, Stevenson, Joseph, Rainier and Parrott (the last one very much so).
There's a recording issued on CD of the cello concerto by Minna Keal I remember as quite good, - and Nicholas Maw also wrote an extended piece for cello & orchestra ("Sonata Notturna") issued on Nimbus. A new Nimbus issue (with Wallfisch) has the cello concerto of Paul Patterson together with "Epyllion" (for cello & orchestra) by Elizabeth Machonchy.
Brian was 88 (!) when he wrote his Cello Concerto. I just re-read what Malcolm MacDonald has to say about it, and he calls it a bit of a 'sport'. So I don't think Brian's addition to the genre is among the most distinguished, alas...
Wow, Guido, that is certainly an impressive reply! Thanks for taking the time to discuss the topic at such length(and you certainly did not bore me when I read it the post!). You have a much greater knowledge of the number of cello concertos composed by both British and American composers than I and you mention a considerable number of whose very existence I was unaware.
I did not know-for example-that Lennox Berkeley had written an early Cello Concerto; it does not appear to have been given an opus number.
You are also right to draw attention to the naturalised concertos by Goldschmidt and Panufnik. I did actually mention the Holst Invocation in one of my supplemental posts but I am delighted that you have highlighted the two concertante works by Alun Hoddinott(when is that most prolific of our 'senior' composers going to receive the attention his considerable achievements deserve!)
I quite agree about the number and quality of such works compared to many other countries and the point you make about the maturity of most composers who finally produced a work for cello and orchestra. You might have added that Rawsthorne was 61 and George Lloyd 84 when they added to the repertoire.
The two concertos which you don't mention and I wonder if you know are the Malcolm Arnold and the Robert Simpson. Again, both are late works-the Arnold is from 1988(op.136) shortly before Arnold ceased composition and the Simpson dates from 1991 and is one of Simpson's last compositions.
It would be interesting to hear your impressions of these two works.
I have yet to hear the Simpson concerto - has it been recorded? I would certainly like to hear it. Arnold's concerto is really not one of his better works, and Julian Lloyd Webber, the dedicatee, actually didn't record it because he felt it didn't do him justice. He had planned to reord it with the Walton because the two men were good friends.
Yes I should have mentioned those two - Rawsthorne's concerto is a tough nut to crack but I actually think that it is a superb score. Lloyd's I am less convinced of, but it has been a while since I last listened so I will listen again.
Another work by a naturalised citizen that is worth mentioning is Gal's concerto which is a very large scale work, but ultimately I don't think that it can quite sustain the length, despite it having some very lovely moments. He also composed a lighter concertino that has never been recorded. Gerhardt also composed a concerto which I would like to hear.
Matthews' two concertos (1983 and 1995) are good modern works and the Berceuse for Dresden is quite a beautiful piece (composed this century).
By the way all the dates I have listed have been from my memory so they may be wrong!
Sad about the Malcolm Arnold but the fires did burn pretty low before the end.
No, the Simpson has not been recorded. As with so many composers, since his death interest has tended to wane a bit. Hyperion have us all the symphonies and string quartets but the Cello and Flute Concertos from his later years remain unrecorded(the Piano concerto is on an old BBC Clasics-no doubt difficult to find-and the Violin Concerto was withdrawn for a revision which, sadly, Simpson did not live to undertake).
I agree about the Rawsthorne-not a work which gives up its secrets easily-but I do also admire the elegiac George Lloyd Cello Concerto.
I would have to confess however having a soft spot for Lloyd's conservative idiom!
Hans Gal-ah! Another refugee from Central Europe and a distinguished teacher at my old University in Edinburgh. Now there is another composer whose music merits re-discovery!
Well this is good news - A CD has just been released of 20th century works for cello and strings. Review:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/Feb08/Wallfisch_NI5815.htm
I just recieved the CD this morning and am listening through it. Maconchy's Epyllion and Kopytman's Kaddish are the two pieces I haven't heard before (the Patterson concerto was played in Cambirdge last May but it's good to have it on record). Maconchy's piece is quite a revelation - I've only heard it once but it makes a powerful impression and may well be an important contribution to the repertoire. I have only known her from the highly inventive and resourceful variations for solo cello on a theme from Job (dedicated to the composer of the theme - Vaughan Williams) The Lutoslawski and Hindemith are more standard fare (at least on recordings) - both given lovely readings here. Actually the whole CD is great - great playing and interesting repertoire - 3 premiere recordings. Wallfisch is a cellist who I respect immensely for certain recordings and for his commitment to playing unknown, especially English repertoire. Some of his recordings are amongst my favourite in my collection, but live he can sometimes be awful - just check the Finzi concerto clips on his website - the portamento is unbearable and speaks of being ill prepared.
EDIT: I upgrade my assessment of Maconchy's solo cello variations - to brilliant and beautiful as well as inventive and resourceful. This is a composer that demands to be explored.
Quote from: Guido on February 21, 2008, 10:50:22 AM
EDIT: I upgrade my assessment of Maconchy's solo cello variations - to brilliant and beautiful as well as inventive and resourceful. This is a composer that demands to be explored.
In which case you should promptly buy her complete string quartets on 3 Regis CDs. Slightly derivative, but very beautiful and occasionally inventive and original quartets.
I can also certainly recommend the Lyrita CD(SRCD 288) with Elizabeth Maconchy's Symphony for Double String Orchestra, Serenata Concertante for Violin and Orchestra, Music for Strings and Overture "Proud Thames", the Dutton CD(CDLX 7186) of British Viola Music containing her Romance for Viola and Small Orchestra, and the Clarinet Classics CD(CC0034) containing her Concertino No.2 for Clarinet and Small Orchestra.
Maconchy is another British composer deserving of more exposure. I would love to hear her Variazioni Concertante for Orchestra(1965) and her big Cantata "Heloise and Abelard"(1977). One wonders if the fact that she was (a) a woman and (b) more of a minaturist worked against her. If you look at the list of her works on the Chester Novello website there are few pieces over 20 minutes in length which may make them more difficult to programme in orchestral concerts.
Incidentally, I note from Raphael Wallfisch's website that he has the Robert Simpson cello concerto in his repertoire! Maybe that should encourage someone to invite him to record the work!
Oh...and thanks, Guido, for recommending the new CD of cello works by Patterson, Hindemith, Lutoslawski etc. Ashamed to admit that I have never heard a note of music by Patterson but will definitely investigate now!!
WE've all forgotten three very good concertos by Alan Ridout. The first concerto is for cello and Strings, the Second concerto is for cello and choir and the third for solo cello and 8 orchestral cellos. The first is perhaps the best, mixing a sort of ancient and modern feel, and the second occupies a similar sound world but with wordless voices replacing the strings often with some very powerful and moving effects. The third is programmatic in a sense, and is subtitled 'the prisoner' - he solo cellist tries to escape the clutches of his oppressors - the other 8 cellists.
Just listened to the Cyril Scott Cello Concerto which, diffuse as it is, I greatly enjoyed.
Quote from: Dundonnell on February 14, 2008, 12:55:51 PMThe two concertos which you don't mention and I wonder if you know are the Malcolm Arnold and the Robert Simpson.
The genesis (and outcome) of the Arnold Concerto is described in some detail in Anthony Meredith and Paul Harris' "Malcolm Arnold: Rogue Genius. The Life and Music of Britain's Most Misunderstood Composer". Apparently, by the time Arnold completed the Cello Concerto (which came after his troubled Symphony No.9, a work nobody was willing to play for some years until Charles Groves negotiated the premiere), he had completely run out of ideas. Novello, Arnold's publisher, then suggested to his life's partner that Arnold should continue to compose for his own private amusement, but that they would not publish any more of his works.
Julian Lloyd-Webber, the soloist in the premiere of the CC, was apparently embarrassed by its low quality, as was everybody else. He said that during rehearsals Arnold insisted on shaking hands with every one of the orchestra players, which embarrassed them because they felt the concerto was so poor. Lloyd-Webber added a movement from Arnold's previous "Fantasy" for Cello to the program to make sure, and I quote, "that there was some GOOD Arnold in the concert". The premiere went ahead as planned, but after that, Lloyd-Webber saw to it that the concerto was quietly forgotten.
Years later, a friend of Arnold's, David Ellis, prepared a new version, filling out the many empty pages in Arnold's original manuscript. That version has, to the best of my knowledge, never been recorded either.
If that story sounds depressing, I'd advise you not to read the above-mentioned biography of Malcolm Arnold, thrilling though it is. It is a chronicle of a sad, troubled life, and it is preoccupied with his inner torments (the suicide attempts, his atrocious behaviour against his wife and children, the binge drinking, his many stays in lunatic asylums, and so on) more than it is with his successes.
Thomas
That is a very sad story about the Arnold Cello Concerto!
The initial reaction of both the BBC and Arnold's publishers to the score of the 9th symphony was of alarm at what seemed the distressing thinness of the work and this, of course, led to the symphony not being performed until the late Sir Charles Groves-who believed in the work-conducted it in Manchester in 1992. The 9th has now been recorded and is accepted. However, from what you say, the cello concerto was at least performed but proved to be of poor quality.
There is an article in today's Daily Telegraph about more unfortunate controversy regarding Sir Malcolm Arnold's will. He appears to have left most of his estate to his companion Anthony Day. I don't really want to comment on that but Day seems to have done a remarkable job in looking after the old boy during his last years.
Isn't it tragic that so many composers either died so young, had years of sad decline or were blighted by personal unhappiness. Even in more modern times one can think of composers like Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, Prokofiev, Miaskovsky, Arnold, Malcolm Williamson, Britten, Mahler, Lennox Berkeley, Webern. Oh...this is material for another thread!!
This looks like a good pickup.....anyone familiar with this recording?
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NqHsT56QL._SS500_.jpg)
Quote from: tjguitar on July 05, 2009, 09:53:29 PM
This looks like a good pickup.....anyone familiar with this recording?
I am
not familiar with it, but I feel I should like to be.
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on July 06, 2009, 07:04:41 AM
I am not familiar with it, but I feel I should like to be.
I found I had to keep turning the volume up and down for both pieces on this CD. Strange.
Hoddinott's Noctis Equi performed by Rostropovich (dedicatee) and the LSO conducted by Kent Nagano is a superbly atmospheric work!
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on July 06, 2009, 05:59:51 AM
Time to ask again 8)
Do you have a preferred recording?
The first recording of Bridge's
Oration I ever heard is still the best, in my opinion:
(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/aug07/Bridge_oration_srcd244.jpg)
I've since acquired the Isserlis/Hickox, which I like very well, Johan. I shouldn't really punish Lloyd-Webber in thought for his father, I suppose . . . but, the acorn does not roll far from the tree, does it? ; )
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on February 14, 2011, 02:29:22 PM
I've since acquired the Isserlis/Hickox, which I like very well, Johan. I shouldn't really punish Lloyd-Webber in thought for his father, I suppose . . . but, the acorn does not roll far from the tree, does it? ; )
It's not the father we really need to worry about, though, is it. Perfectly respectable composer, he was. It's the brother where the horror lies....
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on February 14, 2011, 02:29:22 PM
I've since acquired the Isserlis/Hickox, which I like very well, Johan. I shouldn't really punish Lloyd-Webber in thought for his father, I suppose . . . but, the acorn does not roll far from the tree, does it? ; )
Luke has pre-empted me... ;-)
Oops! Thanks for the erratum, lads. Leave it to me to gaffe the familiy ties : )
Quote from: sul G (again) on February 14, 2011, 02:32:22 PM
It's not the father we really need to worry about, though, is it. Perfectly respectable composer, he was. It's the brother where the horror lies....
Rather bland though, the father, as far as I can make out. I don't much respect either of his children as artists, though Julian is certainly the better.
Yes, I have a single solitary disc of the father's music (hoping against hope that everyone who looks at the spines of my CDs realises that they are arranged chronologically and, no, that isn't a disc of Andrew's stuff). The father could obviously compose properly, but it's pretty tepid, I have to say.
(http://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/prodimages/7263.gif)
This is a very enjoyable CD. I find the York Bowen Rhapsody absolutely beautiful and Brian shows himself from his most genial side. I don't care much for the Alan Bush concerto, though...
Am great fan of Bridge's 'Oration' (both Lyrita and EMI recordings are excellent).
Just ordered this:
[asin]B005CCJR8C[/asin]
Quote from: vandermolen on September 22, 2011, 09:53:53 AM
Am great fan of Bridge's 'Oration' (both Lyrita and EMI recordings are excellent).
Just ordered this:
[asin]B005CCJR8C[/asin]
http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,231.80.html
Quote from: Dundonnell on September 22, 2011, 10:00:08 AM
http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,231.80.html
Thanks Colin ::)
Since this thread was last posted in, the Robert Simpson Cello Concerto has been recorded and released on Lyrita, coupled with concerti by John Joubert and Christopher Wright.
Great read, this. The cello is my favourite string-section instrument. As for my own collection, it is currently quite small (especially compared to the many names mentioned here): Elgar, Walton, Bax, Bliss, Bridge (Oration) and Finzi as of now.
Gerald Finzi : British composer (https://musicakaleidoscope.wordpress.com/2015/09/27/gerald-finzi-british-composer/)
(https://musicakaleidoscope.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/cropped-mk2.png)
Finzi wrote two masterpieces - his Cello Concerto, completed in 1955 and his choral work Intimations of Immortality -a setting of words by William Wordsworth. In 1951, however, Finzi learned that he was suffering from Hodgkin's Disease, a form of leukaemia, and was told he had between five and ten years to live. The discovery in no way lessened his activities, particularly those undertaken for other composers. Finzi finally lost the fight against his illness and he died on September 27, 1956. His Cello Concerto was first broadcast the night before he died.
(https://musicakaleidoscope.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/finzi2.jpg?w=459&h=122)