Cyril Scott

Started by tjguitar, May 03, 2007, 09:08:19 PM

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Scion7

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."

Scion7

#121
I like her 1974 album a tad more than the recent stuff by De'ath, Schäfer and Gvetadze.  A more delicate touch.  Piano Sonata No.1, Five Poems, Danse Negre and LotusLand.  It's available on CD along with other composers' pieces.  Excellent notes on the backside, btw.

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."

Roasted Swan

Quote from: Scion7 on December 08, 2022, 08:46:09 AMI like her 1974 album a tad more than the recent stuff by De'ath, Schäfer and Gvetadze.  A more delicate touch.  Piano Sonata No.1, Five Poems, Danse Negre and LotusLand.  It's available on CD along with other composers' pieces.  Excellent notes on the backside, btw.



Slightly tangentially - I was recently listening to the piano music of William Baines and the only kind-of-equivalent (certainly in British music) I could come up with was Cyril Scott.  The most obvious influence on Baines (who died at 23 so not really time to find his own unique voice) was Debussy.  But it is very beautiful music.

Albion

Quote from: Scion7 on December 06, 2022, 04:00:42 PMWell, well - has anyone read this?

https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781783272860/the-cyril-scott-companion/

Yes, and it's bloody excellent: meticulously researched, well illustrated with photographs and music examples and as many appendices as you could possibly envisage. It's huge and weighs a ton but hernias can be treated...
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

#124
The four volumes of orchestral music on Chandos conducted by Martyn Brabbins are just superb and give us all four symphonies, the two mature piano concertos, the violin and the (second) cello concertos, together with various other works all beautifully performed and recorded, and the cover designs are gorgeous as well. Once you get used to Scott's "vertical" harmony you realise that the nickname "The English Debussy" is just bloody rubbish - Scott is Scott. Supplement the Chandos discs with the Dutton release of the early piano and cello concertos and the overture "Pelleas and Melisanda" and you've got a good library. A major gap is the large-scale choral "Nativity Hymn" (1913), but here are a few things: "La belle dame sans merci" (c.1915-17) and extensive excerpts from the opera "The Alchemist" (1917-18) which really deserves a full recording (with its ring of dancing gnomes, a palace popping up out of nowhere and a giant egg, staging might be beyond the resources of most opera companies)...

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/xmgdyohwugsl2/Scott,+Cyril+(1879-1970)

 :)

 
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)

Scion7

Yes, there is a great chunk of his music out there, but sooo much more left unissued.  Worries me we'll never see it.
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."

Albion

#126
Quote from: Scion7 on December 11, 2022, 03:18:43 PMYes, there is a great chunk of his music out there, but sooo much more left unissued.  Worries me we'll never see it.

I fear that this may well be the case, and Dutton have deleted the discs of piano music. "The Melodist and the Nightingales" for cello and orchestra (1929), the harpsichord concerto (1938) and the oboe concerto (1946) are also worth having...

 :)
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

#127
Although there are still many gaps in Scott's discography, it is at least now possible to obtain a reasonable overview of his orchestral and concertante works:

Symphony No.1 (1899) - Chandos CHAN 10452
Pelleas and Melisanda, overture (1900) - Dutton CDLX 7302
Piano Concerto in D (1900) - Dutton CDLX 7302
Cello Concerto (1902) - Dutton CDLX 7302
Festival Overture (1902-29) - Chandos CHAN 10407
Aubade (1905-11) - Chandos CHAN 10407
Three Symphonic Dances [Symphony No.2] (1907) - Chandos CHAN 10407
Two Passacaglias on Irish Themes (1912) - Marco Polo 8.223485
Piano Concerto ["No.1"] (1913-14) - Chandos CHAN 10376
Violin Concerto (1925) - Chandos CHAN 10407
The Melodist and the Nightingales, for Cello and Orchestra (1929) - Dutton CDLX 7326
Early One Morning, for Piano and Orchestra (1930-62) - Chandos CHAN 10376
Neptune (1933-35) - Chandos CHAN 10211
Symphony No.3, The Muses (1937) - Chandos CHAN 10211
Cello Concerto [No.2] (1937) - Chandos CHAN 10452
Harpsichord Concerto (1938) - Lyrita REAM2139
Oboe Concerto (1946) - Dutton CDLX 7249
Symphony No.4 (1951-52) - Chandos CHAN 10376
Piano Concerto ["No.2"] (1958) - Chandos CHAN 10211
Neapolitan Rhapsody (1959) - Marco Polo 8.223485


Most of these have only been released in the last couple of decades and great thanks is due to Martyn Brabbins and Martin Yates in particular for enabling us to explore this wonderful music.

 :)
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)

Irons

#128
Quote from: cilgwyn on February 01, 2017, 04:59:59 AMIndeed! :) I think my favourite piece on the cd is the Piano Trio No 1. Remarkable that such good music should have been ignored for so long. Incidentally,when I was a younster one of my ambitions was to become a lighthouse keeper!! ::)

My Cyril Scott jam continues with his piano music. I played the piano sonatas,yesterday. This 2cd set today. I may be alone in this,but I find some of his piano music quite fascinating. Full of interesting ideas and sounds and,imo,very pleasant to listen to while reading,writing or......whatever?!!






I agree with cilgwyn here. I enjoyed the 1st Piano Trio very much, which happily being the longest work on the CD. Need to spend some time with the 2nd. As for the two works with clarinet, maybe I'm missing something, note spinning nothing more.
Scott is a frustrating composer as I think he could have been such a lot more. Listening to three minutes of simple loveliness of Cornish Boat Song proves this, I think.




You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.