Joseph Holbrooke(1878-1958)

Started by Dundonnell, April 07, 2009, 06:50:52 AM

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kyjo

I'm not too familiar with Holbrooke's music, but I really enjoy his Piano Concerto no. 1 The Song of Gwyn ap Nudd:

[asin]B00004I9T2[/asin]

Anyone who loves late-romantic PCs is bound to enjoy this work. It's lush, dramatic, and tuneful. I found it much more engaging than the accompanying Haydn Wood concerto on this disc.
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Papy Oli

Quote from: Scion7 on October 29, 2017, 05:36:46 PM
I've been quite happy with 90% of the Marco Polo releases,
and this one does not disappoint.

[asin]B000024OEE[/asin]

I have listened to the above yesterday and today. I have found the Sextet and the Symphonic quintet particularly entertaining (top marks for the Andante of the latter, very moving).

Another one for you, Lol !!  0:)
Olivier

Irons

Quote from: Papy Oli on August 27, 2020, 03:06:54 AM
I have listened to the above yesterday and today. I have found the Sextet and the Symphonic quintet particularly entertaining (top marks for the Andante of the latter, very moving).

Another one for you, Lol !!  0:)

:D

Coincidentally I listened to his Violin Sonata No.3 "Orientale" early this week. I have no idea where the title comes from as there is nothing remotely oriental about it. More jazz, modern not traditional, a really good violin sonata. So yes, Olivier, I'm tempted. 
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.

Papy Oli

Quote from: Irons on August 27, 2020, 08:14:18 AM
:D

Coincidentally I listened to his Violin Sonata No.3 "Orientale" early this week. I have no idea where the title comes from as there is nothing remotely oriental about it. More jazz, modern not traditional, a really good violin sonata. So yes, Olivier, I'm tempted.

I could only find the Violin sonata No.1 & 2 on Qobuz, nothing on YT. I've queued the two for later. thank you.
Olivier

Albion

Bogey Beasts, Op.89a was a 1923 collaboration between Holbrooke and his friend the artist/ poet Sidney Sime (1867-1941) dealing with fantastical, imaginary creatures (with more than a hint of satire). Here is an excellent illustrated recitation-performance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtsWxggYVw4

and here is the piano score (Holbrooke subsequently made a shorter orchestral suite):

https://imslp.org/wiki/Bogey_Beasts,_Op.89a_(Holbrooke,_Joseph)

:)
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

Some Holbrooke items:

Annabel Lee, Op.41b:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFzQ5bxqCuE

Apollo and the Seaman, Op.51 (extract) - does anybody know anything more about this recording? It is from Section VI (The Rebuke) and begins at the Maestoso con moto seven bars before figure 73, ending at figure 78 (pages 128-133 in the full score, pages 55-58 in the piano reduction):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0ut-QJBx5U

Three Dramatic Songs, Op.69:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZJIbZHC4Vw


:)
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

As part of my fixation for British 20th Century Music I have just about every commercial disc of Holbrooke there is.  By I have yet to have a "lightbulb" moment with any of it.  I quite like it but most of the time I think the orchestration is too dense (Bantock without the jokes), over-thought and ultimately unmemorable.  I watched the link to the composer who was intrigued to reconstruct Apollo & the Seaman because of the references to that work in the orchestration book by Cecil Forsyth.  That was genuinely very interesting but ultimately you're not a good composer/orchestrator because you include saxophone parts in 1908!

vandermolen

#48
Quote from: Roasted Swan on April 24, 2021, 07:42:18 AM
As part of my fixation for British 20th Century Music I have just about every commercial disc of Holbrooke there is.  By I have yet to have a "lightbulb" moment with any of it.  I quite like it but most of the time I think the orchestration is too dense (Bantock without the jokes), over-thought and ultimately unmemorable.  I watched the link to the composer who was intrigued to reconstruct Apollo & the Seaman because of the references to that work in the orchestration book by Cecil Forsyth.  That was genuinely very interesting but ultimately you're not a good composer/orchestrator because you include saxophone parts in 1908!
I rather agree with you about Holbrooke. I liked your 'Bantock without the jokes' comment. I've always thought that Robert Simpson's music (much admired here) was like 'Nielsen without the tunes'. I have enjoyed some of the chamber music more than the orchestral music, like the Piano Quartet:
"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).

Figaro

Interested about the Welsh connection in Holbrooke's music. He doesn't seem (from what I can tell) to have had any Welsh ancestry himself but seems to have drawn on Welsh mythology extensively as inspiration for his music - Gwyn ap Nudd, the Mabinogi etc.

He could be said to have the same relationship with Wales as Bax did with Ireland in that sense.

Anyone know any more about why Wales inspired him?

Scion7

Quote from: Figaro on August 11, 2022, 12:45:41 PM
Interested about the Welsh connection in Holbrooke's music. He doesn't seem (from what I can tell) to have had any Welsh ancestry himself but seems to have drawn on Welsh mythology extensively as inspiration for his music - Gwyn ap Nudd, the Mabinogi etc.
He could be said to have the same relationship with Wales as Bax did with Ireland in that sense.
Anyone know any more about why Wales inspired him?

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/nov03/Holbrook_wales.htm
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

#51
Quote from: Scion7 on November 12, 2022, 10:42:22 PMhttp://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/nov03/Holbrook_wales.htm

I think that Holbrooke was just caught up with the whole Celtic vibe, as were Bantock and Boughton. Listening again to my Holbrooke discs I'm again impressed by Howard Griffiths' three volumes on CPO which now comprise:

The Raven, Op.25
The Viking, Op.32
Ulalume, Op.35
Three Blind Mice Variations, Op.37 No.1
The Girl I left Behind Me Variations, Op.37 No.2
Grasshopper Violin Concerto, Op.59
Auld Lang Syne Variations, Op.60
The Birds of Rhiannon, Op.87
Symphony No.3, Ships, Op.90
Amontillado, Op.123


All these performances are very strong indeed and Griffiths never ceases to bring character and finesse to this often very quirky music. These discs should definitely be supplemented with two excellent CDs from Dutton under George Vass which offer:

Pandora
Saxophone Concerto, Op.88
Symphony No.4, Op.95
Cello Concerto, Cambrian, Op.103
Aucussin and Nicolette, Op.115
The Pit and the Pendulum, Op.126


Once again, Vass has a great feel for Holbrooke's idiosyncratic idiom.

Major omissions from the commercial catalogue remain Queen Mab, The Bells, Apollo and the Seaman, A Dramatic Choral Symphony and Piano Concerto No.2, L'Orient.

The Hyperion recording of Piano Concerto No.1 Gywn ap Nudd is not very striking and for completists only (unfortunately I fall into that particular bank-busting category).

I spent months on end constructing the Wikipedia entry on Holbrooke and an accompanying catalogue of his works - he was both quixotic and damned chaotic...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Holbrooke

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Joseph_Holbrooke
 ::)
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

Although there isn't a hope in Hell of the massive trilogy The Cauldron of Annwn being revived and recorded complete, here are substantial excerpts from the final opera Bronwen, Op.75 (1915-28)...

https://www.mediafire.com/file/hef8iz5qymqwoor/Holbrooke_-_Bronwen%252C_Op.75_%25281915-20%2529_-_excerpts.wma/file

 :)
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)