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Joseph Holbrooke from CPO

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Author Topic: Joseph Holbrooke from CPO  (Read 11477 times)
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Grandenorm
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« Reply #30 on: October 18, 2016, 07:23:13 am »

I think Joseph has got an unjust reputation for overscoring: for throwing as many instruments as possible into the pot, kitchen sink and all. A study of his scores shows this is not the case at all. A large orchestra is sometimes called for,  but the instrumentation, even in the most complex of his scores, is no more excessive (and I would contend less so) than in many orchestral works by Mahler or Richard Strauss, or other roughly contemporary composers. There is in fact more percussion in Vaughan Williams' 8th symphony than in any score by Holbrooke, including The Bells, while Mahler and Strauss call for more "out of the way" instruments more often than Joseph. Moreover, Jo also uses many of these extra instruments sparingly and tellingly,  often producing passages of chamber like delicacy in the midst of large scale works. Because he liked them, and wrote well for them, Jo frequently asks for a large woodwind section, including saxophones. He was a masterly orchestrator and knew very well the sounds and timbres he wanted to produce. It is a shame that the same care in adhering to his called for instrumentation is not accorded to him as it is to performances of pieces by Mahler or Strauss. If we could hear what the composer wanted us to hear we would perhaps arrive at a better judgement of his worth. I think this is being done with the CPO disks and I very much hope we shall get more from that company.

As to Gwyd's bassoon, I will ask Jean when I next speak to her.
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