Paulp
Level 2
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"Has anyone else had their copy?"
Mine arrived today. 2nd movt. of no.2 playing as I type. So far, pretty darn good!
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tapiola
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Not here in the former colonies. :P
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Dundonnell
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Not here in the former colonies. :P
Nor in the far north of the British Isles.
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Paulp
Level 2
Times thanked: 2
Offline
Posts: 37
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Have managed to listen to it through for the first of doubtlessly many times. I can now retire the old Marco Polo version - Brabbins really has the measure of Symphony 2, and in his hands, it was like hearing the work for the first time for me. Symphony 14 also gets a very convincing performance, surely strong enough to shake off the bad rap it's had over the years - I have a feeling that had Calum MacDonald lived long enough to hear this recording, he'd have reconsidered his view the work. Needless to say, this one's a keeper!
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Dundonnell
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Not here in the former colonies. :P
Nor in the far north of the British Isles. Arrived today :)
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Albion
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"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." (Sydney Grew, 1922)
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Gauk
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Until recently,about the only Arnell I had heard was a Piano Concerto,which I have on tape (recorded off air,a few years ago) and a ballet suite conducted by Beecham,which I rather liked. I did know the Seventh Symphony,courtesy of the Dutton Bate cd. I was unimpressed! Unfortunately,that put me off a bit! A few weeks ago I listened to Arnell's Fifth on Youtube and I was really quite 'blown away' (as the cliche goes) as to how powerful it sounded.
Arnell's 3rd symphony is the one to go for - definitely the best of them IMO.
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jimfin
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Yes, the Arnell 3rd is one of my all-time favourites of his. The second 'Rufus' is pretty fabulous too, if you have less listening time available.
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tapiola
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The Veale Symphony No.2 is an amazing work! Beautifully written, clear themes, honest. Leaves poor Gardner in the shade.
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Christo
Level 4
Times thanked: 24
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Posts: 351
... an opening of those magic casements ...
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Until recently,about the only Arnell I had heard was a Piano Concerto,which I have on tape (recorded off air,a few years ago) and a ballet suite conducted by Beecham,which I rather liked. I did know the Seventh Symphony,courtesy of the Dutton Bate cd. I was unimpressed! Unfortunately,that put me off a bit! A few weeks ago I listened to Arnell's Fifth on Youtube and I was really quite 'blown away' (as the cliche goes) as to how powerful it sounded.
Arnell's 3rd symphony is the one to go for - definitely the best of them IMO. Agreed. It's 'discovery', some five years ago, was only surpassed by that of Stanley Bate's Third not long after.
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… music is not only an `entertainment’, nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found. RVW, 1948
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Dundonnell
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The Veale Symphony No.2 is an amazing work! Beautifully written, clear themes, honest. Leaves poor Gardner in the shade.
Perhaps you would like to relocate this comment to the thread I started called "Gardner and Veale from Dutton". It would be nice to get your feedback there to encourage others :)
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Dundonnell
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« Reply #26 on: August 05, 2016, 04:36:19 pm » |
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I am slightly surprised that there has not been more comment on the new Dutton cd of the Brian Symphonies Nos. 2 and 14.
My own response having listened to the two symphonies a number of times is that the No.2 is indeed a magnificent work, given a superlative performance with the full orchestral complement as Brian had hoped for. The last two movements in particular are absolutely wonderful, grand, imposing, powerful, masterful, in awe-inspiring sound quality.
Paradoxically (and sadly) however-and I know full well that others will disagree-I am now more convinced that Malcolm MacDonald was correct about No.14 after all. I used to resist his opinion of the work and argued about it with him but now I am inclined to see exactly what he meant. The work has some impressive moments but Brian does not take them anywhere. The work does not quite gel. John Pickard, who had a huge job editing the score, feels that Brian was just "not firing on all cylinders" when he wrote the work. Re-reading what Malcolm wrote all these years ago and listening to the piece I think he was right. It is not Brian at his best. And as I listen to it I get the distinct impression that Brabbins and the RSNO are struggling with the work's coherence (or lack of it).
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Gauk
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« Reply #27 on: August 16, 2016, 11:38:56 am » |
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Since getting my copy, I've been listening to Brian's 2nd intensively - I even went so far as to read Götz von Berlichingen (admittedly in a very poor Victorian translation). I've always been fascinated by this symphony, which ought to be much better known, and it's good to have any new recording, but especially one with the correct complement of orchestral forces. The scherzo is thrilling when heard with all sixteen horns.
However, I would not be in too much of a hurry to ditch the old Marco Polo recording. Listening to both CDs back to back, I am struck by how much clearer Brian's orchestration (often very complex) is in the Moscow SO version. You can hear every detail. In contrast, the Dutton sound is rather more muddied, and much of the fine detail gets lost, swamped by the heavy brass.
If I had to choose, of course I'd pick the new version, but Tony Rowe gives a pretty good account of the work, even without the full forces.
Now, if we could only get this put on at the Proms!
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Expi
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« Reply #28 on: August 24, 2016, 01:46:37 pm » |
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Am i right that we now have almost all 32 Brian symphonies on CD, unless No. 26. Or have i miscount ? :)
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Here is a short list of relevant british composers:
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Christo
Level 4
Times thanked: 24
Offline
Posts: 351
... an opening of those magic casements ...
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« Reply #29 on: August 24, 2016, 02:08:24 pm » |
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Am i right that we now have almost all 32 Brian symphonies on CD, unless No. 26. Or have i miscount ? :) Methinks you're correct. And we can now stop counting. :)
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… music is not only an `entertainment’, nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found. RVW, 1948
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