British Concertos: Availability for Download (Part 1)

[Dundonnell]

What follows is a list of concertos by a selection of British composers which-to my knowledge-are not available either on cd or to download from either this site or external sites.

It cannot be a comprehensive list in the sense that there are certainly composers I have not included but it is (I hope/ or perhaps I hope not?) accurate for the composers I have listed. Some of these concertos have, sadly, never been performed or, in a few cases, are lost. Obviously if anyone knows of the availability of any of these works I would be delighted to hear from them :)

Part 2 will list those concertos not on cd but which are available for download.


Richard Arnell:

Concerto for Harpsichord and Chamber Orchestra, op.51 and arrangement for Piano, op.51a (1947; lost?)

Stanley Bate:

Piano Concerto No.1 (1934; withdrawn)
Violin Concerto No.1 (1936-37)
Violin Concerto No.2, op.42 (1943)
Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, op.43(1943)
Violin Concerto No.3, op.58 (1947-50)     (premiered by Antonio Brosa and the London Symphony Orchestra/Richard Austin, London, June 1953)
Concerto for Harpsichord and small orchestra(1952-55)
Piano Concerto No.4 (1955; lost)

Sir Richard Rodney Bennett:

Horn Concerto (1956)
Concerto for Bassoon and Strings (1994)

Sir Lennox Berkeley:

Concerto for Piano and Double String Orchestra, op.46 (1958)    (premiered by Colin Horsley and the B.B.C. Symphony Orchestra/the composer, London, February 1959)

Arthur Butterworth:

Cello Concerto, op.98 (1997)   (premiered by Rebecca Gilliver and the Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra/the composer, Huddersfield, January 1997)
Guitar Concerto, op.109 (2000)  (premiered by Craig Ogden and the Leeds Symphony Orchestra/Martin Binks, Leeds, November 2000)

Arnold Cooke:

Clarinet Concerto No.2 (1981-82)

Peter Racine Fricker:

Piano Concerto No.2, op.97 (1989)   (unperformed)

John Gardner:

Concerto for Trumpet and string orchestra, op.53 (1962)
Concerto for Bassoon and string orchestra, op.249 (2004)

Iain Hamilton:

Clarinet Concerto, op.7 (1949-50)
Concerto for Organ and small orchestra (1964/88)
Concerto for Harp and small orchestra (1992)

Alun Hoddinott:

Cello Concerto (1948)
Concerto for Oboe and strings, op.8 (1955)
Violin Concerto No.1, op.22 (1960)
Concerto for Piano Trio and orchestra, op.124 (1985)    (premiered by the Stuttgart Piano Trio and the B.B.C. Philharmonic Orchestra/the composer, Cheltenham, July 1986)
Concerto for Percussion and Brass Band, op.197 (1999)

Joseph Holbrooke:

Piano Concerto No.2 “L’Orient”, op.100    (1920-28)
Piano Concerto No. 3 , op.112 (also known as Symphony No.8 in B flat “Dance Symphony” for piano and orchestra,  “The Colonies”, “Bon-Bon” and  “Symphony No.5”)    
            (1928-30)
Quadruple Concerto for Flute, Clarinet, Cor Anglais, Bassoon and orchestra, op.133  (1947)

Robin Holloway:

Concerto for Organ and wind instruments, op.6 (1965-66)    (unperformed)
Bassoon Concerto, op.63 (1985)    (premiered by Stephen Reay and the Northern Sinfonia/Wilfred Boettcher, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, January 1986)
Double Concerto for Clarinet, Saxophone and two chamber orchestras, op.68 (1988)  (premiered by Michael Collins, John Harle and the London Sinfonietta/Oliver Knussen,
                                                         London, May 1988)
Clarinet Concerto, op.82 (1996)     (premiered by Andrew Marriner and the King's School, Canterbury Symphony Orchestra/Colin Metters, Canterbury, July 1997)
Concerto for Double Bass and small orchestra, op.83 (1996)   (premiered by Duncan McTier and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Andrew Litton, St. Andrews, March 1999)

Gordon Jacob:

Concerto for Violin and strings (1953)
Oboe Concerto No.2 (1956)
Concerto for Violin, Cello and strings (1962)
Concerto for Chromatic Accordion, string orchestra and percussion (1962) and version for Organ (1975)
Double Concerto for Clarinet, Trumpet with miliutary band or string orchestra (1975)
Concerto No.2 for Flute and strings (1981)
Concerto for Timpani and wind band (1984)

Daniel Jones:

Concerto for Oboe and strings (1982)  (premiered by David Theodore and the Swansea Sound Sinfonia, Gower Festival, 1982)

Wilfred Josephs:

Oboe Concerto, op. 58 (1967/68)  (premiered by Leon Goossens and the Ben Un Chamber Orchestra/Sydney Fixman, Hemel Hempstead, September 1967)
Double Violin Concerto, op.69 (1969)  (premiered by Christopher Hirons and Peter Pople and the Northern Sinfonia/Rudolf Schwarz, London, September 1969)
Concerto for percussion and brass ensemble, op. 130 (1982)  (premiered by Gary Kettel and the Locke Brass Consort/James Stobart, London, January 1983) 
Violin Concerto, op.169 (1992)   (unperformed)
Piano Concerto No.3, op.172 (1993-94)   (unperformed)

Kenneth Leighton:

Concerto for Two Pianos, timpani and strings, op.26 (1954)     (premiered by Margaret Kitchen and the composer and the Lemare Orchestra, Hovingham Festival, July 1955)

Malcolm Lipkin:

Violin Concerto No.1 (1951-52)
Piano Concerto (1959)
Concerto for Flute and strings (1974)
Oboe Concerto (1988-89)

John McCabe:

Violin Concerto No.1 "Sinfonia Concertante" (1959)   (premiered by Martin Milner and the Halle Orchestra/Maurice Handford, Manchester, 1963)
Chamber Concerto for Viola, Cello and orchestra (1965)   (unperformed)
Oboe d' Amore Concerto (1972)   (premiered by Jennifer Paull and the Havant Chamber Orchestra/Peter Craddock, Portsmouth, April 1972)

Humphrey Searle:

Piano Concerto No.1 (1944)
Piano Concerto No.2 (1955)    (premiered by Clive Lythgoe and the Halle Orchestra/George Weldon, Cheltenham, July 1955)

Ronald Stevenson:

Cello Concerto "The Solitary Singer"(1968-94)
Violin Concerto "The Gypsy" (1977-79)

Robert Still:

Piano Concerto (1970)    (unperformed)

[mjkFendrich]

Ronald Stevenson's violin concerto is missing on your first list - or will it perhaps
finally surfce on your second ?????

[Balapoel]

Maybe I can contribute. Here are some British composers born before 1900 without recordings (as far as I know). I'd love to be corrected, as there are likely some gems here.

Alvars, Elias Parish (1808-1849)
Piano Concerto in g minor, Op. 91 (1844)

Ames, John C. (1860-1924)   
2 piano concertos,
cello concerto,
violin concerto

Bache, Francis Edward (1833-1858)   
Piano Concerto No. 1 in g minor (1850),
Piano Concerot No. 3?,
Flute Concerto (1852)

Banister, Henry Charles (1831-1897)   
Fantasy in D for pf, orch (1863)

Barnett, John Francis (1837-1916)   
Piano Concerto in d minor, Op. 25 (1869),
Concerto pastorale for flute and orchestra

Barns, Ethel (1880-1948)   
Concert piece in d minor for vn, orch, Op. 19 (1907),
Violin Concerto

Benedict, Julius (1804-1885)   
Piano Concerto (No. 3?) in Ab, Op. 90 (1867)

Bennett, Sterndale (1816-1875)   
Concertstuck (Piano Concerto No. 6) in a minor, WoO 48 (1843)

Borowski, Felix (1872-1956)   
Piano Concerto in d minor (1913),
Allegro de Concert for organ, orch (1915)

Bright, Dora (1862-1951)   
Piano Concerto No. 1 in a minor (1888),
Piano Concerto No. 2 in d minor (1892),
Concerstuck in c# minor for pf, orch (1885)

Bruckshaw, Kathleen (1877-1921)   
Piano Concerto in C (1914)

Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel (1875-1912)   
Concerstuck in A for vc, orch (1907)

Cooper, William Thomas Gaze (1895-1981)   
Contrabass Concerto, Op. 48,
Horn Concerto, Op. 88 (1963),
Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 6 (1923),
Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 9,
Viola Concerto, Op. 85 (1962),
Violin Concerto, Op. 55 (1945)

Cowen, Frederic Hymen (1852-1935)   
Piano Concerto in a minor (1869)

Cramer, Johann Baptist (1771-1858)   
Piano Concerto No. 1 in Eb, Op. 10 (1795),
Piano Concerto No. 3 in D, Op. 26 (1801),
Piano Concerto No. 4 in C, Op. 38 (1806),
Piano Concerto No. 6 in Eb, Op. 51 (1815),
Concerto da camera (No. 9) in Bb for pf, flute, strings (1813)

Crotch, William (1775-1847)   
3 Organ Concertos (F, A, Bb) (1805),
Clavecin Concerto (1784)

Cundell, Edric (1893-1961)   
Piano Concerto

Dale, Benjamin (1885-1943)   
Concertstuck for organ, orch (1904)

Davies, Walford (1869-1941)   
Suite in C for pf, orch, Op. 37 (1912),
Conversations for pf, orch, Op. 43 (1914)

Demuth, Norman (1898-1968)   
Cello Concerto (1956),
Organ Concerto (1959),
Piano Concertino (1947),
Piano Concerto No. 1 (1943),
Piano Concerto No. 2 for the left hand (1947),
Viola Concerto (1951),
Violin Concerto (1937)

Ellicott, Rosalind Francis (1857-1924)   
Fantasia in a minor for pf, orch (1895)

Farjeon, Harry (1878-1949)   
Piano Concerto in d minor (1902),
Fantasy Concerto for pf, orch (1919)

Gadsby, Henry (1842-1907)   
Organ Concerto in F (1874),
Violin Concerto in F (1875)

Griffin, George Eugene (1781-1863)   
Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 1 (1805),
Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 4 (1813)

Holbrooke, Joseph (1878-1958)   
Quadruple Concerto for fl, cl, english horn, bassoon, Op. 133 (1946),
Piano Concerto No. 2 'L'Orient', Op. 100 (1928),
Piano Concerto in f minor 'Dramatique' (1900) (lost?)

Holmes, William Henry (1812-1885)   
Piano Concerto in A 'Jubilee' (1876),
Piano Concertino 'Consuelo'

Hopekirk, Helen (1856-1946)   
Piano Concerto in D (1900),
Piano Concertino in d minor (1894)

Horsley, Charles Edward (1822-1876)   
Piano Concerto in c minor (1848),
Violin Concerto in d minor, Op. 29 (1849)

Lara, Adelina de (1872-1961)   
2 Piano Concertos

Loehr, Richard Harvey (1856-1927)   
Piano Concerto No. 1 in b minor (1878),
Piano Concerto No. 2 in d minor (1907)

Mackenzie, Alexander Campbell (1847-1935)   
Suite for violin and orch, Op. 68 (1897)

Matthay, Tobias (1858-1945)   
Concertstuck in d minor, pf, orch, Op. 23 (1881),
Piano Concerto in d minor (1874),
Concertstuck in a minor, pf, orch (1895)

McEwen, John Blackwood (1868-1948)
Piano Concerto (1 movement in ms)

Miles, Percy Hilder (1878-1922)   
Cello Concerto (1908),
Fantasia in D for vn, orch (1898),
violin concertos

Morgan, Francis J. (1866-1940)
Piano Concerto (1931)

Nixon, Henry Cotter (1842-1907)   
Concertstuck for pf, orch,
Piano Concerto (1882)

Potter, Ciprani (1792-1871)   
Piano Concerto No. 1 in d minor (1832),
Piano Concerto No. 2 in Eb (1833),
Piano Concerto No. 3 in E (1835),
Duo Concertant for pf, vn, orch, Op. 14 (1848)

Reed, W. H. (1876-1942)   
Viola Concerto (1918),
Violin Concerto in a minor (1918),
Rhapsody in e minor for vn, orch (1920)

Scott, Cyril (1879-1970)   
Concertino for bassoon, flute, strings (1951),
Concerto for 2 violins and orch (1931),
Concertino for 2 pianos and orch (1931),
Cello Concerto No. 2 (1937),
Oboe Concerto (1948),
Concerto for violin, cello and orch (1926)

Sherwood, Percy (1866-1939)   
Cello Concerto No. 1 (1890),
Cello Concerto No. 2 in d minor (1902),
Piano Concerto No. 1 in c minor (1887),
Violin Concerto in F (1902),
Concerto for vn, vc, orch (1908)

Smith, Alice Mary    (1839-1884)   
Clarinet Concerto (1872),
Introduction and Allegro, pf, orch (1865)

Street, Joseph (1841-1908)
Piano Concerto No. 1 in Eb, Op. 20 (1865),
Piano Concerto No. 2 in f minor, Op. 24 (1871)

Waley, Simon (1827-1875)   
Piano Concerto in Eb, Op. 16 (1856)

Walthew, Richard Henry (1872-1951)   
Piano Concerto in D,
Piano Concerto in Eb (1894),
Caprice impromptu for vn, orch

Wesley, Samuel (1766-1837)   
8 Violin Concertos (1779-1785), only one is recorded (no. 3),
2 harpsichord concertos (G, F) (1774),
4 organ concertos (A, D, C, ? (1787, 1800, 1814, 1811)

Wingham, Thomas (1846-1893)   
Concert Capriccio in e minor, pf, orch (n.d.)

Wurm, Mary (1860-1938)   
Piano Concerto in b minor

[Dundonnell]

Ronald Stevenson's violin concerto is missing on your first list - or will it perhaps
finally surfce on your second ?????

I have added concertos by Ronald Stevenson.....and also Robin Holloway.

[northern]

The Robert Still Violin Concerto is on youtube, but what appears to be a 15 minute final movement is only around 10 minutes, with an unexplained gap at the end.

[Dundonnell]

I have removed Robin Holloway's Viola Concerto from the list since we have just been provided with a link to an upload. Thanks to britishcomposer :)

[Elroel]

The Robert Still Violin Concerto is on youtube, but what appears to be a 15 minute final movement is only around 10 minutes, with an unexplained gap at the end.

The concerto is, I believe, complete. The 3td part contains music up to around 10 min, followed by the applause.
The uploader didn't cut the remaining silence I guess.

[Elroel]

Maybe I can contribute. Here are some British composers born before 1900 without recordings (as far as I know). I'd love to be corrected, as there are likely some gems here.

I posted this concertino a minute ago, in the British music section

Cooper, William Thomas Gaze (1895-1981)   - Oboe Concertino, Op. 78 (1956)

[Grandenorm]

If the Gaze Cooper is the performance by John McDonough and the Malta Philharmonic under Michael Laus, it is available commercially on the Cameo Classics label and copyright of that company.

[Dundonnell]

The Robert Still Violin Concerto is on youtube, but what appears to be a 15 minute final movement is only around 10 minutes, with an unexplained gap at the end.

The concerto is, I believe, complete. The 3td part contains music up to around 10 min, followed by the applause.
The uploader didn't cut the remaining silence I guess.

That is correct. The uploader was the soloist herself.....so the concerto IS complete at around 31 minutes playing time. I shall duly remove it from my list.

[Dundonnell]

Could I just add that in order to keep my original list manageable I restricted my choice to those "better-known"  composers some of whose concertos are actually on cd and to works which are titled "concerto" rather than others, eg 'concertino'.

This is not-in any sense-intended to inhibit others from drawing our attention to other works or, indeed, to offer uploads of such works. It is simply to point out that there are-sadly-hundreds and hundreds of concertos by other British composers which are not available for us to listen to.

Perhaps it might help too if I tried to give some indication of whether some of the concertos I did list are actually unperformed.

[Elroel]

I delete my entry to Gaze Cooper's Oboe concertino, because it's commercial available. I wasn't aware of it.

[Balapoel]

Could I just add that in order to keep my original list manageable I restricted my choice to those "better-known"  composers some of whose concertos are actually on cd and to works which are titled "concerto" rather than others, eg 'concertino'.

This is not-in any sense-intended to inhibit others from drawing our attention to other works or, indeed, to offer uploads of such works. It is simply to point out that there are-sadly-hundreds and hundreds of concertos by other British composers which are not available for us to listen to.

Well, I would argue many of the composers I listed are relatively well known (some aren't). The difference is that almost all (all?) composers on your list are relatively modern, with none from the Romantic period. I just added in what I thought would be a nice short list of concertos I would like to see recorded (or at least played)....

[Grandenorm]

A nice list, Balapoel. Unfortunately, however, some of these works are well and truly lost; and some are worthless (I'm thinking here of the Joseph Street concerti, which are woefully amateurish and uninspired).
I will go through the list and identify those which, so far, a number of researchers have failed to find. Of course, I would be very happy if some of those subsequently turned up - but I'm not holding my breath.

[Balapoel]

Unfortunately, however, some of these works are well and truly lost; and some are worthless

Probably true, but many are likely to be inspired and well-worth hearing. From the composers' other works, the highest on my want-list would be concertos from Cramer and Potter from the early Romantic era, and Benedict, Bennett, Mackenzie, McEwen, Scott, and Smith from the later era.