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William Wallace (1860-1940)

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Albion
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Frederic Cowen (1852-1935)


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« on: January 13, 2021, 05:45:24 pm »

The Scotsman Wallace has been doubly unfortunate in sharing his name with both the medieval warrior and the successful Irish earlier nineteenth-century operatic composer (William Vincent Wallace): internet searches leave him a very poor third. Yet his music is distinctive and well worth exploring.

Luckily, there are two excellent Hyperion discs devoted to the orchestral music:

CDA66848 - Symphonic Poem No.5, Sir William Wallace (1905); Symphonic Poem No.6, Villon (1909); Symphonic Poem No. 1, The Passing of Beatrice (1892), Symphonic Poem No.3, Sister Helen (1899) BBC Scottish SO/ Martyn Brabbins

CDA66987 - Prelude to The Eumenides (1893); Pelleas and Melisande Suite (1897); Creation Symphony (1896-99) BBC Scottish SO/ Martyn Brabbins


Although Henry Cotter Nixon's Symphonic Poem Palamon and Arcite (1882) - recorded on Toccata Classics TOCC0372 - predates Wallace's mature works, the latter was very much the British pioneer of the genre and deserves wider appreciation...

 :)

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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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JimL
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« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2021, 08:06:57 pm »

I'm not sure if it's this guy or the Irish Wallace, but one of them came to America and composed a violin concerto for the occastion. I wish I could remember which William Wallace it was, but I'd sure like to find out if that VC is available in full score.
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Albion
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Frederic Cowen (1852-1935)


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« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2021, 10:55:21 pm »

Hi Jim, great to hear from you.

It was the Irish Wallace! William Vincent Wallace (1812-1865) travelled  widely and reached America (mainly residing in New Orleans and New York) in the early 1840s: in 1844 he did indeed write a Violin Concerto entitled Souvenir de New York but whether it survives or not I don't know...

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« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2021, 02:40:36 pm »

One of my future projects perhaps. To hunt it down.
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« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2021, 10:39:41 am »

I have the disc with the symphonic poems, but I remember finding them rather thematically unmemorable. But this fine recommendation makes me feel like giving them another try. I might well like them better second time around - that often happens.
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Frederic Cowen (1852-1935)


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« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2021, 11:45:21 am »

I have the disc with the symphonic poems, but I remember finding them rather thematically unmemorable. But this fine recommendation makes me feel like giving them another try. I might well like them better second time around - that often happens.
Yes, they are well worth a second visit, and do also try the second Hyperion disc with the Creation Symphony! If you'll pardon the pun, I think that where Wallace really scores most is in his deft and often brilliant orchestration, especially Villon.

In William Wallace AD 1305-1905 he cunningly weaves in fragments of the tune (immortalised by the words of Robert Burns) Scots! wha hae wi' Wallace bled. Alexander Mackenzie used the same tune more literally in his attractive Scottish Rhapsody No.2, Burns, Op.24 (1880)...

 :)
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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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« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2021, 09:23:14 am »

I have the disc with the symphonic poems, but I remember finding them rather thematically unmemorable. But this fine recommendation makes me feel like giving them another try. I might well like them better second time around - that often happens.
Yes, they are well worth a second visit, and do also try the second Hyperion disc with the Creation Symphony! If you'll pardon the pun, I think that where Wallace really scores most is in his deft and often brilliant orchestration, especially Villon.

In William Wallace AD 1305-1905 he cunningly weaves in fragments of the tune (immortalised by the words of Robert Burns) Scots! wha hae wi' Wallace bled. Alexander Mackenzie used the same tune more literally in his attractive Scottish Rhapsody No.2, Burns, Op.24 (1880)...

 :)

As did Bruch in the finale of his Scottish Fantasy (although with the chorus and verse reversed, as it were), and Berlioz in his Rob Roy Overture.
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Frederic Cowen (1852-1935)


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« Reply #7 on: January 17, 2021, 09:28:59 am »

True, both the Bruch and the Berlioz are well worth a listen if members don't already know them...

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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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