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Well done :) :)

That WAS quick ;D

The biggest musical treasure trove I've ever encountered in my life. :D Great to see it here, though it will take years to play it all.  ;)

Just a little tweak here and there, you know! Hopefully everything should work pretty much as before - please let me know if there are any problems: I've spent the day moving files around and creating brand-new folders so it is entirely within the bounds of possibility that one or two items may have erred and strayed ...

 ::)


There's always something in the archive that you can put away for a rainy day ... [looks out of window] ... oh, that'll be today then!

 ;D

Yes many many thanks Albion for curating this wonderful collection (the only reason I joined UC). Now that there's presumably no restriction or prejudice against more modern composers we can start including non commercial recordings of any British, Irish (or commonwealth!?) composer, in which case I will have more to contribute.

Ah, Mr. Albion, so relieved to see this wonderful collection alive & well here !
 Someone recommended trying Dale's 'Flowing Tide', so went to UC to try to find it, and couldn't get access; thought the collection was lost to me/us !
All seems very quiet at UC...such a shame - spent so many happy hours there. Am firmly hoping that there'll be lots more wonderful music to discver here now !
Many thanks, to all, as always.

Call me John. Hopefully this 'new' forum will quickly pick up business from music-collectors and enthusiasts who no longer feel able to contribute elsewhere. I don't know if the 'inappropriate' (i.e. non-Romantic) downloads that members posted at UC are still there ...

 ???

... perhaps there could be a gradual transfer.

Henry Ernest Geehl (1881 – 1961)

Oliver Cromwell (1923) - Concert Overture for Brass Band

Sun Life Stanshawe Band

From a 1977 LP on the Two Ten label (?). I have searched extensively and cannot find this available anywhere.

I though I might be the first to post a piece by Henry Geehl but was pleased to see one of his other brass band pieces On The Cornish Coast already there. Apologies for the crackles and pops I'm afraid I'm a complete amateur at transferring LPs. The sounds pretty good though and this has always been one of my favourite original early brass band works.

He wrote another test piece called Robin Hood which I don't think has ever been recorded. Would love to get hold of that.

(PS known as davetubaking on UC board - and previously on this board but had to re-register)

Fab, I think the only things I ever knew by Geehl were his arrangement of Elgar's "Adieu" for orchestra and his doing the brass band scoring of the same composer's "Severn Suite". Lovely to hear something original!

I'm sure I read that the suggestion Geehl orchestrated Elgar's Severn Suite had been pooh-poohed because a full score in Elgar's hand exists. I believe he is properly credited with orchestrating Holst's Moorside Suite.

Thank you so much for transferring this catalogue from UC, I was worried that it might be lost forever!

Peter.

No problem! Incidentally, I think it was kyjo who raised the point about whether or not 'Romantic' music should be discussed here on the forum (implying that he assumed that this area was still the domain of UC) - as far I'm aware there are no restrictions on AMF, so unfamiliar music of any period is welcome for debate - including (with customary crude generalisations) early, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical or Romantic ...

 :)

Please could someone who still has a UC account send a PM to patmos.beje to let him know that the British Music archive is over here now?

 ???

Speaking as a longtime member of this forum, I can confirm that there has never been the slightest artificial attempt to constrain discussion on this messageboard to music of any period whatsoever.  Past discussions have included the oldest-known sources of plainchant through to premieres of new works written in the current year.

The only effective "rule" is that of retaining basic civility while discussing things, and respecting the opinions of others - hardly burdensome to those with a serious interest in music and culture, and very beneficial to intelligent discussion :)

These ideals are patently well worth subscribing to, and I'm sure that we can all respect and embrace them without question - many thanks for welcoming so many 'refugees' in need of succour ...

 :)

Many thanks to Albion for indexing that magnificent collection! At the end of his first post I see two lines: "The Music" and "The Catalogue". The link on the first line leads to an index to the above-mentioned magnificent collection, and it works very well. I will spend many pleasant hours exploring it (and I have a few bits and pieces I will contribute to it). But the link on the second line leads to a display of 51 separate pages, each of which is blank! What should those pages contain, and have you any idea of what has gone wrong? I use the FireFox browser. Does it require some separate application?

Hi Gerard - I've just checked and all the catalogue information is there (as a Word document), but sometimes the pages take a long time to load and display.

Try downloading the document (green button on the right) and then opening it on your own computer.

 :)

Absolutely delighted to see the British and Irish music folder here.  Such a treasure trove of musical delights.  A great deal of time and effort went into making the folder possible.  A big thank you to Albion (John) for his prodigous efforts and for all who contributed to it.

So glad to find this here! For a while I was worried all this wonderful music was lost for ever after it disappeared from the "other place", so it's a relief to stumble across this site. I have many hours of happy listening to look forward to  :)

It was such a relief to find Albion's superb catalogue relocated to this site. This collection is of such importance and I hope many more people will enjoy what it has to offer. When I initially encountered the catalogue on UC I was delighted to find so much Daniel Jones. As his birth centenary this year has so far been snubbed by R3 I could enjoy works I haven't heard before and was unlikely to ever come across again.

I've just noticed that Daniel Jones' cello concerto will be performed in St Asaph Cathedral on 29 Sep by Paul Watkins and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales - hopefully it will be broadcast on R3!

http://www.nwimf.com/whats_on/artists2012.html?tpm=1_12

I've been listening to the clips of Havergal Brian's opera FAUST kindly uploaded by member MVS.

Just a question on an informational point - do we know why Brian wrote the work in German? Yes, obviously it's by Goethe, but few other composers (except, ehem, Rufus Wainwright and Philip Glass) have felt obliged to write operas in languages utterly alien to their audiences?  I'm afraid I found something slightly daft in hearing British singers performing British music in a British performance... in German?  ???  It seems to me Brian only created further hurdles for ever getting this piece staged?

I've known the prologue for years,from an 'off air' cassette,and I like it. It's very well sung,anyway! As to the the practicality of an English composer setting an opera in German. Let's bear in mind this is a bloke who composes the largest symphony ever composed & then thinks 'Oh dear,I can't get it performed!!! ??? ;D
(Just in case I upset any Havergal Brian admirers,I do like his music & post regularly on the GMG's HB thread)

Brian certainly composed as he felt like, rather than to order. I suppose the only justification for using German for 'Faust' and 'Turandot' could be that it is the original language of the plays set. Though he didn't attempt 'Agamemnon' in Greek.

Perhaps even odder is D'Erlanger's "Tess", a British subject by a (more or less) British composer set in Italian! Or the way Covent Garden used to sing Wagner in Italian.

Sorry if I am being pedantic but the download of the "World Requiem" is surely the same radio broadcast recorded by Chandos and issued by them as a cd ??? ???

Hmm . . . I would like to be sure of the rules here. . . . Isn't there - as I had imagined - a big difference between on the one hand a CD made later from (some of) what was primarily a publicly broadcast event, and on the other hand a broadcast of something that is primarily created as a CD? In the first case, does the creator of the CD somehow retrospectively acquire rights over tapes people may have quite legitimately made from the broadcast before the CD existed?

Many thanks to Latvian for that important elucidation!

The workings of "profit" and "business" have always been a mystery to me; but in the present age we are obliged to live under the unequal capitalistic yoke as best we can. I have the feeling though that great changes are at last imminent, now that the very ice-caps are melting and the sea-level is likely to rise by twenty-four feet in a few years' time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_ice_sheet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_ice_sheet)

I intend soon to start a wide-ranging discussion of these questions in the "Books and Writing" category, about Shaw's "Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism."

Many, many thanks to Schuylkill for the uploads of the three works by Iain Hamilton :)

There is no point in denying that Hamilton's mid-period music-which includes the Concerto for Orchestra "Commedia" and the Violin Concerto No.2 "Amphion"-is "difficult" ;D

But he was an important, and now totally neglected British composer and it is important to be able to preserve these recordings.

Yes...it is a shame that "The Bermudas" is in dreadful sound quality.....but we are highly unlikely to get another chance to hear this Hamilton Cantata :(

Yes indeed, many thanks to Edward for the precious recordings of Iain Hamilton's music - I will add these to the archive.

Besides George Dyson's lovely cantata The Canterbury Pilgrims (added today) I will also record and add the otherwise-unrecorded items from this week's Composer of the Week series on Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) ...

 :)

Sydney, thanks for the three concertante works by Roger Smalley - not a composer whose music I've heard before. Do you have details of the performers? I think that the PC is probably Rolf Hind with the BBC SSO under Richard Bernas (1994), but have drawn a blank with the other two!

 ???

I've uploaded six of the Coleridge-Taylor partsongs from the ongoing Composer of the Week series (the last is tomorrow). It would have been nice for the BBC to have undertaken some more substantial things, such as the unrecorded suites of incidental music (especially Nero or Herod), the Solemn Prelude, Scenes from an Everyday Romance or Toussaint L'Ouverture, but beggars can't be choosers, I suppose ...

 ::)

The performers of Smalley's beautiful and Berg-like Konzertstück for violin and orchestra were Erich Gruenberg (violin) with the B.B.C. Symphony Orchestra led by Maurice Brett and conducted by Nicholas Cleobury.

Both the First Piano Concerto and the Cello Concerto come from Australian broadcasts. It was my usual procedure at the time to remove the talk at the beginning and the end, since the announcers were embarrassingly untrained. But my memory is that the Piano Concerto was played in a public concert by the composer himself with the Western Australian orchestra. I'm sorry I cannot remember who the cellist was.

I do have several more broadcasts of Smalley pieces which could be posted: his Oboe Concerto, Second String Quartet, Trio for clarinet viola and piano, Piano Study 1 ("Gamelan"), Crepuscule for piano quartet, Kaleidoscope for 12 players, and the famous Piano Quintet, which incorporates extensive passages of Chopin. If any one would like to hear any of these please let me know.

And in turn I have a request: I have never heard Smalley's Symphony (composed in 1981). It lasts thirty-one minutes and is presumably a magnum opus. If any one has it in a postable form I would be greatly obliged if it could be made available.

Really enjoyed the 'Canterbury Pilgrims': I was already familiar with the Hickox recording, but lovely to hear a different interpretation. I assume that this was the original version without 'At the Tabard Inn', which I believe Dyson wrote later. Thanks too for the Coleridge-Taylor. Dare we hope for a recording or broadcast of 'Thelma' one day?

I, for one, would like to hear more. I think I may know the whereabouts of the symphony and will make some enquiries.

Maybe this is the right place to announce that I recently learnt about Ian Parrott's death on September 4, 2012. He was 96 years old, and we have two of his works in our archives.

Oh, Edward....thank you so much for the Leighton Violin Concerto which, I know, I have been nagging you for ;D

Do you have any information on the piece?  Movements, etc?

I hope this is enough for you ;D ;D ;D

VIOLIN CONCERTO Opus 12 (1952)
Scoring: 2222/2200/timp/perc/strings
Publisher: Novello

Programme Note
Kenneth Leighton: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 12

Allegro con brio (Molto ritmico)
Intermezzo: Moderato con moto
Scherzo: Allegro molto e nervoso
Epilogo: Lento sostenuto ed intenso

The Violin Concerto, first performed in May 1953 in the Third Programme by Frederick Grinke with the St. Cecilia Orchestra under Trevor Harvey, dates from the Spring of 1952. It was written in Italy, under strong emotional compulsion, in the space of three weeks, and is prefixed by some verses of Ada Negri which can be roughly translated 'Today I seek you, and do not find you; you are neither in me nor near me, nor do I know what fault I have committed that you have punished me in the light of your presence'. While reflecting the spirit of the whole work (whose themes - particularly in their 'soaring' upward movement and the significance of moves of a semitone - are interrelated in the four movements), the verses throw particular light on the concluding slow Epilogue, which is the emotional climax of the concerto. The work is a true concerto in the demands it makes on the soloist, yet at the same time it avoids all empty display. The solo part contains little, if anything, that is not thematic, and with much cunning interplay between violinist and orchestra the whole strongly felt argument is expressed with a conciseness and authority that augur extremely well for this composer's future.

The urgent, uprising theme which opens the Allegro con brio at once creates a mood of restless striving. The slightly less busy second subject (announced by the solo violin espressivo and piano) uses all twelve semitones of the chromatic scale as if it were a Schonbergian note-series, but the composer has emphatically stated that this was pure coincidence, that he is note a 'twelve-note' composer, and that all the themes in the work were entirely spontaneous and uncalculated. The cadenza comes as the climax of the development section; the orchestra takes up the soloist's final trills, with arresting effect, by way of a lead back into the recapitulation, in which section the second subject claims attention before the first. Tension is slightly relaxed in the following Intermezzo, though its leading theme (again of strongly marked musical personality) maintains the striving upward movement characteristic of the whole work as it climbs a note higher in each of its opening bars. There is a strong kinship between this theme and the two episodes with which it alternates. The third movement is a Scherzo and Trio, in which the word nervoso qualifying the Allegro molto is the best clue to the kind of highly strung brilliance required in the Scherzo, while the ironico written above the jaunty Trio leaves no doubt as to the composer's mood here. The deeply expressive final Epilogue has the strongest thematic links with the material of the opening movement, and by means of eloquent cantilena from the soloist, solemnly reiterated drum strokes and much sympathetic support from the whole orchestra, rises from a brooding start to an impassioned climax of yearning before sinking into final despair.
© Kenneth Leighton


Please provide permission here, in accordance with this reminder:

http://artmusic.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,493.msg4484.html#msg4484 (http://artmusic.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,493.msg4484.html#msg4484)

Many thanks - Admin.

Thank you for sharing your Malcolm Arnold Brass Quintet. I am listening to it now.
It goes down well.

The recent broadcast premiere of A Manchester Overture (1989) by Anthony Burgess (1917-1993) is now in the archive.

 :)

Sound and Music mentions one recording of this symphony by the Ulster Orchestra conducted by Yannis Daras.

Bryan Kelly ??? ???

A completely new name to me.....a what a fine Symphony :) :)

Why have we not heard more of him ??? ???

Bryan Kelly (b.1934) studied at the Royal College of Music with Gordon Jacob and Herbert Howells between 1951 and 1955, and later in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. He later taught at both the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music (1963-1984).

There is a serious error in Grove's current work-list which includes a solitary Symphony and dates it to 1988. In fact, Kelly wrote two Symphonies (1983 and 1986) and it is the first which has recently been uploaded. I have added broadcast dates and performer details for this and other recent contributions (including the very welcome Edward German broadcasts) to the catalogue.

 :)

John...thank you very much indeed for this information about Kelly and the worklist you have put up elsewhere :) :)

I really would like to hear more of this man's work :)

I've played some of the Bryan Kelly Brass Band Works and am sure I've got a recording of the Edinburgh Dances somewhere. A search of the itunes store (by composer name) throws up a couple of movements from something called Jamaican Canticles but that doesn't appear on Albion's worklist.

I first encountered a Bryan Kelly score whilst studying A Level music at college and playing trombone in a brass group (c.1976). It was a piece not listed in Albion's works list called Fanfares and Sonatina for Brass. I've kept an ear open for his work since but the promotion of his music just seemed to fizzle out - then this first symphony came up on Radio 3.

I have two Kelly vocal scores which might give an idea of his other work:

At the Round Earth's Imagin'd Corners Tenor, Chorus & Strings (Novello, 1977)
1) At the round earth's imagin'd corners (John Donne) SATB
2) Never weather beaten sail (Thomas Campion) Tenor
3) Oh my blacks soule! (John Donne) SATB
4) Drop, drop, slow tears (Phineas Fletcher) Tenor
5) Done is the battell on the dragon blak (William Dunbar) Tenor & SATB
6) Wilt thou forgive that sin? (John Donne) Tenor & SATB
Duration 18 minutes.

Canticum Festivum Tenor, Chorus & Orchestra (OUP 1964) - not on Albion's list
Text: A Song for St Cecilia's Day by John Dryden.
Duration 12 Minutes.

Thanks, Jim - Canticum Festivum duly added to the catalogue.

 :)

The Bryan Kelly brass piece wasn't for brass band; most of our brass group managed to fit into a Ford Anglia (with instruments!). I have searched the net and find it was a sextet: two trumpets, two horns and two trombones. It is a published by Novello who also have a works list on their site: http://www.chesternovello.com/default.aspx?TabId=2432&State_3041=2&workId_3041=1136

Complete works published by [Chester] Novello: http://www.chesternovello.com/default.aspx?TabId=2431&State_2905=3&ComposerID_2905=818&CategoryID_2905=0

Very glad to hear these are appreciated. I rather like the broad and poco marcato statement of the theme in the broadcast performance of the Theme and Six Diversions.

And thank you so much Jim for the two PMD 1st performances.

What else have you got up your sleeve? ;D

Up in the loft more like! One more PMD - letting his hair down long before Mavis ;)

Is that recording of the Suite from The Boy Friend the same one that was on a Collins Classics release (along with The Devils and Seven in Nomine)?

According to my cassette I have written 'Fires of London / PMD'. It is a broadcast of a performance with audience. The Collins disc was Aquarius / Nick Cleobury

Oh, my mistake. I should have remembered that. In any case, thank you!

Jim from Jim:

Thanks so much Jim for all the wonderful stuff you're posting: I'm trying to keep up with downloads. Really especially good to see something from 'A Princess of Kensington', which is right at the top of my list of operettas I want to hear before I die. Tom Jones used to be above it (though I had at least seen that on stage), until Naxos recorded it. I don't suppose anyone has any idea who the soloists were in those four German songs?

Thanks Jim.
I had quite a bit digitised already (apart from the symphonies) but Mediafire wasn't working for me when I joined UC. After eventual success with mediafire I came here for obvious reasons. Just clearing out cassettes that can go to the charity shop but saving and transferring the sharable items - always nice when you find things you totally forgot about!

'Where Haven Lies' is probably the only thing I have heard from 'A Princess of Kensington' and would love to see it too! I was surprised when Naxos released Tom Jones, a long time favourite of mine, and I was quite surprised at how the soloists often sounded very similar to the old LP excerpts (Gilbert Vinter and the Williams Singers etc.) - very glad they recorded the cut songs too, though two of them are in the concert version. Albion appears to have a source of arcane knowledge where old broadcasts are concerned.

I used to have a recording of "Three Jolly Sailormen" from "Princess", an old recording from near the time it was written with (I think) Henry Lytton singing the role he created of William Jelf, but it is long ago lost since I moved to Japan. I also once sang the number "It's a Pressing invitation that I bring", along with "From Rock to Rock" from "The Contrabandista" at a church concert, but that's the nearest I've got to hearing anything else from the opera. Maybe Naxos will follow up the recording of 'Tom Jones' with ones of "Kensington" and "Fallen Fairies". They have brought out a few good opera releases in recent years.

Now you mention it, I recall hearing a digistised version of this - just piano accomp. The Fallen Fairies score does look excellent too. It seems unthinkable that Lehar would have been so neglected, but our home grown operettas have sadly suffered that fate.

Today's broadcast of Daniel Jones' Cello Concerto is now in the archive - Symphonies 11 and 12 will follow later in the week.

 :)

Thanks, John :)

One point though....in the Folder you have labelled the file as Gourlay(1986) instead of Gourlay(2012).

The file is labelled

Jones - Cello Concerto (1986) - Gourlay

as in all other cases (where multiple recordings are concerned), thus indicating the date of the composition rather than that of the performance.

 :)

Mea culpa :-[ :-[

Nae problem!

 ;)

It was a superb performance of the Concerto by Paul Watkins, a cellist frequently found on the Chandos label, no less ...

 ::)

I decided to attempt a better balanced digitisation of the Bryan Kelly Symphony [No. 1]. It is to be found in > Downloads > Bryan Kelly, as an alternative link.

Many thanks to Jim for his upload of the Maxwell Davies Symphony no. 8 :).

I have uploaded my recording of Daniel Jones' Symphony No.12 conducted by Grant Llewellyn: one of the most concentrated of Jones' works (a quixotic piece with wide and sudden dynamic contrasts) it certainly demands repeated listening ...

 :)

... I simply can't believe that there isn't a commercial audience for music of this quality.

 ::)

Thank you Albion!
I've known the old Lps of 4,6,7,8 & 9 for years (and,latterly,the Lyrita cds) Of course,here in Wales they were always in the libraries. Listening to the entire cycle,courtesy of the uploads here,it is very hard to understand why they aren't programmed here (at least!) on a regular basis. Here we are with this tremendous symphonic cycle & our supposed BBC National Orchestra of Wales playing Russian,German & Finnish composers,but no Daniel Jones?!! Why? Is it because they just think he's c**p? Because no one will want to listen to them? (No back sides on the seats!)
I hope it's not the former! :o :(

Meanwhile the Welsh National Opera have received a £1.2m donation from the Getty Family,which will be used to present a new series of contemporary operas,including.....suprise..suprise.....Gordon Getty's opera 'Usher House'!! Norman Lebrecht has expressed his suprise at David Pountney's* " eleventh-hour enthusiasm for Getty's work",describing him (Getty) on his blog as "talentless". To be fair,I haven't heard Getty's music,so I can't really comment on that,but I can't see any Welsh opera's on their list (unless I've missed one! ::) ).

*WNO Chief Executive & Artistic Director.

I agree - many thanks for the Jones downloads - thanks to the British & Irish downloads list I too have filled the gaps in the cycle, and it is good to have an opportunity to hear the other works.

Thanks Kyjo - I hadn't labelled that cassette and forgot I had it!

As for Getty, I found some audio samples here: http://www.pentatonemusic.com/index1.htm?pags/5186356/5186356.htm~rechts

(The play buttons take a while to load).

Cilgwyn

My response is in the thread- "Individual Composers: Daniel Jones" :)

When I revisited the forum I realised it wasn't a Daniel Jones thread! Lucky for me it's not the UC!! :o ;D Apologies,anyway!

Thanks for the link Jim. From what I've read (various reviews) I don't think I'm going to be too crazy about his music;but you've got to hear a composer first. Who knows? Perhaps I'll be snowed under with Gordon Getty cds?! ;D

 ;D Yes,you really DID answer all my 'points' in 'that' post,Dundonnell! I think I was just having a moan,really. Sometime it helps! :( ;D

I have just uploaded a recording of Daniel Jones' Symphony No.11 (1983) broadcast earlier today.

 :)

Thank you Jim for uploading the Joyce song-cycle by Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer (1882-1957)!
Although I am very interested in the English song repertoire I hadn't heard of him before. He is not even mentioned by Stephen Banfield in his great study "Sensibility and English Song", perhaps because these songs had only been rediscovered at the time of writing? This is quite surprising because he was the first composer to set James Joyce's poetry (1907)! He is very much indebted to Stanford and perhaps Somervell. His melodic invention is not as characteristic as their's but he definitely has a talent for setting words. The vocal line balances the poetic line very subtly.

Some more information on Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer here:
http://www.cmc.ie/composers/composer.cfm?composerID=99 (http://www.cmc.ie/composers/composer.cfm?composerID=99)

I wish I'd been equipped to record the whole programme as I am dying to hear 'Goldenhair'. Thanks for mentioning the Banfield Study - looks very thorough - I'd never heard of it but that is no surprise given the dearth of music textbooks within easy reach these days. I do find the English song repertory interesting too so I must put it on my wishlist.

Dear shamus,

thanks for the great recording of MacMillan's violin concerto. At first hearing - I am just listening to it -
it really sounds gorgeous! I would like to have it commercially recorded on SACD.

                                    mjkFendrich

Many thanks to Elroel for sending me his recording of David Matthews' Symphony No.7 (2008-09): this is the premiere performance conducted in Manchester by Gianandrea Noseda in April 2010.

The audio file and broadcast information are now in the archive.

 :)

Thanks to Jim for the upload of the premiere performance of Hugh Wood's Symphony.

The conductor was indeed Gennadi Rozhdestvensky although the year was 1983(23 July) rather than 1982 :)

I must confess that although I can respect Hugh Wood's music the general idiom I find somewhat taxing for my own particular tastes.

To clear up any confusion it was, in fact, 1982 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/archive/search/1980s/1982/july-23/9429 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/archive/search/1980s/1982/july-23/9429)

 ;)

Somebody-like ME-ought to contact Wood's publisher, Chester Novello, and tell them to stop publishing incorrect information about their composers on their website :-[ :-[ ::) ::)

http://www.chesternovello.com/default.aspx?TabId=2432&State_3041=2&workId_3041=13182 (http://www.chesternovello.com/default.aspx?TabId=2432&State_3041=2&workId_3041=13182)

I grovel in abject apology :-[ ;D

And I too must confess that my present tastes are also for something a little less taxing! He is very good at his craft though.

I was looking for a cassette I had of the Neruda cycle directed by Odaline de la Martinez and managed to find the symphony on two cassettes. No Neruda cycle though. I was a fan of the poetry (love songs/song of despair) but didn't feel that Wood's Modernist idiom was capable of expressing their romantic nature (unlike Barber's 'The Lovers').

Many thanks to Latvian for providing a positive feast of David Matthews' symphonies :) :)

Thanks for the David Matthews' 7th Symphony. I think it is great.

Thanks indeed!

The broadcast of Symphony No.1 is the premiere performance of the revised (2007) score, given at the Spires Centre, Belfast. I've added some other broadcast dates to the catalogue.

 :)

Thanks Latvian, the 2nd Symph & Pno 5tte left me wanting to hear more. These will keep me busy for quite some time!

Latvian, thank you for these - they have been duly appropriated - Boult conducting Bate is something special, indeed.

 :)

Recordings of Bate's music are always welcome: his centenary (12th December 1911) passed last year, but perhaps there will be something else from Dutton soon (hopefully at least the Violin Concerto No.3) ...

 ;)

The performance of Stanley Bate's Symphony No.3 conducted by Adrian Boult was a live broadcast from the Cheltenham Festival (12th July 1965).

 :)

I join with John in thanking Latvian for the Stanley Bate uploads :) :)

Funny you should mention Violin Concertos ;D   See elsewhere :)

Can I add my thanks for the Stanley Bate? he is a particular favourite oif mine.

Ditto

Thanks for the Woolrich! Any more uploadable recordings out there by him?

Great news. For me, Bates is the most important 'discovery' of recent years. Thank you so much!

My recording of Ivor Gurney's A Gloucestershire Rhapsody is now in the archive: this is a substantial (17 minutes), varied and colourful work which makes one regret even more the fact that the composer wrote so little for the orchestra.

 :(

The performance by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under David Parry is excellent and brings this long-forgotten score vividly to life.

 :)

Thank you very much for the wonderful Rhapsody, John :). I also profoundly regret the insubstantial amount of orchestral music Gurney produced :(.

Albion - I would very much like to hear the Gurney, but being relatively new here (or perhaps lacking a sense of direction), I can't figure out where it is posted. Any help you could lend would be much appreciated. / Buster

Go to the "Downloads" section on the Home Page. Find "British and Irish Music Downloads"(currently on Page 2 of that thread). Go to Page One and the very first post is Albion's Master Catalogue. Clink on "The Music" link in that post and you will find an A-Z. The Gurney link if, obviously, under "G".


......or, to help you, further  http://artmusic.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,506.0.html (http://artmusic.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,506.0.html)

From me too, thank you so much for the Gurney, such a fascinating figure, and what a lovely piece. So clearly in the Vaughan Williams English tradition (which he would not have denied, I don't think), but a completely original voice too.

You're very welcome!

I will record Daniel Jones' Five Pieces for Orchestra (1939) today and add a copy to the archive later this afternoon. This is one of the earliest orchestral scores by Jones to have been performed and should prove very interesting ...

 :)

William Mathias Violin Concerto (1991)
(http://www.kcstudio.com/mathias3.jpg)


Gyorgy Pauk, Violin
Halle Orchestra
Sir Charles Groves,  conductor
January 16, 1992
Premiere Recording, radio broadcast.

From the collection of Karl Miller


1. Radio Intro
2. Violin Concerto I. Molto moderato;
3. Violin Concerto  II. Molto vivace;
4. Violin Concerto  III. Andante flessibile;
5. Violin Concerto IV. Allegro
6. Radio Outro

Those of you who are fans of William Mathias (I'm certainly one) may welcome this recording of his violin concerto-- which was, I believe, his last major work, and, from what I have seen, was never posted on this forum or Unsung Composers.   I think very highly of Mathias-- his concerti to me, more than many composers, are so musically compelling that I forget they are concerti.  This work is a bit darker and sparse, but also has some lovely moments. 



1985 Interview with Bruce Duffie:


http://www.kcstudio.com/Mathias.html (http://www.kcstudio.com/Mathias.html)

Bio from the Oxford University Press:

William Mathias was born in Whitland, Dyfed in 1934 and died in 1992. He began to compose at an early age, studying first at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, taking his BMus with first-class honours, and subsequently on an Open Scholarship in composition at the Royal Academy of Music. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in 1965, and gained the DMus of the University of Wales in 1966. In 1968 he was awarded the Bax Society Prize under the Harriet Cohen International Music Awards, and in 1981 the John Edwards Memorial Award. From 1970-1988 he was Professor and Head of the Music Department at the University College of North Wales, Bangor. He was known as a conductor and pianist, and gave or directed many premi�res of his own works. In 1972 he founded the North Wales Music Festival at St Asaph Cathedral and remained its artistic director until his death.

A house composer with Oxford University Press since 1961, his compositions cover an extraordinarily wide range. Early success include the Clarinet Sonatina at the 1957 Cheltenham Festival (followed within a year by broadcasts in France and Poland), and the Divertimento for String Orchestra which, following its London premi�re, was quickly taken up as far afield as Prague and California. He has made a highly significant contribution to twentieth-century organ music, and his church music and carols are still regularly performed world-wide. Works such as the Symphonies, Clarinet Concerto, Harp Concerto, Improvisations for harp, Laudi, Piano Concerto No.3, Ave Rex, Riddles and This Worlde's Joie have entered the repertory; the Organ Concerto scored a great success in the 1984 BBC Promenade Concerts, and Lux Aeterna has been hailed as one of the finest British choral/orchestral works this century.

Mathias' full-scale opera The Servants (with a libretto by Iris Murdoch) was premiered by Welsh National Opera in 1980. Works composed to celebrate Royal occasions include the Investiture Anniversary Fanfare (for the tenth anniversary of the Investiture of the Prince of Wales), Vivat Regina and A Royal Garland (for the Queen's Silver Jubilee), Let all the World in every corner sing (for the diamond jubilee of the Royal School of Church Music), As truly as God is our Father (for the Friends of St Paul's Cathedral and their Patron, The Queen Mother), and Let the people praise Thee, O God - the anthem especially composed for the wedding of The Prince and Princess of Wales in 1981. His last important compositions included Symphony No.3 (1991) and the Violin Concerto for Gyorgy Pauk (1992).

Mathias' musical language embraced both instrumental and vocal forms with equal success, and he addressed a large and varied audience both in Britain and abroad. In 1987 he was awarded an Honorary DMus by Westminster Choir College, Princeton. He was made CBE in the 1985 New Year's Honours. In 1992 Nimbus records embarked upon a series of recordings of his major works.

At last :)  Finally :) :)

We have the William Mathias Violin Concerto....possibly one of the most important major British Violin Concertos which had not been available to us either on cd or as a download.

Thank you so very very much....and thanks to Karl Miller for providing the recording :) :)

Wonderful ;D

I absolutely agree with Colin. Many thanks for uploading this, John! I have a large bunch of works by Mathias but the Violin Concerto was still missing, and I had really hoped for a recording for quite some time - especially since Mathias' very last works really seem to be distinguished by a sort of autumnal beauty, I mean there is always a slight note of farewell in them. That's probably what John calls "sparseness" - actually, for me, this is what makes these pieces especially interesting. Just listening to the first movement of the concerto I am convinced it is really a very fine work.

Holger is so right about the "autumnal beauty" :)

The slow movement is really gorgeous and makes one totally amazed that no record company has sought to record this concerto in the last 20 years :o

Mathias knew-I think-that he was very ill and this work does seem a valedictory composition and all the more moving in that knowledge.

I would also like to add my sincere thanks for Mathias' substantial Violin Concerto - this is a highly significant addition to our remarkable archive of his music.

Continuing the Welsh theme, I have just uploaded my file of Five Pieces for Orchestra (1939) by Daniel Jones. These arresting miniatures were first performed at the Proms on 31st August 1951 conducted by the composer, this apparently being their last outing until the present broadcast. There are many pre-echoes of the composer's mature style and I would strongly recommend them both to Jones-aficionadi and those new to the music of this sadly-neglected master. An outbreak of premature applause occurred after the fourth piece - I have removed this from the  recording ...

 :)

May I also add to the chorus of thanks for the Mathias VC? It is quite a stunning piece-I have also longed to hear it for quite some time :). Now, there are very little major (sorry for the oxymoron ;D) works by Mathias that remain unavailable to us either through CD recordings or downloads here :). BTW thanks for the Jones piece, John!

As a fanatical fan (continuing the outbreak of recent "remarkable" English usage on this forum ;D) of the music of Daniel Jones......


Thanks, John :) :)

Substantial William Mathias orchestral/choral works still unavailable-

1957:   Seven Poems of R.S. Thomas for tenor, harp and chamber orchestra: 20 minutes
1961:  Music for Strings, op.14: 17 minutes
1971:   Holiday Overture, op.57: 16 minutes
1979:  Te Deum for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, chorus and orchestra, op.85:15 minutes
1987:   Carnival of Wales for orchestra: 26 minutes
1988:   “Jonah: A Musical Morality” for tenor, baritone, choruses and chamber orchestra: 60 minutes


The big one is obviously "Jonah".

I have now added the recent broadcast of An Ayrshire Suite (2012) by John Maxwell Geddes. The three movements are -

1. Source (Carrick)
2. Cave (Kyle)
3. Hill (Cunninghame)

Here is the composer's commentary - http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com/members/john_maxwell_geddes/works/w19362/#programme (http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com/members/john_maxwell_geddes/works/w19362/#programme)

The date of the premiere was Saturday 1st December (not the 2nd as noted in the link above).

 :)

In the event, Ombre (1984) was not broadcast as part of Afternnon on 3 despite initially being included in the listings - the information given out on the Radio 3 website was mistaken.

 ::)

Thank you very much, John, for Maxwell Geddes' Ayshire Suite, and you, too, Mathias, for the Symphony no. 3 of the same composer :)

Thanks a lot, John and Mathias, for these Geddes additions. As for Ombre, I think I can help out here since I do have a recording of this piece and will try to make it ready for upload soon.

That would be fantastic, Holger :)

Thank you very much for those three Geddes pieces, Holger :)

Glad I could once again help to add something to the British Archives, especially since the latest additions (Mathias, Jones, Geddes) all interested myself a lot.

I have uploaded the recently-broadcast Choral Symphony (2012) by the BBC Singers' Associate Composer Gabriel Jackson (b.1962).

This is an ambitious half-hour unaccompanied score in four contrasting movements which set a variety of texts treating London as their theme.

 :)

Many thanks to Colin for his upload of the Gordon Crosse Symphony no. 2 and to Matthias for his upload of Norman O'Neill's La Belle Dame Sans Merci :) :)

Two very different works :)

Nothing wrong with catholicity of taste though ;D

Yes, two very different works...but both to my liking, one being late-romantic and the other tonal modern :)

Always great to see anything by O'Neill, such a rarity.

Today's very-welcome broadcast of Patrick Hadley's brief but highly evocative sketch for orchestra Kinder Scout (1925) is now in the archive.

 :)

My apologies for my stupidity, but I cannot find it in the archive.

It is there all right :)

Go to Archive (page 1, first post in British and Irish Music thread in 'Downloads'); click on the link under the heading "The Archive"; scroll down to "Ha".

FINALLY we have one of the ever-elusive Walter Gaze Cooper's symphonies ;D

Thank you ever so much, Jim, for making his Symphony no. 7 available to us :) :)

Just as Kyjo, I thank you very much for Gaze Cooper's 7th, Jim

Now I wonder: where o where is the rest of his symphonies???


Elroel

A Gaze Cooper symphony?!!!

REALLY?!!!!!! :o :o :o :o :o :o

Amazing as it seems, yes ;D

Many thanks to Steerforth for providing an alternative recording (in stereo) of

Arnold Cooke - Symphony No.5 (1979)

in the 1981 broadcast.

 :)

Great to learn, many thanks indeed!  :)

Thanks Albion for the Hadley. I always feel a strong connection with the spirit of his music, and this evocation of Kinder Scout is also a lovely reminder of that rugged spot.

When I climbed Kinder Scout 14 years ago now I met three teenage lads who asked me for durections. They had no map and no compass-which on that plateau, covered by moss and hundreds of little ditches is just asking for trouble ::)

Welcome indeed :).....but, oh for Nos. 2 and 6 >:(

Certainly is, Maris - lovely, thanks !

For those of you who haven't heard of Stephen McNeff before I have uploaded two BBC broadcasts. So you can decide wether the new Dutton release is an option or not.

Thank you, how very thoughtful! Yes, I have been wondering

Music of Richard Rodney Bennett
(http://www.m-magazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Sir-Richard-Rodney-Bennett-CBE.jpg)

From the collection of Karl Miller

1-3 Symphony # 1 (1965)
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Sir Colin Davis, conductor
Oct. 25, 1968

4-7:  Piano Concerto
Stephen Bishop, Piano
Cleveland Orchestra
Louis Lane, Conductor

Pete G on Symphony Share has found a Cleveland Symphony archive that lists a Louis Lane/Stephen Bishop performance of the Piano Concerto in their 1973 season.  jrwilsonnj has added that this was performed on March 22 and 24  1973

8:  Symphony No. 2
London Symphony Orchestra
Andre Previn, Conductor

Pete G on Symphony Share has pointed out that The London Symphony archive lists a performance by Previn of the 2nd Sympony on Feb. 20, 1969.

9. Concerto for Oboe and Strings
Heniz Holliger, Oboe
Aldeburgh Festival-English Chamber Orchestra
Paul Sacher, Conductor

Pete G on Symphony share has observed that The world premiere of the Oboe Concerto was by Heinz Holliger with Paul Sacher and the English Chamber Orch. at the Aldeburgh Festival in 1971 so this is probably the same performance.

10. Spoken Introduction.
11-13: Harpsichord Concerto
Composer, Harpsichord
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin, Conductor
Dec. 4, 1980

CORRECTION:
14-16: Bennett:  Viola Concerto(1973)
14-16: Sonnets for Orpheus, for Cello and Orchestra (1979)

Colin has observed that this track is 33 minutes long, while the Chester Novello catalog lists the run time
Willie Pitt on Symphony Share has observed this is a cello concerto.
Although I haven’t found any record of a “cello concerto”  at Chester Novello    his “Sonnets to Orpheus”  is a work for Solo Cello and Orchestra, and has a run time of 33 minute, and would be the likely culprit.

Details:
Richard Rodney Bennett : Sonnets to Orpheus

commissioned for the Edinburgh Festival with funds from the Arts Council

Publisher         Novello & Co Ltd

Category

            Soloist(s) and Orchestra

Year Composed          1979

Duration

            33 Minutes

Solo Instrument(s)      cello

Orchestration

            2(pic)2(ca)2(bcl)2(cbn)/2221/timp.3perc/2hp.pf[=cel]/str(min 14.12.10.6.6)

 


17-19: Concerto for Orchestra (1973)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sir Charles Groves, Conductor


Recordings are from either radio broadcasts or personal sources.  I am not aware of any commercial release in digital form.
Some of these performances may have previously posted-- you may wish to compare these versions to see what restorations may have been applied.



Bennett's Program Notes for his Concerto for Orchestra:



If you are interested in the Second Symphony, the New York Philharmonic keeps a digital record of all of the correspondence surrounding the commission.

 http://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/artifact/dc8fd202-8e71-4b0d-97c4-55e5ba9100e7/fullview#page/1/mode/1up (http://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/artifact/dc8fd202-8e71-4b0d-97c4-55e5ba9100e7/fullview#page/1/mode/1up)

Many, many thanks for this fabulous trawl of prime Bennett. The perf. of the 1st Symphony also makes a fine memorial to Colin Davis, I feel. I only met Bennett a few times, but he taught both of my composition teachers (Paul Patterson, whom I studied with in London, and John Baur, whom I studied with in Memphis), so every time I met him he delighted in quipping that I was therefore his "grand-pupil"!

My goodness ::) ;D

The Viola, Oboe and Harpsichord Concertos.....all new :) :)

Splendid :)

This is odd!

Bennett's publishers, Chester Novello, time the Viola Concerto at 16 minutes

http://www.chesternovello.com/default.aspx?TabId=2432&State_3041=2&workId_3041=8211 (http://www.chesternovello.com/default.aspx?TabId=2432&State_3041=2&workId_3041=8211)

but the recording you have provided is a full 32 minutes in length ::)

John Casken- Symphony "Broken Consort"
(http://www.divine-art.com/composers/graphics/Casken%20-%20Tom%20Bangbala.jpg)

July 22, 2004(?)
Gianandrea  Noseda, Cond.
BBC
Philharmonic Orchestra
Radio Broadcast

From the collection of Karl Miller

Classical Source article by Colin Anderson

John Casken talks about his new Symphony, a BBC commission, to be premiered at Proms 2004 on 22 July
_____________________________ ___________
Given the remarkable examples that we already have of the genre, even the particular resonance of the word itself, I suggest to John Casken that simply writing Symphony at the head of a new score will automatically stiffen the sinews. “It does, and I have delayed writing what is my first symphony. It was originally planned for 2002, but we managed to get it put back until now. But are you aware of the rest of the title, Broken Consort?” Yes, indeed, the symphony’s scoring includes a gypsy band.
_____________________________ ___________
Was this always part of the symphony’s design? “No, but I had the very opening along time ahead. The symphony begins with metallic sweeps on the percussion, a very simple idea, and one that I thought would set the tone for the work, both in its sound and its simplicity. It certainly sets the tone for the soundworld because, being metallic and tangy, it links nicely with the sound of the cimbalom and the accordion – but the idea of pursuing it in a very simple way fairly soon got left behind. The way the strings are set out on the cimbalom invites a certain kind of figuration and playing, and suggested to me an intricate and more focussed texture. So the idea of writing a piece with bold, simple blocks developed into a textural tapestry that I suppose could be a feature of my work generally. In the Symphony the very spicy and tangy sonorities of the ensemble actually feed into the orchestra in terms of the timbres I’ve used; the wind and brass behave a bit like an accordion, and the brass sonorities pick up the steeliness of the cimbalom.”
_____________________________ ___________
Casken’s Symphony ‘Broken Consort’ is in two movements, roughly 20 and 12 minutes in length, respectively. Casken explains that “it’s not a thematic symphony, it’s not a symphony which sets down a number of themes and develops those. It’s a symphony that takes the contrasting elements of a gypsy band and a symphony orchestra and looks for points of contact between them, and it develops those points of contacts, which is also an idea behind the broader aspect of the work. The first movement is a colouristic movement, one that is volatile, one that explodes with energetic bursts and one that explores nuances of sound. The intention is that one is always aware of the gypsy ensemble and its dance-like music; its sonorities always will be different from what the orchestra is doing – but we have to find a way of hearing them as one.”
_____________________________ ___________
The use of the gypsy component became a reality with the composer’s “sudden realisation that the gypsy band existed within the orchestra.” The orchestra is the BBC Philharmonic. Several of its members are expert players of the ‘extra’ instruments that Casken has used to spice-up his orchestration. Although the composer is quick to point out that “this is not a concerto in the sense of one pitted against the other; they are integrated in that the sounds of the gypsy band give into the orchestra and they flow back.”
_____________________________ ___________
A contrast comes with the second movement, which “turns its back on the first movement’s soundworld. It begins in a very serious, strong unison way, which slowly ebbs away. The gypsy instruments have been playing in a very reflective way, and there’s alternation between this and string polyphony. We reach a point of absolute stillness where there’s an accordion solo accompanied by tremolandi on the cimbalom. Then the movement begins to find its way back to where we were in the first movement. That is also the main business of the second movement; to find that same dance but to do it through a different perspective, a different mechanism.”
_____________________________ ___________
With all talk of gypsy music and instruments, I mention Bartók as perhaps a stylistic precursor to the new work. “I’d be very reluctant to say which particular gypsy style it is; but I think it is probably Rumania and Bulgaria rather than Hungary, but I listen to a lot of gypsy music, so some of the Hungarian will come into it.”
_____________________________ ___________
Mention of such countries plus the integration of these instruments into the symphony orchestra seems also a curious parallel regarding the expanding European Union. ““I’ve alluded to that in talking about points of contact – one enriches the other and there’s no looking for a state of opposition where things remain in their enclaves and people turn their backs on them. Maybe that’s the reason why I started the second movement in the way that I did.”
_____________________________ ___________
Is John Casken being positive about European expansion? “I think so. British culture has always been cross-fertilised by the arrival of ideas, creativity, philosophy and writings from abroad, particularly from Europe – and we should be open to these new things.” Is the new symphony optimistic? “I ask a question, as I tend to in my music.”
_____________________________ ___________
Using the ‘extra’ instruments may preclude future performances – not every orchestra runs to an ‘in-house’ gypsy band, and orchestras’ management may think twice before booking ‘extras’. “Yes, but I very much wanted to do this. So I thought rather than putting practical interests first I ought to put my creative instincts first.”
_____________________________ ___________
Symphony ‘Broken Consort’ gets its premiere at Prom No.8, on 22 July, the Manchester-based BBC Philharmonic playing music that is written partly as a tribute to its own skills. Its dynamic Principal Conductor Gianandrea Noseda will lead the premiere. The BBC Phil is an orchestra Casken knows well; he is a professor at Manchester University. Also in the concert is Ravel’s G major Piano Concerto, with Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and Stravinsky’s Firebird ballet. “In terms of the orchestra, Ravel is a magician, and Stravinsky likewise, the fire and colour of those early Russian ballets is just extraordinary. I think my music has learnt an awful lot from French music, and I’m very happy but rather intimidated to be in that company.”


Geoffrey Norris reviews the Premiere
John Casken's new symphony, a BBC commission that had its world premiere last night, bears the title Broken Consort, though there was no need to worry too much about such musicological terminology to appreciate a score that was both beguiling and impressive.

Far from any hints of disharmony, the broken consort here refers back to its early Elizabethan usage, when it meant the combination within a single ensemble of several different sorts of instrument. By extension, Casken has conceived his Broken Consort specifically for the BBC Philharmonic, an orchestra that can boast players who are adept not just on the instruments they use in their day jobs but also on others that are more exotic.

As such, its performance depends on having access not only to a first-rate standard-format orchestra but also to virtuosos on the cimbalom, mandolin, piano accordion and electric violin. The BBC Philharmonic, under Gianandrea Noseda, excelled itself. The tang of the extra instruments sharpened the orchestral colouring rather than obtruding, while sultry filigrees on oboe and clarinet reinforced the evocative central and east European flavour that permeates the music.
Prolonged applause in the middle of the symphony was not altogether inexcusable here, since the first movement had ended with a soft phrase that sounded plausibly final. This is not to say that material in the second movement is redundant, since it develops a new, introspective intensity.

But it did raise the question as to whether the structure might not be more secure if slightly condensed and reconceived in a single span. However, Casken's palette of instrumental timbres was both spicy and sensuous, and the music, even when animation was suspended, had an inner propulsion and energy.

As I have written on here, I was fortunate enough to have attended the performance of the Vaughan Williams 9th symphony now-so very kindly-uploaded :)

At the end of the performance I turned to my friend (the former Manager of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra) and said "now if only that had been recorded!"

Well...now we have a recording in our Archives for posterity :) :)

I cannot thank mjkFendrich enough :) :)

I've posted some additional info and a correction of the Bennett collection..

Karl has also added some insights on Symphony Share that I'll duplicate here.

Patrick Hadley's Lines from 'The Cenci' for soprano and orchestra (1951) was actually broadcast this afternoon, rather than tomorrow (as originally stated in the listings).

 ::)

A copy of this live performance is now in the archive.

 :)

My apologies, but I just cannot find it in downloads.

It's in the Archive (not the downloads on this site), which can be accessed by the Mediafire link on the first page of the British Music Downloads :)

Thank you!  Only 5 minutes?  Is that accurate?

Having heard the broadcast in question, I can confirm that it is indeed just 5 minutes long. A very beautiful 5 minutes, though.  :)

As promised, I have added two new broadcasts to the archive today:

Percy Fletcher - Labour and Love (1913), the first original brass band test piece;

Leopold Stokowski - Symphony (c. 1906-09), a compact (13 minutes) but remarkably accomplished and vividly orchestrated work - curiously reminiscent in places of Franz Schreker's contemporary style.

 :)

The following broadcast is now in the archive:

Henry Walford Davies - Symphony No.2 in G, Op.32 (1911)

 :)

The following broadcast is now in the archive:

Ralph Vaughan Williams - The Solent (1903)

 :)

My eternal gratitude. 

Thanks Albion, much appreciated.

I can no longer find Havergal Brian's The Tigers in the archive. Has it been made commercially available?
I am esp. interested in the version wich MVS uploaded last year because it contained the BBC announcements.

I haven't checked the archive to see if the links have disappeared.  There is a planned release of this performance on CD, but I can't find that it has been released yet.  I'll certainly knock them off of here when it comes out - or before, if needed.

Here are the links anyway:

 http://www.mediafire.com/download/9m3hhh7bub68me0/The_Tigers_Act_1.zip (http://www.mediafire.com/download/9m3hhh7bub68me0/The_Tigers_Act_1.zip)

http://www.mediafire.com/download/zrcm1nmv5dj2yz2/The_Tigers_Act_2.zip (http://www.mediafire.com/download/zrcm1nmv5dj2yz2/The_Tigers_Act_2.zip)

http://www.mediafire.com/download/7x0gaeaw0b9z160/The_Tigers_Act_3.zip (http://www.mediafire.com/download/7x0gaeaw0b9z160/The_Tigers_Act_3.zip)

Thank you very much! I always appreciate those BBC introductions, esp. of older days. I don't think they will include them when releasing the recording...  ;)

At the risk of again making myself seem unreasonably stupid, I must confess that I cannot find the archive where Vaughan Williams' The Solent can be found. I looked in the alphabetical index, the downloads section and the archive from the Unsung Composers site. Could someone point me in the right direction? Thanks in advance - and thanks for the recording, as well!

Don't worry. It always takes me two or three times to find the damn thing!
Took me a half-hour today!  :o

It seemed straightforward to me, go to the music part of the catalogue, go to the V section and its there! The Walford Davies is under D, Davies, Henry Walford.

John, you bring me happiness once again! Thank you so much.

You're more than welcome, of course, Jamie. I'd like to know what you think of the Walford Davies Symphony. It strikes me as the sort of work which requires a good few hearings before it begins to fall into shape: from the sombre opening to the final peroration, it's a kaleidoscope of moods and colours. Suffice to say that I have really enjoyed having the opportunity to hear it and that it makes me very eager to hear more of his larger-scale works (orchestral and choral).

 :)

Just on my second listening now. Yes, there are certainly some beautiful sounds in it: as for how it works as a whole, it'll take time to get that. I really enjoyed 'Everyman', which is about all I have heard, along with that Violin Sonata, which is pretty good too. Hoping more will be recorded in time.

In fact, three of his violin sonatas have been recorded:
http://www.em-records.com/discs/emr-cd001-details.html (http://www.em-records.com/discs/emr-cd001-details.html)
http://www.em-records.com/discs/emr-cd006-details.html (http://www.em-records.com/discs/emr-cd006-details.html)
http://www.duttonvocalionmp3.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CDLX7219 (http://www.duttonvocalionmp3.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CDLX7219)
There is also a Dutton CD with chamber music for cello and organ:
http://www.duttonvocalionmp3.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CDLX7108 (http://www.duttonvocalionmp3.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CDLX7108)

Thank you for that information: I shall investigate further. The sonata I have is the Dutton one.

Not sure if I should mention it ;D ,but some interesting posts about the Walford Davies Symphony at the Unsung Composers forum. So much trouble to get the symphony performed,and some enthusiasm,presumably,at first. Doubts set in,I presume?! The pity is that I have seen allot of positive,even enthusiastic responses,on various sites. Now,because Yates decides he isn't too keen on it,the music lovers who might enjoy a cd,can't have it!! Is there anyone else who could record it? Or do Dutton agree?
Of course,as Dundonnell would point out,it's about money as well!

As to me! I haven't heard it yet. I will download it later. Maybe I'll find myself agreeing with the conductor?! :( ;D

Not impressed with the Walford Davies at all, yet.  First impression, often wrong, was long-winded, boring and weak thematic material.  Especially in relation to "The Solent".

Yes, there it is: the theme we all know from the Ninth Symphony, now leading into quite a different landscape. Delighted to be able to hear it, many thanks!

I have recorded some items of interest from an enterprising concert given at St John's, Smith Square on 9th May this year by the European Youth Orchestra conducted by Laurent Pillot:

Charles Villiers Stanford - Shamus O’Brien (1896): Overture and My heart is in thrall to Kitty’s beauty (tenor)

Ina Boyle - The Wild Geese, sketch for small orchestra (1942)

William Wallace - The Amber Witch (1860-61): My long hair is braided (soprano) and Haughty maid, my passion scorning! (baritone)

Charles Villiers Stanford - Much Ado About Nothing: Tell me, who told you so? (duet, soprano and baritone)

These are all excellent performances and I will make them available as mp3s through the archive shortly.

 :)

Not to pile on, but these were my own reactions almost exactly as well (note to Tapiola: a second listening
simply reinforced them).  No doubt Davies made an honest and even laborious effort here, and the result
meaningful and significant in his own mind at least (being an occasional writer myself yet to achieve any
generally recognized renown, I do like to say that :)), - but commercial CD or not, and except possibly for like-minded Brits who can share in its parochialism, this is a work for the archive and likely to be of historical interest only IMO. 

Third listen: Better but symphonic thinking was not Walford's strong point.
Mildly enjoyable though.
The RVW sounds better and better though. A budding genius.

Honestly, having heard his long winded violin sonata (on Dutton), neither were the more intimate formats.

Based on what we have available of Walford Davies' output (Symphony no. 2, Everyman, Violin Sonata), I'm far from convinced that he was a major talent. To put it quite bluntly, I find his music rather boring-there's just nothing that really grabs my attention. I'm not giving up hope that there may be works of greater merit in his output (the smaller orchestral works, perhaps?), but I'm not getting my hopes up either. Whatever the case, I'm grateful to have the opportunity to hear some of his music.

To whoever uploaded Vaughan Williams's "The Solent", thank you so much!  That music is so absolutely gorgeous and unmistakably RVW.  I hope the rest of the suite exists somewhere but the misty hills/coast are so vividly described and all his fingerprints are there.  I adore the little touches too such as the brief oboe line at 9:16 - evocative, elegant, majestic all at once and I must hear more!!  It's also hard to imagine a more sensitively interpreted performance.   Does anyone have the details of this recording?

According to the information in the British and Irish Music Archive Catalogue the RVW is from a performance on 24 May of this year by the BBC Concert Orchestra under Martin Yates :)

Having been away from AMF for over a month I have a huge backlog of music to download but this was one of the first pieces I caught up on......and what a delight indeed :)
How absolutely marvellous that this comparatively early VW(he was 31 when it was written ;D) can now be heard at last.

I may not be a Delius fan ;D ;D but I absolutely adore Vaughan Williams. Even in his pastoral, tranquil vein-as in this work-I hear a nobility of expression which gives me goosebumps of delight :)

What I really like about 'The Solent' is that it sounds really like VW, despite its early date. It's the best of these earlier pieces we've been hearing, I think, along with the Serenade in A minor.

I'm really enjoying the Walford Davies now, though, especially the first movement, which has a feel of "Solemn Melody" writ large to it.

It really does grow with repeated hearings, like so many unfamiliar works. Unfortunately, for many listeners 'first impressions' are paramount and many such pieces are written-off without proper acquaintance.

 ::)

Innumerable works have only received a single (unrecorded) performance in their entire history - what sort of basis for appreciation is that? At least broadcasts such as this have been and will be preserved, whether or not a particular listener feels drawn to the music or not.

 8)


As Colin advised, please download the updated catalogue - all contributors are listed with a coding system, the key to which is given on the final page.

 :)

This is somewhat targeted at my post about Walford Davies, no doubt ;D :-[ I admit I was a tad harsh on old Walford. Due to others' enthusiasm, I shall go back and re-listen to the symphony. I'll try to refrain from negative "first-impression" posts in the future!

Why?  Just revise or add to them if another listen substantially alters your perspective.     

The whole value and enjoyment of the discussions here, it seems to me, is the back and
forth of immediate "on the wing" impressions and reactions rather than long simmering
and carefully crafted definitive judgements.  Why is everyone so worried about giving
offense or being even ever-so-slightly intemperate?  A bit of theatre is a very good thing,
and whatever you say will all likely be forgotten by tomorrow in any case :).

               
                       
                           

Yes, I agree that first impressions are certainly valid and should be most definitely be shared, but sometimes getting a better appreciation of a work often requires the legwork of time and patience (things which are often hard to summon up) - what I find is that it takes my addled brain considerably more than one or two listens to even begin to lodge a substantial unfamiliar work such as a symphony in my head, until I eventually reach the point when I more-or-less know what is coming up next. Then I know whether or not I like it enough to return to it in the future.

Debate and comments on AMF should not be stifled, as they sometimes were on UC. A site about music, especially obscure music, without criticisms and 'theatre' would simply be a sterile place which nobody would enjoy visiting. I'm undoubtedly biased towards finding value in C19-mid C20 British music because that's the area that interests me the most: as former members of UC will know I'm not remotely interested in whether something is a great work or (dreaded term) a 'masterpiece', but am enormously grateful for the opportunity to explore and/ or hear anything by neglected composers of this period.

 :)

What was that you wrote recently about "manifestos" ??? ??? ;D ;D

Tit for tat :-*.

I'm learning from a master.

Greg, you have the distinction of being the very first member to use the kissing emoticon, I believe ;D

From the opening EMF concert (24th May 2013) -

Gustav Holst - A Winter Idyll (1897), the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates.

The pioneering Lyrita recording conducted by David Atherton imposes cuts made by Colin Matthews, but this is the uncut version of the score as also performed by JoAnn Falletta and the Ulster Orchestra on their splendid Naxos disc.

 :)

Many thanks, Maris, for Matthews' A Vision of the Sea :)

Indeed, thank you!! 

Listening with huge enjoyment to David Matthews's new work "A Vision of the Sea"(many thanks to Maris for the recording :) with its mixture of Debussy, Britten and RVW, I read the extracts from the reviews in the British newspapers on his publisher's (Faber) website:

http://www.fabermusic.com/news/story/bbc-proms-reviews-of-david-matthewss-a-vision-of-the-sea.aspx?ComposerId=455 (http://www.fabermusic.com/news/story/bbc-proms-reviews-of-david-matthewss-a-vision-of-the-sea.aspx?ComposerId=455)

.....and THEN this:

http://5against4.com/2013/07/17/proms-2013-david-matthews-a-vision-of-the-sea-world-premiere/ (http://5against4.com/2013/07/17/proms-2013-david-matthews-a-vision-of-the-sea-world-premiere/)

The author is himself a composer(Simon Cummings). Read what he says, listen to the work and judge for yourselves ::) ::) >:(

Cummings couldn't write anything that fine on a million pound bet.
Jealousy.

First impressions can be very useful, probably as long as they are not toxic enough to inhibit someone else from listening to the music.
And it seems fair that they should be taken with a grain of salt, as there may be an error in early judgement.
Some of my first impressions were so terribly misguided they later proved to be an embarressment.
Surprisingly, they have generally been advocating music I thought everyone would embrace.
(Cuclin(ouch) comes to mind.)

But after I have wasted hours on a composer that critics say I should like, I might go negative..
But this is certainly NOT based on first impressions. I have really tried to "get it".
(examples withheld to avoid controversy)

I went to the performance and thoroughly enjoyed it: best thing I've heard from Matthews in years - evocative, atmospheric, a real sense of narrative drive, and a marvellous payoff at the end. Echoes of RVW, Britten and Debussy notwithstanding, Matthews is (and always has been) his own man, and there's nothing fake about his music.

Don't set any store by Cummings' dismissal - he operates from an entirely different (dare I say opposite) end of the spectrum, being as he is of the Birtwistle / Ferneyhough / James Dillon persuasion............ (I thought he was wildly off-target, but that's just my opinion! ;D)

David Matthews isn't really my kind of music (nor, i suppose, is Simon Cummings, though they've both surprised me before) but i had a listen anyway. I was kind of expecting it to be... less like Debussy? The thing about Debussy's style (La Mer, incidentally, is 110 years old this year) is that it has aged rather poorly in many respects. The vast broadening of the harmonic palette has made its passionate dissonances less intense, its mysterious moments less arresting, simply because our ears have been attuned by contemporary music both popular and serious to hear triads and seventh chords as comfortable, pleasing consonances. Lines of parallel triads that were once unsettling are now merely pretty. Only in one or two short sections near the climax does Matthews actually broaden his harmonic language to reflect this new reality—most of the time he sticks pretty close to the Impressionists.

Of course, despite most of the effect of his music now being lost, we still listen to Debussy (and Wagner and Beethoven and Mozart and etc) for reasons other than the music being safe and comfortable to our ears; all reasons that David Matthews doesn't gain much profit from. His piece is well orchestrated for the most part, but Debussy's music tends to sound and lie better, particularly in tuttis. There are plenty of melodic ideas and arresting passages that stick long in the memory in a Debussy piece, but only a few in Matthews's. Debussy's music is also better put together structurally, more coherent, and less melodramatic. Matthews's piece on the other hand is more or less the kind of thing a contemporary British composer is expected to supply when commissioned to write a piece for the Proms (one could say the Proms pieces fall on a sort of compositional spectrum with Matthews at one end and Birtwistle at the other).

I didn't like it or hate it, i just found it rather mediocre. Can't comment on resemblance or non-resemblance to John Williams, whose music i have never knowingly heard a note of.

i should note that (a) 5:4 is actually rather nonpartisan as far as blogs go, and Cummings has written rather positively about "conservative" composers like Huw Watkins, Arvo Pärt, Thomas Adès and Magnus Lindberg; (b) the Proms "spectrum" is only a small portion of the new-music continuum, and if we're putting people in corners of that continuum Cummings's electroacoustic music properly belongs in the one with Eliane Radigue/Vanessa Rossetto/Beatriz Ferreyra/John Wall etc, a fair distance out from the corner with Richard Barrett/Aaron Cassidy/James Dillon/Chaya Czernowin etc, with the Wandelweiser group being a "neutral zone" between the two... and so on and so forth. I don't imagine any of those kinds of music find much favour around here though ;)

Obviously I agree with Paulp and disagree with dyn that the piece is "mediocre".

However I admire and respect dyn's very detailed musical analysis. I have no such capacity or knowledge to bring to a piece of music....regretably. All I can do or have ever been able to do is to react and respond to a work on an exclusively personal and visceral basis. My musical tastes are entirely my own with no claim to superiority over those of any other listener.

To be crude(and banal)..."I know what I like" and "I know it when I hear it".

Were I a young man starting out on a voyage of exploration into so-called "classical music" my tastes might turn out differently and be more adventurous. I am no longer young however(at least according to my birth certificate ;D). I grew up back in the 1950s and 1960s on a diet of Sibelius, Wagner, Vaughan Williams, Holst, Nielsen, Brahms, Richard Strauss and early Mahler. I "discovered" composers like Shostakovich slightly later. The music of composers from Brahms onwards, through my beloved Anton Bruckner, still holds the greatest possible appeal to me. What I love in orchestral music is grandeur, splendour and a beauty of utterance unclouded by an excess of sugar sentimentality or nostalgic angst-which is why composers like Rachmaninov, Scriabin or Delius have so much less appeal to me(Tchaikovsky just stays the right side of the fence for me ;D).

For the last twenty years or so I have searched and-very fortunately-found SO many other composers(mainly 20th century) who wrote in the broadly tonal idiom which I admire: British American and Scandinavian composers in particular. I shall go on searching these people out and trying to persuade others-NOT that these composers are "better" but that they are worth listening to. And if some other listeners come to love these composers' music too then that gives me enormous satisfaction.

I know little of David Mathews, but am eager to hear the symphonies posted here.
I think he is heralded by some as one of UK's great living composers but my expectations are low. I dislike saying this, but I have the impression that the best days for the UK are behind and many unheralded treasures from the past may lay lie dormant or stillborn. That is obvious from what I have heard here on this forum.
Most of what I am hearing these days on BBC seems uninspired and elitist and I listen to it less and less. Other stations are much more fertile grounds for me.
A thread of living UK composers might be helpful, as some of my favorite composers were from the UK. (Were..William Mathias and Vaughn Williams to name just 2.) My knowledge of the current UK musical scene is also limited, as my interest has waned.)
I hope someone will challenge or at least temper this, I am open to objective criticism to be guided to more promising music.
 

Best days over? Hardly.
A shortlist...
Cecilia McDowall, Ian Venables, Matthew Taylor, Lionel Sainsbury, Christopher Wright, Elis Pehkonen, Ronald Corp, John McCabe, Gordon Crosse, John Metcalf, Roxanna Panufnik.
Fine composers all. Just off the top of my head.

I agree with your list but would like to add John Pickard whose discs on BIS are excellent, engaging, and very well recorded.  Also love Arthur Butterworth's dutton series. 

Maybe we all have our favourites and when they don't appear one time are disappointed. Someone else recently suggested that Dutton were only concentrating on late nineteenth and early twentieth century composers, whereas now it looks like they are doing a lot for contemporary. I'm personally hoping for lots more Brian, Bush and Holbrooke, as well as A. Butterworth and David Matthews. Delighted the 7th is finally appearing! I wouldn't write Dutton off yet!

I expected the controversial post would draw some response and it is much welcomed to point me in a more positive direction.
There are no composers in the list whose music I find particulaly distasteful. I did say my knowledge is limited, and will trust your lead and positive thinking.
I wonder how they stack up against Vaughan-Williams, Finzi, Mathias, Alwyn, Arnold, Bax, Britten, Simpson, Cooke, Holst, Delius, Walton,
Elgar, Fricker, Rubbra, Holbrooke and so many other unnamed wonderful English composers.
  
I know McCabe is quite established and I have endured Edward the II Ballet(presumeably not a stellar example of his work.)
"Red Leaves" on the other hand, is an incredibly unique enchanting work, unlike anything I have ever heard before.
The symphonies I have heard were not memorable at first blush (perhaps my fault) and need to review them.
Knowing his best would help.
It should be no surprise that the other composers are unknown to me and I will listen to whatever I can find.
Thanks for the suggestions.

I don't lay claim to being especially more competent as a critic than anyone else. Like you (and most people, i suppose) i know what i like when i hear it; i suppose it's just that my musical education allows me to better put in words why i like something. I don't mean to fault your or anyone's enjoyment of that piece—in fact, i would be surprised if you did not like it. David Matthews is roughly the same age as you, from more or less the same cultural/social background and probably with an appreciation of many of the same composers if his music is anything to go by. As well, the 50s and 60s were a time when music was highly politicised and one had to "take sides" in one's choice of favourite composers. Today's avant-garde is influenced by the avant-garde of the 60s, composers like Boulez and Stockhausen and Cage, who dismissed and tried to marginalise most of the music you like. It therefore has the double fault of not sounding attractive and being associated with aesthetic principles opposed to your own (of course nowadays it's perfectly acceptable for an avant-garde composer to love Bruckner and Sibelius and Elgar, it's the people like David Matthews you're not supposed to admit to liking >.> (and actually i have been quite impressed with some of his symphonies and the three orchestral works on the BBC/Rumon Gamba CD, i just felt this piece was less interesting (it's possible that i overuse brackets :<)))

As for living British composers of orchestral music upholding traditional values of craft... i'll admit this isn't exactly my area of expertise. On the very "hard" end of things, slightly harder than Karl Amadeus Hartmann and slightly less hard than Birtwistle, is Hugh Wood's Symphony Op. 21, a piece i was fairly impressed with at a time when i was not really that interested in avant-garde music. It is serial to start out with but gradually works towards a big A major conclusion. On the "easier" side of things, for those few who haven't yet been exposed to it, Thomas Adès's Tevot is a big impressive Brucknerian piece which also, for some reason, ends in A major (although, while the critics apparently can't get enough of it, i've found Adès's style to pall very quickly). Somewhere in the middle there's an NMC disc with a song cycle, orchestral and chamber music by Luke Bedford which i listen to on occasions. i would describe it as mostly accessible (though this is always subjective) and quite weird (ditto). Robin Holloway's Third Concerto for Orchestra actually proves its composer wrong that tonal music can't be written anymore without reference to music of the past ;) and is also on NMC. The second movement (a big chaconne) is probably the most memorable. There are probably others who aren't coming to mind right now. (Those looking for more in the idiom of Vaughan Williams/Finzi/etc will be disappointed, for the same reason there aren't any more composers working in the idiom of Brahms or Mozart or Palestrina. Different times, different philosophies. The idea of orchestral grandeur, excitement and passion, however, endures.)

I will of course continue to encourage sufficiently open-minded listeners to try Michael Finnissy, Richard Barrett, Benedict Mason, Simon Holt, Marc Yeats and others who are among my favourite living British composers all around, but you could also, well, not. Doesn't bother me. ;)

Recent Proms uploads:

Thomas Adès - Totentanz (2013)
Granville Bantock - Sapphic Poem (1906) and Hamabdil (1919)

 :)

Does anyone have any recordings of music by Gordon McPherson and Gerald Barry? These are two composers I've taken a recent liking to.

McCabe, excepted, these composers seem to be in short supply, but see broadcasts for this fine piece.

McDowall,Cecilia - Great Hills Concertino (2007)

I notice that a number of British music uploads over the last few months have not been copied into the British and Irish Music Archive nor copied into the Catalogue of the Archive-the Addison Trumpet Concerto, the recent uploads of music by David and by Colin Matthews, to instance a few.

Is this deliberate or an oversight ???

Neither! I've been busy with other projects recently, but will get round to incorporating these very welcome additions ...

 :)

The last thing I wanted to do was hassle you, John (and I would have been better to have pm-ed you....sorry!).

I too have been very busy with another massive project and have just started on cataloguing a backlog of about four months of downloads when I noticed that there were a number of British music additions going back to the considerable number of Richard Rodney Bennett works added by Jowcol in April which did not appear in the Catalogue.

No problem, Colin - it should be sorted now with the exception of the Tavener file which is enormous: I'll tackle this next!

 :)

Forgive me....I cannot remember ???

Did we finally decide that the Richard Rodney Bennett piece which Jowcol uploaded was indeed the Sonnets to Orpheus rather than the Viola Concerto ???

You would think that I could tell the difference between a viola and a cello wouldn't you :-[  but I am still not absolutely certain ::)


....AND I should-of course-have thanked John for responding so quickly to my enquiry :)

I have now converted and uploaded the Tavener broadcast as an mp3 (the original rar is, of course, still available on the downloads board).

 :)

The RRB recording described as the "Viola Concerto" is instead definitely a work for cello (therefore the Sonnets to Orpheus) - there is a lot of exploitation of the instrument's upper register, but there is plenty of bass-clef activity too ...

 ;)

Thanks for the clarification regarding the Bennett ;D ;D

I'm not that up on current UK composers, but there is a great source
for the Proms as a source here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/fiveagainstfour/videos

Many thanks for the YT link :)

My pleasure!! There seems to be a dearth of music available for some of these UK composers other than the Proms.
And Thea Musgraves - Loch Ness Monster??Who knew that such a thing even existed..(and I don't mean the Monster).

Where are these located? I spent quite a bit of time trying to find them with no success.

Go to British and Irish Music on the Downloads board (only available to signed-in members). The very first post in that thread contains my archive and catalogue - if you are accessing the archive for the first time, please read the introductory information carefully.

 :)

Thank you!

I have added another Proms premiere to the Archive today -

John McCabe - Joybox (2013)

a recording from the 25th July concert.

 :)

Also uploaded today is -

Edward Cowie - Earth Music 1: The Great Barrier Reef (2013)

a recording from the 5th August Proms concert.

 :)

Uploaded to the archive today -

Granville Bantock - Celtic Symphony (1940), BBC SO conducted by Sakari Oramo

I shall be at the Proms next week from Tuesday to Friday (Billy Budd, Brahms VC, Petrushka, Bruckner 7, Bantock's The Witch of Atlas, Also sprach Zarathustra) and will upload the Bantock when I get back.

 :)

The Celtic Symphony is such a gorgeous piece :)

I presume all six harps Bantock stipulated were used ???

Sad to read the usual negative and,at best ::),luke warm responses to this beautiful piece of music in the online newspaper reviews I have been able to read (at least,so far!). But what did I expect? I shouldn't read them should I,Dundonnell?! :(

I have told you before to steer well clear of the professional critics who write for the newspapers ::) ;D ;D

Added to the archive:

Bantock - The Witch of Atlas (1902)

LPO/ Vladimir Jurowski (30/8/2013)

This is a large wav file. When I get my own computer up and running, I can provide a manageable mp3.

 :)

Hello,

I'm looking for Derek Bourgeois Symphony No. 3 if anyone has it.  He said it was broadcast in 1992 by the BBC Concert Orchestra so I was hoping maybe someone has it.  Thanks.

The following off-air recordings have been kindly donated to the archive by Elroel -

John Luke Rose (b.1933) - Symphony No.1, The Mystic (1973); Violin Concerto (1975)

I have added broadcast dates to the catalogue.

Many thanks.

 :)

Indeed...Many Thanks to Roelef :)

It is not everyday now that we get a new British symphony for download :)

Don't forget to listen to the Violin Concrto. Think you like it!

This was wonderful music.  Thank you for uploading and introducing me to a name I hadn't heard of before.

Does anyone know anything about the composer ???

There appears to be very little on the net about him.

The true definition of an unsung composer.  For some reason, his music really speaks to me.  I loved his violin concerto as well with the quotes from Stravinsky Rite of Spring.  Very impressive music.  The most I could find is from British Music Information Center:
http://www.soundandmusic.org/thecollection/resources/thecollection/browse/composer/12577

but I need to hear more!

Added to the archive -

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) - The Song of Hiawatha (1898-1900), as performed at the the Three Choirs Festival 2013.


 :)

I am going to attempt to upload a performance of Geoffrey Bush's Symphony No.1(1954) conducted by Nicholas Braithwaite found on You Tube and clearly taken from a radio broadcast. This is not easy since I have to download it from You Tube and then upload the file.

Watch this space ;D

Go to British Music Archive(page 1 of British Music Downloads thread). Go to "The Music", go to Composers beginning with "R", scroll down and both are there for download :)

Wonderful!  Many thanks to Elroel and Albion.

I heard a tantalising snatch of the Violin Concerto whilst waiting for a train on a Sunday afternoon in 1987 and have been hoping to hear the full work ever since.

The version on Youtube sounds very much like the Lyrita recording with Nicholas Braithwaite which has a bit of tape hiss at the start.  :-\

And which is on CD ::) I shall remove the link asap.

I have added a (more or less) complete recording of The Lily of Killarney (1862) by Julius Benedict (1804-1885) to the archive. This is a 1968 studio broadcast conducted and narrated by Stanford Robinson. Full cast details can be found in the catalogue.

 :)

Oh John, that is magnificent! I had a copy of this years ago on tape (copied from a library LP), but it vanished sometime in my moving countries, and I have been searching fruitlessly for it since. The extracts already on here were welcomed greatly, but this is just fantastic. Thank you yet again.

How wonderful to get another version of the William Mathias Violin Concerto, courtesy of PJ.

Many thanks indeed....and nice to see that it was performed again so recently :)

More Music of Richard Rodney Bennett
(https://static-secure.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Admin/BkFill/Default_image_group/2011/7/21/1311244100988/Richard-Rodney-Bennett--006.jpg)

From the collection of Karl Miller

Sources are from broadcasts and private collections.  To my knowledge, none of these performances have ever been commericially released in digital format.


You can access each of the three volumes below in the downloads section.




More Music of Richard Rodney Bennett Vol. 1
Intro
Viola Concerto (1973)
Roger Best, Viola
Northern Sinfonia/David Atherton
Out
Intro
Sonnets to Orpheus
Heinrich Schiff, cello
Halle Orchestra/James Loughran
[79/80 season]
Violin Concerto
Ralph Holmes, viola
City of Birmingham SO/Louis Fremaux
Outro

Intro
Party Piece for Piano and Orchestra
Michael Overbury, piano
Surrey County Youth Orchestra/Ernest Mongor
Five Pieces for Orchestra
BBC Northern Orchestra/George Herst
Out
Intro
Three Nocturnes for Chamber Orchestra
BBC?/Meredith Davies?
Out

More Music of Richard Rodney Bennett Vol. 2
Intro
Symphony No.3
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/Edward Downes
[21 November 1987] First performance
Intro
Zodiac
Royal Philharmonic/Antal Dorati

Interview with Joel Biddle rec 27 October 1971
Clarinet Concerto
Jerry Kirkbride, clarinet
University of Arizona Orchestra/Leonard Pearlman
(US Premiere)


More Music of Richard Rodney Bennett Vol 3 [/size]

Isadora
Royal Opera House Covent Garden/Barry Wadsworth
[23 February 1982]-television broadcast-Incomplete

Many thanks to both of you for the downloads of more Bennett :)

I had already uploaded on here both the Violin Concerto and the Sonnets to Orpheus in the same performances-but Karl's recordings are very probably better than mine. The Viola and Clarinet Concertos and the other shorter works are entirely new to me.

Jowcol:

The first three files labelled "Clarinet Concerto I-III" are in fact the continuations of the interview with Bennett. The files labelled "Clarinet Concerto IV-V" actually contain the Clarinet Concerto in two parts.

Never heard Bennett's 3rd symphony!
So, thanks to Carl (for his collection) en jowcol for bringing it to us.

I have added Elisabeth Lutyen's "Music for Orchestra IV" for chamber orchestra, op.152(1981), courtesy of northern.

There is a spoken introduction by Anthony Payne but I am not sure of the identity of the orchestra(perhaps John can help?)

This is the first piece by Lutyens to have become available here. There is no point in me pretending that Lutyens the serialist is to my taste because she isn't :( However she was an important British composer and another composer now almost completely neglected. It is therefore valuable to have an example of her work in our Archive.

Many thanks to northern and Colin for another addition to the British archives. I have figured out the following facts: first, according to various sources this piece also has a subtitle, which is "Gone Like a Sea-Covered Stone". Then, I think I managed to find out the performers. At the very beginning, the announcer says that we are going to hear "the first performance of her [= Lutyens', of course] last orchestral work". Now, if this is true, a quick Google search provides the information that the piece was premiered by the City of London Sinfonia with Richard Hickox conducting. So I think these must be the performers of our recording.

Thanks to northern and Dundonnell I have been able to add Iain Hamilton's Symphony No.4 to the archive. I have tracked down the performance details as follows and will add them to the catalogue in due course: this was a broadcast of the premiere at Usher Hall, Edinburgh

Scottish National O/ Alexander Gibson (1/1983, br. 21/7/1983)

 :)

I will get round to adding the recent Lutyens and Bennett items at some point soon ...

This is indeed the premiere, given and broadcast on 15th December 1983.

 :)

The addition of Iain Hamilton's Fourth Symphony is a tremendously important addition to our British Archive :) I had never dreamed that I would hear the work and I strongly suggest to those who will think that later Hamilton is not for them to give the work a listen!

To put this addition in context:

There are complete cycles of the symphonies of a very considerable number of British composers: Stanford(Chandos and Naxos), Parry(Chandos), Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Bax(Chandos and Naxos), Rubbra(Chandos), Walton, Lennox Berkeley(Chandos), Tippett, Alwyn(Lyrita, Chandos and Naxos), Rawsthorne(Lyrita and Naxos), Frankel(CPO), George Lloyd(Albany), Searle(CPO), Bernard Stevens(Meridian), Arnell(Dutton), Arnold(Chandos and Naxos), Simpson(Hyperion), Leighton(Chandos) and Mathias(Nimbus), for example.

A few other British composers's symphonies are separately available from different companies-Rutland Boughton, Cecil Armstrong Gibbs and David Matthews, for example.

But there are a number of others who still lack complete cycles on cd.

In our British Archive on this site we have or can complete the symphonic cycles of Havergal Brian, Cyril Rootham, York Bowen, Alan Bush, Robin Orr, Daniel Jones, Peter Racine Fricker and Richard Rodney Bennett.

In terms of 20th century British composers what do we still lack ???

Arnold Cooke's Symphonies Nos. 2 and 6
(William Wordsworth's Symphony No.6....which has never been performed)
(Stanley Bate's Symphony No.2....probably never performed)
Ian Hamilton's Symphony No.1 "Cyrano de Bergerac"
Arthur Butterworth's Symphonies Nos. 6 and 7
Alun Hoddinott's very early Symphony No.1
John McCabe's Symphony No.6 "Symphony on a Pavane"

Apologies if I have missed other symphonies by significant British composers......but this is an amazing achievement in gathering together on one site-through the enormous generosity of so many kind people-a collection which is without parallel anywhere else.

Oh...yes, I have missed Joseph Holbrooke. Apologies for that :-[

I didn't mean to send you all on an investigation as to the source of the Lutyens. It was part of a tribute broadcast shortly afrer her death, in which several of her pupils/associates gave a spoken  introduction to several of her works including Nox,for solo piano and two chamber orchestras Op.118, O saisons, o chateau(already recorded)Op,13,Concert Aria-Diagolo, Op.142 and Chorale for Orchestra Op.36, (and maybe also 'and suddenly its evening' (i'll check)). The programme concluded with the first perfomance (I think) of Anthony Payne's 'Spring's Shining Wake'.They can all be made available and the programme stuck back together in the correct order!!!

I also have Reginald Smith Brindle's Symphonic Variations (1957) Via Crucis for strings and Creation Epic (the latter of poor audible quality and in two parts which needs to be stuck back!). Each work has a spoken introduction, and the performeres are clearly stated to be the (then) BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ondaline de la Martinez. I've no idea when it was broadcast. Then I have RSBs Guitar Concerto ready to upload, and an undigitized tape of other vocal works with a work for two guitars 'Omnis Terra'  and Music for String Quartet. This tape is marked 12 and 14th December 1987.Taken as a whole they strongly follow the woks referred to in David Wright's article, but I'm afraid I do not have the Second Symphony - Veni Creator.

re Lutyens:Yes, you were right. Introduced on another part of the programme as City of London Sinfonia conducted by Richard Hickox.

Music of Arnold Cooke

(http://www.musicweb-international.com/cooke/index.2.jpg)

From the collection of Karl Miller.

Check the download section for the link.

Recorder Concertino (1957)
Philip Rogers, recorder
BBC Midland Orchestra/Leo Wurmser

Oboe Concerto (1955)
Leon Goossens, oboe
Reginald Jacques Orchestra/Reginald Jacques


Wikipedia Bio:
He was born at Gomersal, West Yorkshire into a family of carpet manufacturers. He was educated at Repton School and at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, where he read History, but he was already attracted to a career in music. In 1929, having taken a second degree in Music, he studied composition and piano at the Berlin Academy for Music under Paul Hindemith. He later became Musical Director of the Festival Theatre at Cambridge, and in 1933 was appointed a professor at the Royal Manchester College of Music (now merged into the Royal Northern College of Music). He moved to London in 1937.

In the 1930s Cooke carved out a reputation for himself as a promising young composer, and his music was taken up by leading interpreters. The harpist Maria Korchinska introduced his Harp Quintet in 1932; Sir Henry Wood conducted his Concert Overture No.1 at the 1934 Promenade Concerts. The Griller Quartet premiered his First String Quartet in 1935. In 1936 Havergal Brian singled out for praise a cantata, Holderneth, on a text by the American poet Edward Sweeney, which Cooke later withdrew. Louis Kentner and the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult premiered his Piano Concerto in 1943,[1] which he had completed just before his call-up in 1941.

In the Second World War, he served in the Royal Navy, first in the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious and subsequently as a liaison officer in a Norwegian escort vessel and a Dutch tug that took part in the D-Day Landings. After demobilization he returned to London in 1946, becoming a founder member of the Composers' Guild of Great Britain, and from 1947 until his retirement in 1978 he was Professor of Harmony and Composition at Trinity College of Music in London. In 1948, through the recommendation of E. J. Dent he obtained a doctorate from Cambridge. After a stroke in 1993 he virtually ceased to compose, but survived to the age of 98, dying at Five Oak Green.
Two of his symphonies and other orchestral works were recorded by the Lyrita label, whilst the clarinet quartet and the clarinet concerto were recorded on Hyperion.
Music

As a composer Cooke was highly productive but tended to work in traditional genres. He wrote two operas – Mary Barton (completed 1954) after the novel by Mrs. Gaskell and The Invisible Duke (1976). The ballet Jabez and the Devil (1961) was a commission from the Royal Ballet. He composed six symphonies, several concertos, copious chamber music including a clarinet quintet and five string quartets, many instrumental sonatas, and some important vocal music. His music seems to show the influence of Hindemith almost throughout his career, leavened with a more English sense of lyricism.

Nice to get a recording of the slight but attractive Recorder Concerto and another version of the Oboe Concerto :)

Anything new by Cooke is certainly most welcome!!

Thanks Gauk, for the post of PMD's Symphony No.10

Now listening to the work.

Seconded :)

I am looking that maybe somebody could upload or record the welsh cycle operas by Joseph Holbrooke. I am grateful for excerpts from Bonwen, but maybe somebody have something more ? Please tell, if somebody have these operas in excerpts or whole, or have a news about recording them by any record company.

As far as I am aware there have never been any complete recordings of these operas on 78,Lp,Cd or in broadcast form! To my knowledge,the only way you can hear any of this music is via the Bronwen excerpts,the Marco Polo cd of orchestral music (Dylan prelude,etc) and the Symposium cd of historical recordings made by,and under the supervision of Holbrooke himself. There is also that orchestral bit from Bronwen on the other Marco Polo As to any of these operas being recorded in any form? I would be amazed if there is anything in the pipeline,at all! As far as Holbrooke is concerned the only potential cd release,again as far as I know, is that of the Cpo cd of orchestral music. That doesn't include any music from the operas,as far as I know,and the only person who might know what is happening to that project is Holbrooke champion Gareth Vaughan!
 
Of course kyjo might have some Holbrooke nuggets hidden away for our delectation?!! Under the floorboards,perhaps?!!! ;D

I am amused that I am brought up in every Holbrooke discussion, cilwgyn ;D

No, I do not dislike Holbrooke's music. I sometimes find it to be very enjoyable, in fact! All I'm saying is that I believe there are composers who wrote music of rather greater substance out there that deserve equal attention. That said, I would still like to hear his Second (Apollo and the Seaman) and Third (Ships) Symphonies, which Gareth have strongly advocated.

Just added to the British and Irish Music Archive - a new 'YouTube' folder with symphonies and other orchestral works by Searle, Fricker, Whettam, etc.

 :)

A very considerable task :)   Having downloaded most, although not all of these works already myself from YT, I know how long it took me ::)

Very well done :) :)

I have been listening to Arnold Cooke's (IMHO- wonderful)Hindemithian music again and I think it is the product of a "perfect marriage" of composers(speaking purely rhetorically of course).  The British-Hindemithian style is especially appealing and I love the earlier works of Arnell(esp where Hindemith is a strong influence, Mathis der Maler is hard to escape from in the delightful New Age Overture) http://classical-music-online.net/en/production/35006
And of course, the captivating Variations on a Hindemith Theme by Walton..are there any other such hybrids?
I realize the word "derivative" may apply, and if that is criticism, why should anyone negate the music if the music is great and the origin is openly acknowledged? Yates, please please more COOKE!!

Indeed, Cooke was a composer of great substance. His music is one of the best examples of "neoclassical with heart", per the thread I started. Like you say, it has Hindemithian clarity along with a beautiful, distinctly English lyricism. His music is, overall, more restrained and less "filmic" than Arnell's, and is all the more rewarding for it. The sweeping drama of Arnell's music places it slightly above Cooke's enjoyment-wise, but I believe both were equally talented composers.

Not surprisingly, I completely agree with all that you have both said about Arnold Cooke.

The absence of a complete set of his six symphonies from the catalogues is such a terrible shame. His music would not "frighten the horses" as some of Fricker's might (although not me ;D). If Dutton could invest in an Arnell series then surely Cooke would not be outside their ambit ??? Money, I suppose.....again :(

Such as I've heard of Cooke music fails to impress me as anything much more than the efficient and competent work of a Hindemith epigonus; second-hand Hindemith, which might have been more interesting even as such had it embraced some of Hindemith's more engaging early post-Regerian writing; there's nothing inherently "wrong" with it, of course, but it just doesn't fly off the page - for me, at any rate. Arnell at his best seems to be on a level above Cooke but, even in his case, one never feels all that far from a kind of "substitute-Rachmaninov-for-Hindemith-and-inject-some-more-dramatic-imagination-and-you-have-another-Cooke-in-all-but-name" situation. Each were decent craftsmen, but I cannot detect much real individuality in either.

I am not sure that there was much that might necessarily be described as "individuality" in the music of either Arnold Cooke or Richard Arnell (although Havergal Brian admired Cooke's music).

But then I think that the same probably applies to a number of composers with whose music I feel an attraction and an affinity. Stanley Bate might be described in similar terms in relation to the influence of Vaughan Williams on his music....and then add in some Shostakovich and some Roy Harris or Copland....... Arthur Butterworth's music is very Sibelian.
Is Alan Rawsthorne a composer of real individuality ??? Or what about Daniel Jones, from roughly the same time period ???

Efficient ??? Yes. Competent ??? Yes. Interesting ??? To some...but clearly not all. Engaging ???   The same applies.

More so than Cooke or Arnell, methinks.

I don't know enough of his work to have much idea.

Jones and Rawsthorne have very individual voices, easily recognisable; also Arnell. Cooke's problem is that he sounds more like Hindemith than Hindemith does, and that makes it easy for critics to dismiss him quickly.

Opinions regarding the intrinsic merits of a composer's music will differ between critics and between listeners. There is general agreement about the so-called "great composers"-Stravinsky, Bartok, Sibelius, Shostakovich, Britten etc etc. It is with the "second division" of composers that there is more chance of differences of opinion.

If one takes the group of British composers born between, say, 1900 and 1917 the music of Walton(1902), Tippett(1905) and Briiten(1913) stands out. There is general agreement about their merits as composers, their music is performed in the concert hall (to varying degrees and subject to swings in fashion), it has been much recorded.

Others-Rubbra(1901), Lennox Berkeley(1903), Alwyn(1905), Rawsthorne(1905)-have had some exposure on disc but their music is seldom heard in concert. These composers have had the passionate advocacy of certain British conductors and a number of influential critics and writers.

A further group suffer or have suffered, to different extents, from a lack of exposure and from neglect. In a few cases the music enjoyed a period of exposure through regular broadcast performances. The reason that we have so much Daniel Jones(1912) in our British Archive on this site is that, although Jones turned his back on the London musical scene, he retained a regional "power-base" in Wales. He was the Grand Old Man of Welsh music. The BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra(now the National Orchestra of Wales) regularly broadcast the music. Benjamin Frankel(1906) had the good fortune to be chosen by CPO for one of its famed integral set recording cycles. So too Humphrey Searle(1915)-almost by luck since it was the MD of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra who offered up Searle's name to Burkhard Schmilgun when the latter was looking for a modern British composer to record.
Stanley Bate(1913), George Lloyd(1913) and Richard Arnell(1917) all wrote "romantic music" with appeal, particularly given the "conservative reaction" to ultra-modernism over the past couple of decades. Lloyd and Arnell also benefited from financial support (of different natures) in getting their music recorded by Albany and Dutton respectively.
This has not however led to the music-available though it is on cd-being performed in the concert hall.

The music of Arnold Cooke(1906) or William Wordsworth(1908) is neither "richly romantic" nor "innovatively modern" in sound. (Wordsworth, of course, wrote music which is more Sibelian than did Cooke ;D)

So....there is "a problem". There are not enough influential individuals in positions from which the music of these composers can be given proper advocacy (despite the best efforts of Paul Conway, for example). The conductors who were prepared to programme the music of British composers of that generation have almost all gone. There is no readily available source of finance to pay for recordings of the music. The music may sound-to some-derivative and therefore lacking in appeal. It certainly does not fit neatly into the "neo-romantic" box.

But there are people out there who very much admire the music of these composers. We have one Dutch member of this forum who is a passionate admirer of the music of Arnold Cooke. When one raises the names of these composers with a number of distinguished musicologists the response is often "yes, he wrote some good music, never heard today though, shame really".

Do I anticipate an imminent revival of interest ??? Do I anticipate recording cycles ??? I wish that I could answer in the affirmative.....but it seems unlikely :( Does the music deserve almost total neglect at a time when record companies churn out Mahler cycles ad infiinitum or duplicate endlessly the music of several(no doubt slightly "better") composers whose music happens to fit conveniently into a particular niche of contemporary fashion ??? No. It does not, in my opinion!

In my discussion of Cooke, I asked if anyone was aware of any other Hindemithian hybrid music.
I have no concern that someone else sees Cooke as a second-rate composer. Opinions, regardless of the justification, are only that and no more.
My opinion emains the same.

These days Chandos gives us another Sibelius cycle. ::)   The golden age of Hickox and Handley is over and I fear never to return. Only Dutton, Toccata and Alba remain.
Conductors now are more like Gardner, pretty boys more interested in an international reputation or Davis, so  overbooked they have no time to expand the repertoire.
Even labels like Ondine have pretty much abandoned Finnish music other than the big international names (Saariaho and Lindberg).
I just have retrenched and enjoy the blessings we received in the 80s and 90s. Every month it seemed Dyson, Rubbra, Alwyn, Berkeley, Bridge, Bliss, and that's just Chandos!

Chandos must have a new CEO or board and they are not the brightest bulbs on the tree.
What are your thoughts about CPO's future??

I think that Chandos remains under the same ownership as before-the Managing Director is Ralph Couzens, son of the founder, Brian. It is more that the company has obviously decided to concentrate on more mainstream repertoire, presumably for economic/financial reasons. The light went out when Richard Hickox died. He was the driving force behind the company's exploration of British repertoire. Since then they have used Andrew Davis and Edward Gardner to record repertoire which duplicates recordings already issued by the company in days gone by. They would claim, I suppose, that they are still using Neeme Jarvi to record romantic Scandinavians like Halvorsen, Svendsen and Atterberg and the Swiss Joachim Raff.

I cannot remember when I last bought a Chandos cd :( :(

The days when I regularly bought a minimum of five new cds per month are long gone. Nowadays I struggle to find two-three which interest me. Next month it looks like the Johan Nepomuk David Symphonies Nos. 1 and 6 and the new Timpani Florent Schmitt cd will be all I shall purchase.

Thank God for CPO say I :) I may have joined the criticism of CPO from time to time for the delays in releasing music they have recorded but at least the company still does bring out some interesting stuff. Even they however are now falling back on recording Bruckner ::)  It is ALL about money, I fear :(

Will we ever see any of John Kinsella's music posted here? esp the symphonies.
His music is supposed to be top shelf..

The Symphony No.6 and the Sinfonietta "Pictures from the Odyssey" are both in the British and Irish Music Archive here :)

I am in the process of adding the following mp3s to the British Music YouTube folder -

Bennett - Jazz Calendar (1964)

Fricker - Sinfonia, Three Scenes, Toccata

Hamilton - Symphonic Variations

Hoddinott - Night Music, Organ Concerto

Williamson - Symphonic Variations

 :)

Same here! The last Chandos cds I found worth investing in were their D'indy series. I even used to buy some particularly exciting releases directly from their 'shop'! A few more Chandos points and I could choose a free cd,but the only ones I am interested in are old ones I would prefer to buy from a seller,either new or s/h,for obvious reasons.

Indeed Cpo new releases! A lone light of inspiration amongst all the umpteen Dvorak Ninths,Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique's,Mahler and Bruckner releases. Not that there is anything wrong with those composers. Far from it! I just don't see a need to add to classic performances from the past (some near to our time,some distant!). As someone who enjoys lighter operatic fare and operetta,I have been particularly pleased to see releases of Lortzing's Regina and lesser known operettas by Carl Zeller,Nedbal and Leo Fall in the Cpo release schedules. Which brings me to my next point. Recently,I have collected a number of recordings of operettas on the Cantus Line label which have been sourced from German radio broadcasts made in the Fifties and early to mid Sixties. Some of these are very rare and the sound quality of the predominantly mono recordings made during the Fifties is amazingly good for it's time. I am given to understand that German radio stations used tape technology which was very advanced for the period!
Anyway,that aside;I have also been listening to a 1949 recording of Humperdinck's Der Heirat Wider Willen,also from the Cantus Classics stable;also in surprisingly good sound for the period. I find this obscure effort by Humperdinck allot more satisfying than 'Dornroschen' (Cpo take note!!) That aside;I can't help noticing all the releases of obscure off air material by such labels. Another example is Membran. I wonder why the same can't be done for some of our own music? As our own archives at the AMF forum prove;there is loads of material which could be put out on cd. Is there some reason why German broadcasts (and maybe some Italian operas) seems to enjoy these kind of releases? I do notice that there are allot operas and operettas in their 'lists',but then again there are plenty of rare British operas in the BBC archives;not to mention all those wonderful BBC recordings of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas,all of which could be put on cd for people to enjoy. 
In short,why don't we have any labels like Cantus or Membran in this country? Of course there are labels like Testament and BBC Legends;but most of their releases seem to echo the majors;ie safe and boring!!

Of course,there was the short lived,BBC Radio Classics label! :(

Didn't read this forum for week or so, and missed the Cooke discussion completely. Completely agree with every word you write here.

Thanks again, John :) I have now downloaded a huge number of James Stuart's uploads, most of which are in excellent sound quality :)

I have just noticed that he has posted a fascinating performance of the glorious Edmund Rubbra Symphony No.4 conducted by Malcolm Arnold no less! Arnold was, of course, a superb conductor of his own music, but I had never dreamed of hearing him conduct Rubbra-a very different composer in idiom to Arnold. I don't happen to think that it is in fact a very good performance :( but that is (almost) beside the point.

I have the Sinfonietta, but not the Symphony 6 and not sure how that happened..
Thanks for the tip, the 6th is supposed to be his best, is it not?
(Wishing there were more)

Many thanks to Karl Miller and jowcol for the opportunity to hear some of the music of Stanley Wilson (1899-1953) - two movements from the Carnegie award-winning Skye Symphony (1927), the Concerto for Violin and Viola (1935) and the Cello Concerto (1936). With nothing by Wilson commercially recorded, these vintage broadcasts are invaluable. The files are in the archive as well as on the downloads board.

 :)

Has anybody yet noticed that Mr Stuart has uploaded Ian Hamilton's first symphony, which I don't think is otherwise available in the archive?  I would have downloaded it and shared it here myself but, technophobe that I am, my RealDownloader has stopped working and I can't get it going again...

Uploading now - this is turning out to be a fabulous resource: whoever James Stuart might be, enthusiasts for twentieth century British music (including film) are greatly in his debt.

 :)

I am (almost) speechless with admiration for James Stuart's unbelievably comprehensive set of radio recordings of the very British Music I particularly love :) :) The flow just keeps on going with treasure after treasure being provided on a daily basis. Iain Hamilton's Symphony No.1-I never expected to hear that one (that's all the Hamilton symphonies available now ;D)-the Daniel Jones Overture "Orpheus and Bacchus", Alun Hoddinott's "Fioriture", Kenneth Leighton's Burlesque,  John Kinsella's Essay for Orchestra are all new to our collection.

I wonder if-by any chance-he has the Arnold Cooke Symphonies Nos. 2 and 6 ??? ;D

I have commented on James Stuart's posts on You Tube and I have also sent him a message in which I both commended this site to him and offered to share some of my own collection with him. He has not yet responded however.

It's a shame the sound quality on the Hamilton 1 is so poor, but all the same - what a collection! What a resource!

It IS a poor recording......but I doubt if there is any alternative around. John will probably be able to identify the year of the broadcast but it must date from the time Colin Davis was Assistant Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra(1957-60).

Just added to the YouTube mp3 folder -

John Joubert - Violin Concerto, Op.13 (1954)

 :)

There is a recording of the Piano Concerto-in pretty dreadful sound- on You Tube from another poster.

And yet they say Dutton has run out of great vintage British musicto record?? What a joke.

Hear, Hear ;D ;D

All the mp3 files converted from Youtube flash videos have now been moved into the main alphabetical archive for easier searching. The catalogue will be updated to incorporate them at some future point, but in the meantime performance details can be found by searching James Stuart's collection at

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfFPCgr45pH_pzslan4EriQ (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfFPCgr45pH_pzslan4EriQ)

The mp3 files from this source are characterised by the use of square brackets surrounding a performer summary.

 :)

That is simply incredible..thanks!!

All part of the service!

 ;)

I will shortly be adding -

Kinsella - Symphony No.1, Symphony No.2 and Violin Concerto No.2

Hamilton - Alexandrian Sequence

Hoddinott - Dragon Fire and Landscapes

 :)

Thank you so much..I will be waiting with "baited" breath, esp for the Kinsella and Hamilton

BTW: has anyone ever asked for the catalogue to be re copied in notepad or text...the lengthy Adobe PDF fines are becoming almost inaccessable.

I'll look into this and see what I can do ...

 :)

Just added as mp3s-

Jones - Sinfonietta No.1

Josephs - Concerto for Light Orchestra and Ants, Comedy Overture

Kelly - Irish Dances

 :)

Thanks..
I know PDF is not editable and that's the advantage..but maybe a write protected text or notepad copy will also suffice.


If not, we will endure..

We had the Anthony Hedges Symphony No.1-but in a poorer recording(which came from me ;D). The same applies to the Hoddinott Concerto Grosso No.1. "Lizard" is new however :) So too the Josephs Clarinet Concerto.

Thanks Colin for mentioning the better recording of Hedges and Hoddinott.
If you hadn't, I wouldn't have tried to download the ones.

and...

thank you John, for all the posts you gave us lately. Especially for the Kinsella and the Joubert!

John, is the James Stuart/You Tube version of the Daniel Jones Violin Concerto the same performance as the one we already had ???

If I recall, our original version was a (perfectly good ;D) recording which I had made but I think that I wrongly identified the orchestra as the BBC Symphony rather than the BBC Welsh Symphony. The announcer does say that "the performance is coming from Cardiff".

The odd thing though is that my recording seems to last for 17.13 minutes and the YT performance for 16.51 minutes.

A lot of hard work, John........for which we are, as ever, very much in your debt :)

Duly completed.

 ;)

That is wonderful news..I think it should be much more user-friendly for the members!!Thanks!!

Iain Hamilton: Symphony No. 1 "Cyrano de Bergerac" Op. 3
(http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Lib-BIG/Hamilton-Iain-01.jpg)

From the collection of Karl Miller
Symphony No. 1 "Cyrano de Bergerac" Op. 3
BBC Scottish SO/Colin Davis



Description of 1st Symphony by Paul Convay at Musicweb-international.com
The First Symphony was first performed by Trevor Harvey and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in December 1952. Like the following three examples in the genre it is essentially a tonal work, though adventurous in its use of harmony and orchestral colour. It shares with the Variations for Strings a vitality and energy which is coupled in the first movement by a Walton-like jazziness. The slow movement has a hushed, otherworldly quality which is recalled in his last symphony of 1981. Rubbra-like alternating chords and a Baxian section for harp and cor anglais suggest Ian Hamilton was at least aware of his fellow British symphonists. The third movement is part Finale, part scherzo and has a mercurial wit, skittish at times, perhaps reflecting the Symphony's subtitle: 'Cyrano de Bergarac'. It was played by Colin Davis in Switzerland in 1953 but the work has since been neglected, at least in comparison with the Second Symphony: it does not deserve this fate and a modern recording could win it new friends.

From Bach-cantatas.com:
Iain Hamilton (Composer, Arranger)

Born: June 6, 1922 - Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Died: July 21, 2000 - London, England, UK.

The remarkable Scottish composer, Iain (Ellis) Hamilton, was taken to London at the age of 7, and attended Mill Hill School. After graduation, he became an apprentice engineer, and remained in that profession for the next seven years. In his free time he undertook the study of music. He was 25 years old when he decidedly turned to music. He won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied piano with Harold Craxton and composition with William Alwyn. Concurrently he studied at the University of London, earning the Bachelor of Music degree in 1950. He made astonishing progress as a composer, and upon graduation from the Royal Academy of Music received the prestigious Dove Prize (1950). Other awards included the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize for his Clarinet Concerto (1951), the Koussevitzky Foundation Award for his 2nd Symphony (1951), the Edwin Evans Prize (1951), the Arnold Bax Gold Medal (1957), and the Vaughan Williams Award (1974).

From 1951 to 1960 Iain Hamilton was a lecturer at MorIey College in London. He he also lectured at the University of London from 1952 to 1960. Long important in British musical circles, his influence also extended to the USA, where he lived (based in New York) for 20 years (1961 to 1981). From 1961 to 1978 he served as Mary Duke Biddle Professor of Music at Duke University in Durham, N.C., where he was chairman of its music department (1966-1967). He also was composer-in-residence at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, Massachusetts (summer, 1962). In 1970 he received an honorary D.Mus. from the University of Glasgow.

In 1981 Iain Hamilton returned to London, where he lived until his death. In April, 2002, the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation unveiled a bas-relief commemorating the composer in the Music Department at Duke University.

In addition to composing, he was a teacher, organizer of contemporary music concerts, chairman of the Composers’ Guild, and served on panels and committees for such organizations as the Music Advisory Panel of the BBC.

Music

An important figure in music on both sides of the Atlantic, Iain Hamilton was a composer of both stage and concert works, whose music has been praised for the "brilliance of its orchestral textures…uninhibited lyricism" (Anna Karenina - Opera) and "a vast terrain of color, movement, expression and invention" (Voyage - Horn and Chamber Orchestra). These quotes are typical of the critical commentaries on his music, which constantly refer to the color, texture, variety, lyricism and craftsmanship.

Iain Hamilton's style of composition is marked by terse melodic lines animated by a vibrant rhythmic pulse, creating the impression of kinetic lyricism; his harmonies are built on a set of peculiarly euphonious dissonances, which repose on emphatic tonal centers. For several years he pursued a sui generis serial method, but soon abandoned it in favor of a free modern manner; in his operas, he makes use of thematic chords depicting specific dramatic situations.

Iain Hamilton’s extensive catalogue comprises works in all genres, including orchestral, chamber, vocal, solo, and also opera, the category for which he was arguably best known. He wrote 12 operas, including The Catiline Conspiracy, Anna Karenina, and The Royal Hunt of the Sun. They received performances (and also revivals, in several cases) by such companies as Scottish Opera, English National Opera, and the BBC. The Catiline Conspiracy was hailed as "a masterpiece" in The Scotsman headline after its 1974 premiere in Stirling, the Glasgow Herald noting in addition that "there could hardly have been a member of [the] audience who was not reminded of Watergate." Anna Karenina, premiered by English National Opera in 1978, was first performed in North America in 1982 by the Los Angeles Opera Theater. Raleigh’s Dream was commissioned for the North Carolina British-American Festival at Duke University in 1983, where it was premiered at the celebrations for the tercentenary of the founding of Raleigh’s colony in 1584.

In the concert hall, Iain Hamilton’s works have been performed by many of the leading British orchestras and ensembles; among his compositions from his final years are The Transit of Jupiter (first performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Jerzy Maksymiuk in 1995), and Bulgaria: Invocation/Evocation for Orchestra. In the USA, commissions included those of the Eastman School of Music for Piano Sonata No. 3 and the Library of Congress for Hyperion for chamber ensemble. In 1996, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra premiered the 1993 Piano Quintet with performances in Pearl River and New York City. His last works include The Wild Garden (5 pieces for Clarinet and Piano) and London: A Kaleidoscope for Piano and Orchestra, written in 2000.

Jowcol, many thanks for Hamilton's Symphony No.1: I have added it to the archive, replacing the Youtube version. Also, the new text-format catalogue is now going to be in the main archive rather than having it's own url.

 :)

the new catalogue format is really a godsend...especially being in the same site location at the end of the composer list.
And the ability to search the text file in a variety of ways is so simple a child(me) can do it!
Perhaps if renamed aaacatalogue, it would sort to the front. Some members may not have scrolled down to see it.
again...thanks

Cross-post:

I have just uploaded five mp3 excerpts from Malcolm Williamson's 1963 ballet The Display. These are taken from Youtube flash videos of a vintage televised performance by the Australian ballet. In lieu of the 1988 BBC radio broadcast of the complete work, this is at least a chance to hear some of the score.

 :)

Elizabeth Lutyens -
I've been listening to Lutyens music and now thinking I will not be devoting any more time trying to acquire a taste for it, especially when so much other music is avaible. My preference is Orchestral music.
Should I move on, or have others found some value in it??

I am sure that there is merit in Lutyens's music. She was highly respected and admired by many of her contemporaries, if not by the general public.

It is however too complex for me and makes absolutely no appeal to my own personal aesthetic. My loss no doubt........

Unusual for me not to be able to find some enjoyment in a guitar concerto, but fear Mr. Brindle managed it !

I don't think that this article was referenced at the time when jowcol posted the Stanley Wilson pieces last month. It is worth reading for more information about Wilson.

http://www.kith.org/jimmosk/barnett.html (http://www.kith.org/jimmosk/barnett.html)

Thanks for the feeedback..we gave it a try, didn't we??
Respect from musicians and support from influential critics does not necessarily translate into music everyone will be able to enjoy. It reminds me of abstract art in a way, because not everyone can percieve what the critics and fellow artists do.

You mention Brott...besides being a conductor,he is also a fine canadian composer

I have uploaded the following mp3s converted from Youtube flash videos -

Peter Racine Fricker - Viola Concerto; Rondeaux for Horn and Orchestra; The Vision of Judgment
Alexander Goehr - Deux Etudes for Orchestra
Robin Holloway - Scenes from Antwerp

 :)

Who would ever have thought that we would have not one but two performances of "The Vision of Judgment" in our Archive ??? :)

I came to the conclusion that her music was well crafted but not for me after attending the premiere of Rondel (Rattle and the Liverpool Phil, 1978). She gave a talk beforehand in the small upstairs bar - and used the terms cow-pat music and folksy-wolksy when speaking of her contemporaries (my sacred cows, pun intended). However, only in recent years did I learn that she scored films. Hammer Horror were some of hers, but I wouldn't want to call her music well-suited for that reason; I'm not a fan of the sillier examples of that genre. But watch Paranoiac on youtube and note how the music draws you in to the psychological drama. It is strangely moving in its brooding portent. Also what came as a surprise was the Lyrita CD issued in 2007, 'Box of Delights' - I would have never guessed that she had composed lighter tonal music as well for a living, but sure enough as you can hear in the suite 'En Voyage'.

In what archive is the Joubert Piano Concerto located?

After some remedial work, I have at last been able to add not one, but two broadcasts of Malcolm Williamson's monumental Mass of Christ the King (1970-78) to the archive - the premiere of the complete score under Charles Groves (1978) and the splendid performance at the Perth (Scotland) Festival (1981) under John Currie. Full performance details are in the catalogue.

Here is the structure of the score:

PART ONE:

Introductory Rite

1. Hymnus Primus [Hymn I] - Andante
2. Introitus [Introit] - Andante moderato
3. Kyrie - Andante largo
4. Gloria - Allegro giocoso

Liturgy of the Word

5. Psalmus Responsorius [Responsorial Psalm] - Moderato
6. Alleluia - Allegro vivo
7. Credo - Allegro con moto

PART TWO:

Liturgy of the Eucharist

8. Hymnus Secundus [Hymn II] - Andante allegretto
9. Offertorium - Poco adagio
10. Sanctus - Andante lento
11. Benedictus - Andante lento

Rite of Communion

12. Pater Noster [The Lord's Prayer] - Largo ma non troppo
13. Agnus Dei - Andantino
14. Psalmus Communionis [Communion Psalm] - Maestoso

Concluding Rite

15. lte Missa Est [The Dismissal] - Allegro
16. Hymnus Tertius [Hymn III] - Adagio molto


I have organised the files into the two main subdivisions of the work.

 :)

Superb, John :)

Oh this is a treasure indeed! Once again, a thousand thanks, John

Those who enjoyed Adrian Williams' Cello Concerto and Dies Irae might like to try his String Quartet No.4 available complete from his website

http://www.adrianwilliamsmusic.com/

There are also excerpts from other works of his. Alas very little seems to be available commercially.

I downloaded both pieces but I am afraid I found them unappealing :(

Thank you Gauk! Much appreciated! I am glad I need not have to record it myself.

However, you may want to check the Jones link: the URL is the same as the Mathias concerto.

Oops! Thanks for pointing that out, I fixed it now. Evidently the "copy link" didn't copy properly.

These items are now in the archive.

 :)

Just posting a thank you to Albion and to anyone else involved in the Cyril Scott and Rutland Boughton files.  I've been having a Scott and Boughton festival this evening and am in awe.  It's amazing to finally hear at least some sections from THE ALCHEMIST.  I used to have a tape of the BELLE DAME SANS MERCI broadcast but hearing it again cements my sense that it is one of this composer's most solid, satisfying achievements.  I'm still too stupefied by the scale of ALCHEMIST to comment coherently, but my sense was that it was not entirely successful--still, some of the most brilliant pages I've ever heard from him.  I was surprised at how strongly he incorporated what I think of as elements of Theosophical teaching into the libretto.

There are still Boughton treasures to download but I've played the magnificent chorus honoring Necessity from ALKESTIS several times this evening.  Such stirring, stunning music.  And so few have ever had the opportunity to hear it.  One can only imagine what the complete opera must be like.

I am new here and am probably violating list protocol by actually discussing the download content, but again, my hat (if I were wearing one) is off to those who have made this beautiful, masterful (superlative superlative superlative) music that makes my heart SING available to us!

Best, Steve

I have only just listened to 'Verdun', as I rather wrongly assumed that an orchestral arrangement of a movement of an organ sonata would be not that exciting, but how wrong I was! Well, it's much longer anyway, isn't it? 17 minutes instead of 7, so it obviously contains plenty of new material, and it's a stirring piece. It should be performed at the cenotaph or something!

Hi, Steve. You're more than welcome - hope you have fun exploring the archive!

 :)

Stanford's substantial orchestral score A Song of Agincourt, Op.168 (1918) is now in the archive and the catalogue has been updated.

 :)

Excellent! I have been spoiled for Stanford lately. This is a magnificent score! Thank you once again, John.

Cannot find he Stanford or Joubert's Piano Concerto.
Can anyone point me to the right links? :-\

Maris,

I'm very pleased you oploaded Giles Swaynes Chinese Whispers.
I planned to download it earlier, but forgot to do so.

So thank yo uvery much

Roelof

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this question and if not I will cheerfully accept appropriate correction, but I have been listening to Samuel Sebastian Wesley's Symphony in C of ca.1834 as downloaded from the British And Irish music archive herein, a bit more than 11 minutes of unbroken music, all told.  But to my admittedly crude and untutored ear it sounds more like an opening movement from a longer multi-movement work than a self-contained symphony.  Can anybody better informed than I am tell me (a) am I right, or were British composers actually composing single movement symphonies in the 1830s, and (b) if by some chance I am right, is there an extant performance of the complete work somewhere?

Many thanks!

Brian

Hi Brian. Yes, unusually for the period it is a single-movement symphony (or sinfonia) and was for a long time wrongly attributed to the elder Samuel Wesley (1766-1837).

 :)

Many thanks, Albion!  Since posting my question I also discovered at least one online source that suggests the existing single movement may have been intended as the first movement of a projected multi-movement symphony.  Be that as it may, I have the answer I was looking for, namely that the single movement available in the archive is indeed the symphony as it exists.

Brian

The following works by Joseph Holbrooke (1878-1958) are now in the archive:

Violin Concerto, The Grasshopper, Op.59 (1909, rev. 1916, 1928)

Auld Lang Syne Variations, Op.60 (1904, rev. c.1918)

and will remain there until the CPO CD release (also to include The Raven, Op.25)

 :)

Music of Robin Orr
(http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com/files/jpg/robin_orr.jpg)

From the collection  of Karl Miller



Symphony in One Movement (No. 1- 1963)
Scottish National Orchestra
Alexander Gibson, conductor
EMI ASD 2279

Symphony No. 2 (1970)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Seeman, conductor
Usher Hall, Edinburgh
[May 10 1971]

Symphony No. 3 (1978)
BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra
Norman del Mar, Conductor
Llandaff Cathedral
[14 June 1978]

Notes: 
Description of Symphony 1 by Tony Haywood:
The Robin Orr Symphony is also in a single movement, and also reminiscent of Sibelius, though the Sibelius of nature. It is the shortest of the three, and is a tightly controlled, concisely argued work. The melodic material does not have as much sheer personality as Sibelius, but is an attractive, well-orchestrated piece. Bird-like woodwind cries, horn calls and flashes of trumpet fanfare intersperse the rather sombre, brooding material (originally conceived as incidental music for a Cambridge production of Sophocles’ Oedipus). The Symphony was originally championed by Norman del Mar and the BBC Scottish Orchestra and notched up a number of performances.



Biography from:
http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com (http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com)


Robin Orr was born in Scotland in 1909 where he lived until he was 25. After studying at the Royal College of Music, at Cambridge University (Organ Scholar at Pembroke College) and with Casella (in Italy) and Nadia Boulanger (in France), he moved to Cambridge, where he has spent most of his professional life. He was Organist and Director of Music at St John's College from 1938 to 1951, interrupted by war service in the RAFVR. From 1947 to 1956 he held a University Lectureship and was also a professor at the RCM. The next nine years were spent in Glasgow where he was the first full-time Professor of Music at the University and became the first Chairman of Scottish Opera, an appointment he held for 15 years. He was Professor of Music at Cambridge from 1965 to 1976 (now Emeritus). During that time he made himself responsible for the new Music Faculty buildings, including raising the necessary funds for a first-class concert hall. For many years he was a Trustee of the Carl Rosa Opera and was a director of Welsh National Opera from 1977 to 1982. He is a Mus. D. of Cambridge, an Honorary Fellow of St John's and Pembroke Colleges, Hon. Mus. D. of Glasgow and LLD of Dundee, and was made CBE in 1972. Since retirement from academic work, he spent much time with his wife in her native Switzerland. He was given Swiss nationality in 1995 and became a member of the Association Suisse des Musiciens in 1997.

Robin Orr's compositions include three commissioned operas: Full Circle (by Scottish Television for Scottish Opera in 1967, followed by four other separate productions); Hermiston (by Scottish Opera for the Edinburgh Festival in 1975); and On the Razzle (by the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 1988). He has also written three symphonies that attracted the devoted support of Sir Alexander Gibson and Norman del Mar. The first, In One Movement, has been performed at the Edinburgh International Festival, the London BBC Proms and more than 60 other events worldwide; it was also recorded by HMV. The third, commissioned for the Llandaff Festival in 1978, was taken up in Scotland and had an English première in Cambridge conducted by Stephen Cleobury. The Sinfonietta Helvetica (BBC commission) was premièred in Glasgow (1991), recognising the 700th anniversary of the founding of the Swiss Confederation. Orr has written several works for voice and strings: From the Book of Philip Sparrow (Janet Baker with the SNO 1969 and ECO, 1971) and Journeys and Places (the University of Glasgow, 1971) performed in Cambridge in 1984 by Sally Burgess and the Endellion String Quartet with Chi-Chi-Nwanoku. The Endellion (with tenor and oboe) performed Four Romantic Songs (commissioned by Peter Pears in 1949).

Chamber and church music are an important part of his creative work. Songs of Zion (on texts from four of the Psalms) was commissioned for the St Asaph Festival in 1978 and first performed by Stephen Wilkinson with the BBC Northern Singers. It was performed at the Zurich June Festival in 1986 and subsequently recorded for Nimbus by George Guest and St John's College Choir. There have been a number of performances in Switzerland of the Rhapsody for Strings (1956), most notably by the Zurcher Kammerorchester and the Camerata Bern; the Rhapsody has also been performed many times in Britain, by the ECO, SNO and the City of London Sinfonia. In 1998 Robin's autobiography Musical Chairs was published by Thames Publishing. His latest work is a commission from the BBC for a piece to precede the Monteverdi Vespers, with the BBC Singers under Stephen Cleobury, premièred in Kings College Chapel on 6th August, 1999 and recorded as part of the Sounding the Millennium.

The complete Daniel Jones massive Oratorio "St. Peter" !! :) :) :)

Thank you, thank you, Holger :)

My incomplete version can now be binned. Not in my wildest dreams etc etc etc......... ;D

Thanks to northern for the additions of the Priaulx Rainier Violin Concerto and the William Sweeney "Sunset Song".

Good to hear the late Sir Alexander Gibson with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra from the late 80s-albeit in a piece I find somewhat anonymous.

The Rainier Violin Concerto is, I am afraid, beyond me. I know that a number of performers and conductors found her music very difficult and I can understand why.

However-and this is important-without uploads of this kind we are unlikely to get the opportunity to exercise our judgment and such judgments will differ from one listener to another.

Just to draw attention to the need to update the Catalogue to reflect jowcol's addition of a second recording of the

Robin Orr Symphony No.2: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Christopher Seaman (May 10 1971)

and the need to delete the recording of

John McCabe Symphony No.1 "Elegy": London Philharmonic Orchestra/John Snashall

which has recently been re-released on a Naxos cd

Many thanks to calyptorhynchus for David Matthews' Symphony No.8. I am just now getting a chance to listen to it and find it most enjoyable. Good job on both the recording and the sound.

Indeed!  A marvelous symphony.  Thank you again calyptorhynchus!

Thanks Colin and calyptorhynchus.

I have added the Orr and Matthews Symphonies files to the archive, deleted the McCabe file and updated the catalogue to reflect these changes.

 :)

Many thanks for the addition of the Reizenstein Concerto for String Orchestra-at 24 minutes a substantial piece :)

I am, by the way, well aware of my lack of consistency in placing composers invariably in the country of their birth. I have treated both Hans Gal and Ego Wellesz as Austrian composers "in exile" but have decided that Reizenstein has become British by adoption. My only excuse is that both Egon Wellesz and Hans Gal were established figures in Austrian and German music in 1938 when they fled to the UK. Wellesz was 53 and Gal 48. Reizenstein on the other hand emigrated to the UK in 1934 at the age of 23 and made his entire career in Great Britain.

The Reizenstein Concerto for  Strings has been added to the archive and catalogue.

 :)

Where does Seiber fit best?

Seiber left Hungary in 1933 aged 28, settled in Britain and took British citizenship. All of his orchestral music was written after he came to the UK. Therefore-by my own self-decided criterion-Seiber is British :)  Nimbus clearly disagree since their recent release of three pieces for cello and orchestra, including Seiber's 'Tre pezzi', is under the heading of "Hungarian Concertos".

I agree. British.  Hungarian Communists made him unwelcome at home anyway.

Seconded.

 ;)

Yes, I'm happy to welcome anyone, Handel, Wellesz, Reizenstein, and also, conversely people who left like Delius and Pearson. Especially Delius, who made it amply clear where home was in the First World War.

Bliss - Morning Heroes
Sir Andrew Davis conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Sam West, Orator
Broadcast by the BBC from the Barbican 15 May 2015.
Single wav file, available from Dropbox.
There are rumours of a proposed Chandos recording; until then,this was a fine performance, with a very well-judged contribution from Sam West; slightly hindered by the Barbican acoustic, which hopefullly any commercial recording would overcome?

I am really grateful of the upload by calyptorhynchus of the beautiful work by Butterworth, but is it possible a better quality? I am not asking for a FLAC or other lossless format, but near 100 kb/s is a very poor one. Thanks a lot!!

I'm not much of a technical buff, I use a program called Piezo to record the streaming audio at the 256kb/s setting (highest). The quality of the audio stream seems very variable, sometimes the recording is normal in volume, other times it seems very quiet, so I have to turn my iPod all the way up to hear it at a good volume. Sometimes I put the MP3 into Audacity and boost the volume (I did this with the Matthews Symphony 8). Would that help with the Butterworth?

Advice pls.

But that's exactly the reason for so many forced exiles from Central Europe, including Ukraine and the Baltics, to stick to their original nationality and national culture - up to the present day. Nobody doubts Béla Bartók's nationality, though he was forced into exile in the USA and though he himself abhorred nationalism in the narrow sense and remained loyal the peoples and cultures of a wider region.

Eduard Tubin, forced to flee from Estonia in 1944, lived the better part of his life in Sweden, but we have every reason to consider him an Estonian composer. Something similar applies to a couple of Latvian composers who settled in Canada (Tālivaldis Ķeniņš was only 25 when he left Latvia).

In other words: forced exile doesn't produce new nationalities that easy, but tends to stress the original nationality and attachment to national cultures more than migration by choice.

The age of the composer and in the integration into the new culture are also crucial.  Seiber was quite young when he arrived in England, accepted citizenship and was totally integrated into English culture and in training English composers.
Plus, the composer is what he says he is.
Korngold is another matter for some reason.  He is, was and will always be Austro-Bohemian. Bartok never accepted America and longed for Hungary.  Tubin, I am not as familiar with.
Karkoff is a good comparison to Seiber do you think?

My apologies if I have missed the discussion (I have been busy with other interests recently) but has the Erik Chisholm Violin Concerto been broadcast yet and/or is anyone in a position to share it if it has?

The Chisholm concerto has been broadcast while I have been abroad, but I have
recorded it using the 'listen again' option in lower sound quality. If no one other
from this forum has recorded it, I will happily post it.

Just added to the forum, two short pieces by Patrick Hadley:

Kinder Scout, broadcast 15 Jan 2013

and

Mariana, broadcast 22 June 15

Thanks to northern and BrianA for the Wilfred Josephs recordings: these are now in the archive and the catalogue has been updated. Details of these works (not necessarily in the performances cited) are given below -

Piano Concerto No.1, Op.48 (2 January - 20 October 1965)
2.2.2.2 - 4.3.3.1 - 2 perc - harp - strings
First performance: 5 March 1967, Odeon, Swiss Cottage, London (Camden Festival).
Yonty Solomon, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Charles Groves
Commissioned by Henrietta and Samuel Wiabay
Dedication: 'For my parents-in-law Henrietta & Samuel Wisbey'
Weinberger
c.27'30"

Symphony No.4, Op. 72 (17 January 1967 - 24 April 1970)
3.3.3.3 - 4.3.3.1 - 4 perc - cal - harp -baritone and alto soli (wordless) - strings
First performance: 26 May 1983, BBC, Maida Vale Studio 1, London.
BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Brian Wright. With Ameral Gunson (mezzo) Jonathan Roberts (baritone)
Dedication: 'à mon ami at mâitre Max Deutsch' (incorporates Polemic, Op.56)
Novello
c.38'

Piano Concerto No.2, Op.77 (24 March - 3 July 1977)
1(= picc).O.2(II = bcl)2 - 2.0.0.0 - 1 perc -strings (6.4.3.3.1 minimum)
First performance: 19 May 1972, Town Hall, Dudley, England.
Jana Frenklova, Orchestra da Camera conducted by Kenneth Page
Commissioned by West Midland Arts Association for the Dudley National Piano Competition 1971
Dedication: 'For my friend & teacher Alfred Nieman'
Novello
c.25'

 :)

I posted a query regarding the recording of the Wilfred Josephs Symphony No.1 held in our Archive on this site in a thread entitled "Wilfred Josephs and his Symphonies".

Did you see that query, John ???

The 1920s was a very long time ago - longer, indeed, than most people can remember - so, since the composer has been called Vaughan Williams for generations, why depart from that. "Dr." he was indeed, but then so were many other composers but you'd not refer to them as "Dr." followed by their surname, would you? I've not noticed you doing so in any other case.

But thank you for posting.

It's interesting that an English symphonic tradition that begane to develop with Elgar's first symphony just before this one and then his second just after it seemed rather to falter just after Vaughan Williams's third and, in the 1920s that you mention, the only major English composer who kept it going was arguably Bax (yes, I know that Brian's first was written in the 1920s but it was not heard then) - then in the 1930s, there was a clutch of new English symphonies with the beginnings of Elgar's third, the early ones of Lloyd and Rubbra, Walton's first, &c. and it continued for decades thereafter.

The 1929 edition of "Who's Who" (which I happen to have to hand) includes RVW's entry-which like all entries in that annual publication was and is written by the individual himself or herself. Under "Williams, Ralph Vaughan" it reads "see Vaughan Williams". Clearly RVW wished to be known as "Vaughan Williams" as his proper surname. Regardless therefore of how some others at some distant point in time may have referred to him I think that we should respect his wishes.........just as we respect the wishes of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies to be known as "Maxwell Davies" rather than 'Davies'.

Indeed. I suppose that there may be a few people who might still refer to him as "Sir Peter" (much to his amusement - opr possibly bemusement - or maybe even both!), but since most people think of him as "Max" and his website is in any case "maxopus", so let's leave it at that; as I mentioned, I know of no other istances of anyone referring to a well known British composer as "Dr. ×", irrespective of whether said composer holds a doctorate, honorary or otherwise.

All that said, the Sea Symphony is an ambitious conception and a remarkable "first symphony" from any composer; not the finest of his nine, perhaps, but without question a major English symphony from the days of Elgar's first two - i.e. the years immediately before WWI.

Thomas Arne was referred to as "Dr Arne" throughout his lifetime. Hardly a modern instance, I grant you :)

And then there's
(http://www.45cat.com/image/293/thumb/dr-feelgood-shes-a-windup-ariola-t.jpg)

Quite. But I cannot view your next item for some reason...

I think it was quite common up to the early 20th century to refer to composers by their titles while they were alive. And often when they are an active person, rather than the person on the manuscript: CDs often have "Tippett" as the composer but "Sir Michael Tippett" as the conductor, and Sullivan I know asked to be "Sir Arthur Sullivan" as a conductor but "Arthur Sullivan" as a composer. I've certainly seen musical reviews referring to Dr. Elgar, Dr. Smyth and Dr. Vaughan Williams, written when they were contemporary, but "Dr. Arne" does seem to have been longer lasting, even after his death.

Dr Robert Simpson (D Mus Durham) was so-called throughout his life in connection with his writings on music and his work as a BBC Third Programme producer &c, but plain Robert Simpson when his compositions were discussed.

"Bob" to his friends ;D ;D

I cannot seem to find it.  Which archive?

1) Go to the section Downloads (by nationality) / British and Irish Music. Here's a hyperlink you can click on to get there:

http://artmusic.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,506.0.html (http://artmusic.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,506.0.html)

2) In the first post of that section you will see near the top a heading THE ARCHIVE AND CATALOGUE, with another hyperlink just below.

3) Just click on that hyperlink and you will at once see the catalogue on your screen. Finding Albion's fine recording of Butterworth's symphony therein should be straightforward.

Thank you so much!

With news of the imminent Lyrita release of Arnold Cooke's 4th and 5th Symphonies (together with Fricker's The Vision of Judgement and 5th Symphony) the 'temporary' files of the same broadcasts in the archive have been removed and the catalogue has been updated.

 :)

Latvian recently uploaded a substantial number of compositions by Irish composers. Although the Brian Boydell, Seoirse Bodley and A.J. Potter works had previously been uploaded or are on cd the others were certainly new to me.

I suppose that these, relatively short works, would probably fall within the description of "Light Music". Some people-and I am definitely amongst them-can be a bit snooty about Light Music. Listening to Latvian's uploads demonstrates how silly such an attitude actually is. These pieces are indeed beautiful and well worth anybody's time. To pick just one example at random-the Fleischmann Prelude and Dance is absolutely gorgeous in the best RVW/Edmund Rubbra idiom.

Many thanks to Latvian for taking all the trouble to upload so many little treasures :)

I just noticed that the archived recording of the Symphony in G minor, Op. 101 by Julius Benedict has been given "No.2". Can anyone elaborate on this? According to wikipedia it is No.1.
The published score simply says "Symphony", perhaps because it was the first published symphony by Benedict. Is there an earlier one?

You are quite correct, my mistake! The Symphony in the archive, Op.101, is indeed No.1. Benedict's second symphony (in C minor, Op.107, 1873) is unpublished and unrecorded. The audio file title and catalogue have now been amended.

 :)

Albion, please feel free to add my recently uploaded Irish material to the archive as well!

I certainly will when I get some time to admin. Many thanks!

 :)

Hello everyone !
WARNING : in the British and Irish Folder, Ruth Gipps' "Symphony No. 4" (1972) (conducted by John Pritchard) is in four tracks, but the first of these four tracks is not from this symphony, it's the last movement of Peter Racine Fricker's "Symphony No. 3" (1960) conducted by Barry Wordsworth !!!
The 2nd track is the first movement of Gipps' "Symphony No. 4" (Moderato - Allegro molto - Poco meno mosso) ; the 3rd track is the second movement (Adagio) ; and the 4th track includes both the 3rd and 4th movements (Scherzo : Allegretto, and Finale : Andante - Allegro molto).

Corentin Boissier (collectionCB, collectionCB2, collectionCB3 & collectionCB4)

Thank you very much indeed for that invaluable correction!

Thanks! This has been amended and the correct files are now renumbered 1-3.

 :)

I have uploaded today's specially-recorded broadcasts of two overtures by William Sterndale Bennett performed by the BBC SO under James Feddeck:

The May Queen, Op.39, originally Marie du Bois (1842, rev. 1844)

Paradise and the Peri, Op.42 (1862)

 :)

Stokowski Conducts in the USSR


(http://www.stokowski.org/images/goldenski23stokowskif.jpg)
From the collection of Karl Miller



Johann Sebastian Bach: Little Fugue in G Minor (transcribed by Stokowski)
Wagner: Lohengrin Act I, Prelude
Wagner: Tristan and Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod (Transcribed by Stokowski)
Ravel:  Alborada del Gracioso
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 "Pathetique"
Barber: Adagio for Strings

USSR State Radio and TV Large Symphonhy Orchestra
Conducted by Leopold Stokowski
[30 June 1958]


For completely childish reasons, I'd also suggest you check out the classic
Bugs Bunny cartoon where Bugs imitated Leopold to get revenge on an opera
singer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt1V61SPI_w (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt1V61SPI_w)

I have just completed uploading a trio of British cello concertos (Berkeley, ApIvor, and Osborne).  Let the record show, however, that these performances were contributed by member Greg K and that my role was limited to some (very minor) assistance with the actual uploads.  Thanks to Greg, as well as sincere apologies for my slothfulness in actually completing the uploads.

Brian

Thank you both for your contribution although I think you will find that the Lennox Berkeley Dialogue is already in our Archive in the same performance.

The Denis apIvor Cello Concerto is especially welcome. The Nigel Osborne is not for me.....but others will no doubt appreciate it.

Oops!   :-[

Not to worry ;D We have such a wealth of music in that Archive that it is well-nigh impossible to remember everything ;D

Didn't know that either, or I'd have not put you up to it, Brian.

I now recall that it was actually I who provided the original recording of the performance ::) ;D

Before however we go any further......it is always worth checking to see if the "duplicate" recording is actually of better sound quality. I know that some of my recordings of the period leave something to be desired and if your recording is better then I would be more than happy to have mine withdrawn and yours substituted!

Somewhat lackluster as I recall finding the piece, my inclination to make the comparison you suggest is correspondingly weak.

Having recently lamented the paucity of recordings of the music of Colin Matthews it is only appropriate that I thank northern for his upload of "Traces Remain"-an affecting and mpressive piece.

Thanks for posting the download of the performance of the Delius Requiem given in Cardiff on 1 July as part of the anniversary commemoration of the Somme. I attended this concert and reviewed it for MusicWeb International. In the course of that review I commented on the poor balance in the hall, which the broadcast sound has completely rectified. I also mentioned that so far as I could discover this was the first time that the score had been sung in German (at least in the UK), although Delius's full score (admittedly from a German publisher) gives priority to that language. Nobody so far has sought to correct that impression.

I have just uploaded Morfydd Owen's tone poem Morfa Rhuddlan from a 2014 BBC broadcast.
This is a short info from the website:
The Welsh tune Morfa Rhuddlan commemmorates a savage battle between the Welsh and the Saxons in the eighth century.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b047bv1q (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b047bv1q)

Humphrey Searle - The Riverrun

It is not with the voice wished for, but this is the only version I have. Above that, it was not listed in our archives
It is a rather old recording, that I tried to make a little better.

I posted it in the British and Irish Music section

Amazing! I have wanted to hear this work for decades. Thank you so much :)

Always glad, I can be of service to you Colin.
So many info you offered us in past years.

Sincere thanks!

Re: Bayan Northcott, Concerto for Orchestra

Yes, it is Northcott, my mistake

Thank you for Cooke, Mr. Sydney. Slow it was...but it got there in the end !

Not everybody can use ma4.

I uploaded a mp3 version of Cooke's Symphony No.6 in the download pages (British Music)

Walter Thomas Gaze Cooper: a mystery.

In our British Music Archive there are two downloadable pieces identified as Cooper's "Suite, My Grandchildren, Op. 90".  The catalogue, on the other hand, makes no reference a second recording, or even an alternative recording of the same performance.

To my impaired ears and memory these actually seem to be different pieces.  They are different lengths (one seven minutes or so, the other 21).  I suppose they could be the same piece split into two files, but they SOUND like different pieces.  The shorter one is an innocuously pleasant piece in three movements whereas the longer one sounds much weightier and darker and is in one movement, or at least multiple movements played continuously.  Also, each file ends with applause, giving the impression of a complete performance in itself.

So the questions are:

(1)  Is this one piece split into two files?  (For the reasons given above, I don't think so.)

(2)  If not, which is actually the suite entitled "My Grandchildren"?  (My hunch would be the shorter seven minute piece the real "My Grandchildren".  It just sounds more like you'd expect a piece entitled "My Grandchildren to sound   :D.)

(3)  If so, what, in fact, is the longer mystery piece erroneously identified as "My Grandchildren".

A search of the Downloads Discussion folder failed to shed any further light on this subject.

So, any takers?   ;D

Brian

I cannot understand this. Anyone can download a copy of, say, Winamp and use that. There must be dozens of free media players that handle m4a, unless you are running something like Windows 3.1.

I sent a message to the BBC asking the tempo indications of the Sixth Symphony of Arnold Cooke, but I have no reply yet.
At least these are the durations of each movement:
I  8.55
II 11.52
III  4.39
IV  7.15

After waiting more than a month the BBC's response, I wrote to Andrew  Gourlay. Very kindly,he sent me this:

Arnold Cooke (1906-2005)

Symphony No.6 in E flat (1983/4)
   Allegro moderato ma energico 8.55
   Andante 11.52
   Scherzo: Molto Vivace 4.39
   Allegro 7.15
 
BBC PO. Andrew Gourlay, conductor

Thanks to northern for making Sir Peter Maxwell Davies's Overture "St.Francis of Assisi" available to us. It is not perhaps one of Maxwell Davies more immediately accessible later works but it is good to have it.  So much of the later music he composed is not available on cd.

I'd never even heard of it.

Can I refer you to this:

http://artmusic.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,5127.msg25147.html#msg25147 (http://artmusic.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,5127.msg25147.html#msg25147)

Some of the works in this list (which is a year old) have now become available through You Tube or the generosity of members of this site.

Yes, this work is a bit of a tough one - I was expecting something lighter in mood and orchestration, but as a prologue to an earlier conceived opera which never materialised, I suppose we knew what to expect!  'Ebb of Winter' and 'Last Door of Light' have been released on a cd with the previously-recorded Hill Runes and Orkney Wedding with Sunrise, so the gaps are being filled ..... very slowly!

..........and a delightful cd the new Linn one is too :)

Many thanks to northern for uploading the recent broadcast of the Daniel Jones Symphony In memoriam John Fussell.

Lyrita has announced that it is issuing the Jones Symphonies Nos.2,3,5,11 and 12 in the broadcast performances given by the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra under the late (and much lamented) Bryden Thomson. This is, of course, wonderful news for admirers of the composer's music :)

Thomson died in November 1991. Had he lived he would doubtless have recorded the Symphony in memoriam John Fussell (effectively the Thirteenth Symphony). Instead the first performance was given under the baton of Richard Hickox. Now we have this new version.

Given that Lyrita will have Nos. 1-12 on disc it is surely patently obvious that the company should add the last symphony? If Lyrita can agree with the BBC to issue the recording of the Grace Williams Missa Cambrensis a comparable agreement regarding the Jones should be possible.
 
I am reluctant to contact Paul Conway-who is not allowed to talk about future Lyrita plans..........however ;D

Dundonnell,you Daniel Jones cheerleader you!! ;D (I saw that Musicweb Message board reponse).I'm trying to picture you as a cheerleader.....but perhaps not?!! :o ;D
Memo: Keep up the good work!

It hardly needs saying but many thanks again to northern for the new recording of the Daniel Jones Violin Concerto :)  Another performance which Lyrita could add to its Jones collection :)

So nobody wants to take a stab at this?  Nobody at all???

Surely somebody out there knows?  After all, somebody uploaded these files in the first place.  Surely they know, if nobody else does?

Brian

Maybe you could try to find some more info at GC's Society
http://www.kith.org/jimmosk/barnett.html

Already corresponding with them, Elroel.   :-\  But they also seem to be uncertain, at least so far, as to the correct identity of the pieces in question.

Brian

I requested a recording of the Viola Concerto by Sir James Macmillan some time ago so I should now thank northern for providing one!

I shall download on my return to the UK.

Mr. Northern - thanks so much for the MacMillan Trombone C. Doesn't seem to have appeared during my trawls through recent concerts that other sites specialise in.

Beamish PCs - excellent, thanks !

Likewise the Mark Simpson work - was wondering how to get hold of it !

Dillon Stabat Mater - fantastic, thank you. What a piece!

Can I add my very real thanks to that of Alistair for the link for the Robin Holloway Fourth Concerto for Orchestra :)

(Alistair might like to move his comment to here ;D)

It is a magnificent piece and indeed Holloway's magnum opus. The fact that it has not made it to cd is a very sad commentary on the lack of enterprise of the established record labels.

My only regret is that the performance is incomplete :( To perform the work minus one movement seems extraordinary. The reason given is that this was to accommodate the rest of their programme ::) For heaven's sake Movement V-the movement omitted-is only nine minutes long. Did the San Francisco audience have to get home early to bed or something??? Would one miss a chunk out of say, Gurrelieder, to "accommodate" time constraints? Holloway may or may not have approved....but I am not sure I care. He wrote a 75 minute work not one lasting 66 minutes. It has five movements because that was what Holloway composed. If he now choses to cut out the missing movement that is one thing but I am not aware that he has done so.

I find this frustrating. Not as frustrating as having one movement of David Diamond's 11th Symphony on disc but not the rest of the work.........but irksome nevertheless!

Still, I suppose that most is better than none......... :)

You're right it makes no sense at all to omit the 5th movement.  Apart from the obviously bogus rationale given, is there any even conceivable rationale for doing so?

Had no idea of the extent of this work (with or without M'ment 5) - much appreciated, thanks !

You are welcome.  Here is the review of the premiere which explains the missing movement:
http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Big-audio-dynamite-Holloway-a-huge-undertaking-2652122.php

Let's say you go on eBay and plunk down a pile of cash for a beautiful antique credenza. Now the truck rolls up, and the piece turns out to be just as attractive as the pictures suggested, but bigger -- much, much bigger.

Too big, in fact, to fit through your front door.

That was the dilemma facing Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony when they took delivery on composer Robin Holloway's huge, splendiferous new Fourth Concerto for Orchestra. This was the third and by far the most substantial in a series of pieces the Symphony has commissioned from Holloway, and it left Thomas and the orchestra with far more music than they could easily accommodate.

How much more? Well, Thursday's premiere in Davies Symphony Hall ran 65 minutes -- and that's because the orchestra only played five of the work's six movements.

But what music it is! Holloway writes as though all the harmonic fluidity and orchestral virtuosity of Strauss, Mahler, Debussy and Rimsky-Korsakov were at his fingertips -- as no doubt they are -- and he uses those resources to craft a narrative journey that is endlessly compelling and always accessible. 

My commentary: Still frustrating.  I say someone needs to record the entire work.  The second half of the concert was the 45 minute long Brahms Violin Concerto.  This would indeed be a very long concert and I assume the decision to excise a movement came as disappointing to composer and conductor. 

The San Francisco Chronicle review quoted on the website of Holloway's publisher, Boosey and Hawkes, does say that the fifth movement was dropped "reluctantly" to fit into the planned programme, the reviewer expressed the hope that the work would be performed again "soon" and "in full" and Holloway himself on his own website describes the decision to drop the fifth movement as "painful" but "necessary".

Mahler's Ninth is around 82-84 minutes long. Oh dear, that's too long to "fit into the planned programme; let's cut a movement" ::) Tilson Thomas-who, after all, has surely considerable power as Music Director of the SFO, should simply have said to the management "well, the concert will last nine minutes longer".

.......or perhaps the orchestra will only play for a certain specified time and not a minute longer ??? Wouldn't surprise me ::) ::)

I note relm1's comments but I remain unconvinced.

Ok, the work turns out to be longer than expected. So what? Accommodate that fact, don't cut the work, thereby imperilling its musical integrity.

And if I was Holloway I would either remove the movement as superfluous (if it actually is???) or say "no, you can reschedule it for next year and perform it in toto!".

http://www.boosey.com/cr/news/Holloway-reviews-of-Fourth-Concerto-in-San-Francisco/11438&LangID=1 (http://www.boosey.com/cr/news/Holloway-reviews-of-Fourth-Concerto-in-San-Francisco/11438&LangID=1)

Is this sort of thing specified in player contracts?  I'm sure it is in regards to rehearsals, but that actual concert performances would be truncated over such scruples leaves one aghast, - though that's probably the correct explanation.  Playing in a top flight Symphony Orchestra is after all just a job, and no one likes to be late for dinner (ten extra minutes of artistic commitment be damned).

I don't want to make a meal of this but -

the second half of the concert was the Brahms Violin Concerto? What odd programme planning!  But, ok, the Brahms can be played in 38 minutes not 45 (Udagawa on Chandos); so there are 7 of the 9 minutes needed for the full Holloway and if conductors stopped wasting time with the frequent interminable pause before coming onto the podium....

I have inquired to RH of this detail and we shall see if there is further detail but as a composer myself, commissions have demands and if the demands aren't met, there are absolutely concessions met but lets see if he responds and gives his take.  I do believe MTT hated the idea of having to cut 9 minutes but lets hear from someone involved.  Removing the movement certainty doesn't imply it is superfluous but rather impractical given the other constraints.  That is my take at least.  I truly wished MTT could have included it.  But there is a point where having it would overall be detrimental.  I think of it like this.  As a commissioned composer sometimes you envision an instrument that is impractical.  Such as an organ for just a few notes.  Well, the venue doesn't allow that.  So the composer retains the intent but the instrument is omitted from the premiere performance.  The composer should not remove this instrumentation however it is not part of the premiere. 

What exactly are the "constraints" and "detriment" you allude to (even if only in a speculative way)?  Could you be more clear?  Fine if we eventually "hear from someone involved", but let's discuss the possibilities while we wait for that.  You apparently have some knowledge and experience of what can occur in these circumstances.  Why not share more precisely the thing(s) you have in mind?

Well, what I meant is that in music school we were told if you have only 20 minutes to work with the orchestra and wrote a piece that would require 30 minutes to properly execute it, you failed in meeting the constraints you had.  The result is subpar or incomplete performance which does not reflect well on your intention or the quality of your work.  That is the detriment.  Perhaps the schedule would not allow all the music to be properly rehearsed so jettisoning a movement would be preferential than a disastrous complete performance.   That was what I was speculating on. 

Holloway himself seems to indicate on his website that the "commission" (?) from Michael Tilson Thomas was for "half a concert", then whittled down to "half an hour". In rehearsal the work clocked in "at an hour and a half". In fact Holloway's publishers time the work at 75 minutes, ie an hour and a quarter!

Now....you are not telling me that an examination of the score does not rapidly convey the difference between a work lasting 30 minutes and one lasting 90 minutes ??? ::) Surely it does not need a full rehearsal to expose that very, very substantial difference ???

The (very sad) bottom line is that the performance of the work in San Francisco was in February 2007. (Apparently there were three performances, according to Holloway's own website!). That is ten years ago!!

But I am not aware that the work has ever been performed in the UK. If it had I am sure we would have had a recording of the broadcast from one of our so-generous members! It has, as I did say earlier, never been recorded.

I do not want to be overly pessimistic (which is my habitual default position ;D) but the chances of hearing the work in full do not seem particularly bright :(

Parry: Judith

I was stunned to find this on You Tube. It is an historical document, and performed rather well by the Corpus Christi College Choir of Toronto Canada.  On first hearing this is some of the best Parry that I've heard.

I have uploaded it here because, if it is removed from You Tube, it could be be lost forever.

Considering the vast amount of choral music Parry composed, including so many Oratorios and Cantatas- most of which have remained unheard since the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this is indeed a most unexpected and extremely welcome addition and I hope will be added to our Archive on here!

Thank you very much indeed :)

These are lovely videos on the Pax Christi site - apart from Parry, a stirring Elijah, & a fine Apostles!

Thanks for the lead, I must confess I haven't ventured into the magnificent British choral works much, but had always known I wanted to, so this is a new and welcome push in that direction. At the risk of blasphemy I also must confess I really don't like Elgar's symphonies but I like his incidental music and the oratorios a lot, and even (maybe as a philistine blasphemist)--wait for it---Pomp and Circumstance marches!!. As to Parry I have never heard anything of his I didn't like. Always back to the "oldies" for me it seems like, try to keep up with the contemporaries but wind up going back to the 19th and early 20th centuries or Bach for the soul-soothing needs.

Then you must hear Sanctus Civitas by Vaughn Williams..a marvelous work.

Good lord, how wonderful to find Judith here! I never thought I would hear it! And yes, a decent performance. I have loved Job for many years, and find in it much that I think Elgar learned from in his oratorios (the Lament of Job in particular reminds me of Judas in the Apostles). Now, keep an eye out for King Saul...

OK, JollyRoger, I am now on my way into Vaughan Williams choral land, thanks for the suggestion, best, Jim

Really enjoyed Judith: maybe a bit long and rambling compared to Job, but some wonderful choruses and all very pleasant.

Ah, Mr. Jim - once you find yourself ensnared by VW choral land (& the like) you may never emerge; 'Towards the Unknown Region'. 'Dona Nobis Pacem', 'Flos Campi', 'Hodie',  'In Windsor Forest'....+ a few !

Indeed! Hours of listening pleasure. But don't forget Holst's choral music,vocal music and parts songs,either! But,one at a time!! VW,first! ;D :)

I'm looking forward to hearing this myself. I'll be getting some more cd-r's,first,though!

Robin Holloway responded to my question about the "cut" in the Fourth Concerto and here is what he said:

it was too long!!  Something had to go--- & it was generous of MTT & the orchestra to play so much as they did.  They ran the omitted movement through for me at rehearsal---pretty well; but unfortunately the mikes were not switched on. Introducing the 3 performances, MTT explained circumstances, & got a laugh every night  for "in San Francisco we lose our virtues" (the missing section depicts the 7 Cardinal Virtues,
balancing the 7 Deadly Sins of 3rd mvt.). Thanks for your kind words! & all best,

Robin H

With all due respect to Robin Holloway-and it certainly is to his credit that he has at least provided a response-he has not provided an answer to the actual question. It was "too long". Too long for what or for whom? Something "had to go". Did it? Why?

Many thanks for the upload of the Dorothy Howell  Concerto.

There is of course a cd version of this concerto on Cameo Classics but Danny Driver might be considered a more reliable and expert soloist in such rare repertoire and he has a somewhat finer orchestra to accompany him.

The BBC website makes clear that this is the recording of the Howell Piano concerto as issued commercially by hyperion:

Piano Concerto in D minor

Performer: Danny Driver. Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Rebecca Miller.
THE ROMANTIC PIANO CONCERTO 70 - BEACH, CHAMINADE & HOWELL. HYPERION. 001.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09tcw0y (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09tcw0y)

Therefore it should be removed immediately from this site I think.

Obviously that is the correct thing to do!

I didn't appreciate that there was an alternative recording on Hyperion. Just shows how much I am "into" romantic piano concertos 

Whoops, will delete the linked file immediately.

Actually the leading talk didn't mention was a recording at all, it gave the impression that it was recently recorded concert.

WARNING : In the post by "Latvian" from February 20, 2016, the work listed as Aloys Fleischmann's Prelude and Dance (1940) is actually Ina Boyle's Violin Concerto (1935). The performers are indeed The Ulster Orchestra conducted by Kenneth Montgomery, with violinist Catherine Leonard. I take the opportunity to thank you for all the treasures you uploaded !

Thank you for offering a correction to my upload information, but it would have been more polite to notify me privately so that I could fix the problem. I must have uploaded the wrong file and not realized it. If I still have the correct file I will replace the incorrect upload as soon as I have a chance.

I'm sorry, but I had to notify everybody so that the persons who downloaded the file during its two years of existence know that they actually have a work by Boyle and not by Fleischmann... I did not think it would upset you.
Musically,
Corentin Boissier

I think that the uploader would have informed us about the mistake. o a private message to him was more polite.

Although I am away from home and have not been able to listen yet, many thanks for the upload of the John Joubert Symphony No.3

Many thanks for the download of John Joubert's 3rd but did anybody manage to "catch" Joubert's Piano Concerto broadcast on the 1st June? I was working away from home and missed it and would love to be able to download it.

There's still time to record it, I'll do it tonight.

 ;D

ps I like the Joubert S3, vey atmospheric, Yorkshire Pastoral, ie a bit grim.

Sorry I didn't around to recording the Joubert Piano Concerto, will get around to it over the weekend. :'(

Ok done (John Joubert Piano Concerto, that is).

Apparently it is the companion piece on the forthcoming Joubert disk with the Symphony No.3, so this is a foretaste only and will be taken down as soon as the CD appears.

I really enjoyed the Joubert Piano Concerto, such a fine composer.  Anyone who enjoys Walton, Daniel Jones, Malcolm Arnold, or George Lloyd will find much to enjoy with this composer.  Thanks for the upload.

Joubert Symphony 3 and Piano Concerto due 7th September from Lyrita - SRCD367

That's pretty quick!

I wonder what happened to the promised Grace Williams Missa Cambrensis? Not to mention the equally promised remaining Daniel Jones symphonies!

I wrote to Lyrita but-as is sadly the norm-failed to get even the courtesy of an acknowledgment. We have made the point repeatedly: if record companies treat their most loyal customers with disdain how can they expect to retain the support they need to survive??

It is only prudent to point out to members that the British and Irish Music Archive on this site has been effectively "frozen in time" now for almost a year. The Archive was assembled-with enormous effort-by Albion (John). He also compiled the huge catalogue. It represents, quite probably, the most impressive and comprehensive collection of British music in existence and available to members of this forum to download for their personal enjoyment.

For whatever reason Albion has not been "on the forum" since February. He has not been able to respond to pms or emails. What this means is that the Archive has not been updated since then. More seriously it means that there may be the possibility that it could simply disappear since the vast number of pieces are stored on Albion's Mediafire account. If that was closed-again for whatever reason then the contents would no longer be available for download.

All would certainly NOT be lost! First of all, the individual compositions were uploaded originally by members and the overwhelming majority are still available from them on their own Mediafire or other similar uploading sites. Secondly, I downloaded most of the music to my own hard drive (as have others, including Latvian!). Most could therefore be restored, reuploaded for new members or others who had perhaps either lost their copies or developed a new interest in a particular work.

And although the catalogue is "frozen" there have been few new uploads over the past year and those that have been provided by members can be found on the last page of the Downloads thread.

There is therefore no need for serious alarm.....which is of course not to say that we do not regret and are concerned about Albion's absence from the forum!

Dundonnell.

I may attempt to contact John. He is still my Facebook friend, though he hasn't posted on there lately either. I hope he's well, as he seems terribly nice and one day I hope to meet him and spend long hours talking about British music.

I've read much here about this selection of downloads, but cannot find how to access it. Can anyone give me a URL, please?

Many thanks.

David

Go to the Downloads(by nationality) section of the forum. Navigate down to British and Irish Music. Open the first page. There you will find the full catalogue (updated to February of this year). The last page has a few more recent but uncatalogued uploads.

Thank you very much - this will keep me occupied for years.

Regards,

David

 :)

I have uploaded the Stanford Mass "Via Victrix" as I received it.

John......maybe you can combine the different sections into one file??

Well done, John😉 By all means replace my original links with a single link in the Downloads section.

Thanks to you, Colin, and the member who supplied the recording this performance will never be lost (even if it is never commercially released) as long as we can access the internet: as I said in another thread earlier, the only way to get to know these works is to hear them repeatedly and nobody can do that on a single broadcast...

 ;D

Many, many thanks to britishcomposer for the upload of Ethel Smyth's splendid Mass in D.

Seconded, a very fine performance - superior to both Philip Brunelle (EMI, nla) and Helmut Wolf (audite)... I will put a copy into the archive.

 :)

It is probably worth reminding members that in order to locate a particular piece of British music uploaded and made available thereby for downloading the first port of call is the Catalogue compiled over several years by Albion (John). This can be located by going to Page 1 of the British and Irish Music section of "Downloads by Nationality" and clicking on the Mediafire link. That opens up an alphabetically organised series of sub-folders containing links to each piece of music.

Albion was not able to visit the forum for much of 2018 but I know that he has already copied many if not all works uploaded last year and made these separately available from the Catalogue.

Rather than searching through past posts the Catalogue should be consulted first.

It is also worth remembering that this is the finest, most comprehensive collection of British music available for free download in existence anywhere!! It remains an incredible testimony to the generosity of those members who uploaded (and continue to upload) their private collections for the benefit and enjoyment of others! The catalogue we owe to Albion and the vast amount of work he put/puts in to create the collection.

Hear Hear to that.

Many thanks for the kind comments. I have tried to keep on top of the various broadcasts but, due to health reasons, have not been as rigorous as I would ideally like. Therefore, could members who upload off-air material please ensure that any links provided remain valid.

 ;D

At long last I have belatedly added the Canadian Rhapsody, Op.67 (1905) by Alexander Mackenzie to the archive, by far the most significant "new recording" in the BBC Composer of the Week survey of his music. I have also uploaded an mp3 of the Youtube performance of Parry's Judith, although this is not, as yet, listed in the catalogue...

 :)

That sounds wonderful! I'm always up for more Mackenzie. But I can't seem to find it in the Downloads Catalogue

It is there. I downloaded it two days ago. It is the fifth item under "Ma".

Found it, thank you! A wonderful start to the weekend

Through the generosity of PJ I have been able to post links to Christopher Gunning's Symphony No.2.

Should this broadcast be issued commercially the links will be removed.

I have added mp3 files of the 2019 Wexford performance of Stanford's first opera The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan (1881) to the archive. This is an attractive work with a super duet towards the end of the second act - well worth investigating.

 :)

I'm absolutely loving both the recently available Stanford operas: this and The Travelling Companion. I had high expectations but they exceeded them. Now I so want to hear Much Ado and The Critic, particularly the latter, as I haven't heard a note of it.

Thank you for this John.

If Naxos is savvy (they've already released performances from Wexford festivals) they may have earmarked this for release (perhaps?)...

Besides Much Ado and The Critic I'd also love to hear the earlier The Canterbury Pilgrims (1884). To say that Stanford could not write love duets (as many have said), the act 2 example in The Veiled Prophet sounds like the real thing to me...

 ;)

Besides the Stanford, there are many operas which I would love to hear complete including Macfarren's She Stoops to Conquer (1864), Arthur Goring Thomas's Esmeralda (1883), Mackenzie's Colomba (1883) and The Cricket on the Hearth (1902), MacCunn's Jeanie Deans (1894) and Boughton's Alkestis (1922). Unfortunately Cowen's Thorgrim (1890) and Harold (1895) are presently hors de combat due to the lack of orchestral scores and parts...

 :(

On a previous post I included the following paragraph:

Perhaps the recent Northern Opera Group's performance of Stanford's Much Ado About Nothing [see: http://www.northernoperagroup.co.uk/much-ado-about-nothing/4594599648 ] might make it to, at least, a privately available CD.  One can only hope. More than a hour of excerpts from this opera (5 in total), from an earlier 2016 performance accompanied by piano, can be accessed from: https://soundcloud.com/northernoperagroup/sets/much-ado-about-nothing-by-charles-villiers-stanford

Just to let interested members know that the British and Irish Music Archive is still alive and well and welcomes any relevant non-commercial broadcast recordings in good sound that you may think fit for preservation. In the meantime, I wish all members well and, above all, stay safe and enjoy the great resources that technology now affords us...

 :)

I can thoroughly recommend the Northern Opera Much Ado. Only piano accompaniment but magnificent. I hope we can expect a full recording of the work one day. Jeanie Deans of course exists in substantial extracts on Hyperion. I would love to hear some Goring Thomas or Mackenzie operas though.

Many thanks for alerting me and hopefully many others to these extracts from an excellent performance. Although without orchestra it is a rare privilege to hear such skill and commitment dedicated to neglected British opera. I would also echo the wish for some Mackenzie (especially Colomba, 1883, and The Cricket on the Hearth, 1901) and Goring Thomas' Esmeralda, 1883. Excellent!

 ;D

The Joubert Requiem, - great.  Thank you.  Before I get to the piece myself, how would you evaluate it?

Greg, I am sorry, I haven‘t listened to the requiem myself yet.
I did upload this recent BBC broadcast just because Joubert is one of the better known composers of his generation and held in high esteem by members of this board. We have some of his works in Albion‘s archive but not this one yet.

My first acquaintance with Joubert was via a BBC broadcast of the first symphony. The dramatic thrust impressed me but I couldn‘t quite figure out wether Joubert‘s music had a strong enough personality on its own. The piece still convinces me though.
In his later music there is a tendency to rely too much on sequence. This is especially annoying in his songs. (A CD was released by Toccata Classics.) Sequencing a phrase is a technique to emphasize a statement. However, by making too much use of it the good intention is in danger to become thwarted.

I loved it.  Very RVW to me.  It's lovely, lyrical, concise (around 45 minutes) and dramatic.

There is an mp3 in the archive of yesterday's BBC broadcast of Cipriani Potter's Symphony No.1 in G minor (1819-26) given by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Howard Griffiths. Seven of Potter's nine extant symphonies can now be heard in either commercial recordings or non-commercial BBC broadcasts:

a. commercial recordings

F major (1826), E flat major (1828), G minor (1832) - the first on Classico (2005), the latter two on Unicorn-Kanchana (1989)

b. BBC broadcasts

G minor (1819/ 26), C minor (1826), C minor (1834), D major (1834) [those in F major (1826), E flat major (1828) and G minor (1832) were also broadcast in 1995]

leaving those in B flat major (1821) and D major (1833) unrecorded.

The best readily available sources for information on Potter's symphonies remain A. Peter Brown's The Symphonic Repertoire Volume III Part B (2008) and Jurgen Schaarwachter's Two Centuries of British Symphonism: From the beginnings to 1945 Volume I (2015).

The many items "recently" donated by generous members are now in the archive and the catalogue is up to date again: these include broadcasts of works by Sally Beamish, James MacMillan, Huw Watkins, James Dillon and John Joubert. Many thanks.

Please could members with an interest keep an eye on the radio listings for anything of import. Afternoon on 3 is often a happy hunting ground...

 :)

Sicmu has placed the following download on the British and Irish Music board:

Robin Milford - Symphony No.2, Op.34 (1933) BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

in a performance from the 2019 English Music Festival.

Many thanks!

 :)

I must apologise - I got a message saying the upload wasn't activated. I've now done so and it can be downloaded.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/qjkskjgblyqup3l/Spain-Dunk.zip/file (https://www.mediafire.com/file/qjkskjgblyqup3l/Spain-Dunk.zip/file)

P

Well, it comes to us all...

(https://andradetalis.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/muerte.jpg)


Alas, several of the composers included in the archive have left us since I last properly maintained the catalogue, which I have now amended:

2012 - Gareth Walters
2013 - Stephen Dodgson, John Tavener
2014 - Arthur Butterworth, Antony Hopkins, Patric Standford
2015 - Mervyn Burtch, John McCabe, Ronald Stevenson, Ernest Tomlinson
2016 - Peter Maxwell Davies
2017 - Derek Bourgeois, John Maxwell Geddes, Malcolm Lipkin
2018 - Donald Hunt
2019 - Herbert Chappell, Anthony Hedges
2020 - Gerard Schurmann

but the good news is that Francis Jackson is still with us at the age of 103, and that the music of the composers listed above can still be heard...

 :)

Britannia at the Opera

I have finally got round to sorting out these broadcasts from the wonderful 1995 BBC Radio 3 series which presented excerpts from the following:

1. William Vincent Wallace - Maritana (1845)*
2. Edward Loder - Raymond and Agnes (1855)
3. Julius Benedict - The Lily of Killarney (1862)
4. Arthur Sullivan - Ivanhoe (1891)*
5. Hamish MacCunn - Jeanie Deans (1894)*
6. Charles Villiers Stanford - The Travelling Companion (1916)
7. Cyril Scott - The Alchemist (1917)
8. Joseph Holbrooke - Bronwen (1920)
9. Arthur Bliss - The Olympians (1948)
10. Arthur Benjamin - A Tale of Two Cities (1950)

All of these are now presented as single files as opposed to split items as previously and those marked * include the original narration by Roderick Dunnett.

 :)

Thanks to the generosity of Latvian the following broadcasts of music by Arnold Bax (1883-1953) are now in the archive:

Roscatha (1910)++++
Kensington SO/ Leslie Head (br. 1977)

Spring Fire (1913)++++
BBC SO/ Norman Del Mar (br. 8/10/1983)

Sinfonietta (1932)++++
BBC Welsh O/ Vernon Handley (br. 23/12/1983)

Cello Concerto (1932)++++
William Pleeth, cello/ BBC SO/ Maurice Miles

Symphony No.5 (1932)++++
BBC Northern O/ Maurice Handford (br. 15/5/1967)

Symphony No.6 (1935)++++
New Philharmonia O/ Stanford Robinson (br. 11/9/1967)

Overture to Adventure (1936)++++
BBC CO/ Vernon Handley (br. 10/11/1970)

London Pageant (1937)++++
LPO/ Vernon Handley (br. 14/11/1983)

Coronation March (1953)++++
BBC SO/ Basil Cameron (br. 19/9/1953)

 :)

Excellent! A treasure trove,indeed! Thank you,Latvian (and Albion!) :)

I have uploaded the thirteen excellent interval talks by David Mackie which were broadcast as an integral part of the 1989 BBC series of the complete Gilbert and Sullivan operas.

They have been combined into a single mp3 file.

 :)

After much dithering I have finally completed work on the 1973 broadcast of Havergal Brian's one-act opera Agamemnon (1957).

(https://anthropologynet.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/mask-of-agamemnon.jpg?w=297)

Over the years I have received three separate transcriptions from Dundonnel, MVS and Latvian (thanks to all), each quite different: one contained the introductory announcement with Malcolm MacDonald's detailed description, one contained the introductory announcement without it, one contained the closing credits, one was mono, one was stereo, one was low in volume, one was higher in volume, etc.

I have now done as much as I can to integrate these three sets of files into one presentation, editing out blips and trying to match up the volume as best I can. Hopefully it's acceptable until a more professional product comes along...

 :)

Although the thirteen wonderful Havergal Brian part-songs were already in the archive (donated by Latvian), his recent post has prompted me to do something practical with them: these are all now in a single mp3 file entitled Brian - Part-songs (1905-1925) presented in the same sequence as the original BMS cassette.

 :)

Oops! I couldn't remember whether I had uploaded them previously and they didn't turn up in a quick search...

Anyway, I hope they prove enjoyable!

They're fantastic, and well-performed in the recording.

 :)

In 2013, the Proms unexpectedly gave some long-overdue prominence to Granville Bantock (1868-1946) with five performances - not even a significant anniversary (unless 145 counts for something). I was able to attend the Jurowski and Oramo concerts.

 ;)

I've finally got round to completing and uploading the set of broadcasts with the gorgeous comedy overture, The Pierrot of the Minute...

The Witch of Atlas (1902)
LPO/ Vladimir Jurowski (br. 30/8/2013)

Sapphic Poem (1906)
Raphael Wallfisch, cello/ BBC NOW/ Jac van Steen (br. 24/7/2013)

The Pierrot of the Minute, comedy overture (1908)
BBC CO/ Barry Wordsworth (br. 31/7/2013)

Hamabdil (1919)
Raphael Wallfisch, cello/ BBC NOW/ Jac van Steen (br. 24/7/2013)

Celtic Symphony (1940)
BBC SO/ Sakari Oramo (br. 21/8/2013)

 :)

Since its establishment on 17th December 2010, the archive has now served 104,642 downloads...

(https://www.kickassfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/fun-facts.jpg)

...please increase this rather modest number by exploring!

 ;)

Thank you Latvian for donating this important broadcast to the archive:

Parry - Job (1892)
Lesley Rooke, sop (Shepherd Boy); John Michinson, ten (Satan); John Carol Case, bar (Job); Benjamin Luxon, bar (Narrator)
BBC Northern Singers/ BBC Northern SO/ Adrian Boult
(br. 29/12/1967)

This wonderful performance conducted by one of Parry's staunchest advocates makes a far stronger case for the work than does the somewhat anaemic Hyperion recording: it gives greater credibility to Job's contemporary popularity. I much prefer a soprano in the role of the Shepherd Boy as in this performance to the treble used by Hyperion (Parry marked it soprano in the score). Adrian Boult (1889-1983) knew Parry personally and his interpretation is informed by a life-time devoted to British music.

I have done the work on this and edited out 21 seconds of blank gaps between what must have originally been tape change-overs to re-create the seamless structure intended by Parry.

 :)

I have finally got round to five interesting works generously uploaded some time ago by Latvian:

Lloyd Moore (b.1968)
Diabolus in Musica (2007)

Michael Langemann (b.1983)
Five Movements for Orchestra (2010)

Ian Vine (b. 1974)
Violet (2001)
Alazarin Sun (2006)

Gavin Higgins (b. 1983)
Dancing at the Edge of Hell (2010)

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Andre de Ridder, conductor [live, Mar. 30, 2010]

As usual, I have converted the files from FLAC to MP3 (192kbps) and I hope that this will encourage members to have a listen.

 :)

I have been working on improving the quality of my recordings of

Stanford - Te Deum, Op.66 (1898)

Coleridge-Taylor - Five Choral Ballads, Op.54 (1904-05)

and reduced the original FM hiss.

With all such tinkering, it's swings and roundabouts - some things you gain, some things you lose. To think, I used to spend hours doing this sort of thing with Dundonnel...

 ::)

Anyway, the newer versions are now in the archive, and hopefully may at least suffice until better transcriptions come along - I surely can't have been the only person in the world who recorded the Stanford on Boxing Day 1999...

 :)

Thank you,John. As out Aussie cousins say, "Yer blood's worth bottling!"

 ;D

Cheers, Lionel. I hope you like the results! I was on my feet at the end of the Stanford at Leeds Town Hall back in November 1999, as were many others. I had three friends singing in the Leeds Philharmonic Chorus (they didn't much like Harry Christophers, but I think he did a pretty decent job in repertoire which was way-outside his comfort zone)...

 ;D

Unfortunately, when dealing with FM hiss the thing that suffers most loss is the strings because of the similarity in frequency - in general vocal contributions and brass are pretty much unaffected...

 :)

Just added:

Hoddinott - Lizard, Concerto for Orchestra, Op.181 (2003)
BBC NOW/ Jac van Steen (24/1/2009, br. 18/2/2021)

This is from the second concert given at the newly-opened Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff.

"More poetry with Alun Hoddinott’s Lizard, of 2003. In 1995 Hoddinott wrote a set of four songs under the title Tymhorau (Seasons), setting texts by Gwyn Thomas, accomplished poet in both languages of Wales. The text he set for summer, was Thomas’s heat-filled poem which observes and evokes the sudden movements (and equally sudden stillnesses) of a lizard seen, in fierce sunlight, upon an ancient wall in Provence. Responding to a later commission from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (in 2003), Hoddinott produced an extended (the piece lasts almost thirty minutes) orchestral response to the same poem. It would be wrong to think of the piece as straightforwardly programmatic – apart from anything else the twenty one short lines of Thomas’s poem alone would hardly fuel a piece of such length. But Hoddinott has clearly responded both to the poem’s contrast between suddenness and stillness and to Thomas’s use of musical metaphor within his text:

            It’s a lizard
            Come out
            To warm its blood in the sun.
            Small, mottled, stock-still
            With skin like tissue paper
            Respirating energy.
            Then a pizzicato
            Across the wall, across its sunlight:
            Another stop,
            Respires again.
            Then cranks on
            As in an old film.

Hoddinott’s score alternates faster and slower sections, in a relatively loose A-B-A-B-A structure and is built around two essential motifs, a pattern of triplets which ascends to a motif of fast repeated notes and, on the other hand, a group of five rhythmically pronounced semiquavers. At times one can ‘hear’ images from Thomas’s poem very clearly: some of the orchestral textures seeming to evoke, with some vividness the sensory juxtapositions of “sunlight, a lizard, a wall / An old, old wall” and some of the changes of tempo evocative of the abruptness of the lizard’s stoppings and startings. At other times, Hoddinott seems more concerned to explore the purely musical possibilities of his material, and the references to Thomas’s poem seem to (largely) disappear. The explicitly programmatic and the more ‘abstract’ elements aren’t perhaps always fully integrated, but this is certainly a very accomplished score and van Steen and his orchestra were certainly persuasive advocates for it, responsive to Hoddinott’s vivid contrasts of colour and sonority." (Seen and Heard International, Musicweb, January 2009)

Hi Albion, thanks for uploading but having trouble finding it.  Is it in the download section?

I'm an idiot then and try as I might, I can't find.  Can you please provide a link to it?

Many thanks to Latvian for another treasure, an early oratorio by Alun Hoddinott -

Hoddinott - Job, Op. 24 (1962, rev. 1977)
Paul Wilson, bass/ BBC Welsh Choral Society/ Cardiff Bach Choir/ BBC Welsh O/ Vernon Handley
(br. 8/5/1979)

 :)

Once again, many thanks to Latvian. We now have the following broadcast in the archive:

Parry - An English Suite (1890-1918)
BBC Scottish SO/ Stanford Robinson

 :)

Latvian has generously provided the following important composer-conducted works for addition to the archive:

Alan Bush - Birthday Overture, Op.23 (1942)
Alan Bush - Symphony No.2, Nottingham, Op.33 (1949)
Alan Rawsthorne - Concerto for String Orchestra (1949)
Alan Rawsthorne - Symphony No.2, A Pastoral Symphony (1959)

Viktoriya Ivanova, sop/ USSR State SO/ Alan Bush/ Alan Rawsthorne (3/10/1963, Melodiya LP D-012687/90)

I have converted the separate FLAC files for each movement and joined them into a single MP3 (192kbps) file for each work.

 :)

I am currently re-structuring the archive, which may take some time.

Please send me a PM for links to specific items from the catalogue:

http://www.mediafire.com/folder/7o5xxgqk4d75t/Archive+of+British+and+Irish+Music+-+Catalogue+2021 (http://www.mediafire.com/folder/7o5xxgqk4d75t/Archive+of+British+and+Irish+Music+-+Catalogue+2021)

 :)

How interesting! I suppose,it's not such a surprise that Melodiya recorded music by Bush. I didn't know they'd recorded Rawsthorne,though! (I just looked up the original Lp's,now). Thank you Latvian (And Albion!) :)

Latvian has generously provided the following works for addition to the archive:

Delius - Paa vidderne,  On the Mountains (1890-92)
Kensington SO/ Leslie Head (br. Radio London 25/7/1974)

Delius - Fantastic Dance (1931)
Monteverdi O/ John Eliot Gardiner

Holst - Two Eastern Pictures, for female voices and harp (1911)
Sidonie Goossens, harp/ BBC Women's Chorus/ Peter Gellhorn (br. 22/2/1967)

Holst - A Fugal Overture, Op.40 No.1 (1922)
LPO/ Adrian Boult (br. 24/3/1971)

McEwen - Grey Galloway (1908)
BBC Scottish SO/ Charles Groves (br. 12/12/1989)

 :)

I've loved British and Irish music for most of my life. Composers such as Vaughan Williams and Holst touched me deeply in my youth and led me to eagerly explore their output. Even now, decades after I first participated as a clarinetist in wind band performances of RVW's Folk Song Suite and Holst's two Suites for Band, the music is still engagingly fresh and engaging. After a lifetime in music I marvel even more at the mechanics of Holst's brilliant writing and instrumentation.

This early passion quickly led me to explore other composers from the British Isles and played havoc with my wallet as I acquired new discoveries. At some point I discovered the world of broadcast recordings and found even more composers and music than the commercial marketplace offered.

(I can say much the same for other passions -- music from America, France, Scandinavia... Thank goodness for external hard drives! Otherwise, my wife and I would be drowning in LPs, CDs, cassettes, and other media by now.)

So, the result of years of obsessive collecting of broadcast recordings is the material I'm gladly sharing here. When I first discovered Albion's Archive, I found much to greatly expand my own collection. Now, I'm happy to help expand the Archive with many recordings I've made and acquired from other sources and collectors, to turn this endeavor into a truly comprehensive and unique collection.

Maris

I couldn't agree more about VW and Holst!

Thank you for the many recordings you have contributed so far (and thank you, in anticipation, for whatever you might add in the future!)

 :) 

Thanks to Latvian for providing the following broadcasts, which are now safely in the archive:

Foulds - April-England, Op.48 No.1 (1926, orch. 1932)
BBC PO/ Michael Seal (br. 12/9/2016)

Foulds - Three Mantras, Op. 61b (1930)
London Symphony Chorus members/ BBC PO/ Juanjo Mena (br. 15/8/2013)

Foulds - Le Cabaret, overture to a French comedy, Op.72a (1921)
BBC PO/ Ben Gernon (br. 31/1/2017)

Parry - Elegy for Brahms (1897)
BBC SO/ Andrew Davis (br. 2/8/2010)

 :)

Bless you, my friend. I can't think of a better use of the hoarding instinct!

 ;)

I've been recording off-air since around 1980, initially on a very primitive cassette recorder, such as every primary school class-room used to have, with the radio near the microphone. Woe-betide anybody who made an extraneous noise (physical, verbal or bodily)...

(https://i.pinimg.com/736x/31/d6/ce/31d6ce8488f94628d3f2804f558b2859--cassette-recorder-cassette-tape.jpg)

 ;D

Ah, yes! I have numerous in-house recordings of Latvian concerts made on just such a machine!

So this costume would have been mandatory, then...?

(https://original-content.imgix.net/2015/12/Fart-Smell_3200x1800.gif?w=670)

Yes,I can remember the family,siamese cats,outside the door,during one recording I made. You could hear them on the resulting,tape,afterwards! Their yowling,punctuating the music! Much to my consternation!! ::) I think I might have been recording Havergal Brian?!! :(

Thanks to Latvian for a great concert by Gavin Sutherland and the BBC CO, broadcast on 28/5/2010, now safely in the archive:

Alwyn - Derby Day, overture (1960)
Bowen - Symphony No.1, Op.4 (1902)
Brian - The Tigers, Shadow dance (c.1922)
Moeran - Lonely Waters (1931)

 :)

Courtesy of Latvian we now have another work by Ralph Walter Wood (1902-1987) in the archive:

Five Dramatic Studies (1945)
BBC Northern SO/ Stanford Robinson

The movements are: 1.Preamble; 2.Crisis; 3.Assignation; 4.Promenade; 5.Peroration

A couple of Wood's works were first performed at the Cheltenham Music Festival - String Quartet No.3 (1957) and a Piano Concerto (1960). His Symphony No.3 (1966) is in the archive in a broadcast conducted by Bryden Thomson.

 :)

Incidentally, there was one other work on the program, Roger Quilter's Serenade, which is already in the archive, so I didn't duplicate it here.

These works by Ruth Gipps (1921-1999) are now in the archive:

The Kelpie of Corrievreckan, Op.5b (1939)
Peter Cigleris, clarinet/ Duncan Honeybourne, piano (br. 8/3/2021)

Fantasy for viola and string orchestra, Jane Grey, Op.15 (1940)
Scott Dickinson, viola/ BBC Scottish SO/ Teresa Riveiro Bohm (br. 9/3/2021)

Quintet for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and cello, Op.16 (1941)
Gareth Hulse, oboe/ Peter Cigleris, clarinet/ John Mills, violin/ Lydia Lowndes-Northcott, viola/ Bozidar Vukotic, cello (br. 8/3/2021)

Rhapsody in E flat, Op.23 (1942)
Peter Cigleris, clarinet/ Tippett Quartet (br. 9/3/2021)

Cringlemire Garden, impression for string orchestra, Op.39 (1952)
South West German Chamber O/ Douglas Bostock (br. 10/3/2021)

Clarinet sonata, Op.45 – fourth movement (1955)
Peter Cigleris, clarinet/ Duncan Honeybourne, piano (br. 10/3/2021)

An Easter carol, Op.52 (1958)
BBC Singers/ Sofi Jeannin (br. 10/3/2021)

Seascape, Op.53 (1958)
BBC NOW/ Jonathan Bloxham (br. 10/3/2021)

Theme and variations, Op.57a (1965)
Duncan Honeybourne, piano (br. 11/3/2021)

Gloria in excelsis, Op.62 (1977)
BBC Singers/ Sofi Jeannin (br. 10/3/2021)

Cello sonata, op.63 – first movement (1978)
Joseph Spooner, cello/ Duncan Honeybourne, piano (br. 11/3/2021)

Wind octet, Op.65 – second movement (1983)
Members of BBC NOW/ Jonathan Bloxham (br. 12/3/2021)

Opalescence, Op.72 (1989)
Duncan Honeybourne, piano (br. 12/3/2021)

Wind Sinfonietta, Op.73 (1989)
Members of BBC Scottish SO/ Teresa Riveiro Bohm (br. 12/3/2021)

Pan and Apollo, Op.78 (1992)
Members of BBC NOW/ Teresa Riveiro Bohm (br. 12/3/2021)

Any of these recordings that subsequently become commercially-available will, of course, be deleted from the archive.

 :)

Wow, that's quite a collection!

For the first time in many years, it's actually been a good week on Radio 3...

(https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/attachments/off-topic-6/75858d1394730284-jag-stretch-limo-dont_believe.jpg)

 ;)

I love to get this. I will find all these recordings online.