The British Composers Thread

[Symphonic Addict]

Voice-averse members look away now..........  I've been having a first listen this morning to this new Lyrita disc;



Albion was singing (pardon the pun) the praises of Stanford's Te Deum when this recording was announced some time back.  It really is rather spectacular!  Yes - it does epitomise the confidence/pomp of the late Victorian certainties but it does it very well.  Actually rather operatic/dramatic in an Italian (Verdi Requiem??) kind of way.  Of course because its Lyrita its very well recorded - lovely deep organ pedals etc - and well performed.  Excellent choir and good soloists even if the soprano is a bit squally but I like the way she attacks the part.  The Whitman setting - the Elegiac Ode - is an impressive filler too.  For me more of an all round success as a piece than the Stabat Mater or Requiem.  Anyone else heard this yet?

I'll surely give it a listen soon. I have fond memories of his Requiem, so these two works shouldn't be on a similar level of inspiration.

[calyptorhynchus]

Stanford's Requiem, reminds me of a Beecham witticism: when asked what he thought of Stainer's Cruxifixction, Sir Thomas replied 'I'm in favour of it!'

[Roasted Swan]

Stanford's Requiem, reminds me of a Beecham witticism: when asked what he thought of Stainer's Cruxifixction, Sir Thomas replied 'I'm in favour of it!'

Ouch!

[Roasted Swan]

Accompnmaying me on my early morning (before it got too hot!) dog walk were these two recordings;



The Parry was a repeat/continuation from the other day and - I really don't know why - I do not think I have ever enjoyed a Parry Symphony more.  These are familiar works in a familiar recording but today it absolutely hit the spot.  Perhaps the early morning sunshine and the Somerset countryside put me in a receptive mood but I just loved this - mainly today Symphony 4 - "stout and steaky" as Elgar might have said.

As for the Foulds "Dynamic Triptych" this is one of the most remarkable British Concertante works bar none.  I assume Forum members reading this thread are already converted fans of this composer and work but if by any chance you are unfamiliar DO have a listen it is genuinely extraordinary in so many ways and receives a great performance here (Shelley's Lyrita version is very good too mind)

[vandermolen]

Accompnmaying me on my early morning (before it got too hot!) dog walk were these two recordings;



The Parry was a repeat/continuation from the other day and - I really don't know why - I do not think I have ever enjoyed a Parry Symphony more.  These are familiar works in a familiar recording but today it absolutely hit the spot.  Perhaps the early morning sunshine and the Somerset countryside put me in a receptive mood but I just loved this - mainly today Symphony 4 - "stout and steaky" as Elgar might have said.

As for the Foulds "Dynamic Triptych" this is one of the most remarkable British Concertante works bar none.  I assume Forum members reading this thread are already converted fans of this composer and work but if by any chance you are unfamiliar DO have a listen it is genuinely extraordinary in so many ways and receives a great performance here (Shelley's Lyrita version is very good too mind)

I agree with you about Foulds's 'Dynamic Triptych' and Parry's 4th Symphony. I remember that I played my wife the Lyrita LP version of the Foulds when we were first going out together. She was unimpressed, stating 'Well, it certainly is very dynamic' in a rather bored and sarcastic tone 

[Symphonic Addict]

To be released on September 6th:

[Irons]

Accompnmaying me on my early morning (before it got too hot!) dog walk were these two recordings;



The Parry was a repeat/continuation from the other day and - I really don't know why - I do not think I have ever enjoyed a Parry Symphony more.  These are familiar works in a familiar recording but today it absolutely hit the spot.  Perhaps the early morning sunshine and the Somerset countryside put me in a receptive mood but I just loved this - mainly today Symphony 4 - "stout and steaky" as Elgar might have said.

As for the Foulds "Dynamic Triptych" this is one of the most remarkable British Concertante works bar none.  I assume Forum members reading this thread are already converted fans of this composer and work but if by any chance you are unfamiliar DO have a listen it is genuinely extraordinary in so many ways and receives a great performance here (Shelley's Lyrita version is very good too mind)

You have convinced me, ordered a copy - Parry not Foulds, as I tend to agree with vandermolen's good lady.

[kyjo]

Accompnmaying me on my early morning (before it got too hot!) dog walk were these two recordings;



The Parry was a repeat/continuation from the other day and - I really don't know why - I do not think I have ever enjoyed a Parry Symphony more.  These are familiar works in a familiar recording but today it absolutely hit the spot.  Perhaps the early morning sunshine and the Somerset countryside put me in a receptive mood but I just loved this - mainly today Symphony 4 - "stout and steaky" as Elgar might have said.

As for the Foulds "Dynamic Triptych" this is one of the most remarkable British Concertante works bar none.  I assume Forum members reading this thread are already converted fans of this composer and work but if by any chance you are unfamiliar DO have a listen it is genuinely extraordinary in so many ways and receives a great performance here (Shelley's Lyrita version is very good too mind)

Great stuff, RS! I've become more receptive to Parry's symphonies lately, above all the 4th and 5th. It's interesting how some passages foreshadow Elgar in their nobility. And the Foulds Dynamic Triptych, well, it's a screaming masterpiece if there ever was one (as Hurwitz would say)! It can easily rank amongst the greatest 20th century PCs in its heady mixture of thrilling virtuosity, occasional modernity, and exotic influences. Foulds was a truly individual and compelling composer, and should be recognized as such!

[kyjo]

To be released on September 6th:
 

We've got Robert Schumann, Georg Schumann, William Schuman, and now Gerard Schurmann? I've never heard a note of this chap's music - has anyone else?

[Symphonic Addict]

We've got Robert Schumann, Georg Schumann, William Schuman, and now Gerard Schurmann?

Another Schumann to the list:

[Luke]

IMSLP's stock of Schumann/Schurmanns (no Schuman yet)

[vandermolen]

We've got Robert Schumann, Georg Schumann, William Schuman, and now Gerard Schurmann? I've never heard a note of this chap's music - has anyone else?

I remember that he was portrayed, not particularly sympathetically, in a TV drama about the troubled life of the pianist John Ogdon many years ago. He wrote quite a lot of film music.

[Roasted Swan]

I remember that he was portrayed, not particularly sympathetically, in a TV drama about the troubled life of the pianist John Ogdon many years ago. He wrote quite a lot of film music.

The disc in the Chandos film music series is a good example of that area of his work.  Not my favourite British film composer I have to say......

[Roasted Swan]

You have convinced me, ordered a copy - Parry not Foulds, as I tend to agree with vandermolen's good lady.

Let us know if you enjoy the Parry!

[Roasted Swan]

Pace Irons - I'm having to bang the drum for Foulds again today.  On the disc I mentioned the other day;



the second work is "April-England".  Luke has written about this miraculous piece before and I have to say every time I rehear it it blows me away all over again.  Very much in the same emotional sphere as Bridge's "Enter Spring" this is a miniature tone poem  [8:02 here] which captures a kind of ecstatic-impressionist vision of the great surging life-energy of the arrival of Spring.  What I love about the Foulds is the way he manages this chaotic sense of rebirth over that most classical of things a ground bass.  The orchestration is remarkable too - nothing like it by anoy other British composer.

Away from his orchestral music - I would strongly recommend anyone with even a passing interest in Chamber Music to hear this disc;



This was the record (recorded in 1981) that really started the re-awakening of any degree of awareness of this unqiue British composer and his quality.  He was after all the principal cello for Richter at the Halle so he kind of knew a thing or two about string playing at the highest level.

The same year this great set was released as a 3 LP box;



The Foulds included here is interesting and valuable to have but not as significant or as well played as other/later recordings - or the string quartets.  He really does deserve to be much better known and appreciated....

[Luke]

April-England: yes, miraculous is a good word. I know of no other piece like it. Its burgeoning, ecstatic central passacaglia takes us to a very profound place indeed. IMO it's one of Foulds' essentially clairaudient pieces, in the vein of Gandharva Music, but tempered with more 'intervention' than usual.

[Roasted Swan]

April-England: yes, miraculous is a good word. I know of no other piece like it. Its burgeoning, ecstatic central passacaglia takes us to a very profound place indeed. IMO it's one of Foulds' essentially clairaudient pieces, in the vein of Gandharva Music, but tempered with more 'intervention' than usual.

I often wonder if Foulds' lost "Symphony of East and West" lies mouldering in the archives of Radio India (or whatever it was called when he worked there in the 30's)  Now that WOULD be a discovery!!!  For me he is one of the few composers who tries to fuse the musical values of different cultures in an intelligent and respectful way without just resorting to superficial gestures.

[Luke]

I often wonder if Foulds' lost "Symphony of East and West" lies mouldering in the archives of Radio India (or whatever it was called when he worked there in the 30's)  Now that WOULD be a discovery!!!  For me he is one of the few composers who tries to fuse the musical values of different cultures in an intelligent and respectful way without just resorting to superficial gestures.

AA lot of that is due to his wife, Maud MacCarthy, of course. She was the expert on Indian music, with strong views on precisely the issue your last sentence implies.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maud_MacCarthy_(Omananda_Puri)


Resonances of the Raj: India in the English Musical Imagination, 1897–1947, by Nalini Ghuman, includes a truly excellent discussion of MacCarthy and Foulds', as well as plenty else. An indispensable book!

[Roasted Swan]

AA lot of that is due to his wife, Maud MacCarthy, of course. She was the expert on Indian music, with strong views on precisely the issue your last sentence implies.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maud_MacCarthy_(Omananda_Puri)


Resonances of the Raj: India in the English Musical Imagination, 1897–1947, by Nalini Ghuman, includes a truly excellent discussion of MacCarthy and Foulds', as well as plenty else. An indispensable book!

you keep making me buy books!!!!! 

EDIT:  £60 ouch - too expensive for me at the moment on Amazon.....

[Luke]

you keep making me buy books!!!!! 

EDIT:  £60 ouch - too expensive for me at the moment on Amazon.....

It's available here

https://archive.org/details/resonancesofraji0000ghum

which might not be ideal reading conditions but at least gives you an idea of contents etc