The British Composers Thread

[foxandpeng]

I forgot to post yesterday on what my St George's Day listening had been (apologies to Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish).

Quite by chance it was all works of Bernard Stevens from these discs:




What a composer! every piece is so so right and inevitable. People complain about Robert Simpson being cerebral, Stevens makes Simpson look an extrovert!

Listening to his Cello Concerto now. Decent piece of music!

[DaveF]

I'm not sure Michael Berkeley has been mentioned in this thread (and he doesn't have one of his own), but I've really been enjoying his bits of the 6-volume Chandos Berkeley Edition, devoted equally to him and his father Sir Lennox.  Have been especially impressed by the Horn Concerto and the Concerto for Orchestra, 'Seascapes'.

There is also a rather nice symmetry in the fact that Lennox's father was the illegitimate son of the Earl of Berkeley, and that Michael has now been ennobled in his own right as Baron Berkeley of Knighton in the County of Radnorshire.

[calyptorhynchus]

Its Proms 2025 time!  Curious that RVW "London Sympony" is present again.  Some impressive British Choral music; Delius Mass of Life (wow), Bliss Beatitudes, RVW Sancta Civitus.  Walton Symphony 1 in a concert with a brief piece of Ruth Gipps, Elgar Enigma and In the South.  No Bax (no surprise), no significant Arnold and of course all the "marginal" British composers get no look in at all (Rubbra, Alwyn, Rawsthorne, Foulds, Lloyd - add pretty much any name you like here although Matthias gets an overture!).  Why we need 4 Mahler symphonies though (2,3,5,7) - all big and expensive to stage I'm not sure.....

Sir Henry would have had more British music! 

[vandermolen]

Its Proms 2025 time!  Curious that RVW "London Sympony" is present again.  Some impressive British Choral music; Delius Mass of Life (wow), Bliss Beatitudes, RVW Sancta Civitus.  Walton Symphony 1 in a concert with a brief piece of Ruth Gipps, Elgar Enigma and In the South.  No Bax (no surprise), no significant Arnold and of course all the "marginal" British composers get no look in at all (Rubbra, Alwyn, Rawsthorne, Foulds, Lloyd - add pretty much any name you like here although Matthias gets an overture!).  Why we need 4 Mahler symphonies though (2,3,5,7) - all big and expensive to stage I'm not sure.....

Which version of A London Symphony?

[Roasted Swan]

Which version of A London Symphony?

I think I saw them listing 44 minutes as the running time which suggests the final version....

[ultralinear]

I saw Petrenko conduct the RPO in A London Symphony a few years back, and yes it was the final version, and FWIW I though it fine - maybe not that remarkable, but nothing to find fault with either.  What is distinctive about Petrenko's conducting is the fanatical control he exerts over every aspect of performance, which may not suit all material equally, but is generally quite effective - it's how I imagine Mravinsky might have conducted RVW.

[vandermolen]

I think I saw them listing 44 minutes as the running time which suggests the final version....

Thanks. I was lucky to see the 1920 version last year.

[vandermolen]

I saw Petrenko conduct the RPO in A London Symphony a few years back, and yes it was the final version, and FWIW I though it fine - maybe not that remarkable, but nothing to find fault with either.  What is distinctive about Petrenko's conducting is the fanatical control he exerts over every aspect of performance, which may not suit all material equally, but is generally quite effective - it's how I imagine Mravinsky might have conducted RVW.

Amazingly there is a Melodiya set of the VW symphonies (Rozhdestvensky)

[ultralinear]

Amazingly there is a Melodiya set of the VW symphonies (Rozhdestvensky)

Yes - and by no means the worst IMO.

[vandermolen]

Yes - and by no means the worst IMO.

I rather like it - especially the 'Dr Phibes' moment when the organ goes haywire for a moment in Sinfonia Antartica. It is refreshing to hear a soviet view of these symphonies.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

Its Proms 2025 time!  Curious that RVW "London Sympony" is present again.  Some impressive British Choral music; Delius Mass of Life (wow), Bliss Beatitudes, RVW Sancta Civitus.  Walton Symphony 1 in a concert with a brief piece of Ruth Gipps, Elgar Enigma and In the South.  No Bax (no surprise), no significant Arnold and of course all the "marginal" British composers get no look in at all (Rubbra, Alwyn, Rawsthorne, Foulds, Lloyd - add pretty much any name you like here although Matthias gets an overture!).  Why we need 4 Mahler symphonies though (2,3,5,7) - all big and expensive to stage I'm not sure.....

The fact that RVW's Sancta Civitas and Delius' A Mass of Life will be performed is reason enough to celebrate. Incredible pieces both. I hope you will attend these concerts. In fact, I believe Santa Civitas to be one of RVW's more underrated masterpieces.

[Roasted Swan]

The fact that RVW's Sancta Civitas and Delius' A Mass of Life will be performed is reason enough to celebrate. Incredible pieces both. I hope you will attend these concerts. In fact, I believe Santa Civitas to be one of RVW's more underrated masterpieces.

a neat link with the recent Rachmaninoff thread......



and here is a live LSO "London Symphony" too.....

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

a neat link with the recent Rachmaninoff thread......

I've got that disc and it is exquisite. Love Rozhdestvensky's RVW recordings.