York Bowen

[Albion]

Dutton have a very curious/self-defeating policy regarding their back-catalogue I feel.  They have these occasional very good but under-publicised sales but generally they are loath to allow any of their material to ever have a mid-price release.  Hyperion were sensible accepting that older (but good) releases could reappear on their Helios label and likewise Chandos have regular "sales" of hard copy or downloads in a way that Dutton seemingly refuse to do.  Likewise while you can access some Dutton on streaming platforms such as Spotify they seem to have wholly ignored the market for good quality purchased downloads.  I think that is simply down to Mike Dutton himself not liking that format so not sanctioning the facility.  But again other hi-end labels have accepted that some folk are happy to pay decent money for downloads - why spite yourself to not provide that service. Conversely, the pursuit of re-releasing old licenced SQ recordings seems super-niche (even when the performances themselves are very fine)

Absolutely! When companies (especially the "majors") are literally falling over themselves to repackage either artist-led, orchestra-led or composer-led sets (often in mind-numbingly large boxes - the "complete" this and the "complete that") it MAKES NO SENSE for Dutton to simply make their recorded repertoire "out of stock", for which read "deleted without a hope in Hell of another pressing". In this respect Hyperion and Chandos have both taken the eminently sensible download and CDR approach. I don't personally like the former format but I can cope with the latter (although I have what I want on original CDs). Lyrita have done the same, although their catalogue seems somewhat more stable than Dutton's, but who knows how long that may last...

https://www.wyastone.co.uk/nimbus-disc-print

 

[Symphonic Addict]

This double CD has delighted me lately. I had Bowen in low esteem for whatever reason, but these works have proven to be utterly lyric and tuneful.

List of works here

[kyjo]

This double CD has delighted me lately. I had Bowen in low esteem for whatever reason, but these works have proven to be utterly lyric and tuneful.

List of works here

No idea why you'd hold Bowen in low esteem (unless your name is vandermolen)! I mostly know the Viola Sonata no. 1 from that CD, a superbly written work filled with great tunes (Lawrence Power is such a fine violist, btw). I've always thought that the main theme of the beautiful slow movement sounds remarkably like the spiritual Deep River, at least at the very beginning!

Bowen: https://youtu.be/wuEOBWcydpw
Deep River: https://youtu.be/EVMgiwR5igo

Other works by Bowen that I treasure include his Symphony no. 2, Viola Concerto, Piano Concerto no. 3, Cello Sonata, Piano Trio in E minor, and Phantasy Quintet for bass clarinet and strings.

[Symphonic Addict]

A new recording of his Viola Concerto whose release date is 13 September: