Two Arnolds – Bax & Schoenberg...
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3d ago
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) and Arnold Bax (1883-1953) are two of my favourite composers. The latter is neo-romantic, inspired by the Celtic Twilight and Irish poetry. His music is often evocative of landscape and always poetic in spirit and content. In 1941, Bax was named as Master of the King’s Music. The former also wrote romantic, Wagner inspired, music in the early part of his career, such as the massive Gurre-Lieder (1900-03) settings of poems by Jens Peter Jacobson for soloists, chorus and orchestra, the tone poem Pelleas and Melisande, op.5 (1902-03) and the sextet Verklärte Nacht ..read more
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Bruce Montgomery: Scottish Lullaby (1954)
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6d ago
One of the most delightful miniatures to come from the pen of English composer Bruce Montgomery (1921-78) is the Scottish Lullaby. The work was completed on 16 July 1954. David Whittle, in his study of the composer (2007, p.148) writes that the work’s antecedents was the score for the 1954 film, The Kidnappers. This sentimental fable was set in Nova Scotia at the turn of the 20th century. The plot concerns “small orphan brothers who come to live with their tyrannical Scots grandfather and, while mixed up in the disappearance of a baby, soften the old man's stony heart, prompt him to end a bit ..read more
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It's not British, but...20th Century Middle European Flute Music
The Land of Lost Content Blog
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1w ago
This CD features diverse works by four “Middle-European” composers. This can be loosely defined as countries to the west of Russia and to the east of France. The disc includes music by an Austrian of Czech origin, a Czech, a German, and an Austrian. Each of these men share a personal history that is “marked by persecution and emigration.” One, Emil František Burian was a prisoner in three concentration camps. Born in Vienna on 23 August 1900, Ernst Krenek moved to the United States in 1938 to escape Nazi persecution. There he taught in several universities. Stylistically, he is hard to pin do ..read more
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Hidden Holst No.1: Seven Scottish Airs (1907)
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1w ago
In the coming days and months there will no doubt be many events to celebrate the Sesquicentennial Anniversary of Gustav Holst’s birth. The Planets may well feature at this year’s Proms. The English Music Festival has already programmed the Cotswold Symphony, A Song of the Night, and the Hymns from the Rig Veda, 3rd Group as well as some short choral pieces for their May Festival. Hopefully, there will be a raft of CDs, articles, and essays. In Cobbett’s Cyclopaedia Survey of Chamber Music (1929) Edwin Evans mentions that Holst’s only published chamber work at that time was the Seven Scottish ..read more
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Ravel, Berkeley and Pounds Orchestral Music on Chandos
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2w ago
The ethos of this remarkable CD is to create a lineage between Maurice Ravel and Adam Pounds, by way of Lennox Berkeley, and, in the background Nadia Boulanger. To be sure, Berkeley did not formally study with the French master, but they had “firm bonds between mentor and protégé.” Through this relationship he was introduced to the artistic circles in pre-war Paris, and he did take lessons from Nadia Boulanger. The liner notes explain that “Ravel admired the sensuous side of Berkeley’s music when he was shown it, but felt it lacked technical finesse.” First up, is Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couper ..read more
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Bruce Montgomery/Edmund Crispin: A Life in Music and Books by David Whittle
The Land of Lost Content Blog
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2w ago
This book review was originally published on MusicWeb International during June 2007. Despite David Whittle’s volume being an excellent study of Bruce Montgomery, there seems to have been little revival in the performance of his music. On the other hand, virtually all his detective novels and short stories are available in print or Kindle. I have made several corrections to the review. It was on the former P&O liner Oriana that I discovered Bruce Montgomery. In fact, it was quite a coincidence, with three strands coming together at once. Let me explain. The cruise's first ‘leg’ was the lo ..read more
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Alan Rawsthorne: Elegiac Rhapsody (1964)
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3w ago
The Elegiac Rhapsody (originally titled Rhapsody for String Instruments, Elegiac Fragments) was written “In Memoriam Louis MacNeice,” who had died on 3 September 1963. The Irish poet and playwright was a long-standing friend of the composer. John M Belcher (Liner Notes 8.553567) explains that it consists “of two elegiac statements stated at the outset, the first expressing sorrow and resignation, the second vehement protest.” The progress of the Rhapsody is an “exploration of their contrasting relationships and gives the work its rondo-like structure of alternating slow and quick sections, wi ..read more
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The Great Organ of Aarhus Cathedral
The Land of Lost Content Blog
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3w ago
The raison d’être of this two CD publication is to celebrate the recent restoration of the organ in Aarhus Cathedral, Denmark. This is brilliantly achieved through text, photographs and two recitals. The packaging includes a sumptuous 70-page hardback book, which tells the story of the restoration. There are also descriptive notes for all the pieces, as well as resumes of the two performers. Naturally, the organ specification is also given. The instrument is the largest in the country, with ninety-six speaking stops. Its history ranges over four centuries, with the most recent rebuild and res ..read more
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Alun Hoddinott: Jack Straw: Overture for orchestra, op.35 (1964)
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1M ago
Sixty years ago, on 1 May 1964, Alun Hoddinott’s Jack Straw: Overture for orchestra, op.35, was premiered at the King’s Hall in Aberystwyth. The New Philharmonia Orchestra was conducted by Walter Suskind. The work had been commissioned by the Welsh Committee of the Arts Council. Jack Straw was a fourteenth century English revolutionary, associated with the Peasant’s Revolt. He is a shadowy character who may be an alias of Wat Tyler or possibly identified with fellow insurgent John Rakestraw. In 1381, with an army of 100,000 men, Straw, Tyler, and John Ball marched on London. Much damage was ..read more
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Lennox Berkeley: Sonatina for piano duet, op.39 (1954)
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1M ago
Seventy years ago, on the 8 July 1954, Lennox Berkeley’s elegant Sonatina for piano duet, op.39 was given its premiere performance by Michael Linsey and Sybil Jones at the College of Art, Stoke on Trent. I was unable to find any reviews of this recital. The Sonatina was composed shortly after he had completed his operas A Dinner Engagement, op.45 and Nelson, op.41. Other pieces written at this time include the incidental music to Goethe’s play, Iphigenia in Taurus, the motet Crux fidelis, op.43, no.1 and the anthem Look up, Sweet Babe, op.43, no.2. Alec Rowley in Musical Times (Decem ..read more
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