Charles Villiers Stanford’s music results from a careful fusion of his Irish birth and his English formation. Coupled to this, is his musical training in Germany. Stanford’s work is characterised by a rigorous technical craftsmanship. His genius is best seen in the songs, the part songs, some smaller choral works, several of his refined and well-wrought chamber works and the orchestral rhapsodies. That said, his cycle of seven symphonies, the concertos, and certain large-scale choral pieces, once criticised as uninspiring, can be seen in recollection as full of interest and delight. Sadly, fr ..read more

Several years ago, I heard Anthony Goldstone on disc, (Albany Records Troy 132, 1994) playing Hubert Parry’s two piano sonatas. For better or worse they were played on the composer’s Hagspiel grand piano at Shulbrede Priory in Sussex. I was disappointed that they were not played on a modern instrument. It was listenable, but not particularly easy on the ear. Somehow, I never got around to engaging with this repertoire again until the present CD arrived. Parry is not particularly noted for his piano music. Amongst enthusiasts, the charming Shulbrede Tunes (1914) are the best known. His most si ..read more

Llandaff Cathedral is sited on the banks of the River Taff, to the north of Cardiff. It is effectively the Anglican cathedral for the Welsh Capital. This splendid building was badly damaged by a parachute mine during the Second World War. Much restored by the architect George Pace it has many impressive features. Most striking is the sculpture by Jacob Epstein, Christ in Majesty (1954) which towers over the interior of the nave. Lightning damaged the organ in 2007, and a new instrument was procured. The current instrument was built by Nicholson and Co., Malvern and was commissioned in 2010. T ..read more

I first heard Roger-Ducasse’s Pastorale at a remarkable recital given by Sarah Dawe during a Celebrity Organ Recital in Wellington Church, Glasgow on 23 November 1977. Other music featured at this concert included Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E flat (St Anne), BWV 552, and the Messe pour les couvents by François Couperin. The twentieth century Flemish tradition was represented by Joseph Jongen’s Chant de mai and Flor Peeter’s Suite modale. The programme concluded with French composer Jehan Alain’s ubiquitous Litanies. Sadly, Jean Jules Aimable Roger-Ducasse is nowadays only remembered for his ..read more

Most listeners in the United Kingdom will associate the name Leonard Bernstein with West Side Story, the overture, Candide, the film score On the Waterfront or the musical, On the Town. Enthusiasts may think of his Chichester Psalms or the Missa Brevis. I guess fewer people will be advocates of his three symphonies, the Serenade (after Plato’s Symposium) or the incidental music to Peter Pan. On the other hand, no one can ignore his achievements as a conductor, an educator, an author, and a television personality.   Bernstein wrote precious little chamber music. Examples include the early ..read more

On 7 June 1922, George Antheil (1900-1959) arrived at Southampton Docks aboard the Canadian Pacific Line transatlantic liner the Empress of Scotland. He had set sail from Quebec in Canada. The official incoming passenger document stated he was a composer/pianist. His proposed address in London was the Old Colony Club, Pall Mall. A syndicated article in Westminster Gazette (21 June 1922, p.3) reported that: “Mr. George Antheil, who is giving a pianoforte recital at the Wigmore Hall tomorrow afternoon is a young American musician who is said to be of remarkable promise. Although not yet in his ..read more

The final paragraph of the liner notes brilliantly provides the context for this first volume of Arnold Cooke’s cycle of five string quartets: “Taken as a series [they] form an important thread through the chamber music of Britain in the middle years of the twentieth century. The longest-surviving pupil of Hindemith in England, he admittedly used the language and mannerisms of his teacher – but with restraint and always with an ear for lyrical beauty.” A good hermeneutic for appreciating Arnold Cooke’s music is to accept his debt to his composition teacher Paul Hindemith. Musicologist Malcom ..read more

On 10 April 1927, George Antheil’s “notorious” Ballet mécanique was introduced to an American audience. It had, for its time, an eccentric scoring: ten pianos, one mechanical piano, six xylophones, two bass drums, a wind machine with a regulation airplane propeller and siren. The pianists included Aaron Copland and Colin McPhee. This was heard at an all-Antheil concert given at the Carnegie Hall. Prior to the Ballet mécanique, listeners heard his String Quartet [No.1], the Jazz Symphony and the Sonata for violin, piano and drum. The Ballet had been premiered in Paris during 1926 and had gener ..read more

The remarkably poised and evocative Where the Wood Thrush Forever Sings for clarinet[s] and piano (2023) is the third “epic cycle” of bird portraits that Edward Cowie has composed in recent years. Bird Portraits (2020/21) was reviewed here, and Where Song was Born: 24 Australian Bird Portraits (2021), reviewed here. Recapping on Cowie’s methodology in creating these cycles, it is important to realise that there is a long pre-compositional process. He recalls that before he was able to write down crotchets and quavers, he could “draw sounds from nature.” He explains that he uses four notebooks ..read more

Louis Vierne (1870-1937) wrote three major pieces of organ music based on bells, the most famous of which must be the Carillon de Westminster, the finale of Suite No.3 of Vingt-quatre pièces de Fantaisie, op.54. Slightly less demanding is Carillon sur la sonnerie du Carillon de la chapelle du Chateau de Longpont (Aisne) which is the ninth number in Book 2 of the Vingt-quatre pièces en style libre. Les cloches de Hinckley (The Bells of Hinckley) is the last movement of the Suite No.4, op.55, of the Vingt-quatre pièces de Fantasie. The Leicester Evening Mail (25 April 1925) reported that “M. L ..read more