Richard Addinsell is best recalled for his highly romantic Warsaw Concerto, written for the 1941 movie Dangerous Moonlight. This was written as a pastiche of Rachmaninov and is highly successful at that. Drifting is very different in mood and tone. There is no attempt at producing a “pot-boiler.” This piece simply explores the thoughts of the composer whilst on a boat trip on the Thames, perhaps. It is tranquil, leisurely, and serene. There is nothing to disturb the glorious summer’s day outing. Maybe he is with a special friend. Opening with a gentle woodwind figure, unfolds as a “barcarolle ..read more

Gustav Holst’s Japanese Suite, op.33 (H126) is one of the ‘forgotten gems’ of his opus. This beautifully written piece sits well beside The Planets. The Japanese dancer Michio Itō required some Asian sounding orchestral music for his dancing appearances. Holst broke off his work on The Planets to oblige. Michio Itō (1892-1961) was born in Tokyo, moved to Paris in 1911, then to London on the outbreak of the First World War. In 1916 he relocated to the United States, where he remained until after the attack on Pearl Harbour, when he was interned and then deported to Japan as part of a prisoner ..read more

Alec Wilder is a composer whom I know little about. I connect his name to the Great American Songbook. Certainly, he worked with Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, along with many other big names. Well-known songs include I’ll be Around and While We’re Young. Conversely, there was a classical side to his achievement. The present disc introduces the listener to several collections of piano music. At the outset, this is a tricky CD to listen to, and to review. There are eight compositions, most of which are collections of small pieces. There are forty-four tracks in all. For example, Twelve Mosaics ..read more

I do not know if American light music composer Leroy Anderson ever visited Scotland. I understand that there is no specific record of travel to that country. That said, he seems to have absorbed the mood and ethos of that country’s scenery and lore. Few composers have created such an evocative medley of traditional songs and tunes. Anderson’s Scottish Suite (1954) was a touch problematic for him. It began as a work in six movements, however only four were completed. These were Bonnie Dundee, Turn Ye to Me, The Bluebells of Scotland and The Campbells Are Coming. Plans to include Scotland the B ..read more

The most significant (and longest) work on this CD is Kenneth Leighton’s Fantasy on an American Hymn Tune, op.70, completed in 1974. The tune that forms the basis of the Fantasy is the hymn The Shining River, written by Pastor Robert Lowry during a typhoid and cholera epidemic in Brooklyn. The sentiment of the words is straightforward – “We are parting at the river of death: Shall we meet at the river of life?” Lowry’s words and tune preface Leighton’s score. They give a message of “universal hope and consolation transcending personal sadness.” The Fantasy is in six linked sections which ..read more

The Sonata in C for cello and piano was the first of a series of works written for the Soviet cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich. Others that followed included the Three Suites for solo cello and the Symphony for cello and orchestra. The Sonata was planned whilst Britten and Peter Pears were on holiday in Greece during October 1960: the work was begun at Aldeburgh after Christmas and completed by the end of January 1961. It represents the composer’s awakened interest in chamber music after more than a decade largely devoted to vocal compositions. This was fired by Britten’s friendship with the c ..read more

The advertising for this disc explains that it “offers a unique fusion of musical expression and the natural world, inviting audiences to join in this extraordinary sonic exploration created through skilled and instinctive improvisation.” It further suggests that “this profound ritual of spontaneous outpourings invites listeners on an immersive journey, experiencing the direct transmission of sensory encounters through eight tracks that shape the discovered music of the moment.” I am grateful to the liner notes and personal communication with Edward Cowie during my preparation of this review ..read more

Cecil Frederick Gottlieb Coles is one of the most gifted composers to have been killed during the Great War: he is also one of the least known. Coles was born near the Galloway market-town of Kirkcudbright in 1888 and after moving with his parents to Edinburgh attended the George Watson Grammar School and Edinburgh University.  In 1906 he went up to the London College of Music.  Although he had won the Cherubini Scholarship, he was always rather short of cash. There is an apocryphal story told of how he used to stand outside a nearby pickle factory and enjoy the smell for his lunch ..read more

The Divine Art website explains that this new CD of music from Cheltenham College Chapel is a “meticulously curated album that explores the organ’s remarkable breadth and sonority. Featuring three monumental organ works and delightful arrangements of English classics, the collection is a testament to the grandeur and versatility of the instrument.” The Suite No.1 by Florence Price dates from 1942. However, it shows none of the then-modernist traits of Olivier Messiaen, Marcel Dupré or Jean Langlais. What she does bring to the party is an enthusiasm for certain African American musical tropes ..read more

One of the first pieces of music by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius that I heard was his Night Ride and Sunrise, op.55 (1908). It remains one of his most neglected tone poems. It was included on a Decca Eclipse LP coupled with the Symphony No.5 in E flat, op.82 and the Overture from Karelia Music. This had been recently issued in 1972 with the ‘trademark’ sleeve featuring a National Trust property. In this case it is a scene of Gowbarrow, near Ullswater in the Lake District. It is what encouraged me to invest in the album, as I was just beginning to explore this part of the country during the ..read more