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WARREN: The Crystal Lake. Scherzo. The Fountain.
The Legend of King Arthur. Along the Western Shore. Symphony in One
Movement. Suite for Orchestra. MATTHEWS: Symphony No. 2, Op. 17. Symphony No. 6, Op. 100. HOLBROOKE: Amontillado, Op. 123. The Viking, Op. 32. Three
Blind Mice,
Op. 37 No. 1. Ulalume, Op. 35. WELLESZ: Piano Concerto, Op. 49. Violin Concerto, Op. 84. Music of American composer Elinor Remick Warren (1900-1991) is, sadly, relatively unknown. The Cambria label has done their bit for the cause by recording two of her major works, The Legend of King Arthur and several choral/vocal works featuring Thomas Hampson. Now we have this splendid CD of shorter orchestral works along with the 17-minute Symphony in One Movement composed in 1970, and the much earlier Suite for Orchestra written in 1954, several years before Warren studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. And we also have a brief excerpt from The Legend of King Arthur perfectly sung by baritone Roderick Williams. Warren's music has traces of Delius, Korngold and Bax. Nothing atonal here, just a stream of soaring melody, beautifully orchestrated. Performances are superb, as is audio quality. Don't miss this delectable CD! British composer Colin Matthews (b. 1946) has an honored position in British music. He has received many commissions from major orchestras and conductors and worked with Deryck Cooke on the first performing edition of Mahler's Symphony No. 10. Colin's older brother, David (b. 1943) has been unjustly neglected, a major oversight as evidenced by this stunning new Dutton recording of the second and sixth of his seven symphonies. David's music is miraculously inventive and he is a master of orchestration. Work on Symphony No. 2 began in 1976, but it wasn't completed until many years later. Simon Rattle gave the premiere in 1982 with the Philharmonia Orchestra. Work on Symphony No. 6 began in June 2004 and the premiere took place in 2007 with Jac van Steen and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales who later made this recording. In his comprehensive notes on both symphonies, Matthews describes his ideas while composing both works, referring to his "exploration of high and low strings," and use of unusual instruments (including bass flute and flugelhorn), and Mahler's influence is evidenced by inclusion of a cowbell in reflective moments. Both of these symphonies are worthy additions to the concert hall, and these magnificent performances do them total justice. The engineering is spectacular. Producer Michael Ponder and engineer Dexter Newman have captured with uncommon sonority the rich lower sounds of the orchestra as well as blazing brass and percussion. Don't miss this exciting release. I look forward to hearing a previously issued Dutton CD of Matthews' Symphonies 1, 3 and 5. Again the cpo label delves into the relatively unknown with this disk of symphonic music by British composer Josef Holbrooke (1878-1958), the first in a planned series of issues of the composer's orchestral music. Holbrooke wrote eight symphonies, but none have been recorded in their entirety, so doubtless we can expect them and perhaps even his three-part operatic trilogy based on the Welsh epic The Mabinogion. Holbrooke seemed fascinated with Edgar Allan Poe and wrote a number of works based on his writings, two of which are on this CD: the dramatic overture Amontillado, and Ulalume. We also have a lengthy (19:02) symphonic poem called The Viking, far too long for its content, which also could be said of other works on this CD. Holbrooke was an expert at orchestartion and what is heard here surely is pleasant if inconsequential. The set of variations on Three Blind Mice seems interminable although it lasts but 14:37. Howard Griffiths leads spirited performances of all this and the Brandenburg orchestra plays very well. Engineering is outstandingly fine, and if you'd like to explore some of the oddities of early 20th Century English music, here it is. Egon Wellesz (1885-1974) left his home town of Vienna in 1938 and moved to England where he was a distinguished teacher and received many awards. A pupil of Schoenberg, Wellesz wrote the first biography of the composer. Wellesz didn't write symphonies until he was 60, but then wrote nine of them, all of which have been recorded. and are available on cpo at mid-price. He completed only two concertos both of which are heard on this new CD. The violin concerto, written in 1961, is regarded by some as equal to the Berg or Schoenberg, with which I do not agree. Even less worthy is the piano concerto composed three decades earlier—it simply goes nowhere. Without question this is one of the most boring 20th Century concertos and I cannot imagine any major pianist wishing to perform it. Soloists on this new recording do what can be done with this music, audio quality is excellent. but this goes into my discard pile. R.E.B. (July 2010) |