Carlo Martelli: String Chamber Music Recording

Carlo MARTELLI (b.1935)String Quartet No. 1 in C major Op.1 (1953) Prelude & Fugue for string quartet Op.10 (2003) Terzetto for 2 violins and viola Op.5 (1956) String Quartet No, 2 Op.2 (1954) Pavão Quartet, Kerenza Peacock (violin) Jenny Sacha (violin) Natalia Gomes (viola) Byrony James (cello) Zoe Matthews (viola, Prelude & Fugue) Nicola Tait (cello, Prelude & Fugue) DISCADIA DISCA002 For those engaged on an exploration of British music,...

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Harriet Cohen: Debussy’s Claire de Lune & La Cathédrale engloutie

I have always loved Claude Debussy’s ‘Clair de Lune’ from the Suite bergamasque. In fact, the orchestral version of this work was one of the earliest pieces of French music that I can consciously recall. A few months ago, I reviewed the excellent 3-disc set of Harriet Cohen’s ‘Complete Solo Studio Recordings’ released on APR Recordings APR7304.  I had first come across an old record of Harriet playing ‘Cornish Rhapsody’ back in the 1970s and was suitably captivated. I concluded my review by noting that ‘the reader may well divine that I am...

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Robert Farnon: ‘How Beautiful is the Night’

‘How Beautiful is the Night’ is a gorgeous miniature that was inspired by an epic poem Thalaba the Destroyer written in 1899 by the Bristolian writer Robert Southey. Certainly the words that caught Robert Farnon’s imagination had little to do with the massive sweep of magic, intrigue, suffering and violence that are themes of this long work.  Interestingly, Granville Bantock was also inspired by this poem, and produced his eponymous tone poem in 1900.How beautiful is the night!A dewy freshness fills the silent air:No mist obscure, nor cloud,...

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Musical Criticism: Samuel Pepys and later..

Samuel PepysI found this anecdote quoting the music criticism of Samuel Pepys. I do not wish to add anything, apart from a few explanatory footnotes –the piece is both witty and perceptive.If variety of expression and a frequent change of complimentary phrase was necessary to the average reporter of musical affairs in the columns of the daily press, we fear many a quill-shover would be incapacitated for further duty in this line. Outside of the large...

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Romantic British Music for cello and piano

The Romantic CelloVolume 1 Frank BRIDGE (1879-1941) Meditation (c.1912) Berceuse (1901) Sonata (1913-1917) Samuel BARBER (1910-1981) Sonata for cello and piano (1932) Frederick DELIUS (1862-1934) Sonata for cello and piano (1916) Caprice (1930) Thomas DAISH (b.1977) ‘Homage to Delius’ (2011) Volume 2Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873-1943) Sonata for cello and piano (1901) Benjamin WOODGATES (b.1986) Serenade for solo cello (?) Frederick DELIUS Serenade (from...

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Sergei Rachmaninov: Queen’s Hall Prank

I give this little anecdote recorded by Watson Lyle in his short study of the composer. It is not side-splittingly funny, nor is it now politically correct. But it is fun, and gives a slightly different perspective of a man who was regarded by his audiences as being somewhat cold and distant. The excuse for inclusion in this British Music 'blog' is that the story happened in London and that Rachmaninoff is one of my favourite composers. More from...

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Arthur Benjamin (1893-1960)Violin Concerto (1931) Romantic Fantasy for Violin, Viola and Orchestra (1936) Elegy, Waltz and Toccata [Viola Concerto] for Viola and Orchestra (1943) Lorraine McAslan (violin) Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola)Royal Scottish National Orchestra/John GibbonsDutton Epoch CDLX 7279 I will not be the first reviewer to note that Arthur Benjamin’s most popular work is the ubiquitous Jamaican Rumba. According to the Arkiv catalogues...

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Trevor Duncan: Children in the Park

I have always enjoyed the music of Trevor Duncan. Best-known for his A Little Suite from which the well-known ‘March’ was used as the theme tune of the original Dr. Finlay’s Casebook, starring Andrew Cruikshank and Bill Simpson. However Duncan’s  catalogue is vast. He specialised in ‘mood music’ that could be used for newsreels and documentaries. Yet he produced scores for the movies –Joe Macbeth, The Intimate Strangers. Duncan could rise to...

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William Rothenstein’s Portrait of Sir Edward Elgar

In 1920 George Allen & Unwin Ltd. published a limited edition of 2000 copies of Sir William Rothenstein’s portraits of his friends and contemporaries. Born in 1872, Rothenstein was a well-known artist and art administrator. He had an especial interest in the art history of India.  In 1917 he went to the Western Front in the capacity of Official War Artist. Rothenstein died in 1945.In the preface to his book the artist writes that these ‘twenty...

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My Heart is Like a Singing Bird: Song settings of poetry by Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) Elisabetta Paglia (mezzo-soprano) Elena Lunghi (horn) Christopher Howell (piano)SHEVA CD SH076 Tracklisting at the end of the post This is a concept album. Before the reader thinks that I have confused The Beatles Sergeant Pepper or Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s Pictures at an Exhibitionwith something a little more classical, humour me for a moment. The Wikipedia...

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