Kenneth Leighton: The Complete Organ Works Volume 1

I do not know the organ works of Kenneth Leighton (1929-88) (apart from the often-performed Paean) and have never heard ‘The Complete Organ Works’ played on the organ of St. Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh by Dennis Townhill (PRCD326) which is the main competition to this new ‘download’ from Resonus.The twentieth-century produced four major British composers contributing sizable catalogues of music for the organ:  Herbert Howells, William Mathias,...

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Richard Addinsell: The Admirable Crichton

Richard Addinsell (1904-1977) is known universally for his magnificent parody of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2 for the wartime film Dangerous Moonlight (1941) – the ‘Warsaw Concerto’. Addinsell was prolific in writing film music with an excess of 50 credits on the International Movie Database. Hits include Love on the Dole (1941) the comedy Blithe Spirit (1945), Tom Brown’s Schooldays (1951) and the Sea Devils (1953). However, one film for which...

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A Forgotten English Romantic: The Piano Music of Greville Cooke with works by Holst and Vaughan Williams

I have often related to anyone that would listen, that Greville Cooke’s ‘Cormorant Crag’ was a work I wanted to hear played by a fine pianist before I leave this world. I first came across the piece in an advert on the back of a now-forgotten piano album whilst sorting through a vast pile of music at David Hughes second-hand bookshop in Llandudno. It was sometime during 1972. I felt then, that this title was both evocative and picturesque. It was some dozen years later that I found a complete printing of the sheet music of ‘Cormorant Crag’ in the...

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Robert Farnon: Portrait of a Flirt

I find it almost impossible to believe that I have not written a post about Robert Farnon’s most popular work –Portrait of a Flirt. It was one of the first pieces of light music that struck me at a time when I was more concerned with Bach’s organ music and Wagner’s operas. (The first was Coronation Scot by Vivian Ellis. Portrait of a Flirt appeared around 1947 and is really a compendium of rhythm and flappable orchestral manoeuvres. It is a deftly...

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A Musician of the North (Arnold Bax) by Watson Lyle

The music critic and author Watson Lyle provided this short pen portrait of Arnold Bax. It was the result of an ‘interview’ with the composer at this North London house. The two men had been acquaintances for a number of years. The piece was published in The Bookman, February 1932. I have made a few minor editorial changes and provided a number of explanatory notes.Bax was expecting me, and came downstairs himself to open the door of the tall house in a quiet road of the older part of Hampstead [1], where I recollect visiting him first quite ten...

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York Bowen: Donald Brook’s Pen-Portrait from 'Composer's Gallery'

Donald Brook wrote a series of books presenting short studies or pen-portraits of a wide variety of musicians and authors. Clearly he had met these people and had a chance to speak to them about their achievements and interests. Sir Granville Bantock endorsed Composer’ Gallery by insisting that it ‘will be welcomed by music lovers and the larger public throughout the civilised world. On a personal note, this was one of the earliest second hand books...

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Colours of the Heart: Music by Debussy, Delius, Ravel & Grieg

First to sort out a possible confusion: there are more than one fiddle players with the name Midori. Midori Goto is a renowned Japanese-American violinist who has many CDs exploring a wide range of repertoire. Midori Seiler has released albums of music by Beethoven, Haydn and Vivaldi. And then there is Midori Komachi.Komachi, according to the publicity notes for this present CD, was born in Japan, became a prodigy of the Basel Music University in Switzerland and latterly studied at the Royal Academy of Music. She has performed at ‘major’ venues...

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Symphonies by Bowen, Stanford & Parry: Discography

Wrapping up my discussion of Bowen's Second, Stanford's Seventh and Parry's Fifth Symphonies it is useful to present a current discography of these works. Like all works of art, these three symphonies seem to attract a wide range of critical views. However one thing can be clear: all three are commendable works that add considerably to the stock of British symphonies. As noted throughout these last three posts all three works have been criticised as being both derivative and not ‘avant-garde’. However, what strikes the reader of contemporary...

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Charles Hubert Hastings Parry: Symphony No.5 in B minor

Charles Hubert Hastings Parry’s Fifth Symphony was composed for the centenary of the Royal Philharmonic Society and was duly heard at the Queen’s Hall on 5 December 1912 with the composer conducting. The original title of the work was ‘Symphony in four linked movements in B minor, 1912’. However, at the second performance of the piece it was called the ‘Fifth Symphony’ and finally, the printed score is entitled ‘Symphonic Fantasia in B minor “1912”’...

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Charles Villiers Stanford's Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 124

Any consideration of Charles Villiers Stanford’s Seventh Symphony could do worse than begin with Charles Porte’s summary in his book about the composer’s music. Porte introduces a number of facets of this symphony which are to dominate any future discussion of the work. He describes is as ‘a singularly bright, compact and lucid work’ but immediately qualifies this by suggesting that it has not ‘a claim to be regarded as great spiritual music’. He...

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York Bowen: Symphony No.2 in E minor, Op.31

Until a few years ago York Bowen would have been a name known to precious few listeners, even those committed to British music. A number of people may have recalled his sterling work as a teacher and examiner at the Royal Academy of Music: a few will have known a handful of piano pieces that survived on the periphery of the repertoire. However, this ‘English Rachmaninov’ as he was rather lazily dubbed, was once widely feted by the musical cognoscenti....

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