Robert Still: The Four String Quartets on Lyrita

In the early 1970s I bought a copy of Robert Still’s Symphonies No.3 & 4 which had been released on Lyrita Records (SRCS 46). Since that time I have heard virtually nothing else by this composer. There have been a few recordings over the years including a retrospective of his chamber music on ISMERON JMSCD 8. (See review) There is a file on the internet of a radio broadcast of the Concerto for string orchestra, which is one of the finest examples...

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The Arnold Bax Concert November 1922

In a recent post I quoted W.R. Anderson in The Gramophone magazine. He mentioned the Bax Festival which took place in 13 November 1922 at the Queen’s Hall in London. Fortunately for musical historians Edwin Evans was in attendance and wrote the following review for the Musical Times. No commentary is needed on this piece, save to mention that the two Christmas Carols seem to have disappeared from view. It must have been a fantastic concert. It is raking up an old story to dwell upon the advisability or the reverse of devoting an entire concert...

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Arthur Butterworth: Symphony no.2 Op. 25 (1964) – A Half Centenary Review.

Arthur Butterworth died on 20 November 2014. He will be sorely missed by all his friends, colleagues and acquaintances. From a personal point of view he was always most helpful with my enquiries about his music. The essay that follows could not have been written without his considerable help. R.I.P.IntroductionIt is a commonplace to insist that the ‘Symphony’ was a ‘dead form’ in the mid-twentieth century. Conversely, looking at the listings for 1964 discloses that a number of important British composers were producing valuable essays in this genre. ...

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Arnold Bax: review of first recording of Tintagel.

In 1929 Eugene Goossens and the New Symphony Orchestra made the first recording of Arnold Bax’s great tone-poem Tintagel. The critic W.R. Anderson, who was a mainstay of The Gramophone magazine, duly sang its praises, as well as commenting on the other piece included on the 2-disc set, Mediterranean. It is interesting to note his enthusiasm for future Bax recording projects. It was not until the 1970s that his began to become a reality. Unfortunately,...

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David Ellis: Concert Music

Divine Art have produced a fine retrospective of David Ellis’ music. According to the composer’s website, it is only the second CD to be devoted entirely to his work. Although many other pieces have appeared on compilations from Campion Cameo, Dutton and Meridian, this is the first major exploration of the orchestral works. It is not a grave confession to admit that I have not heard any of the works on this present CD before:  I rely heavily...

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Walter Carroll: Four Gypsies – Suite of Four Pieces for Pianoforte

Readers will not find any reviews of these four charming miniatures in any musical journals. It is unlikely that they will ever be recorded unless some generous pianist choses to upload a performance onto YouTube. Yet these four short pieces by Manchester-born Walter Carroll are delightful examples of his music which was primarily written to encourage the player to make an ‘imaginative response’ to the music and the accompanying quotaiton. I found...

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Humphrey Searle: Suite for Clarinet in B flat and Piano, op.32

I was in the Oxfam Music Shop in Southampton a few weeks ago. Like all second-hand shops the stock is very often a matter of luck. On this occasion, I found six pieces of music that appealed to me. The one I want to consider briefly is Humphrey Searle’s Suite for Clarinet in B flat and Piano, op.32.  Searle was born in Oxford in 1915 and was subsequently educated at Winchester and Oxford. Later lessons included working with Gordon Jacob, R.O. Morris and John Ireland at the Royal College of Music. He travelled in Europe where he studied with...

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Judith Bailey & George Lloyd: Havas - orchestral music

I was enormously impressed with Judith Bailey’s significant contribution to this new CD from EM Records. I have had the opportunity of hearing her retrospective of chamber and piano music released on Metier MSVCD92101 (review) which proved to be a most interesting and challenging exploration of her music. So, it was fascinating to be able to discover these two successful orchestral scores. The first work on this CD is Havas op 44. The title is the...

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Pandora’s Last Gift: Chamber Music by Christopher Wright

My first introduction to the music of Christopher Wright was his Oboe Concerto released on Dutton Epoch CDLX 7249 (review) alongside works by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Cyril Scott and Elis Pehkonen. I was immediately impressed by this concerto and looked forward to hearing more of his music. In the same year Dutton Epoch issued a strong retrospective of Wright’s orchestral works -Evocation CDLX 7240 (review). They also issued two important pieces: Momentum(2008)...

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