Cheltenham Festival: Twelve Years of New Symphonies (1957-1969)

Continuing my exploration of the much misaligned ‘Cheltenham Symphony,’ I find that the genre has tended to become rarer from 1957 onwards. Between 1945 and 1956 there were some 20 symphonies or symphonic works receiving their first performances at the Cheltenham Festival. The following dozen years produced only thirteen.  Four years, 1958, 1959, 1967 and 1968 saw no new works from this genre performed.  However, I believe that the survival rate is greater that for the previous decade. Some of these works have gained a tentative foothold in the recorded repertoire, if not the concert hall.  Where there is a recording of the work in question I have given a link to the CD. [Not a complete discography] 

1957 Robert Simpson – Symphony No.2  HyperionEMI
1957 Arthur Butterworth – Symphony No.1 Dutton Epoch Classico
1960 Benjamin Frankel - Symphony No.1, Op.33 (British premiere)  CPO
1961 Malcolm Arnold – Symphony No.5, Op.74 Chandos Naxos
1962 Alun Hoddinott – Symphony No.2, Op.29 Lyrita
1962 Benjamin Frankel – Symphony No.2, Op.38 CPO
1962 Peter Maxwell Davies - Sinfonia, Op.20  Regis
1963 Thea Musgrave – Sinfonia
1964 Alan Rawsthorne – Symphony No.3 Lyrita Naxos
1965 Wilfred Josephs - Symphony No.2, Op.42
1965 Gordon Crosse - Sinfonia Concertante, Op.13
1966 John McCabe - Symphony No.1, Elegy On LP Pye Virtuoso TPLS13005
1966 Egon Wellesz - Symphony No.6, Op.95 (British premiere) CPO
1969 Lennox Berkeley - Symphony No.3, Op.74  ChandosLyrita

Malcolm Arnold’s Symphony No.5 has a strong contention to be the most ‘popular’ of the list with some six versions currently listed in the CD catalogue. All of Robert Simpson’s Symphonies were recorded by Hyperion in the 1990s. The present Symphony No.2 was released in 1997 coupled with the Fifth. Arthur Butterworth has seen some of his eight symphonies recorded with the First currently available on Dutton Epoch as an historical recording dating from 1958 and also on the Classico Label, which I believe has been deleted. Benjamin Frankel has fared well in so far as all his symphonies have received a single recording from CPO between 1995 and 1998.  The same record company also delivered the complete corpus of Egon Wellesz’s Symphonies which were issued in the early 2000s.

Alun Hoddinott’s Symphony No. 2 was originally released on the old PYE Virtuoso label and was subsequently reissued on CD by Lyrita.   Lennox Berkeley’s Third Symphony is available on Lyrita and Chandos.   Rawsthorne was released on Lyrita and on Naxos. Finally, John McCabe’s Symphony No.1 was issued on PYE Virtuoso in 1968. It has not appeared on CD. However, there is a YouTube file of this fine work.

Gordon Crosse’s Sinfonia Concertante Op.113 was rewritten by the composer and was published as Symphony No.1. This has been recorded on vinyl in 1981: it does not appear to have been reissued on CD, nor has it shown up on YouTube. Unfortunately, Thea Musgrave’s Sinfonia does not appear to have been recorded: nor does Wilfred Josephs’ Symphony No.2, Op.42.

I have heard all these works (Musgrave, Crosse and Josephs excepted) and consider that all are worthy pieces. Whilst none could be described as ground-breaking in their sound world or construction, they surely all to better represented in the concert listings.  My personal favourites include McCabe, Wellesz, Hoddinott and Butterworth, although most of the others impress me and are part of my listening experience. 

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Cheltenham Festival: Ten Years of Symphonies (1946-1956)

At one time the expression ‘Cheltenham, Symphony’ was used as a disparaging term. Peter Pirie in his The English Musical Renaissance (Victor Gollanz, London, 1979) states that the phrase ‘was coined to describe a work in simple-minded sonata form, simple-minded tonality, and simple-minded faith in a scissors-and-paste method of composition.’ He further contended that ‘a certain division in English music became apparent at this time: young progressive composers were arising in England and they saw what was happening.’ Perhaps the reader may be reminded of Peter Maxwell Davies withering attack on ‘tonal’ music in The Listener (October 8, 1959, pp. 563–564) ‘Problems of a British Composer Today’.  Pirie finishes is discussion by noting that the Hallé Orchestra was the main ‘band’ at Cheltenham and that its ‘much-loved’ conductor Sir John Barbirolli ‘had very conservative tastes.’ As a result he influenced the festival committee to adopt programmes that were ‘safe’ and ‘academic.’  

On the other hand, from 1947 the Hallé Orchestra had been closely involved with the performance of orchestral music at Cheltenham giving four July concerts.  Michael Kennedy reports that the ‘novelties’ had been ‘assiduously prepared by Barbirolli for weeks beforehand at no cost to Cheltenham. He lists some of the composers that featured in these concerts including Malcolm Arnold, Peter Racine Fricker and Arthur Butterworth (as well as those others listed in this posting). It is interesting to note that each concert which featured a new work also included ‘a standard-repertory symphony or with a substantial work by Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Bax…’ Kennedy goes on to suggest that the term ‘Cheltenham Symphony’ was ‘coined to describe the result of Barbirolli’s predilection for works written in what was then seen as a declining romantic tradition – ‘sham antiques’ was another pejorative barb.’

It is an argument that will no doubt continue to rage, often fuelled by people who have never bothered to listen to these works: however in 2014 listeners are more likely to be impressed by these works rather than repelled by them.

I append a list of symphonies and symphonic works given their premieres at the Cheltenham Festival from 1946-1956.  Where there is a recording of the work in question I have given a link to the CD. [Not a complete discography]  It is interesting to note that more than 50% of these symphonies are currently available on CD. None of these symphonies have entered the common repertoire (such as those by Elgar and RVW) however those by Rubbra, Alwyn and Arnold have a reasonable foothold amongst enthusiasts of British music.

• 1946 Edmund Rubbra – Symphony No.2 (revised version) Chandos
• 1947 Ian Whyte – Symphony No.1 
• 1948 Arthur Benjamin – Symphony No.1 Lyrita Marco Polo 
• 1949 Richard Arnell – Symphony No.4, Op.52 Dutton Epoch
• 1949 Gordon Jacob – Symphonic Suite 
• 1950 Anthony Collins – Symphony No.2 for Strings 
• 1950 Peter Racine Fricker – Symphony No.1 Op.9 
• 1950 William Alwyn – Symphony No.1 in D Chandos Naxos Lyrita
• 1951 Arnold Van Wyk – Symphony No.1 in A minor (British premiere) 
• 1951 John Gardner – Symphony No.1 in D minor, Op.2  Naxos
• 1951 Malcolm Arnold – Symphony No.1, Op.22  Chandos Naxos
• 1951 Maurice Jacobson – Symphonic Suite for Strings
• 1952 William Wordsworth – Sinfonia in A minor for Strings 
• 1952 John Veale – Symphony No 1
• 1953 Richard Arnell – Symphony No.3, Op.40 Dutton Epoch
• 1953 Iain Hamilton – Symphony No.2, Op.10 
• 1953 William Wordsworth – Symphony No.3 in C, Op.48  Lyrita
• 1954 Stanley Bate - Symphony No.3 Dutton Epoch
• 1954 Geoffrey Bush – Symphony No.1 Lyrita
• 1956 Iain Hamilton – Symphonic Variations, Op.19 
• 1956 Daniel Jones – Symphony No.3 

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