Haydn Wood: Frescoes for orchestra.

The unfortunate thing about this short suite is that you need to have two CDs to hear the entire work! The suite is in three well-balanced movements, however it does not appear to have been recorded as a complete entity – at least it has not been released as such. The first movement is on a Guild Light Music CD and is played by the New Concert Orchestra conducted by Serge Krish and the second and third are part of the Marco Polo Haydn Wood retrospective Volume 2, played by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ernest Tomlinson. [Haydn Wood: Volume 2 Marco Polo 8.223605 & Joyousness-The Music of Haydn Wood Guild GLCD 5121]

Frescoes were composed around 1936, when the composer was in his mid-fifties. According to Ernest Tomlinson, the music was inspired by the ‘mural decorations by Miss Anna Zinkeisen which graced a famous music publishing house.’ In fact it was Boosey and Hawkes at 295 Regent Street. Unfortunately, the murals were destroyed by fire in October 1990. I wonder if anyone has any photographs? (Apart from one obscure shot in Tempo)

Out of interest, Miss Zinkeisen was a Scottish artist, born in 1901. She and her sister Doris was employed by John Brown & Son of Clydebank, Glasgow to paint murals for the Queen Mary’s Verandah Grill and ballroom. During the war, Anna was a war artist working with the Red Cross and the Order of St John.

The first movement of Frescoes convincingly portrays a ballroom somewhere in Vienna, complete with a Hollywood-inspired realisation of the waltzes and the flowing dresses. It is one of the most delicious little waltzes that Haydn Wood or any other Englishman has composed.

The listener will instantly recognise the two main tunes used on the second movement Sea Shanties. The music opens quietly with a dream-like calm. It develops into a reflective mediations on ‘Shenandoah’, before suddenly moving onto ‘What shall we do with the drunken sailor?’ with its lovely muted brass melody. However, the serious side of this music reasserts itself and the movement ends as it began with ‘Shenandoah’ played with Delius-like slippery harmonies.

The March: The Bandstand in Hyde Park, based on another fresco, is depicted in the last movement and is well portrayed with a fast-paced march tune. This is no concert march like Elgar or Walton would have produced, but is an everyday, popular tune that would have been enjoyed by countless holidaymakers and day trippers at bandstands around the country. The march’s trio is a good tune, without going over the top. But what impresses me most is the superb orchestration: it is masterly in its use of colour, especially in the brass section.

Frescoes deserves to have a modern recording as a complete suite. It is a well written work that is typical of the composer’s output.

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Joseph Holbrooke: Chamber Music on Naxos

Joseph HOLBROOKE (1878-1958)

Violin Sonata No.1 (Sonatina), Op.6a (1890s); Horn Trio in D (original version) Op.28 (c.1906); Violin Concerto ‘The Grasshopper’ (Violin Sonata No.2) Op.59 (1909-1916); Mezzo-Tints, Op.55 No.2- L’Extase (1913)

Kerenza Peacock (violin) Mark Smith (horn) Robert Stevenson (piano)

NAXOS 8.572649 [74:59]

The best place to start this excellent new CD of music by Josef Holbrooke is the short character piece L’Extase from the Mezzotints Op. 55. This is one of a group of pieces that the composer wrote for clarinet or violin and piano. Robert Stevenson, in the liner notes writes that these were actually part of a bigger project of a dozen pieces which were conceived as being one for each month of the year. However the compositional history appears to be quite convoluted.

In a dissertation on Holbrooke’s chamber music Joseph Dee Webb has suggested that Op.55 has eight pieces which were published in two volumes. They are listed there as Volume 1 Op.55, nos.1-3 L’Extase, Albanian Serenade, Celtic Elegie, and Op.55 nos. 5-8 Canzonetta ‘Spring Song’ (8) ‘The Butterfly of the Ballet’ (6), Girgenti (Cavatina) (7) and finally From Syracuse (5). They were originally published in 1918; however it is not possible to assign a date of composition.

In spite of all this confusion L’Extase is a lovely romantic little work that holds the listener’s attention. Let us hope that someone will record the entire ‘cycle’ of Mezzotints before to long.

The Violin Sonata No. 1 which is subtitled ‘Sonatina’ is deceptive. The soubriquet certainly does not do this 20-minute work justice. In fact, it is a classically conceived sonata in four well-balanced movements. However, the listener will not find a great emotional depth in this work: George Lowe has suggested that it is ‘a bright and pleasant composition... [that] skates over the surface of things.’ Yet there is a beauty and attractiveness about the unfolding of this work that manages to hold the listeners attention.

From the opening of the allegro in a rather optimistic minor key the movement explores a couple of pleasant themes. These resolve themselves after a short development into a traditional reprise. The ‘Nocturne’ is delightful if not particularly profound. There is certainly something of the ‘palm-court’ about it. The Scherzo is an interesting little number that does not really challenge, but is enjoyably all the same. There may well be a touch of Mendelssohn about this music, but it does not really matter.

It is with the last movement that one of Holbrooke’s fingerprints emerges: the nod towards popular music, in this case music-hall songs. Certainly, the main rondo theme is particularly charming.

The work was probably composed in the late 1890s and was duly dedicated to the great Fritz Kreisler. Stevenson suggests that this was probably more in hope than in anticipation of a performance by the maestro. The work was considerably revised over the next decade or so until it was finally published in 1907.

This is a Sonata that does not move mountains, but is well worth listening to. It is enjoyable and heart warming from end to end.

I fell in love with the Horn Trio (c.1906) on first hearing. It is a charming and optimistic work that surely demands to be in the repertoire. In fact, Robert Stevenson has suggested that one of the motivations to write this work may have been that any performances of Brahms’ Horn Trio, Op.40 would have required a companion piece in order to present a full concert. Interestingly the work is regarded as being technically more demanding than the Brahms work. George Lowe has written that ‘this Trio...is one of the brightest and most genial of Holbrooke’s works. It is uniformly melodious, and, in its middle movement, attains to considerable dignity and beauty of expression. Its sentiment has, to a large extent, been suggested by lines from Byron’s Don Juan:-

‘There’s music in the sighing of a reed

There’s music in the gushing of a rill

There’s music in all things if men had ears

Their earth is but an echo of the spheres.’’

The Horn Trio is in three movements: - a ‘larghetto sostenuto-allegro con brio’, an ‘adagio ma non troppo’ and a concluding ‘molto vivace’. The work was dedicated to the German horn player Adolf Borsdorf (1854-1923) Interestingly there are a number of problems in the compositional history of this work, and these have been addressed in liner notes and in Music & Letters, October 1965 by Kenneth L. Thompson. However these scholarly concerns need not distract us from a delightful and often rather beautiful work.

I found the slow movement the most enchanting, with a delicious dialogue between the horn and the violin. However the opening movement has many delightful moments. Yet it is the finale that sets its seal on the positive and ultimately cheerful nature of this work...

I guess most people will be curious to know two things about the Violin Concerto ‘The Grasshopper’ (Violin Sonata No’s) Op.59. Firstly, why has it gained the nickname ‘Grasshopper’ and secondly why does the title mention that this is a Violin Concerto as well as a Violin Sonata. Certainly the solo part may well suggest the behaviour of this creature, with its often lively and ‘frenetic leaping around.’ The piece may have been inspired (in part) by Richard Lovelace poem of the same title:-

Oh thou that swing'st upon the waving haire

Of some well-filled Oaten Beard,

Drunke ev'ry night with a Delicious teare

Dropt thee from Heav'n, where now th'art reard.

However, I think that it is advisable to hear this work without recourse to any mental images of insects or recalling any lines of poetry.

The compositional and cataloguing history of this piece is even more complex than that of the Mezzotints and the Horn Trio. There is even an alternative final movement. All this is discussed in considerable detail in the liner notes. However, it worth pointing out that the work exists in three incarnations – the concerto with orchestra, the (reduced) concerto with piano and the “sonata” (with the slightly simplified last movement). It is important to note that the ‘difficult’ version of the fiddle part is performed in the last movement.

This is a lovely sonata that is chock-full of good tunes for the soloist and an interesting piano part for the accompanist. A contemporary reviewer suggested that it was a work ‘overflowing with milk and honey.’ Certainly it is a positive piece that is satisfying and enjoyable. It is difficult to categorise the work however it is more in the classical tradition than a romantic tour de force between soloist and pianist,

The work’s orchestral premiere was on 7 November 1917 at a Leeds Philharmonic Society concert with the Hallé Orchestra conducted by the composer. However the ‘reduced’ version had been performed at the Crane Hall in Liverpool on 22 January 1917.

One final point: there is a hint in the liner notes that a recording of the orchestral version may be forthcoming, as well as another incarnation of the Horn Trio. Also Robert Stevenson suggests that the ‘sonata’ version of the final movement may be available at some stage.

Naxos has to be congratulated on this excellent CD. For far too long Josef Holbrooke’s music has been ignored. Over the last ten years or so a few pieces have begun to appear in the record catalogues. Most recently was the excellent Dutton Epoch release included the Fourth Symphony and the Cello Concerto. However there is a huge catalogue of music waiting to be explored, including some eight operas, a variety of concerti, eight symphonies, a number of orchestral pieces and a great deal of chamber works. These last two groups have been explored on CD – but much remains to discover.

Kerenza Peacock, Mark Smith and Robert Stevenson play all four works in a convincing and enthusiastic manner: they are excellent advocates for Josef Holbrooke’s music. Finally the liner notes by Robert Stevenson are exemplary: it is a major essay that considers Holbrooke’s status as a composer and a detailed consideration of the works presented. Would that every programme note writer were as committed to the historical and analytical side of music making.

Finally, I can only hope that NAXOS will embark on further recording projects of Josef Holbrooke’s music: even the briefest glance at the catalogues will suggest a number of avenues worth of exploration.

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review first appeared.

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William Walton: Constant Lambert writing on ‘Facade’

Constant Lambert first appeared as a reciter in Facade in the New Chenil Galleries, Chelsea, London on 29 June 1926 and had an involvement with the work over the succeeding years. In the February 1928 edition of The Dominant magazine he wrote an article entitled ‘Some Recent Works by William Walton.’

The music of the entertainment Facade includes, in its different versions, [1] work ranging over several years, although the only published numbers are of recent date. For the benefit of those who have not heard Facade it may be explained that the entertainment consists of a series of poems by Miss Edith Sitwell, spoken through a megaphone to the accompaniment of six instruments, namely, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, 'cello and percussion. Both orchestra and reciter are concealed by a screen decorated with a large mask, through the mouth of which the megaphone protrudes.

The poems are recited, for the most part, ‘senza espressione’, but with the utmost precision and variety of rhythm.

The collaboration is most successful and one can think of no other composer who could so well supply the musical equivalent of what has been admirably described as 'the hallucinated vision, the glassily clear technique, the curiously profound wit' of Edith Sitwell's poems. In the early version of Facade the music did little save add a background of strange arabesques and unexpected timbres to the poems; in the later versions, the music is much more clearly formed and there is a greater wealth of thematic material.

The orchestral suite [2], though a very enjoyable work, represents only one side of Facade for the composer has chosen the more brilliant and satirical numbers for adaptation and one may search in vain for the pastoral charm of ‘Daphne’ or the sinister atmosphere of ‘Four in the Morning'. The composer has kept closely- and in my opinion, too closely - to the form and rhythm of the poems. He has not always realized that certain passages have but little meaning when divorced from their peculiar method of presentation; thus, in the fourth number we are given nothing save a rather perfunctory crescendo passage to take the place of the brilliant cadenza for voice which (in the entertainment) leads from the tango to the paso-doble.

The only piece in which he has departed from the original form of the poem is the ‘Tarantella-Sevillana’, perhaps the most successful number in the suite, where the original material has been considerably expanded into a brilliant burlesque of the ‘Mediterranean’ style. [...]

The Dominant February 1928 (with minor edits)

Notes

[1] The study of the versions and recensions of Facade is complex. Suffice to say that most of the pieces of the original series were composed between 1922 and 1929. The first private performance was given at the Sitwell home at 2 Carlyle Square, London on Sunday 24 January 1922. Edith Sitwell was the reciter and William Walton conducted the ensemble of musicians. The first public performance was given at the Aeolian Hall, London, on 12 June 1923. Lambert would have been aware of the original Walton music and also some revisions.

[2] Lambert, at the time of writing this article, would also have known the 1926 Orchestral Suite which included Polka, Valse, Swiss Jodelling Song, Tango-Pasodoble and the Tarantella-Sevillana. This was first heard at the Lyceum theatre on Friday 3 December 1926.

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It's the The Last Night of the Proms - 2011

The Last Night of the Proms already! Where does time fly?? A bit of a mixed concert from the British point of view. Let us put aside the lollipops (much as I like them) such as Pomp & Circumstance No.1 by Edward Elgar, Jerusalem by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (this is his only outing at this year’s Proms) Arne’s 'Rule Britannia' and the National Anthem. The BBC have to include these numbers whether they deem them politically correct or not!

However it is a pity that the Sea Songs are not being hear this tear. Probably to make way for the two works by Richard Rogers. Liverpool F.C fans will be delighted with the hit from Carousel ‘You’ll never walk alone’ although where is Gerry Marsden and the Pacemakers! Susan Bullock sings that number and also 'Climb every Mountain' from that little-known film The Sound of Music!

The Last Night opens with as piece by the Master of the Queen’s Musick which was composed for the Musicians Benevolent Fund. The piece is called ‘Musica Benevolens’. This is followed by Bela Bartok’s The Miraculous Mandarin Suite and then the Immolation Scene from Richard Wagner’s Gotterdammerung. Finally, before the interval Lang Lang plays Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No.1 in Eb major.

The real Proms Party begins after the break with Chopin’s impressive Grande Polonaise brillante, Op. 22. This is followed by the Australian Percy Grainger’s very short but very moving Mo nighean dubh (My Dark-Haired Maiden) for choir.

The highlight of the second half is Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. I am not sure that this piece is being narrated however it remains one of the most popular orchestral works in the repertoire. It has been listened to by generations of school-children and for many will form their first foray into the orchestral repertoire. I seem to recall seeing an old film of this piece with Sir Malcolm Sargent and the LSO!

After the Britten, there is the usual ‘pops’ referred to above.

It is a great conclusion to a splendid season. I have moaned about the lack of British music and the possible 'Mahlerisation' of the event, however there has been an excellent selection of music that is both entertaining and challenging. And from a British music point of view there is always next year...

A will do a final count and roundup of the major British works given at this year’s Proms in a later post. Meanwhile, well done the BBC...

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William Blezard: Two Celtic Pieces

The Two Celtic Pieces were originally composed for flute and piano. They were written for a friend who needed some material to help to learn the flute. However, after some thought Blezard decided that the Highland Lament would sound better on the oboe. The Irish Whirligig followed suit. I once wrote that the finest piece of Scottish music was written by Sir Malcolm Arnold – a man born in Northampton- when he penned the third of the Four Scottish Dances. Arnold seemed to have achieved what a generation of Scots composers had failed to do. He perfectly evoked the highland landscape in music. However William Blezard’s evocation of things Scottish in his achingly beautiful Highland Lament comes pretty close. It has been well likened to a piece that could have been written by Delius.

The nod to Ireland is equally impressive. The title Whirligig perhaps is misleading. Although there is much movement here there are also some quite reflective moments. In fact the orchestra gets quite aggressive in places becoming almost discordant before the oboe resumes with its slightly wistful theme. The work ends with a little flourish preceded by a short muse on earlier material.

The Two Celtic Pieces can be heard on ASV WHITELINE CD WHL 2130

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Edward Elgar: Chamber Music on Hyperion

Edward Elgar: Chamber Music

String Quartet in E minor, Op.83 (1918) Mina (solo piano) (1932-33) Laura Valse (solo piano) (1887) March in D major (solo piano) (1887)Impromptu (solo piano) (1932) Piano Quintet in A minor, Op.84 (1918-19)

Piers Lane (piano) Goldner String Quartet: Dene Olding (violin) Dimity Hall (violin) Irina Morozova (viola) Julian Smiles (cello)

HYPERION CDA67857

It may be heresy to say this, but I would swap a great deal of Elgar’s choral, vocal and even orchestral works to possess the so-called ‘Brinkwells’ music’ – the Violin Sonata in E minor (1918), the String Quartet in E minor (1918) and the Piano Quintet in A minor (1918-19). These were written at a time when most critics felt that the composer was at the end of his career. During the Great War, Elgar composed few major works: what he did write were to a large extent ephemeral and patriotic pieces for the ‘war effort.’ However in 1917 he and his wife, Alice, rented a cottage called Brinkwells in West Sussex. This location was deep within the woods near the the village of Fittleworth. Apart from its remoteness, there were plenty of secret footpaths and extensive views which allowed Elgar time and space to think. It was a bitter-sweet period in the composer’s life: many friends had died during the war years, his wife Alice was becoming frail and Elgar came to realise that he was no longer at the forefront of British and European music. His style, in the face of Ravel, Schoenberg and Stravinsky was seen as being conservative and reactionary. Pluralism was barely an option in those days: it was the ‘latest craze’ that mattered.

Diana McVeagh gives a good analysis of all the pieces in her excellent liner notes, so I will content myself with a few remarks and observations about these works.

The String Quartet is written in three well-balanced movements. The opening of this work establishes its serious purpose in which the composer has created an involved, ‘intricate’ and at times complex structure. In spite of the peaceful surroundings of the Sussex countryside, this work is no idyll. Charles Porte has noted the huge emotional variety in this movement: ‘allargando, stringendo, espresso con fuoco and nobilmente.’ He insists that this variety of moods keeps the players in ‘constant animation.’ The reflective atmosphere of the second subject acts as a foil to the largely unsettling music that makes up the remainder of this movement. The composer seems to be in search of something intangible: it may well be a lost muse or an attempt at finding an ‘explanation’ for some event in the past.

The second movement is particularly memorable and was a favourite of the composer’s wife. She said that it ‘captured sunshine’ and made her think about ‘the sound of bees and insects on a hot summer’s afternoon.’ Yet there is much emotion in this music that goes beyond a ‘stroll in a garden.’ With some sections of this music we are back into the world of the Violin Concerto and ‘what might have been.’ Interestingly, this movement was played at Lady Elgar’s funeral in 1920 by a ‘scratch’ quartet of big names – Albert Sammons, W.H. Reed, Lionel Tertis and Felix Salmond.

The final movement is extremely energetic with little chance of relaxation. Certainly the pace that the Goldner Quartet gives to it is breathtaking. The urgency of the music is balanced by the lovely second subject which is indicated as ‘dolce’: this allows some relaxation and reflection. Yet the vital music returns and brings the movement and the work to a loud and pressing conclusion.

If the String Quartet is an important work then the Quintet in A minor for piano and strings is one of Elgar’s greatest works and a masterpiece of the genre. Charles Porte notes that this essay is the culmination of the composer’s sudden, late interest in serious chamber music. He had written many pieces over the years for violin and piano, but these tended to be in a ‘lighter’ mood. The Quintet was the third and last of the Brinkwells’ works. There is a sense here that the composer is moving towards some indefinable musical goal. I guess that there is an analogy with Beethoven and his late Quartets: music that is definably by the composer but inhabiting a different sound world. It is Elgar, but not as we know it!

The first movement, the ‘allegro moderato’ presents the fundamental material of this work. Reviewers have noticed the techniques that Elgar has used to create the musical structure of this work: transformations of themes and phrases rather than extended melodies.

I believe that the adagio is one of the finest movements to come from Elgar’s pen. It reaches a height (or is it depth) rarely achieved by any composer. This is valedictory music that seems to sum up the composer’s career: this mood would be continued in the later Cello Concerto in E minor. But, in the Quintet the temper is near-perfect. It is hard to know whether there is an air of optimism, but certainly there is a feeling of acceptance. Diana McVeigh refers to this mood as ‘a profound romantic stillness.’

At the time of composition there was a lot of nonsense written about the ‘ghostly’ mood in this work being inspired by a group of ancient Iberian monks who had been committing ‘inappropriate rites’ in the woods! However, the historicity of this ‘outrage’ has been largely debunked. Any ‘weirdness’ encountered in this work is more likely to have been a result of a visit from that master of the macabre, Algernon Blackwood to Brinkwells. Yet, there is a ‘haunted’ air about much of this music that may be subject to the composer’s own reflections on his past life and loves.

The entire work is summed up by a feeling of melancholy and resignation. Although I feel that the ‘adagio’ exhibits the best of the composer, it is in the finale that the true strength of the work is carried. This music is cyclical, with references to the opening movement that balances the troubled nature of many pages here. The sweep of the argument ranges from assurance to a loss of that confidence and finally a new power emerges in the closing pages.

The Piano Quintet was dedicated to Ernest Newman, who at time was music critic at the Manchester Guardian. The Piano Quintet was first performed at the Wigmore Hall on 21 May 1919. The performers were Albert Sammons, W.H. Reed, Raymond Jeremy, Felix Salmond and William Murdoch.

Hyperion have added four make-weights to this CD: all piano solos played by Piers Lane. The first is a delicious ‘transcription’ of Elgar’s last completed work, Mina, which is a lovely miniature in the composer’s ‘light music’ vein. ‘Mina’ was the name of Elgar’s Cairn terrier: the composer fondly imagined that the dog had the disposition of a ‘dowager duchess.’ It was originally conceived for orchestra but has been realised for piano by David Patrick with emendations by Piers Lane. The material is largely derived the piano sketches Elgar made for the work. Diana McVeagh has noted in her study of the composer that this piece is ‘a little echo of the 'Lullaby’ in From the Bavarian Highland’.

I fell in love with the heart-achingly beautiful Laura Valse on first hearing. In many ways this music epitomises Elgar as much as many of his later works. It was composed in 1887 for a pupil of the composer. Diana McVeagh suggest that this ‘Laura’ was ‘probably ...a soprano from Stratford whose family discouraged the attentions of the obscure music teacher.’

The short March in D major is rather fun. The liner notes suggest that it is a ‘cheerful forerunner’ of the five (six) Pomp & Circumstance Marches. Perhaps one day this ‘discovered work’ will be orchestrated?

The Impromptu, which runs to a mere 37 seconds, is ‘as romantic as anything he [Elgar] ever composed’. Truly the listener will wish that this piece would last much longer. It was written for a lady called Evelyn Francis Barron Dales who was one-time secretary to the Belfast BBC producer Godfrey Brown. Elgar had presumably met this lady on a visit to Ulster in 1932 when the composer conducted a performance of Gerontius.

The liner notes by Diana McVeagh are excellent and give the listener all they need to understand these two wonderful pieces of chamber music. However, anyone interested in gaining an in-depth understanding of the background to the Quartet and Quinter are advised to read Elgar, Vicat Cole and the Ghosts of Brinkwells by Carol Fitzgerald and Brian W. Harvey. It is a fascinating period in Elgar’s life, which has been critically regarded as being unproductive.

It is almost redundant to mention that the Goldner String Quartet and Piers Lane give striking performances of these late masterpieces. Every nuance of this music seems to be perfect. The sound recording is truly stunning. I will certainly turn to this Hyperion recording when I wish to listen to the String Quartet and the Piano Quintet.

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review first appeared.

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Prom Watch 2001 Week 8

This is the eighth of my Proms-Watch analysis of British Music being performed during the 2011 season. Once again it is not a brilliant week for British music, but there are some hightlights...

Friday 2 September

Ah, lucky old Gustav Mahler – tonight is the fourth symphony played at the 2011 Proms: it is the turn of Symphony No. 1 in D major. Would that certain British composers could have had just one played – Rawsthorne, Martelli, Searle, Joubert, Cliffe, Dunhill, Coleridge-Taylor, Grace Williams...

Other works at this concert given by the Budapest Festival Orchestra conducted by Iván Fischer include more Mahler – his Blumine and two pieces by Franz Liszt - Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke (Mephisto Waltz No. 1) and the Totentanz.

Saturday 3 September

This is a much better day for British music. At the afternoon concert at the Cadogan Hall, there is music by Sir John Tavener and Michael Tippett. These include the choral music ‘The Windhover’ and ‘Plebs Angelica’ by the latter and Popule meus by Sir John.

Tippett’s Little Music for Strings is also heard alongside the Russian Sofia Gubaidulina’s large-scale The Canticle of the Sun. David Hill conducts the BBC Singers and the Britten Sinfonia. Natalie Clein is the cellist for the Tavener.

The evening concert is also impressive from the British point of view. The proceedings open with Edward Elgar’s Cockaigne Overture and is followed by a newly commissioned Organ Concerto by Michael Berkeley. After the interval there is a performance of Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and the concert concludes with Kodaly’s Háry János – Suite. Marc-André Hamelin is the soloist for the Rachmaninov, David Goode for the Berkeley. Jac van Steen conducts the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Sunday 4 September

More organ music at the afternoon Prom today. Thierry Escaich plays works by J.S. Bach, César Franck, Franz Liszt and three of his own compositions. No British music.

The evening Prom is given over to a performance of Beethoven’s great Missa Solemnis. This includes an impressive cast of soloists and London Philharmonic Choir London Symphony Chorus London Symphony Orchestra all held together by the redoubtable Sir Colin Davis.

Monday 7 September

The afternoon concert at the Cadogan Hall has two violin sonatas. The first is Mozart’s Violin Sonata in A major, K526 and this is followed by Bartok’s Violin Sonata No. 1. The soloists are Christian Tetzlaff and Lars Vogt.

The evening concert features the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and their conductor Manfred Honeck. Works include Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.5 in E flat minor and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.4. The soloist is Hélène Grimaud. At tonight’s concert there is a rare piece by the German composer Walter Braunfels (1892-1954), Fantastic Appearances of a Theme of Hector Berlioz: it is a work well worth hearing.

Tuesday 6 September

No British music tonight. It is the second of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s concerts at this year’s Proms. And I am afraid it is another Mahler Symphony - Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor. The evening opens with Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin - Prelude, Act 1 and this is followed by Wolfgang Rihm’s Gesungene Zeit (Time Chant) which dates from 1991-92. It is a contemporary masterpiece. Anne-Sophie Mutter is the soloist.

Wednesday 7 September

This is a huge British music night. The main work is a performance of Gustav Holst’s best known works The Planets. However, I do sometimes wonder if concert promoters know that GH wrote one or two other pieces for orchestra.

The concert opens with a first UK performance of Harrison Birtwistle’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. The Proms website notes that this is ‘his first for a string instrument, was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Christian Tetzlaff and unveiled by him in March to rave reviews’. Birtwistle himself has written that ‘I had some violin lessons at school, so I have a memory of the physical feel of the instrument, in a sense. It's rather like remembering how to bowl a leg break in cricket, even if I couldn't do it now.'

Promises to be a great piece.

Frank Bridge enthusiast are well-served tonight with a rarely-hreard tone poem. The BBC writes that [Bridge] ‘is at his most romantic and Lisztian in the Keats-inspired Isabella, given its world premiere at the Proms by founder-conductor Henry Wood’. It has been a great Prom season for Frank Bridge. Let us hope that it has increased his profile amongst music enthusiasts. David Robertson conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Holst Singers. The soloist in the violin concerto is Christian Tetzlaff.

A ‘fab’ night.

The late-night Prom is devoted to the music of jazz-legend Stan Kenton.

Thursday 8 September

No British music this evening. The Philadelphia Orchestra under Charles Dutoit perform Sibelius’ Finlandia, Tchaikovsky’s Violin concerto with soloist Janine Jansen, Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances and finally Ravel’s La Valse.

Friday 9 September

We are into the last two days of the season. This evening is given over to a performance or Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz. Tonight it is given in Hector Berlioz’s rarely heard French version of the opera. Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique with a galaxy of soloists.

A mixed week for British Music. Great to have another work by Frank Bridge (Isabella) and certainly good to hear the Planets. Birtwistle and Berkeley both have new concertos performed. Elgar’s Cockaigne Overture is always welcome, especially in the city that inspired it. Also some choral works by Tippett and Britten. So not too bad...

I will comment on the Last Night of the Proms nearer the time...

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