At the urging of an Amazon friend, I composed a list of the top 100 composers a few years back. The list was based on the number of pages each composer was represented by in three musicological books --
The Penguin Guide to Classical Music,
All Music Guide to Classical Music and
Ewen's Musical Masterworks from 1953. I selected these books because they were readily available, did not give preference to composers from any single country, and because they did not necessarily represent only our current time.
The most shocking finding to me in this survey, by far, was Benjamin Britten coming in at No. 20 in the list, right behind Ravel and in front of Chopin. Perhaps becaue I am American, I never considered him a composer of such rank, and never did I pay sufficient attention to his music until that time came. Since then, I have dabbled widely in Britten's music, beginning with the War Requiem, Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Simply Symphony, the Violin Concerto, Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, Sinfonia de Requiem, A Ceremony of Carols, Peter Grimes, Billy Budd and the music represented on this recording, which includes the sea interludes (shorn of the passacaglia) from Peter Grimes, which I think are probably his most well-known orchestral pieces to music fans.
If you don't know, this recording has been accepted critically as little less than a holy grail of Britten's orchestral music. In the month it was released, both Classics Today (an American-based website) and BBC Music Magazine delegated it as their recording of the month (Classics Today had several, of which this was one.) It is only a matter of time before critics worldwide catch up to this release and delegate it as a contender for classical recording of the year. Its contents are a Symphonic Suite from Gloriana, a failed opera; the Cello Symphony, which is essentially a concerto by another name; and the Four (orchestral) Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, an opera. The recording features a number of young artists from the U.K. including cellist Paul Watkins, tenor Robert Murray and 40-something conductor Edward Gardner, who looks 20-something in the two publicity photos of him that accompany this package. One of Britain's great orchestras, the BBC Philharmonic, does the playing.
Britten composed the Cello Symphony expressly for Mstislav Rostropovich (who introduced it in 1964 under the composer's baton) after seeing the British premiere of Shostakovich's cello concerto in 1960. In four movements at close to 35 minutes, it is something of a morose piece as played here. It has three mysterious negative emotion-dominant movements before a more upbeat passacaglia closes. Unless you live in England, there's not much question to me why you are never likely to have heard it in performance: while something of a mimic to the Shostakovich concerto, it lacks the energy and humanity of that piece, it lacks memorable themes, and is focused on darkness most of the way. Watkins, Gardner and the BBC Philharmonic strongly advocate for the piece but are little match for the
Rostropovich recording.
The Symphonic Suite for Gloriana, from the opera of the same name, is much different. Written in 1953 to celebrate the queen's coronation, it is based on Queen Elizabeth I's affair with the Earl of Essex; it revels in Elizabethan dances and rhythms. Its four sections -- a lively introduction called the Tournament, a romantic Lute Song sung by tenor Robert Murray (whose elocution and English are insufficient to overcome Chandos's lack of text); a selection of six courtly dances; and a piece called Gloriana moritua that starts dramatically, reflecting the queen's decision to have the earl executed for treason -- present a chronology of the opera. The suite lasts a bit more than 25 minutes. This is not the only recording; another from recent years on
Naxos also inlcudes Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem and Sea Interludes and Passacaglia from Peter Grimes.
This is followed by the four sea interludes. These are played at a standard pace with monumental projection and fine playing and articulation in the four sequences -- dawn, Sunday morning, moonlight and storm. The exemplary Chandos recording, which it better than their often homogenized mass, punctuatates the bells, chimes and other instruments, which can all be heard clearly. The timpani bang away unmercifully during the closing fury of the storm, right before single drumbeats accompany vengeful brass that lead to the wind-whipped conclusion. Fine as it is, I put on
Handley's 1986 version immediately afterward and was even more turned on -- even in inferior sound with post-echo at the end.
This is definitely a great recording, maybe too great; there is some technical gimmicry going on. When I listened on earphones I could clearly hear the violins dedicated way over to the left speaker. In the Cello Symphony, the timpani seemed to be coming from both speakers simultaneously. Is it my imagination or have we returned to those halcyon days of the 1960s when recordings were made from two sources and mixed to many? I can hardly believe a major recording company would do this in the authenticity era.
So here's a batch of orchestral music from a major European composer, brilliantly played and recorded, and delivered with conviction and elan by young musicians of his native country. I think this is a good collection for anyone looking for something new. It almost certainly will turn your crank if you are an audiophile. For me, it was reminiscent of a recording of
Carkl Nielsen's Orchestral Works from a few year's back. That one had critics stumbling over each other declaring it the record of the year, too. And, like the buzz around that one, when I finally heard it, it didn't do for me what it did for them. Maybe this one will do it for you.