Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rawsthorne Given Exemplary Performances, 28 May 2005
The music of British composer Alan Rawsthorne (1905-1971) is not well-known in the United States. In a lifetime of concert-going I've never heard a single work of his performed. I've known some of his music from a well-regarded series of Lyrita recordings from the LP era, including a recording of the Second Symphony. And, of course, I've known his best-known piece, the 'Symphonic Studies.' Thus, I was eager to hear this CD of all three of his symphonies. I must say, however, that this is difficult music to get one's ears around, at least partly because of the tonal ambiguity of so much of it, particularly in the First and Third Symphonies (and perhaps some familiarity with the soft, more lyrical Second Symphony helped me 'hear' it more easily). Part of the problem is a kind of unrelenting grayness that comes from Rawsthorne's handling of harmony. Although nearly completely tonal, it is actually what I would call 'ambitonal' in that the tonal center keeps changing, sometimes within very few measures, largely because of the way he uses augmented triads with their conflicting sets of major thirds. First you think you're in F major then it suddenly becomes C sharp minor, then C sharp major, say. Confusing, but it does tease the ear. Another aspect of Rawsthorne's style is that he doesn't mess around with unnecessary passage work or standard development; rather he tends to progress by juxtapositions of unlike material. He plunges right in and carries one forward breathlessly, even in his slower movements. This is particularly so in the First Symphony, which is not only dramatic but even rather tumultuous. Still, once one gets attuned to Rawsthorne's harmonic and gestural fingerprints, this can be powerful and evocative music. I would suggest to anyone who buys this CD that they listen to only one movement or perhaps just one symphony at a time, and several times, before moving on to the next. Perhaps that's not a bad recipe for listening to any new music, but it is particularly helpful for music as hard to grasp initially as this. I've found with the two unfamiliar works that it helped immensely to concentrate on a movement at a time. Generally, by the third time around it has begun to sink in, make sense and evoke an emotional response. These performances are unexceptionable. David Lloyd-Jones is a fine conductor, as his other recordings (Holst, Bax, Elgar, Vaughan Williams) attest, and of course the Bournemouth Symphony is a known, and valued, commodity. Soprano Charlotte Ellet, who sings the poetry of Henry Howard's evocation of the arrival of summer in the finale of the Second 'Pastoral' Symphony, has a bright, lyrical voice that imparts the joy of that event, while the orchestra underscores it with the darkness that both the poem and the composer apparently feel summer contains ('Each care decays, and yet my sorrow springs'). Scott Morrison
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Three rarely-heard symhonies, 23 Mar 2008
Despite writing a considerable amount of works, English composer Alan Rawsthorne (1905-1971) doesn't enjoy great popularity with today's concert performers and audiences.
After initial interests in dentistry and architecture, Rawsthorne eventually settled on a career in music, and despite having no great instrument playing skills gained entry to the Royal Manchester School of Music. After failing to achieve exam successes in piano and cello playing he studied with the great pianist Egon Petri, gaining valuable playing experience which stood him in good stead for his future music scores.
Rawsthorne's development as a composer was a slow one, and it was not until the post World War II years that his work started to achieve recognition, with his two violin concertos appearing in 1948 then 1956, his two piano concertos of 1939 (premiered at a 1942 Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall) and 1951, and the `Street Corner' Overture with its London theme which finally established his name as a significant contributer to 20th century music. After this period, while never becoming a particularly popular figure amongst composers of his time, he enjoyed a broad recognition, and financial security, with his many scores for film music.
Rawsthorne's three symphonies were developed over a number of years, appearing in 1950, 1959 and 1964 and are played by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in their complete form on this 2004 recording from The Concert Hall, Poole, England. It's easy to hear why these works have not captured the audience's attention as readily as those of his contemporaries, for I think they lack the structure and boldness of those by Elgar and fail to match the strong programmatic symphonic style of Vaughan Williams.
While maybe not prompting audiences to their feet shouting `encore', I think these works represent an important piece of 20th century English National style of symphonic music, so full credit to the Naxos label for these mid-price recordings to help this cause.
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~ Alan Rawsthorne
~ Alexander Baillie
~ Alan Rawsthorne
~ Alan Rawsthorne
~ William Alwyn
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