British Tone Poems, Vol. 1 (2017)

performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Rumon Gamba (conductor)
composed by Frederic Austin, Granville Bantock, Henry Balfour Gardiner, Ivor Gurney, Ralph Vaughan Williams, William Alwyn

The music on the program of this Chandos release is not terribly often programmed, even in Britain, and the title British Tone Poems, Vol. 1, is not one to stir the soul. The six pieces on the program all share the pastoral mood that inspired a British serialist to make light of the Cowpat School. Yet adjust yourself to the rather narrow horizons of this music, and you'll find some gems. Consider the opening Spring, by the almost-forgotten Frederic Austin (who, among other accomplishments, put The Twelve Days of Christmas ... Read More

The music on the program of this Chandos release is not terribly often programmed, even in Britain, and the title British Tone Poems, Vol. 1, is not one to stir the soul. The six pieces on the program all share the pastoral mood that inspired a British serialist to make light of the Cowpat School. Yet adjust yourself to the rather narrow horizons of this music, and you'll find some gems. Consider the opening Spring, by the almost-forgotten Frederic Austin (who, among other accomplishments, put The Twelve Days of Christmas into the form in which it is known today). It consists of five fleeting glimpses of the season, not profound but immensely tuneful, and it is an all-but-unknown work. Sample its second movement or turn to A Gloucestershire Rhapsody by the hugely underrated Ivor Gurney, who is known mostly for his songs. He wrote this five-movement work shortly after World War I, in which he was hit by poison gas, and shortly before he was permanently institutionalized. Annotator Lewis Foreman suggests... Read Less