Joseph Holbrooke Vidéos
compositeur britannique
- piano
- opéra, symphonie
- Royaume-Uni, Royaume-Uni de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande
- chef ou cheffe d'orchestre, compositeur ou compositrice, pianiste
Dernière mise à jour
2024-05-01
Actualiser
York Bowen Holmes Ewell Somerset Novello Elisabeth Lutyens Chopin Severe Liszt Josef Holbrooke Ralph Vaughan Williams 1948 1949 1951 1952
This video is about York Bowen Fantasia in G minor York Bowen: Fantasia in G minor for Organ Op.136 The organ works of York Bowen are few and far between. Apart from the present piece I know that there is a Melody in G minor and a transcription of the Somerset Suite (a desideratum for me in its orchestral incarnation). The Fantasia was composed in 1949 and was duly published by Novello in 1952. It is quite clear to even the casual listener that this work would have been regarded as being somewhat retro when given its first performance at All Souls Langham Place in June 1951. It was a part of an impressive organ recital delivered by Arnold Richardson, the borough organist of Wolverhampton. It was the fourth in a series of recitals for the Festival of Britain celebrations. Bowen’s Fantasia was played back to back with Elisabeth Lutyens’s 1948 Suite. The Times reviewer felt that although these two works are “only separated in date by a year, [the two works] are poles apart in spirit, the one proving as fleshy in its romanticism as the other was like bare (but not dry) bones in its austerity”. The Times Monday, June 18, 1951 p.2. The Musical Times critic considered that “Arnold Richardson gallantly tackled a programme containing three first performances.” He considered that Bowen’s Fantasia in G minor “proved [to be] a rich and satisfying work…it is perhaps a little too right-handed for the organ (though did not Wagner make the same complaint of Chopin's piano writing?), but it is a specimen that one would like to have in print”. The Musical Times October 1951, p.460 A year or so later, when the score was published, the Musical Times noted: “When a well-known piano professor and composer embarks upon a full-length Fantasia for organ he should be assured of an attentive hearing". He wrote that “it came in a programme where its full-blooded romanticism made a pleasing contrast to the neo-baroque of Arnell and the tortured trickle of Elisabeth Lutyens. It has indeed a faintly dated air, less from its style than from its thought, though much of the writing is frankly chordal and tends to sound dull on the organ. The subject-matter is not strong, and there is far too much of it, so that the work as a whole seems diffuse. The Musical Times October 1952 p. 453. Apparently York Bowen responded to this review by saying "How disgusting! Not because they don't like my piece but because they can take that Lutyens thing seriously! It is just dreadful to find this and I refuse to take any notice of ordinary newspaper critics -and no wonder! “ I don’t think my organ piece is ‘romantic’ at all…it is quite severe in parts! Silly asses!” Listening to this work more than half a century later, it is certainly possible to see both points of view. There is definitely much about this music that is ‘romantic’ and certainly even the briefest of glances at the score show that it is perhaps more ‘pianistic’ than specifically devised for the organ. Certainly Bowen makes considerable use of octaves in the right hand, arpeggios and chromatic scale figurations. But it does work. And there are many passages where the added- note harmony and slippery tonality give lie to any suggestion that this is souped-up Chopin or Liszt. For the record, the other works in Arnold Richardson's impressive programme were Richard Arnell’s Second Sonata, Josef Holbrooke’s ‘outsize’ Bayreuthian G minor Prelude and Ralph Vaughan Williams ‘gentle ‘Rhosymedre’ Prelude.
Joseph Holbrooke Vaughan Williams Ornstein Schoenberg Heymann Seaman Shakespeare Beethoven Barnett 1878 1920 1925 1958
Joseph Holbrooke (1878 – 1958) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. Joseph Holbrooke belongs to the generation of composers at the core of the twentieth century British musical renaissance. He died in 1958, the same year as Vaughan Williams, and in almost total obscurity. His neglect began after the Great War and the gradient of descent increased dramatically from 1925 onwards. However he had a heyday and one with considerable celebrity. He wrote a considerable amount of light music and not once did he veer in the direction of atonalism although the four dances for solo piano may be taken as lampooning the trendiness of people like Ornstein and Schoenberg. Jazzy moments find their way into some of the music of the Twenties. For example he wrote music for the big society balls of the day and also went dancing with his wife Dorothy, better known as 'Dot'. Holbrooke has a strong handle on melody and perhaps his apprenticeship in the music halls accounts for the fact that he retained an unfeigned and unashamed admiration for real whistleable tunes. These found their way into his concert music which (with a few exceptions), contrary to popular myth, are not for monster-sized orchestras. Klaus Heymann's adventurous recording company Marco Polo have already recorded a number of his orchestral works but what we desperately need now are recordings of the symphony (No. 2) Apollo and the Seaman and the impressionistic tone poem Queen Mab (after Shakespeare). The three music-dramas are a natural for cinema or TV. In fact Holbrooke used film as part of the scenery in the premieres of all three works. The late works based on Poe short stories also appear to be worth exploring and are at the very least intriguing. These include the overture Amontillado, and the two 1930s tone poems The Pit and the Pendulum and The Maelstrom. All are in urgent need of exploratory performances. A full score of the overture and The Pit and The Pendulum exist; however the full score of The Maelstrom, which may also be entitled Descent Into the Maelstrom appears to be missing. At a less ambitious level we need recordings of his two titled piano sonatas of the 1930s/40s. There is so much which remains an unknown quantity with Holbrooke. His eight symphonies are each scored completely differently from the other seven. We can look at the later symphonies (5-8) and wonder particularly about the eighth symphony (Dance Symphony) which is scored for piano and orchestra. This work may well trace its origins back to the popular music he wrote during the 1920s but it could just as easily point towards new directions and experiments. Throughout his life Holbrooke was an experimenter but one who chose the language of romance in which to express himself. Like Beethoven, Holbrooke was afflicted with deafness. This set in relatively early from 1920 onwards. Visitors to the family home often had to contend with Holbrooke struggling with a massive old-fashioned hearing aid. Composition and re-composition continued. He revised earlier works and quarried discarded works for thematic material. There are also a few cases of the same work emerging under a different title. He occupied himself during the late 1930s and through into the 1940s with an autobiography. (Robert Barnett) / - A method to find scores: (http•••) - My donation link to keep the channel growing: (http•••) Thanks for listening :-)
Joseph Holbrooke 1878 1900 1958
SUBSCRIBE to my PATREON! → patreon.com/spscorevideos PAYPAL for free donations! → paypal.me/stepaparozzi Joseph Holbrooke +••.••(...)) Three Blind Mice, Op.37 (1900) Performers: (http•••) Score from: (http•••)
Joseph Holbrooke Sir Edward Elgar Sledge Bbc Concert Orchestra 1878 1903 1958
Joseph HOLBROOKE +••.••(...)) "The Bells" op. 50(a) (1903) Dramatic Poem by Edgar Allan Poe, composed for Chorus and grand Orchestra („To my Friend Sir Edward Elgar”) 1. Prelude (Andante non troppo, misterioso sostenuto) 2. Sledge Bells (Allegro leggierissimo) 3. Wedding Bells (Poco più lento) 4. Alarm Bells (Allegro moderato marcato molto) 5. Iron Bells (Adagio funebre) BBC Concert Singers BBC Concert Orchestra / John Poole BBC studio recording, no date available "The Bells" are already available on YouTube. But I thought it might please our British friends to have back this BBC performance with John Poole who recently passed away. Besides it is in one file and the sound is a bit better.
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