JOSEPH HOLBROOKE – Symphonic Poems: Amontillado; The Viking; Three Blind Mice; Ulalume – Brandenburg State Orchestra of Frankfurt/ Howard Griffiths – CPO 777442-2 [Distr. by Naxos] ****:
In 1908 the late Romantic English composer, Joseph Holbrooke (1878-1958), convinced Sir Thomas Beecham to mount one of the first live multimedia concerts ever – his huge composition for orchestra and male choir, Apollo and the Seaman. Lantern slides of the poem projected onto an oversized screen, but in the first concert, the slides were out of synch with the music, to the amusement of many, including Beecham. The problem was corrected and the next and last concert was a success. The music of Holbrooke was heavily influenced by Wagner and Liszt, and the latter’s many tone poems became the Englishman’s preferred musical form.
The dramatic overture, Amontillado, is inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s famous story, The Cask of Amontillado. The music follows the story very literally. What stands out is the music’s large scale and emotional contrasts typical of the late Romantic idiom. The Viking musically depicts the adventure of a seaman who fell in love with the daughter of a prince who disagreed with the match. The lovers fled, and the father died trying to catch them. Holbrooke uses a huge orchestral tapestry to portray the drama and romance of the story. If you think a composition of over 14 minutes of variations on the old English air, Three Blind Mice, could be uninteresting, you’re wrong. It’s clever and funny and was a hit when it premiered in 1900 at the Promenade Concert in London. In Ulalume, based on Poe’s poem, Holbrooke creates a wondrous metaphysical tapestry of a soul searching for meaning in life only to find the grave of his wife (Ulalume). It’s the most creative of the tone poems on this CD.
The Brandenburg State Orchestra of Frankfurt plays this romantic music for all it’s worth. Sit back, relax and realize anew how much pleasure is reaped from hearing a brilliantly-recorded large orchestra reproduced in your living room!
— Robert Moon
