BBC National Orchestra of Wales Archive

AUSTIN: Symphonic Rhapsody “Spring”; ALWYN: Blackdown; BANTOCK: Witch of Atlas; GURNEY: Gloucestershire Rhapsody; GARDINER: A Berkshire Idyll; VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: The Solent – BBC National Orch. of Wales/Rumon Gamba – Chandos

by Audiophile Audition | Apr 8, 2017 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

An encouraging start to a valuable series of British orchestral music. BRITISH TONE POEMS Vol 1 = Music by Frederic Austin, William Alwyn, Granville Bantock, Ivor Gurney, Henry Balfour Gardiner & Ralph Vaughan Williams – BBC National Orchestra of  Wales / Rumon Gamba ; Chandos 10939 reviewed as 24-96 flac download;  TT: 76:41 [Distr. by Naxos] ****: Following two fine volumes of Overtures from the British Isles, Chandos has released the first volume of what promises to be a series of British Tone Poems, again with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Rumon Gamba. Frederic Austin (1872-1952) wrote the Symphonic Rhapsody, Spring between 1902 and 1907.  In five short sections, its sunny and optimistic mood proves an enticing opening to this collection.  Passionate outbursts contrast with the andante moderato section and its effective solo for violin, played, one guesses, by the leader, Nick Whiting. Next on the programme is Blackdown,  an early work by William Alwyn (1905-1985).  Written in 1926, its composer was already a Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and a flautist in the London Symphony Orchestra.  This “tone poem from the Surrey Hills”  refers to the Downs above the Georgian town […]