BBC S.O. Archive

COOKE: Symphonies 4 & 5 – BBC S.O. /BBC Northern S.O. / John Pritchard & Bernard Keeffe – Lyrita

by Audiophile Audition | Apr 7, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

ARNOLD COOKE: Symphonies 4 & 5 –  BBC S.O. /BBC Northern S.O.* / John Pritchard & Bernard Keeffe* – Lyrita REAM.1123 59:44 [Distr. by Naxos] **** : The tonal, contrapuntal music of composer and teacher Arnold Cooke. The long-lived Arnold Cooke (1906-2005) was a composer, and teacher at the Royal Manchester College of Music (now the RNCM) and, after the second world war, Trinity College of Music in London.  He left a wide body of work, including a pair of operas, orchestral, chamber and instrumental music.  He studied cello, piano and organ and wrote for all three instruments. Tonal, contrapuntal music became somewhat unfashionable after the 1940s, and especially later on at the BBC. But Cooke remained highly regarded there and elsewhere, being aired regularly, for example, at the Proms and at the Cheltenham Festival.  The BBC gave the first performances of some works, including the Piano Concerto with Louis Kentner in 1942, the First Symphony under Sir Adrian Boult in 1947, and the Fourth, whose premiere performance in 1975 is included on this disc. After studying History at Cambridge University, Cooke took a second degree there in Music in 1929 and then spent three years at the Berlin Hochschule […]