Martyn Brabbins Archive
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: A Sea Symphony – BBC Symphony Orchestra/ Martyn Brabbins – Hyperion
Martyn Brabbins and his selected principals delivers a powerfully mounted Sea Symphony by Vaughan Williams.
MICHAEL TIPPETT: Symphonies 1 & 2—BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Martyn Brabbins—Hyperion
New recordings of Sir Michael Tippet’s first two symphonies reveal their warmth and complexity. MICHAEL TIPPETT: Symphonies 1 & 2—BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Martyn Brabbins—Hyperion CDA68203—74:44, ****: What attracted me the most upon my first hearing of these two Michael Tippett (1905-1998) symphonies was their exuberant spirit and rhythmic vitality. There is a level of musical complexity that motivated me to listen often, a key to understanding Tippett’s musical genius. Emotional depth and moments of transcendent beauty make Tippett one of the great British composers of the 20th century. This new recording of his first two symphonies by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Martyn Brabbins illuminates these qualities. Sir Michael Tippett’s youth was formed by his rural English childhood (early works use English folk material) and the influence of his independent parents. He went to the Royal College of Music for compositional study, but taught French for a couple of years before returning for further study. Yet he learned almost as much from numerous attendance of concerts. In the 1930’s a break up with a gay lover led him to a lifelong journey with Jungian analysis (people can achieve full potential through individual growth) that became a basis for the […]
William WALTON: Violin Concerto, Partita & Hindemith Variations – Anthony Marwood (v.) / BBC Scottish Symph. Orch. / Martyn Brabbins (cond.) – Hyperion
William WALTON: Violin Concerto, Partita & Hindemith Variations – Anthony Marwood (violin) / BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Martyn Brabbins (conductor) – Hyperion CD CDA67986 – TT: 81:28 (6/30/17) ****: An excellent survey of Walton’s music, very well played and recorded Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra follow up their definitive account of the Walton symphonies with another fine disc of Walton. We are offered the Violin Concerto , originally written for Jascha Heifitz, and the rousing Spitfire Prelude and Fugue, based on one of his film scores. Along with that there is Walton’s fine Partita for Orchestra, and one of his most interesting works, Variations on a theme by Hindemith. Walton and Hindemith had a 40 year long relationship, and Hindemith was able to hear Walton’s musical tribute to him before he died in 1963. Walton was born to a musical family, was a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral at Oxford, and later studied at the university. He left Oxford without a degree, and from 1920 lived with the Sitwell family in London. The three Sitwells siblings, all budding poets, introduced him to many major musical and literary figures of the time, including Delius, Diaghilev, and T.S. Eliot. During […]
JONGEN: Violin Concerto in b; Adagio symphonique; Fantasia; LAZZARI: Rapsodie in e – Philippe Graffin, violin/ Royal Flemish Philharmonic/ Martyn Brabbins (Vol. 18 of series) – Hyperion
An almost unknown work by a composer known for another work, plus an unknown composer.
JONGEN: Violin Concerto in b; Adagio symphonique; Fantasia; LAZZARI: Rapsodie – Philippe Graffin, violin/ Royal Flemish Philharmonic/ Martyn Brabbins – Hyperion
The “Romantic Violin” series extends its legacy to neglected works from the Gallic school of imaginative concerted pieces.
MAX BRUCH: Violin Concerto No. 3 in D minor; Scottish Fantasy – Jack Liebeck, violin/ BBC Scottish Sym. Orch./ Martyn Brabbins – Hyperion EMIL MŁYNARSKI: Violin Concerti No. 1 in D minor, Op. 11 & No. 2 in D major, Op. 16; ALEKSANDER ZARZYCKI: Introduction et Cracovienne in D major; Mazurka in G major – Eugene Ugorski, v. / BBC Scottish Sym. Orch. / Michal Dworzyński – Hyperion
Inspired romantic works for violin and orchestra that possess melodic gifts that inspire repeated hearings.
MAX BRUCH: Violin Concerto No. 3 in D minor; Scottish Fantasy – Jack Liebeck, violin/ BBC Scottish Sym. Orch./ Martyn Brabbins – Hyperion EMIL MŁYNARSKI: Violin Concerti No. 1 in D minor, Op. 11 & No. 2 in D major, Op. 16; ALEKSANDER ZARZYCKI: Introduction et Cracovienne in D major; Mazurka in G major – Eugene Ugorski, v. / BBC Scottish Sym. Orch. / Michal Dworzyński – Hyperion
Inspired romantic works for violin and orchestra that possess melodic gifts that inspire repeated hearings.
HAVERGAL BRIAN: Symphony No. 1 in D Minor “The Gothic” – BBC National Orch. of Wales and BBC Concert Orch./ Soloists/ David Goode, organ/ choruses/ Martyn Brabbins – Hyperion (2 CDs)
The real “Symphony of a Thousand.”
VIEUXTEMPS: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Greeting to America – Chloe Hanslip, violin/ Royal Flemish Phil./ Martyn Brabbins – Hyperion
Hyperion’s excellent The Romantic Violin Concerto, Vol. 12 offers two exquisitely effective virtuoso concertos by Belgian master Henri Vieuxtemps.
The Romantic Piano Concerto – Vol. 54 = COWEN: Concertstück; SOMERVELL: Normandy; Piano Con. in A Minor, “Highland” – Martin Roscoe, p./ BBC Scottish Sym. Orch./ Martyn Brabbins – Hyperion
One of the more enjoyable entries in Hyperion’s Romantic Piano Concerto series.
WILLIAM WALTON: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2; Siesta – BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Martyn Brabbins – Hyperion Records
A very successful pairing of William Walton’s symphonies from Hyperion.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
