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British Music For Strings Vol. 1

Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, Gordon Jacob

British Music For Strings Vol. 1
The puckish skirls and jaunty rhythms in the ‘Prelude’ to Parry’s An English Suite show the 14 players keenly attuned to its courtly, neo-baroque idiom…On paper [the string transcription of...

British Music For Strings Vol. 1

Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, Gordon Jacob

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The puckish skirls and jaunty rhythms in the ‘Prelude’ to Parry’s An English Suite show the 14 players keenly attuned to its courtly, neo-baroque idiom…On paper [the string transcription of...

About

Our first CD featuring music for string orchestra by British composers presents works by Hubert Parry, Edward Elgar, and Gordon Jacob. The last-mentioned composer wrote a Symphony for Strings with clear contrapuntal textures and a slow introduction beginning with broadly striding octaves and dissonant sixteenth contrasts. Parry demonstrates his sovereign command of a whole range of different techniques and textures in his First Suite for String Orchestra and succeeds in producing a full, one-of-a-kind sound: Very British, indeed! Edward Elgar’s Organ Sonata represents a special case on this CD, where it is heard in the version for string orchestra by Hans Kunstovny. Some authors even earlier spoke of the sonata as a »thwarted symphony« because of its structure and design. The premiere of Kunstovny’s Elgar arrangement was held in Pforzheim in October 2006 under Sebastian Tewinkel before Douglas Bostock included it in his program in January 2020. The present recording was produced following this concert. Kunstovny, who assigned the subtitle »Swinnerton’s Dream« to his arrangement, was also present; it refers to the organist and choral conductor Charles Swinnerton Heap, the sonata’s dedicatee, who lent his support to Elgar’s works during the last decade of the nineteenth century.

Contents and tracklist

I. Prelude
Track length4:07
II. In Minuet Style
Track length2:47
III. Saraband
Track length5:47
IV. Caprice
Track length2:37
V. Pastoral
Track length2:14
VI. Air
Track length2:22
VII. Frolic
Track length3:32
I. Allegro maestoso
Track length8:34
II. Allegretto
Track length4:05
III. Andante espressivo
Track length6:16
IV. Presto
Track length6:06
I. Andante maestoso
Track length8:37
II. Andante espressivo
Track length8:36
III. Allegro molto vivace
Track length5:16

Awards and reviews

February 2021

The puckish skirls and jaunty rhythms in the ‘Prelude’ to Parry’s An English Suite show the 14 players keenly attuned to its courtly, neo-baroque idiom…On paper [the string transcription of Elgar's Organ Sonata] doesn’t look a promising idea, but Kunstovny makes a highly convincing case for his transcription, and Bostock elicits a bracingly articulate performance.

6th December 2020

This German representation of the British string repertory is admirably bold...The first [item], Parry’s An English Suite, has a sarabande that seems to hint at Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht.
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