Messages

And a big thank-you for bringing us this very good news!

Very kind.

After all these years I found I'd forgotten about Dunhill's Symphony and the splendid recording made by Martin Yates for Dutton. It's my current go-to guilty-ish pleasure, although I think it's actually rather more than that. OK, it's very much 'after' Elgar, but it's memorable and strangely moving in a rather English sort of way - understated, perhaps, but certainly not without feeling.

This is what the late and much-missed Mike Herman wrote for MusicWeb back in December 2007:
<<The Symphony makes an immediate impression as a big, warm, tuneful and memorable statement. It is decidedly conventional and old-fashioned even for its own time. No influence of the folksong movement or Delian pantheism is evident while the influence of Elgar's Symphonies is unmistakable though not pervasive. Despite its gestation during World War I the music lacks any significant sounds of deep anxiety. The opening movement is forceful, though perhaps a little over-extended, and abounds in big tunes one of which bears a striking resemblance to a similar melody in Ernest Chausson's Symphony in B flat major. The rollicking scherzo might remind the listener of Litolff's famous scherzo from his Concerto Symphonique No. 4 but it is pure delight. The slow movement marked adagio non troppo is haunting and the work's crowning section. Here is where Elgar's spirit looms large. The music is none the worse for it as its elegiac beauty demanded repeated hearings from this listener. The last movement returns to the sound-world of the first movement and moves inexorably towards a grand climax that ought to bring any audience to its feet. In short, I enjoyed this work enormously and would put it on any list of most satisfying revivals of forgotten works. For those who have given Anthony Payne's elaboration of the sketches of Elgar's Third Symphony such a warm reception, here is another work that they will truly savour.>>

Thanks, Eric.

Marvellous - thanks!

Would it be possible for me to contact them also in order to offer my support?

It's very attractive music, I agree.

Looks as though you're right. Wonder whether his style changed much at all - there are six symphonies written between 1942 (No.2) and 1951 (No.7).

Till Eulenspiegel meets Charles Ives, perhaps? With Havergal Brian somewhere in the mix?

Thanks for doing this. Perhaps the granddaughter knows more.

Please could you correspond using the PM system on this website? Thanks.

Perhaps you could PM each other?

Excerpts are now available here:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9666593--richard-stohr-orchestral-music-vol-3

I don't think there's any problem with the idiom of the composer's later music!

Here's a very positive review by Rob Maynard at MusicWeb:
https://musicwebinternational.com/2024/09/dietrich-symphony-violin-concerto-naxos/

The 3rd and 4th Piano Quartets are now on YouTube:
No.3:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCeRrS5Oilw&t=188s
No.4:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3P4iQK3yLs

This is truly superb music. As good as Brahms, I'd say.

Basically, the article reveals that:
(i) The music is has little substance (although there's little discussion of it);
(ii) The composer's influence stems from connections with Putin's Russia;
(iii) This influence not only facilitates the promotion of his own music but also serves as a propaganda tool of the Russian state;
(iv) His enormous wealth has enabled him to 'buy' the services of high-profile musicians.

Frankly, it's all very distasteful. A good way of registering our distaste might be to cease all discussion of his music.