The reputation of the Anglo-German composer Percy Sherwood (1866-1939) was a victim of the tumults of the 20th century. Born to an English father and a German mother in the cosmopolitan city of Dresden, he achieved an enviable reputation as a composer, pianist and teacher. During a visit to his family in the summer of 1914, he was stranded by the outbreak of the First World War. He chose to remain in England thereafter, but, dogged by poor health, he died shortly before the Second World War. Interest in Sherwood has grown in recent years with the recordings of his Second Piano Concerto by Hiroaki Takenouchi and of the complete surviving works for cello and piano by Joseph Spooner and David Owen Norris, both discs having received extremely warm reviews.
There can perhaps be no better way of marking the 150th anniversary of Sherwood's birth and cementing his reputation today than by recording the composer's Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra (1907–1908). This work – written at the height of Sherwood's career in Germany, not long before he was appointed a Royal Professor by the King of Saxony – will appear under the pioneering label EM Records, which in a few years has built an enviable reputation for bringing neglected masterpieces to music enthusiasts, with the world-class quality of its musicians and the polish of its production values attracting international acclaim. The soloists will be Rupert Marshall-Luck (violin) and Joseph Spooner (cello); both have garnered reputations for bringing unknown works to light, and Joseph is already fully immersed in Sherwood's idiom. The orchestra will be the BBC Concert Orchestra, itself famous for supporting rediscovered repertoire, conducted by John Andrews, with whom they have recently recorded a double CD of theatre music by Sir Arthur Sullivan.
There is currently a crowdfunding campaign in place to help raise the money needed to make this recording happen. If you would like to make a donation, please visit https://www.rockethub.com/projects/60297-premiere-recording-of-british-romantic-masterpieces (https://www.rockethub.com/projects/60297-premiere-recording-of-british-romantic-masterpieces).
Thanks, Rupert - and welcome to UC! May we ask you to confirm what the coupling will be? The blurb refers to Cowen, but makes no mention of the work to be recorded...
Hallo Alan! Many thanks for the welcome! The coupling will, I understand, be Cowen's Symphony no.5 - another hitherto unrecorded work.
Thanks, Rupert. Might it be a good idea to make that clear in the website blurb? It could attract more supporters as Cowen is far better known than Sherwood (wrongly so, in my view, but....)
Rupert,
Whilst I have been able to provide very modest support for one or two previous 'kickstarter' type projects, I'm unable to fund to the level of $75, as requested.
If you can accept a much more modest contribution (say $25) with say entitlement just to a download only of music/booklet, I wonder if you would attract quite a bit more support. The works proposed sound quite 'scrumptious' but as a pensioner on 'modest' means, I have to work to my own budget.
No offence if my suggestion is impracticable for you and the answer is 'no'.
Good luck anyway
Richard
Joseph Spooner - the name rings a bell...wait a minute...doesn't he have a YT video of the Moeran Cello Concerto recorded in Russia?
Joseph recorded Sherwood's cello sonatas for Toccata.
and a CD (for Dutton?) of various late Romantic English cello sonatas and character pieces which I think I mentioned a year or three back here, too... Spooner seems to be starting out (continuing?) well by underknown Romantic music, it seems to me.
It is Spooner indeed who has a video of the Moeran concerto with the St. Petersburg State Symphony. Although I think Moeran may be ever so slightly out of the remit.
That's up to the moderators, I guess. It's outside of this thread, certainly. I do wonder what's un-Romantic about Moeran's B minor cello concerto, though... it's not even occasionally bi/polytonal, like his sinfonietta is (now that work one probably can't discuss here- too bad for here...)
Can anybody give me a little more insight into how this rockethub thingie works? I'm particularly wondering if you pledge support when do they actually come looking for your money/charge your credit card/whatever? Immediately, when the goal is reached, what?
News from Joseph Spooner:
Next year is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Percy Sherwood, the Anglo-German composer whose life and work I have been championing for some time. Some of you will have heard my recording of the works for cello and piano with David Owen Norris on Toccata. Violinist Rupert Marshall-Luck, conductor John Andrews and I are going to perform Sherwood's Double Concerto at the English Music Festival next May, and are planning to record the work with the BBC Concert Orchestra next summer; the disc will also feature the premiere recording of the Symphony no. 4 by Frederic Hymen Cowen (1852–1935).
Very interesting, of course, but there seems to be some confusion as to the coupling. I'll try to get clarification from Joseph ASAP...
Well neither the 4th (The Cambrian), nor the 5th exists in a modern recording. I think the 4th might have been done on an obscure label in LP days but I could be wrong. Incidentally, I'm not sure why the 4th has picked up that soubriquet. I don't think there is anything "Cambrian" about it.
Quite. I think the crowdfunding blurb should be 100% clear, though.
I agree completely. Uncertainty does not inspire confidence.
I emailed Joseph Spooner earlier today.
Not at that price......
To what, please, is your cryptic comment a response?
$75 (just over £49) seems a perfectly reasonable crowdfunding sum to request...
I see. Ok. I agree, Alan. If we want this unsung repertoire we have to be prepared to pay for it. As has been said many times before, making a CD of orchestral music is a very costly undertaking.
The problem, though, is that there seems to be a rather big gap between the amount raised so far (£3,104) and the target (£11,489). After all, who's heard of Percy Sherwood? And why would people take a punt on a CD featuring his music? There's just not enough information 'out there'. Perhaps some brief excerpts from the Double Concerto might draw punters in...
Again, I agree wholeheartedly. Soundbites can be very helpful, even if they are only midi files.
It looks as if the difference between this fund raising attempt and the previous one is that by using RocketHub the promoters get to keep all the money they've raised even if they don't raise their target. I don't quite understand what happens then, though. Is it just held in escrow until the project does come off and the money is spent, however far in the future that may be, or returned to the sponsors if it doesn't work? I'm all for the making of this recording, but at present these questions prevent me from committing more than just encouragement.
Agreed. There's too little information about the project (which Cowen symphony?) and the funding arrangements. Audio samples would also be a distinct advantage...
I understand from Joseph Spooner that the Cowen symphony to be recorded is No.5. The crowdfunding blurb should be updated soon.
The crowdfunding blurb has now been updated. Many thanks to Joseph and Rupert for clarifying things.
I'm curious as to what may be next with this project, and I wonder if either Joseph or Rupert might care to enlighten us. The funding proposal, I believe, fell significantly short of it's target, so does this mean the project is dead in the water or are the proponents simply regrouping to pursue yet other avenues of funding? While I was/am not in a position to contribute at this time, especially at the suggested minimum amount of (presumably US)$75, that's not to say I wouldn't be prepared to make a more modest/manageable contribution towards underwriting this recording (I recently contributed in a small way towards the Cliffe Symphony no 2 project). Ultimately, of course, if this recording ever gets made, I will, at a minimum, support it in the most basic way possible: I will buy a copy!
Brian
If anyone comes across Cowen's delightful autobiography, "My Art and My Friends" (London, Edwin Arnold 1913) they are in for a treat. Of the 4th Symphony he says:
"In 1884 ...I started again on more important work, one result of which was the production of my fourth symphony, "The Welsh," at one of two Philharmonic Concerts I conducted that season." I do not remember at the moment whether I gave it this title myself, but in any case it had a certain amount of Celtic flavour about it, and I expect its composition was not unconnected with the recollections of my rambles, my broken-down old piano, the hymn-singing, and the honeymooners of two years before."
No mention of Cambrian. Ordovician, Silurian or any other geological connection ...
Pulling this dormant topic up from the depths to ask (as I did once before) what the current status of this project may be? If it's dead then it's dead and I will accept that as the final word. But if there's still some hope, to say nothing of definite plans, that this recording will yet see the light of day, then I will patiently await the outcome. :D
Brian
May I suggest you contact Rupert Marshall-Luck directly, via his website: http://www.rupertmarshall-luck.com/ (http://www.rupertmarshall-luck.com/)
and perhaps report back to the forum?
Well, I don't know about the recording project, but the work is being performed at the English Music Festival (Dorchester Abbey) on Saturday May 28th:
https://www.englishmusicfestival.org.uk/programme.html (https://www.englishmusicfestival.org.uk/programme.html)
And recording dates of 22-23 June 2016 at the Watford Colosseum are given on Rupert's website here: http://www.rupertmarshall-luck.com/en/future-events.html (http://www.rupertmarshall-luck.com/en/future-events.html)
Oh, that is good news. Watford Colosseum has a splendid acoustic.
The rest of the festival looks interesting too. Of course, I'm over -here-...
The disc of works by Frederick Cowen and Percy Sherwood is to be recorded this week for the label EM Records.
Sherwood's Concerto for Violin and Cello (which received what is believed to be its World Première performance at The English Music Festival a few weeks ago) will be recorded alongside Frederick Cowen's Fifth Symphony at the Watford Colosseum by the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by John Andrews. The soloists for the Sherwood will be the violinist Rupert Marshall-Luck and the cellist Joseph Spooner.
Fund-raising efforts to cover the costs of this recording are ongoing and there are still opportunities to subscribe to the disc. If you'd like to make a donation, please visit the project's dedicated website: http://www.sherwood-cowen.com/donate.html (http://www.sherwood-cowen.com/donate.html). As you'll see, there are various benefits on offer, including the chance to attend the recording sessions and complimentary copies of the disc upon its release. All donors will be acknowledged in the CD booklet unless anonymity is preferred.
So far, we have raised over 43% of the funds needed, so much has been done - but further donations are very welcome in order that this rare repertoire may be brought to public attention.
Thanks for the update, Rupert.
Perhaps you could tell us something about the Sherwood when you have time...?
Further news:
https://www.em-records.com/index.html (https://www.em-records.com/index.html)
Last month we returned to Watford Colosseum to record Cowen's Symphony no.5 and the magnificent Concerto for Violin and Cello by Percy Sherwood with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by John Andrews, and with violinist Rupert Marshall-Luck and cellist Joseph Spooner. The Sherwood is a big-boned, substantial, intense, passionate and romantic work, bursting with energy and vigour, which dates from the early years of the twentieth century. It was given its première performance at the 2016 English Music Festival, at which it was clear both from the highly virtuosic performance, and the reception with which the work was accorded (including a spontaneous round of applause at the end of the first movement), that its erstwhile neglect has been wholly unjustified, and that we have discovered a truly romantic masterpiece.
Very appetite whetting.
The crowdfunding seems stuck, however. Wonder what that means for the actual release?
The press release says "Last month we returned to Watford Colosseum to record Cowen's Symphony no.5 and the magnificent Concerto for Violin and Cello by Percy Sherwood", so the works have obviously now been recorded. There must have been the finance available to do that and that's the lion's share of the cost. I suppose EM Records have enough funds to manufacture and market a recording - that's what they're there for. The only steps between the two are the editing and writing the booklet which, relatively speaking, shouldn't cost a great deal. So it sounds very promising. The project's own website (http://www.sherwood-cowen.com) promises "news and updates will be provided on a regular and frequent basis", and you'd think that the fact that the recording sessions have taken place would be headlined there, but it isn't. As far as I can see there have been no updates at all since it was launched, so I suppose it might just be that the funds were also raised in full but that important news didn't make it online either.
I'm afraid that, much as I'd like to see both works recorded, I haven't supported the project by donating to it because I don't like the uncertainty which has surrounded it. Initially we were asked to support the recording of the Sherwood concerto without knowing what the coupling on the CD would be. Then, once the Cowen Fifth coupling (which is good news) was confirmed, the conditions under which donations are sought are, to me at least, way too open-ended. Unlike Kickstarter, where donations are only debited if all the target amount is reached within a specified time period, it appears from the project's website that there is no target date, donations are debited immediately and could sit there for an indeterminate time, during which there is no news of any progress. I'm sorry to sound so critical, because I am sure that all involved are committed and sincere people, but this isn't how to go about crowd funding. If I had donated money towards the recording I'd be pretty miffed now, notwithstanding the welcome news that it is now in the can.
That's exactly how I feel, Mark.
It's a shame about the ambiguity of the funding. It may simply be a case of not thinking through the funding situation. I didn't donate either for the same reason, but I will probably buy the CD as I rather liked the Sherwood Piano Conceto that came out on Dutton a few years ago.
Oh, the CD is certainly a must buy for me, and I would have made a donation to the project were it not for the funding issues I've already aired.
Exactly, Mark.
Despite the lack of recent updates, the recording is announced here as 'forthcoming':
http://www.johnkandrews.com/discography/ (http://www.johnkandrews.com/discography/)
Details:
Sherwood: Double Concerto for Violin and Violoncello, Cowen: Symphony No. 5
BBC Concert Orchestra, Rupert Marshall-Luck (violin), Joseph Spooner (violoncello)
John Andrews, conductor
The project now has its own website:
http://www.sherwood-cowen.com/index.html (http://www.sherwood-cowen.com/index.html)
Actually, Alan, if you look under 'News' on the John Andrews website you'll read that the release is scheduled for 'Christmas'. That's a wee bit better than 'forthcoming', and had it been released at the end of December it would have been a most welcome event. I'm pretty much down in the dumps about our prospects for 2017, but if this much awaited disc does appear then that will be at least one good thing about the new year. I notice that none of the usual retailers seem to be including it in their lists of forthcoming releases.
Hmm, well, it's now January 2017 and, as you say Peter, there is no sign of it. Pretty much par for the course I'm afraid. For a recording supposedly paid for by crowd-funding, this lack of information is quite scandalous. Such a shame.
I doubt that it's anywhere near being released yet. But I'd love to be proved wrong...
In connection with an earlier post in this thread (the performance, not the still-no-information-that-I-know-of recording-release) I notice there's a page and photos on Facebook on John Andrews' page there (see Album of Sherwood Recording Sessions in June 2016 (https://www.facebook.com/pg/johnandrewsconductor/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1739996182942520) (may require account to view)) .
(His page also has some information on his other concerts and recordings, including the Dutton issue of Sullivan incidental music.)
Yes, the conductor's website is still showing the recording as 'forthcoming':
http://www.johnkandrews.com/discography/ (http://www.johnkandrews.com/discography/)
On the other hand the website dedicated to the project (http://www.sherwood-cowen.com/) still shows that only £5,137 has been donated towards the £10,500 projected cost - which seems remarkably cheap, by the way. I find the lack of information and overall confusion surrounding this crowd-funding project quite lamentable. My attitude now, apart from being relieved that I didn't donate to it, is that the release will happen when it happens and I'm not going to waste any more time speculating about when that'll be.
Is it to be released by Dutton ?
No. By EM Records, Em Marshall's record label - the founder and organiser of the English Music Festival. The latest news on the website of EM records has this paragraph:
"Last month we returned to Watford Colosseum to record Cowen's Symphony no.5 and the magnificent Concerto for Violin and Cello by Percy Sherwood with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by John Andrews, and with violinist Rupert Marshall-Luck and cellist Joseph Spooner. The Sherwood is a big-boned, substantial, intense, passionate and romantic work, bursting with energy and vigour, which dates from the early years of the twentieth century. It was given its première performance at the 2016 English Music Festival, at which it was clear both from the highly virtuosic performance, and the reception with which the work was accorded (including a spontaneous round of applause at the end of the first movement), that its erstwhile neglect has been wholly unjustified, and that we have discovered a truly romantic masterpiece."
That entry is, of course, getting on for a year old!
I didn't realise it was THAT old. But, if true, it would suggest the recording is in the can. However, does that mean we may endure a CPO-like delay in seeing it released? Mark's attitude is, I think, the best: just forget about it and if and when it appears it will be a nice surprise!
Oh, I'm sure it's in the can. It's just that, as a Sherwood fan, I'm impatient to see it released!
Well, moi aussi.
I've emailed Em Marshall-Luck in the hope that we can get some clarity, but I imagine that she's tied up with the English Music Festival at present and so don't expect an early reply.
Thanks, Mark.
Em Marshall-Luck has replied very quickly: "We're currently at the final-edit stage, which means that it will then take us another couple of months to set and finalise the booklet, and we hope to release the disc in the Autumn."
Which is very good news.
Oh, that's excellent. This a must-buy for me - it'll be fascinating to hear an orchestral piece from Sherwood's pre-WW1 maturity in Germany.
I'm very happy with the coupling too but, although Cowen's Concertstück is a strong and inventive piece, I do think that both the symphonies which have been recorded start well only to tail off as the movements progress. So, really welcome though another Cowen symphony will be, on the evidence of Sherwood's works which have so far been recorded I suspect that his concerto will prove to be the highlight of the disc.
I agree. There's no doubt in my mind who the more interesting composer is.
I second that. It's a pity that so much of Cowen's music is lost to us now.
The Sherwood PC2 is not really a representative piece. It is a very late work (1932) whereas the Double Concerto was written nearly a quarter of a century earlier, at the height of the composer's maturity. In order to have some idea of Sherwood's capabilities, we have to turn to the Toccata CD of his cello sonatas. I also have a computer-generated rendition of the first movement of Sherwood's 3rd Symphony (1905-7) which is a very powerful piece indeed.
Mind you, I'm all for more Cowen!
From what I have seen of the MS of the first PC that is a more attractive piece than its successor. But I have not seen the whole work yet.
Em Marshall-Luck wrote to me on 10 June: "we hope to release the disc in the Autumn." Unfortunately, we've pretty much run out of Autumn now and Winter approaches. Sigh....
Did she specify the year..?? ::) ::)
Ouch!
Two days ago Em Marshall-Luck wrote:
<<My next communication will be to announce the availability from EM Records's website of a batch of exciting new releases.>>
Let's hope the Sherwood/Cowen CD is among them. I think we should bear in mind the costs involved in releasing CDs of orchestral music these days.
Indeed, but this was supposedly crowd funded wasn't it? I too hope that the release is imminent, of course.
The crowd funding has reached £5,137, i.e. 49% of the £10,500 total cost. Who knows what the implications of this are...
Both works to be broadcast on R3 next Monday afternoon (26th).
Can anyone therefore record BBC Radio 3's Afternoon Concert next Monday (26th), starting at 2pm? Thanks!!!
I will, of course. It may be our only chance of hearing these works in the foreseeable future...
EM Records (http://www.sherwood-cowen.com/em-records.html) seems to plan to release a recording (this recording) of them, so I'm confused by what you mean...
Edit: Oh, I see- because they only have 48.9% of their funding goal reached (as of February 20, 2018 late.)
... and the promised release date slips and slips. Em Marshall-Luck wrote in June that: "we hope to release the disc in the Autumn." Well, hope springs eternal and spring is almost here.
...but lagging, like the CD release.
Quite. This recording has been "imminent" for a long time.
Maybe it's actually "immanent" - staying within the system! ::)
I wish I could follow you, but I Kant.
Oh, Eric! You philosopher, you!
The Radio 3 host (I'm recording as I type) has said several times that the CD will be released "in the spring". I offer no comment, but at least we now have the opportunity to get to know these two major works thanks to the BBC. I'll try to get the recordings edited and uploaded by close of play today...
Yes, I heard that too.
First impressions were that the Sherwood is a very fine piece with a particularly memorable first movement. It was very different from Brahms' famous concerto for the same combination: apart from the idiom, which was clearly later, there was much more simultaneous writing for the two soloists which, by the way, sounded fiendishly difficult.
Cowen's 5th, on the other hand, I didn't find all that convincing - I couldn't follow the disjointed rhythmic opening at all and very little else convinced me that this was a major missing symphonic statement. As usual, though, there was a tremendously attractive lighter movement, this time placed second. I just didn't think it sat well with the remainder of what is a pretty serious piece. No doubt I'll have to listen to this again, but for me Cowen lags some way behind Stanford and Parry in achivement.
My recordings of both pieces are now available in the Downloads board.
I must say, on first hearing, I was rather more impressed with Cowen's symphony than Alan obviously was. It seemed to me of a higher calibre than the other two examples which we have. Of course, the second movement's lightness of touch, attractive music though it is, does jar with the other three's uncharacteristic seriousness of purpose, but even the finale maintained interest and didn't fall away as those in the Scandinavian and the Idyllic Symphonies do, and I thought the slow movement a pretty fine effort. That said, Alan's right, he wasn't in the same class as Stanford or Parry.
I don't disagree with anything that he wrote about the Sherwood, though.
I think Cowen's 5th deserves a thread to itself - especially as I've listened again...
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,6760.0.html (http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,6760.0.html)
Totally agree with you about the Sherwood concerto, Alan. Thoroughly enjoyable, and a challenge for the soloists. I'm looking forward to listening to the Cowen symphony in due course.
Thank you, Mark, for uploading these works.... what a treat! :)
Tks for this (and Cowan) downloads - looking forward to hearing them.
Does anyone have the tempi for the concerto's movements?
Much appreciated if you have.
Richard
I couldn't find them anywhere, which is why I left them blank.
Spooner's site claims that the 2016 performance is a world premiere, making my own usual efforts - searching up a score (nope, unpublished so far), or looking for movement headings in reviews back-in-the-day of a performance back around the late 1900s (when reviews did sometimes include that kind of information, and program notes too)- all go to naught too :)
I think I wrote earlier that some of Sherwood's concertos were being published. I was misreading an entry in the U. Oxford library in which they note that they have Takenouchi's own 2013 typeset edition of the piano concerto no.2 which (if I read it correctly, making some guesses) he made in preparing the work for performance, which is not however a publication, and I find no other examples to suggest a trend to which, as I'd hoped, the double concerto might soon be added- ah well.
The Sherwood/Cowen CD can now be ordered via EM's website (click on 'ONLINE SHOP'):
https://www.em-records.com/discs/emr-cd047-details.html (https://www.em-records.com/discs/emr-cd047-details.html)
Advance notice: the uploads will be deleted as soon as the first copies of the CD are received.
There's no doubt in my mind that Sherwood's Double Concerto is a major work. The thematic content is memorable in every movement - and the slow movement in particular is a major statement of extraordinary expressive power. If this were by any great 'name', it would be played on a frequent basis - except, of course, that it's difficult for a concerto requiring two virtuoso soloists to gain a foothold on the repertoire.
The key of the Double Concerto, BTW, is a bright, sunny G Major.
The mood of the outer movements is certainly predominantly 'sunny'; the slow movement is a noble outpouring of sadness, however: almost a lament for a world about to pass away. The score tells us that the work was written in his home town of Dresden, where he was a professor at the conservatoire, although his Viola Sonata (dating from the same year) was written at 'Highcliffe', a small town now in the borough of Christchurch, Dorset, so Sherwood clearly travelled between Germany and England in the years before the outbreak of the First World war. Whether he sensed the coming conflict, one can only guess, but it's interesting that he seems to have composed little in the half-dozen or so years before the outbreak of war.
Has anyone received their copy of the CD yet?
Nope!
According to the latest EMF/EM Records email CDs will be available 'in a few weeks' time'.
We'll, hope springs eternal...
Nope, no sign.
In the meantime, here's the cover:
(https://www.em-records.com/discs-images-230/EMR-CD047.png)
... which gives me the opportunity to vent my spleen at the idiotic trend of giving classical albums meaningless trite titles such as "of such ECSTATIC SOUND", leaving us to scrabble around trying to identify what the compositions on the disc actually are. Do the labels really think that that'll sell more? Grrr...
The reference, of course, is to the last verse of Hardy's poem "The Darkling Thrush":
So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
And I was unaware.
Which is a tremendous, and tremendously beautiful, poem - but, as Mark rightly says, does nothing to help us identify the music! Nor is it really of any relevance to the music either. It's just a potent phrase.
I agree. Pseuds Corner stuff, this.
QuoteIt's just a potent phrase.
And irrelevant. This isn't Delius...
and yes, sometimes with some labels (fortunately not ones that concentrate much on Romantic-era unsung music) the compositions aren't identified on front or back covers - rotten practice, but at least here the composers, compositions and performers seem to be listed in smaller type...
Yes - and we shouldn't complain really, I suppose. But I wish they would get on and release it.
Hi Everyone,
As a Foundation Subscriber of EM Records, I thought a repost from their most recent newsletter (12 May) may offer some timelines for those sitting anxiously, twitching their net curtains:
"We are awaiting from the manufacturer copies of our latest three discs, which we expect to reach us just in time for the English Music Festival in just under two weeks' time. These three discs are EMRCD047:Of such Ecstatic Sound, our recording of Percy Sherwood's Double Concerto for Cello, Violin and Orchestra and Cowen's Fifth Symphony (which you may have heard played on Radio 3 recently); EMRCD048:Harpscape - music for harp by Paul Lewis, played by Gabriella Dall'Olio; and EMRCD049:Dream Tryst - choral works by Holst and Dyson performed by the young and vibrant Godwine Choir."
So EM Records should have received the discs by 26/5, but they're going to be caught up with the English Music Festival, so I imagine once it is over, any orders (standing or otherwise) would be posted within a week of the conclusion of the festival, at the latest.
cheers,
Daniel
Thanks, Daniel.
Good news indeed.
Arrived today 8) 8) 8) :D
Great!!
Mine too!
..and the CD is everything it promised to be. In particular, we can now enjoy the splendid recording quality released from the compromises of a radio broadcast. The Sherwood Double Concerto really is a splendid piece - much more of an intergrated work as far as the two soloists are concerned (in comparison with the Brahms in which dialogue between violin and cello is much more the order of the day).
How fortunate we are to have musicians of the standard of Rupert Marshall-Luck and Joseph Spooner to bring this music to us. When consulting the composer's scores in the Bodleian Library all those years ago I hardly dared imagine that recordings of his finely-crafted music would emerge one day. Bravo!
Cowen/Sherwood CD now offered by Records International. (http://www.recordsinternational.com/cd.php?cd=08U001)
The CD now appears to be more widely available:
https://www.mdt.co.uk/of-such-ecastatic-sound-bbc-marshall-luck-joseph-spooner-em-records.html (https://www.mdt.co.uk/of-such-ecastatic-sound-bbc-marshall-luck-joseph-spooner-em-records.html)
I wish it was available as a download.
Yes, that's a problem.
Actually, MDT doesn't list it as more widely available -yet- (nor does Amazon UK, etc), they offer it for preorder on the 26th as a CD. This comment will auto-delete then of course with hopefully minimal kineticism.
(Edit: yes, yes, intentional...)
I meant 'more widely available than solely through EM's website'.
QuoteThis comment will auto-delete
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGSUjuSBt1A (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGSUjuSBt1A) ;)