IMAGINE: a work of searing beauty, masterly orchestration and emotional profundity; only once heard, never recorded – lost to generations. It is this work, Robin Milford's Violin Concerto, that the pioneering label EM Records is to resurrect, allowing its inspirational delights to be heard again at last.
Its companion work will be no less a ground-breaking recording. Stanford's exquisite Second Violin Concerto shows the power of its composer at his most authoritative and expressive. Dramatic intensity, high virtuosity and melting lyricism combine to glorious effect in this recently-discovered treasure.
This recording will take place on 21 and 22 August 2013 at Watford Colosseum with conductor Bjorn Bantock, whose interpretations have been praised worldwide for their sincerity, commitment and integrity, and violinist Rupert Marshall-Luck, whose recent discs for EM Records have met with glowing critical acclaim.
Absolutely wonderful news. I had heard that Em Marshall wanted to record both these works, but I didn't know how far plans (or finance) had evolved. For me, this will be a "must buy" disk.
I look forward greatly to this release. The Stanford is probably more within our scope here, but I'll gladly take the Milford too. Thanks so much for this news.
What a wonderful joy! Two works pulled out of the unknown - this is surely a major achievement for a single disc. First the Stanford resurrected by Jeremy Dibble. I understand that he has orchestrated the work - might I ask: from what? Is it 'legitimate' to refer to Stanford's 'Violin Concerto No. 2'? Or should we really talk of a work 'realised by Dibble'?
And then the Milford. I understand he wrote it in 1937. What of its performance history? Might this be the first performance since WW2 perhaps?
I've also just read (on the Robin Milford website) that the "lost early symphony" has been found in a trunk in Marion Milford's cottage. Anyone know anything of that?
It has been a wretched day (having driven the lawn mower into an unmovable tree I'm now wondering how many concerts and CDs its repair will cost). But this glorious piece of news has quite bucked me up! Profuse congratulations to Em Marshall. I think I might buy a second copy of the CD in case the first wears out!
I think even Alan will find the Milford gloriously romantic in the Elgarian sense. That's why I posted. I think you'll find both works well within the purview regardless of the dates. ;) I brazenly told Em that I am falling in love with her!
The Milford symphony is in the planning stages (funding). It is now performable. But it will happen eventually.
The Stanford was completed by the composer for violin and piano. Dibble would certainly be a first choice to orchestrate it.
A review of the Stanford premiere here:
http://www.bachtrack.com/review-durham-cathedral-university-orchestra-stanford-violin-concerto-premiere (http://www.bachtrack.com/review-durham-cathedral-university-orchestra-stanford-violin-concerto-premiere)
A scan of a the holograph (1918-9-20) ms. of the Stanford in its violin/piano form can be viewed here (http://imslp.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto_No.2,_Op.162_(Stanford,_Charles_Villiers%29) (uploaded originally by the Morgan Library, which has the ms.)
Milford's idiom is usually described in terms of Vaughan Williams rather than Elgar. We'll see...
Milford's music is tonal and lyrical - as in the Suite for oboe & strings which Cameo recorded and which I think you have, Alan.
Thanks, Gareth.
My introduction to him was the charming "Fishing by Moonlight" and other Chamber music from hyperion. I fell in love with Milford's music right away. This is really good news, especially since I have a soft spot for Stanford's music as well. Does anyone know how to contact Jeremy Dibble; I have been wanting [for years] to ask him about to the early Violin and Piano concertos!
Follow this link for more details and a teaser video:
http://www.em-records.com/news.html (http://www.em-records.com/news.html)
Quote from: FBerwald on Tuesday 18 June 2013, 15:19
Does anyone know how to contact Jeremy Dibble; I have been wanting [for years] to ask him about to the early Violin and Piano concertos!
A simple Google search turns up Professor Dibble's email address at the Durham University website: jeremy.dibble@durham.ac.uk
Do let us know what you find out...
Prof Dibble is a very kind and helpful chap in my experience. He is also one of the busiest people in the Country.
Don't lose heart if it takes a while for him to respond.
Thal
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http://www.englishmusicfestival.org.uk/email-bulletins/june-2013-browser.html (http://www.englishmusicfestival.org.uk/email-bulletins/june-2013-browser.html)
A new Parry disc too! And more of Em's beautiful photography.
Hello, I'm new here! I also look forward to this disc with enthusiasm. I would also very much like to hear Milford's Symphony, op. 34, composed in 1933. It is one of Milford's most substantial work (along with the VC and the Oratorio Pilgrim's Progress), as he was mainly a composer of well-crafted, melancholy and luminous miniatures. Although Vaughan Williams (who was an influence on Milford's music) admired the work greatly, Milford (for reasons unknown) withdrew the work in 1956. The excellent website of the Robin Milford Trust has the score and parts for the Symphony available for purchase. A project for Dutton, perhaps?
QuoteThe excellent website of the Robin Milford Trust has the score and parts for the Symphony available for purchase. A project for Dutton, perhaps?
Why not drop them a line and see what they say?
I understand that this project has been delayed. Apparently there were problems with the make-up of the orchestra that was being put together by the conductor, so now negotiations are taking place with another orchestra in London.
Correct. Bjorn Bantock tried to slip in an orchestra of amateurs who would have ONE rehearsal to prepare. When questioned on it, he split the scene!
What? What kind of orchestra would this have been for an important recording anyway?
The best British orchestras certainly could manage standard repertoire on ONE rehearsal, but amateurs, and completely new and unfamiliar repertoire, NO WAY. What a charlatan!
even standard repertoire should probably be given more than one rehearsal , unless the conductor really has nothing to say about it... in which case it should be given to someone who does.
Bantock assured Em that he could assemble a pick-up orchestra of all London professionals. She insisted on 100% professionals. It didn't happen. She called him on it and he walked away.
ONE rehearsal with a semi-pro pickup orchestra of two never performed works?
She was not putting her reputation on the line and I commend her.
She expects an even better product sooner rather than later.
They still have the Watford booked.
She's right to insist on the highest possible standards, of course.
Good for her.
Let us not forget the old adage: Good things come to those who wait :)
I have the highest respect for Em Marshall. She has made the right decision and I'm sure she will do her best to bring this project to fruition.
And, of course, you are right, Eric. Even standard repertore that an orchestra knows inside out deserves more than one rehearsal before committing to disk - unfortunately, I can tell you that it rarely gets it. And neither does non-standard repertore, I regret to say. We are just lucky that British professional orchestral players have a just reputation for being the best sight readers in the world! It is, as always, a question of money. It is not at all unusual for there to be one rehearsal (which might be pretty thorough - but, nevertheless, only the one) before the recording sessions commence. I believe the M.U. rules state that you are allowed to record up to 20 minutes of a work within an hour of studio time, but not more.
The BBC Concert Orchestra will record the concertos for Em in January at Watford. Conductor not lined up as yet but may be MY.
I'm so pleased for EM. It'll be an outstanding release, I'm sure.
An excellent result.
I'm a bit late on this news, but Em emailed me today confirming Tapiola's information. Marvellous!
The orchestra will be the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Owain Arwel Hughes.
(http://uk.f1861.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=2%5f0%5f0%5f1%5f25004296%5fAIYo5C4AAA%2bpUpDm6wAAAGOE0dg&pid=1.2.4&fid=Inbox&inline=1&appid=YahooMailNeo)
Looking forward to hearing the Milford. I'm still hoping for the Milford Symphony. Shame this one isn't going to be Yates conducting as was suggested on an earlier post. Anyone know why?
I don't think plans were ever that firm.
The CD is to be released in May.
The Stanford/Milford CD is due out very soon:
http://www.mdt.co.uk/stanford-violin-concerto-2-milford-rupert-marshall-luck-em-records.html (http://www.mdt.co.uk/stanford-violin-concerto-2-milford-rupert-marshall-luck-em-records.html)
Alan,
Tks for the 'heads up' on its long-awaited availability.
I haven't heard anything yet by Stanford that I haven't liked, and judging by members expectations this one won't be any different - even better perhaps? - so I guess the funds will have to be found!!
I'm glad that the efforts of all involved at EM to bring this to fruition have eventually paid off and that they will get their just reward via lots of orders!
Cheers
Richard
I've ordered my copy. That only leaves the two early concertos for piano and for violin unrecorded among Stanford's nine concertos. If they are as good as the cello concerto, they are surely deserving of a hearing!
I hope they are recorded, but I don't think they would fill up a disk.
The piano concerto no. 0 is only 55 pages of manuscript and I doubt if it would last more than 15 minutes.
Thal
Well, there might be some other unrecorded and unpublished Stanford for orchestra (even some concertante works, I seem to recall the Ballabile?... or was that recorded last year in orch. garb? I should check these things- sorry...) that could be added. (Or in a pinch, a string orchestra arrangement of one of his unpublished/unrecorded string quartets (e.g. nos.4, 6 - 7 & 8 too, BBC recordings don't count. I'd prefer a string quartet recording, but if it takes an arrangement to get them out there and efficiency considerations, maybe that -is- the way, then... after all, the violin concerto no.2 had to be arranged as well as edited anyway (even if it was probably -intended- for orchestra, but what are we, mindreaders?)
To the best of my knowledge, the remaining concertante works, apart from the early Vn and pf ones are the Variations for Violin and the Concertino Italiano for violin and cello, both of which I would love to hear
The Ballabile was indeed recorded on the same disc as the Cello Concerto and Rondo for Cello and Orchestra
Has anyone received their copy of the CD yet?
(holds hand up)
Yes, here in Connecticut USA. (Along with another EMR disc - Parry String Quartet/String Quintet.)
Arrived from MDT a couple of days ago.
Have not listened - yet.
Thanks. Do tell us what you think....
I moved this disc up to the top of my unlistened-to stack because: 1) Alan Howe's request is too important to ignore (!) and, 2) any CD entitled "The Fire That Breaks From Thee" brings with it, I am sure you will agree, some degree of anticipation - even though I have no idea why those deathly words were chosen.
Anyway, I got through the Holst Overture and one of the main attractions - the Stanford VC No.2.
The Concerto was not completed by Stanford - he abandoned it in a short-score format for violin and piano. It, therefore, never was performed in public until recently, after being orchestrated by Jeremy Dibble. This fact is not mentioned anywhere on the CD info and is not apparent until one reads the (quite extensive) program notes.
So, we have a partial-Stanford concerto. And it's not bad - nothing, in my opinion, to write home about - but certainly attractive.
That said, I think the violin is recorded quite close up and the soloist has the tendency to be a little "scratchy" - or is that the scoring (many double stops)? The slow movement is quite lyrical and lovely and stands well above the other two.
I have to say that there's not much "fire" in this concerto - at least that's what I heard through headphones. Maybe another spin, this time through my (very good) BA speakers will give it the needed oomph. I did very much enjoy the songful Andante and could tolerate the rest, but I leave this right now as a so-so experience, albeit one which I definitely will try again.
Now, on to the Milford.
The Robin Milford Violin Concerto was, for me, more interesting than the Stanford.
This is a big (40 minutes) work and it kept me involved throughout. Some beautiful themes and a powerful coda which features a thinning of the orchestra until the cellos alone are playing, after which silence and then the solo violin speaking out of the void and leading to an increasingly strong remembrance of the concerto's main theme. Very effective.
However, across this CD I felt that the soloist was weak and that the works would have benefited from a fuller-sounding violin. I could not exactly put my finger on it (no pun intended) but something was missing in the timbre of the solo part. I wanted more substance. It is noted that the soloist appears to be related to the head honcho of EM Records. Perhaps that is an unfair comment but I kept wishing, as I listened, that Perlman was doing the fiddling.
So, it's a keeper for sure - and the Milford, especially, is a really nice work.
QuotePerhaps that is an unfair comment but I kept wishing, as I listened, that Perlman was doing the fiddling.
That is indeed a very unfair comment. I'm sure Rupert M-L would admit that he's not Perlman, but his playing is to my ears extremely fine. If we'd waited for Perlman to record these pieces, a recording would never have been made. Friends can be assured that Rupert's performances do these rare works full justice.
If anyone's interested, what Stanford left of the concerto (the holograph (signed autograph*) manuscript violin/piano score) has been digitized by the library that has it (Pierpont-Morgan, NYC, I think) and IMSLP has mirrored their copy (@ Violin Concerto No.2, Op.162 (http://imslp.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto_No.2,_Op.162_%28Stanford,_Charles_Villiers%29) @ IMSLP)
*As explained to me awhile back here, autograph manuscript does not = signed manuscript; autograph means "in the composer's hand"; holograph additionally means "with signature". There's a lot of different kinds of handwritten scores to distinguish between, and they're not really distinctions without a difference, either... since composers often prepare two autograph copies of some major works at least (not speaking of later revisions, just first drafts and recopying for neatness/thinking over ideas (which are a bit contradictory), or "erstschrift" & "reinschrift"?...) - anyhow, the date on this holograph is 1918, which is... er... probably(?) the date when the work was concluded (?) (though sometimes composers write dates of composition-beginnings on their manuscripts, etc., etc. Generally it takes knowing someone's practice- as I expect Dibble does- to make a better guess of what- a number of things mean, really. Manuscripts, for very useful sources, are also a pain-in-the-neck. If one may say.)
I often wish that the best conductors and performers would take up certain composers and/or pieces (and have been gratified and surprised to see that without my knowledge, though usually without commercially recording them, they sometimes have- Slatkin conducting Ropartz' 5th symphony, Dutoit conducting Magnard's 3rd (making quite a few excellent conductors who've conducted that symphony and had their accounts recorded- certainly including Ansermet) - etc.) Must alas grant the justice of both statements in my honest opinion... can't wait for it, but I can hope for something like it...
Quote from: Alan Howe on Saturday 21 June 2014, 18:06
QuotePerhaps that is an unfair comment but I kept wishing, as I listened, that Perlman was doing the fiddling.
That is indeed a very unfair comment. I'm sure Rupert M-L would admit that he's not Perlman, but his playing is to my ears extremely fine. If we'd waited for Perlman to record these pieces, a recording would never have been made. Friends can be assured that Rupert's performances do these rare works full justice.
Oh, I realize and appreciate the value of any recording at all of such obscure music. However,
my ears tell me that the soloist sounds weak on this disc. A fuller string sound is required - but, as was mentioned, waiting, in this case, is futile - hoping for better is eternal.
(Incidentally, have you any comment on the substance of my impressions?)
I think I have made my view of the violinist's performance perfectly clear. So, I beg to disagree with your assessment. Now, let's move on...
The Stanford is a very attractive and melodically memorable piece - certainly downstream from Brahms (but not in a chromatically dense way, like Reger), although I'd probably align the piece more with, say, Bruch. Definitely one for violinists to take up, I'd have thought.
In truth the Milford lies somewhat beyond the confines of UC's remit, although it is a most beautiful piece, often strikingly so - and predominantly although not exclusively in the English pastoral style. I can't think of any VC quite like it, which is saying something.
Rupert M-L's playing is scrupulous, finely tuned and well-prepared. The orchestra play very well, I thought, although, as ever with the BBC Concert Orchestra, a larger body of strings might have been to the CD's advantage.
This ought to be a big seller. We owe a huge debt to EM Records for their courage in bringing to fruition such a big project.
An afterthought: the Milford occasionally puts me in mind of Samuel Barber. VW's also a constant background presence.
Barber is always a good comparison as far as violin concertos go. The Milford must be amazing if you say so!
I've just caught up with this CD, and I must say that I am greatly impressed by all aspects of the Stanford concerto. The work itself is rather more powerful and heartfelt than I was somehow expecting it to be and certainly holds its own in the canon of Stanford orchestral music. It is characteristically rich in melody and is clearly post-Brahms in spirit, but never aggressively so. There's a powerfully dramatic opening movement and a long, lyrically reflective slow movement which is clearly some sort of lament. The rondo finale struck me as slightly weaker than the first two movements both in passion and memorability, but it's a substantial piece and Stanford certainly doesn't throw the work away in it. Dibble has done a good job with his orchestration, which is thoroughly idiomatic. I guess the best compliment which he can be paid is that you soon forget that the instrumentation isn't by Stanford himself. Despite criticism elsewhere here, I think that Rupert Marshall-Luck's performance is a very strong and convincing one. He's clearly on top of the technical demands, has a good solid tone and seems to be able to project the heart of the music to the listener. No complaints from me. The BBC Concert Orchestra are rather underpowered in the strings, but its not a disastrous shortcoming and is a very common failing in recordings of unsung repertoire. One has to be pragmatic. Overall, this is a really worthwhile work, expertly restored and persuasively performed.
Robin Milford's Violin Concerto of 1937 isn't aggressively modern in style and has some very attractive rhapsodising moments, although for me it comes across as a bit bloodless and meandering after the Stanford. It's clearly not "romantic" in style, but there wasn't anything in it to send me screeching from the room covering my ears. I haven't done a comparison of the performance on this CD of Holst's attractive Walt Whitman Overture with that by the Ulster Orchestra under Jo Ann Falletta on Naxos, but there didn't seem much wrong with it.
Overall, this is one of my stand-out releases of 2014 so far.
Having just heard my copy of this recording I think that the two works are both interesting, indeed the Milford is a very fine work. There is a "however" coming and that is that they are not ideal cd mates. I found it best to listen to each one in total isolation otherwise the sound world of one was to firmly entrenched in my mind to be able to enjoy the other. I agree with the comments about the soloist's tone being thin. I don't think in general that the BBC Concert Orchestra is under strung. There are many recordings that they have made, particularly I think of the ones with Handley, Wilson and Yates, where they manage to balance the wind and brass in such a way as to compliment the slightly smaller string section. I have been in touch with the orchestra management to ask about this aspect before and they told me that in many cases they have additional string players to make the size of the string orchestra up. This disc was well worth doing and I will continue to enjoy the two concertos.....spread apart from each other.
Belatedly, this recording has now appeared on Naxos Music Library today. Interesting listening to the orchestration of the Stanford.
(As to the Holst, I think there's a 3rd recording on Classico, with his Cotswolds symphony, but I'm not sure?)
Thanks, Eric. Well spotted.