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I'm sure that the way much C20th "national" music is very largely based on regional speech rhythms and patterns has a lot to do with one's appreciation. I personally feel very comfortable and at home with what might loosely be called North European (and North American) music; whereas while I can well appreciate the obvious merits of East Europeans such as Janaceck and Bartok, I can manage no more than objective admiration - the music doesn't "speak" to me in anything like the same way; and over the course of prolonged exposure to Janacek's operas I've come to the conclusion that I find the pattern of short, choppy, fragmented phrasing - clearly based on Czech speech rhythms - alien, and actively off-putting; whereas I always felt at home from the start with the longer, more liquid flow of  a composer such as Atterberg,  clearly echoing the lyrical rise and fall of spoken Swedish. My loss, I'm sure (as I'm always being told) but it isn't like there isn't plenty of other music to explore...

Thanks to Dafrieze and Hammyplay for the latest contributions; I knew it wasn't just my imagination, and that the Hyperion recording of Parry's Piano Concerto seemed rather rhythmically lacklustre by comparison. (An occasional problem with the otherwise estimable Martyn Brabbins; though his recent Havergal Brian disc for Epoch is a cracker!) And Wordsworth is, I think, a very considerable figure who has fallen between a number of stools:I tried suggesting him when Dutton found they were "running out" of worthwhile British composers - but (seemingly) to no avail. Now, I wonder if anyone out there has any recordings of the very few broadcasts of Van Dieren ; or of Denis ApIvor - not a note of whose music I've ever managed to hear..?

Sadly, there's not a great deal more to come from my vaults; because over the years I've managed to lose a whole load of (not always very good) tapes from the 80's or thereabouts. I only hope others can fill some of  the gaps; in particular I'd be very interested in hearing again lost recordings of music by Wilfred Josephs (esp his 5th symphony - "Summer?" - which was broadcast a number of times) and Derek Bourgeois (once had several of his on tape); aswell as premieres of Arthur Butterworth - also fairly regularly  broadcast in the 70's and 80's - plus William Wordsworth and the other much derided "Cheltenham" symphonists. How about the first broadcast of Parry's Piano Concerto - which I recall as being good deal fierier than the subsequent recording? And I wonder if anyone taped the Ian Hamilton operas when they were performed; "Royal Hunt of the Sun" was particularly striking. (Though "Anna Karenina" was a bit of a drag. As for why - as an admirer of both Benjamin Frankel and John Whiting - I didn't record "Marching Song" when it was broadcast, I simply can't imagine. Just simple stupidity, I suppose?)  Anyone else out there got (like me) an old box of tapes under the bed...?

Chatting to Albion a while ago about the invaluable British Music Broadcasts series, I mentioned that I wished someone would do the same for Scandinavian music - another enthusiasm.  Bu definition I don't have a lot - only odd BBC broadcasts - and I've still a lot of UK music to digitize and load. But if we have any Scandinavian members, perhaps they'd be in a position to help by starting a small thread with some home-grown examples..?

Finally got around to hearing this. Holst famously avoided violin sonatas, because he didn't like the sound of a violin and piano, and it's a distaste I share. Throw in a horn and you have, to my mind, an even less appealing combination of sounds! (Although if it was good enough for Brahms...) However, the sheer warmth of the music won me over; a sprightly, somewhat salon-ish first movement, some lusciously romantic melodies in the slow movement (what a fine melodist Holbrooke was!) and a jaunty finale with, to my ears, more than a hint of the Edwardian Music Hall about it. A substantial piece of around 25 mins, and if not a major chamber work, a thoroughly enjoyable one!

A belated thanks for this outstanding contribution; among others I'm delighted to see are alternative performances of the two Dyson cantatas, neither of which I quite felt worked on their commercial issues - it'll be interesting to hear whether St Paul comes off in this recording? (The chorus on the Somm recording just didn't seem to cut it - is it to do with the fact that choirs increasingly seem to find it hard to recruit men these days?) As for Omar Khayam - I've been reading about this "legendary" performance for years, but had despaired of ever actually hearing it....And then the two Rootham works! The problem now is finding some time to actually listen to it all!! (And, I might add, working out how to make my own contributions: I'm pretty sure I can fill some gaps that even Albion et al haven't covered...)

Don't forget to make use of the HD Sound stream if you can get it - 320 kps, as distinct from the old 120 or thereabouts!

A quick word of thanks for this treasure trove - - some familiar, some not. Mind, sometimes some of the BBC's scrappier studio performances induce more than one wince ( the Stanford overture in particular could have done with a couple more rehearsals ) but then again others are remarkably capable: in particular let me commend to the curious Bantock's marvelously atmospheric "Sea Wanderers" , Mackenzies surprisingly  (though why surprisingly?) passionate "Rose of Sharon", and Julius Benedicts robustly enjoyable symphony - who knew? (And one day I will sit down and really try to get my head round which permutations of the various Potter symphonies I know/don't know.)

It'll be very good to hear again La Belle Dame, since my own off-air tape succumbed to stretching many years ago; and I don't recall many of those Stanford performances at all! I do remember listening to Prometheous Unbound (was it really 31 years ago???) with a heavy heart as it seemed to plod along - but in those days I was much less attuned to Parry's wavelength. The fact is, 20 or 30 years ago even such rarities were so common (by comparison with today) that one became blase....For example, I keep hoping that someone out there has a recording of Holbrooke's "The Bells" which I recall hearing in about 1979 (?) and thinking thrilling, but which, bafflingly, I made no attempt to record...

Interesting to see another Holbrooke piece turning up in a surprising new release:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Music-Three-Brahms/dp/B00447XDB8/ref=sr_1_10?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1288084361&sr=1-10
And again, from a non-UK company: promising!

Not sure whether he's unsung or not? but I'm quite taken with the new Naxos disc of his Shakespeare overtures. Ok, maybe no masterpieces, and some are more immediately striking than others - Julius Caesar strikes me as somewhat generic - but  Anthony & Cleopatra,if not blazingly passionate, has a limpidly sultry atmosphere, and a rumbustious 12th Night is already a favourite. I see coming along in vol II is the Overture to King John, which one can only hope will be more inspired than the woeful play itself!

The sometimes equivocal responses to this disc initially put me off listening to it - as did the brief  snatch of the Landler I heard, which did indeed sound like imitation Mahler. But I'm glad I took the trouble to listen to it properly - it's a solid and convincing piece, and if it's not in any way original, that's no crime, while it boasts splendid melodies ( a gorgeous slow movement, apropos another post!) and some stirring climaxes. Someone mentioned Korngold - well, Korngold could have been jealous!

Your post encouraged me to listen to the Glass; you're right, it is rather fine - pity there isn't a really top-rate performance out there. (Glass - like Bendix - deserves a lot better than the often scrappy recordings he's mostly been given so far.)

Er - slightly OT, since technically this belongs under Recordings - there's also BML 50

http://www.cornucopia-music.co.uk/BML.htm

which looks like a reissue of an LP I had years ago which I recall included some rather witty and raucous songs...

It's taken from a concert the ASO gave earlier this year, which you'll find on their website. They seem to be releasing most of their concerts in MP3 form now.