Composer: Sir Edward William Elgar
Performer: Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Max Hanft, Radoslaw Szulc, Julita Smolen
Conductor: Howard Arman
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BR Klassik
Catalogue: 900522
Release: 2021
Size: 1.09 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
From the Bavarian Highlands, Op. 27 (Version for Choir & Piano)
01. No. 1, The Dance
02. No. 2, False Love
03. No. 3, Lullaby
04. No. 4, Aspiration
05. No. 5, On the Alm
06. No. 6, The Marksmen
2 Partsongs, Op. 26
07. No. 1, The Snow
08. No. 2, Fly, Singing Bird
Five Part-songs from The Greek Anthology, Op. 45
09. No. 1, Yea, Cast Me from Heights of the Mountains
10. No. 2, Whether I Find Thee
11. No. 3, After Many a Dusty Mile
12. No. 4, It’s Oh! To Be a Wild Wind
13. No. 5, Feasting I Watch
14. Go, song of mine, Op. 57
Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf
15. As Torrents in Summer (Version for Female Choir & Piano)
16. Spanish Serenade, Op. 23 “Stars of the Summer Night” (Arr. for Choir, 2 Violins & Piano)
17. The Reveille Op. 54
18. They are at rest
19. Weary Wind of the West
20. The Prince of Sleep
The British composer Edward Elgar wrote a great deal more than just his Pomp & Circumstance Marches: his highly diverse oeuvre encompasses symphonies, concertos, chamber works, piano music and numerous choral works (oratorios, cantatas and partsongs). On this release, partsongs by Elgar can be heard with and without accompaniment as part of a representative selection of live and studio recordings.
The album begins with the song cycle From the Bavarian Highlands, Op. 27; its six cheerful numbers were written while Elgar and his wife were on holiday in Garmisch in 1895. Alice Elgar had sketched verses from Bavarian folk melodies, and Upper Bavarian songs and dances can be heard in her husband’s settings. These were happy memories of carefree holidays in a region rich in music and full of fine landscapes. The Bavarian Radio Chorus, conducted by Howard Arman, sings the songs in their original version with piano accompaniment (the orchestral version came later).
As a composer of English-language choral songs, Elgar is still little-known on the European mainland; in the United Kingdom, however, the situation is very different. The country has long had a lively choral scene, focusing primarily on English music – from Purcell and Handel to Hubert Parry, Charles Villiers Stanford and Elgar, all the way to Benjamin Britten and today’s contemporary composers. The program on this release has been compiled and conducted by the Englishman Howard Arman, one of today’s most knowledgeable experts on British choral music and artistic director of the Bavarian Radio Chorus, and these recordings should do much to boost the popularity of this highly appealing music on the European mainland as well.
“As a composer of English-language choral songs, Elgar is still little-known on the European mainland; in the United Kingdom, however, the situation is very different. The country has long had a lively choral scene, focusing primarily on English music – from Purcell and Handel to Hubert Parry, Charles Villiers Stanford and Elgar, all the way to Benjamin Britten and today’s contemporary composers. The program on this CD has been compiled and conducted by the Englishman Howard Arman, one of today’s most knowledgeable experts on British choral music and artistic director of the Bavarian Radio Chorus, and these recordings should do much to boost the popularity of this highly appealing music on the European mainland as well. In addition to the six songs of the cycle “From the Bavarian Highlands” op. 27 (1895), the CD also contains Elgar’s “Spanish Serenade” op. 23 (1891), the “Two Partsongs” op. 26 (1894), “As Torrents in Summer” from op. 30 (1896), “Five Partsongs from the Greek Anthology” op. 45 (1902), “Weary Wind of the West” (1902/1930), “The Reveille” op. 54 (1907), “Go, Song of Mine” op. 57 (1909), the elegy “They Are at Rest” (1909) and “The Prince of Sleep” (1925).”