Composer: Granville Bantock, Christopher Wilson
Orchestra: Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim
Conductor: Douglas Bostock
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: CPO
Catalogue: 555395-2
Release: 2021
Size: 390 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Wilson: Suite for String Orchestra
01. I. Prélude. Con spirito
02. II. Air. Andante moderato
03. III. Scherzo. Allegro molto – Trio. Meno mosso
04. IV. Bourrée. Vivace – Trio. Meno mosso
05. V. Romance. Andante moderato
06. V. Rigaudon. Vivace – Trio
Bantock: String Serenade ‘In the Far West’
07. I. Lento – Poco allegro – Animato – Cantabile sostenuto
08. II. Andante, con espressione
09. III. Scherzo. Viva quasi presto – Trio
10. IV. Finale. Con brio – Molto lento – Con moto. Cantabile
Bantock: Suite for String Orchestra ‘Scenes from the Scottish Highlands’
11. I. Strathspey. The Braes o’ Tullymet
12. II. Dirge. Dirge of the Isle of Mull
13. III. Quickstep. Inverness Gathering
14. IV. Gaelic Melody. Baloo, Baloo
15. V. Reel. The De’il Among the Tailors
Our second CD with music for strings by British composers features most highly creative compositions by Sir Granville Bantock and Christopher Wilson. When Bantock reached the pinnacle of his fame, the Three Choirs Festival held in Hereford in 1912 ordered a work for string orchestra from him. The result was the four-movement Serenade for Strings, to which he assigned the subtitle ‘In the Far West’. Bantock’s string movements are distinguished by an impressive tonal richness. After the performance Douglas Bostock remarked: ‘I am truly amazed – this is anything but a ‘Serenade,’ as the innocuous title suggests. The succinct, symphonically developed music is nothing other than a string symphony with a demanding writing style representing a genuine tour de force’. Moreover, extensive recorded material documents the Scottish melodies used by Bantock in his Scenes from the Scottish Highlands. For them he chose the finely managed format of three fast dances separated by two euphonious slow movements.
The six short movements in traditional or dance style forming Christopher Wilson’s Suite for String Orchestra made it something new and fresh when it was premiered in 1901, and it came over very well. It is thought that one of the composer’s goals was to connect with the tradition of Johann Sebastian Bach.