Elgar / Howarth / Callow / Wilson - Spirit of England / Binyon Settings - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Album Tracks 1. Watchmen, Alert! 2. Watchmen, Alert! the King Is Here 3. Father!... Sire and King 4. At Eve to the Greenwood, We Wander'd Away 5. On the Ocean and the River 6. Rest, Weary Monarch 7. Tread the Mystic Circle Round 8. Lord of Dread and Lord of Pow'r 9. Bard, What Read Ye in the Field...? 10. Leap to Light, My Brand of Fight 11. Hence, Ere the Druid's Wrath Is Woke 12. Woodland Interlude 13. Come! Beneath Our Woodland Bow'rs 14. O'er-Arch'd By Leaves the Streamlet Weaves 15. Last Night Beneath the Sacred Oak 16. Come! Beneath Our Woodland Bow'rs 1. Wild Rumours Shake Our Calm Retreat 2. When the Glow of the Evening Had Died from the Hill 3. We Were Gather'd By the River 4. O My Warriors, Tell Me Truly 5. Captive Britons, See Them! Hark 6. Processional Music - the March Triumphal Thunders 7. Unbind His Hands, Silence the Trumpets 8. Heap Torment Upon Torment, Woe on Woe 9. Slay the Briton 10. I Plead Not for Myself 11. Grace from the Roman! 12. The Clang of Arms Is Over 13. Introduction. Worcester Castle. Pomposo - - London Symphony Orchestra 14. Toccata. Tournament. Allegro Molto - - London Symphony Orchestra 15. Fugue. the Cathedral. Andante - - London Symphony Orchestra 16. Minuet. Commandery. Moderato - - London Symphony Orchestra 17. Coda. Lento - London Symphony Orchestra

Distinguished British music interpreter Sir Andrew Davis joins forces with the BBCSO once again, this time with acclaimed soloists Dame Sarah Connolly and Andrew Staples, in this thoughtful presentation of the last two substantial choral works of Sir Edward Elgar. The matury of Elgar as an orchestrator is obvious in both works on this album, notably, in 'The Music Makers' (1912), during passages in which he quotes from 'Sea Pictures' and the Violin Concerto, and in representing the sound of aircraft in 'The Spirit of England' (1917). Elgar uses self-quotation to reflect 'The Music Makers' is a canvas of self-reflection, written quickly following a period of illness. The orchestral introduction is introspective, melancholic, and noble, before the words of Arthur O'Shaughanessy's poem and much self-quotation within the music offer an insight into the sense of nostalgia and awareness of the loneliness of the creative artist felt by the composer. 'The Spirit of England' reflects on the sadness and desolation of war felt by a nation, with the inclusion of quotations from 'The Dream of Gerontius' in some of the more negative stanzas that Elgar found harder to set. Specified in the score for tenor or soprano, all three movements are sung here by a tenor in a recording first.

Album Tracks 1. Pomp and Circumstance March in D Major, Op. 39, No. 1 2. Enigma Variations, Op. 36 Nimrod 3. Intoduction and Allegro, Op. 47 4. Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 - Adagio 5. Salut D'amour, Op. 12 6. Symphony No. 1In a Flat Major, Op. 55, - Andante Nobilmente E Semplice (Excerpt) 7. Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op. 20 Larghetto 8. Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op. 20 Allegretto 9. Violin Concerto in B minor Op. 61 - Andante 10. Pomp and Circumstance March in G Major, Op. 39, No. 4 11. Cockaigne Overture (In London Town), Op. 40