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CD Review
The British Symphonic Collection, Volume 10
- York Bowen: Symphony #2 in E minor
- Fredric Austin: Symphonic Rhapsody "Spring"
- Edgar Bainton: Symphonic Movement "Genesis"
Royal Northern College of Music Symphony Orchestra/Douglas Bostock
Classico CLASSCD404 79m DDD
The next release in Classico's admirable British Symphonic Collection continues with a triptych of works from some largely neglected composers.
Bowen's Second Symphony is one of his best and all four movements receive committed, full-blooded performances from the RNCM under Bostock who is evidently quite sympathetic to this composer's romantic idiom.
Austin's "Spring" is another characterful piece, full of romantic beauty and some memorable string writing, all in all it is one of those works which could be attributed to Delius or perhaps late Elgar.
However the most intriguing work on disc must be the expansive and heroic "Genesis" movement from the first symphony by Edgar Bainton. In its Bantockian style, the music develops very interestingly to a titanic conclusion that also has a Mahlerian tinge about it.
Great stuff then and as usual in this series, Lewis Foreman's painstaking research and notes are a must have for British music devotees. Recommended all around.
Copyright © 2002, Gerald Fenech
