Classical Timbres

If you are fed up with more Abba revivals, pop comebacks and sugary boybands maybe it is time to look at Classical. There is such a vast array of stuff available and all of it of much import. The world can offer an awful lot, with Germany and Austria providing biggies like Beethoven and Mozart, but maybe staying closer to home has a lot to offer too.

Brought up in Bradford, Frederick Delius was a composer touched by magic. In his fabulous orchestral pieces 'Song of Summer', 'Walk to the Paradise Garden' and 'On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring' we enter another world of enchantment, beauty and tonal ecstasy. His opera 'The Magic Fountain' is not heard much but 'Fennimore and Gerda', which is a lot more popular, is deservedly so. It beguiles us, seduces us, taking us into the secret world of musical genius.

Elgar, another popular English composer, seems to be the voice of England. As well as works like 'Pomp and Circumstance', full of bombast and grandeur, he is capable of the whimsy of 'Dream Children' and 'The Wand of Youth'. The Cello Concerto is a unique work full of melody, satisfying harmony and beautiful orchestration.

Benjamin Britten is also synonymous with all things English. Known for his collaboration with Peter Pears he wrote a lot of vocal music, and his 'Hymn to Saint Cecilia' is tuneful and original for any choir to sing. Other works like his 'War Requiem' can be dark and sombre and atonal. His operas 'Peter Grimes', 'Billy Budd' and 'Noyes Fludde' are modern, if not to everyone's taste, as is the ballet 'Prince of the Pagodas'.

Sir Michael Tippett's 'Child of Our Time' is fantastic, fusing as it does the best in modern music with the old traditional negro spirituals. Vaughan Williams wrote great symphonies, especially 'Antarctica' full of atmosphere and cunning orchestration. He gives Thomas Tallis's theme modern treatment too in his Fantasia to magnificent effect. Music has rarely sounded this good.

Holst's 'Planet Suite' is famous the world over. Everybody has heard of it and most never forget the wrath and militaristic belligerence of 'Mars' which is the planet of war.

Sir Hubert Parry is a composer of great talent and it is in his choral works he excels. A much more modern composer is Patrick Hawes whose 'Highgrove Suite' is absolutely fabulous. First performed in June 2010 in the presence of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall it is a four movement work for strings and harp. Each section is inspired by a part of the Highgrove gardens. The sections are entitled 'Goddess of the Woods', 'The Wildflower Meadow', 'Sanctuary' and 'The Gladiator'. It is a truly inspired piece of music full of magical delights.

William Mathias, an interesting composer of the latter half of the twentieth century, has written much music while professor of music at a Welsh university, including a harp concerto and three piano concertos. 'A Vision of Time and Eternity' and the 'Missa Brevis' are some of his best music.
Hoddinott too, also working in Wales, has produced memorable music.

With a past so illustrious the future must look very bright for English music and then there's 'Greensleeves', still very popular, but can we believe it was written by a monarch of the realm?
Just maybe Henry VIII pinched it from one of the musicians of his court. Nothing should surprise us in the colourful history of English music.