Hubert Parry - Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 (Matthias Bamert)

Information

Composer: Hubert Parry

1. Symphony No. 3 in C major 'The English': I. Allegro energico
2. Symphony No. 3 in C major 'The English': II. Andante sostenuto
3. Symphony No. 3 in C major 'The English': III. Allegro molto scherzoso
4. Symphony No. 3 in C major 'The English': IV. Moderato
5. Symphony No. 4 in E minor: I. Con fuoco
6. Symphony No. 4 in E minor: II. Molto Adagio
7. Symphony No. 4 in E minor: III. Allegretto
8. Symphony No. 4 in E minor: IV. Spiritoso

London Philharmonic Orchestra
Matthias Bamert, conductor

Date: 1990
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%208896

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

The Parry revival gathers pace. This is the first disc in a Chandos series which is to embrace the five symphonies and some of the choral works, including the rare and lovely The Lotus Eaters. A special significance attaches to it because the conductor is not British. Who would have expected a Swiss conductor, Matthias Bamert, to explore such a rare English preserve as the Parry symphonies? It is an encouraging act of faith, and the quality of the performances and interpretations is such as springs not from duty but from conviction and enthusiasm. Chandos give the music one of their clear and faithful recordings, with admirable balance and slight resonance.

As for the music, I find it difficult to understand how these works have remained virtually unplayed for so long. The Third (English) was composed in 1888-9 and, as Bernard Benoliel points out in his informative notes, is our equivalent of Mendelssohn's Italian and Schumann's Rhenish Symphonies, with a similar sunny exuberance. The orchestration has a light touch in the Scherzo and is richly Brahmsian in the Adagio. I find the finale (a set of variations) the weakest movement, rather four-square in its melodic cut and without the sweep of the opening Allegro.

But it is the Fourth Symphony in E minor that is the discovery. This was written concurrently with the Third and was first performed under Richter in July 1889. It did not please Parry, who re-wrote it in 1910 (and substituted the present Scherzo) for a Philharmonic Society concert. This recording is the first performance since that occasion 80 years ago. It strikes me as a more personal and confessional work than the Third, its 16-minute first movement full of repressed passion and romance, with a coda of radiant beauty leading into an Adagio of which Elgar would have been proud, as he would of the great tune in the finale (he would have marked it nobilmente!). That such music should have been collecting dust for nearly a century beggars belief.

-- Gramophone

More reviews:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Parry-Symphonies-Nos-3-4/dp/B000000ALR
https://www.amazon.com/Parry-Symphonies-Nos-3-4/dp/B000000ALR

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hubert Parry (27 February 1848 – 7 October 1918) was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. As a composer he is best known for compositions such as the choral song "Jerusalem" and the coronation anthem "I was glad". His orchestral works include five symphonies and a set of Symphonic Variations. In 1895 Parry succeeded George Grove as head of the Royal College of Music, remaining in the post for the rest of his life. Parry's influence on later composers, such as Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Frank Bridge and John Ireland, is widely recognised.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_Parry

***

Matthias Bamert (born July 5, 1942 in Ersigen, Canton of Bern) is a Swiss composer and conductor. Bamert studied music in Switzerland, in Darmstadt and in Paris, with Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. He was principal oboist with the Salzburg Mozart Orchestra between 1965-1969, then switched to conducting. Bamert's conducting career began in North America as an apprentice to George Szell and later as Assistant Conductor to Leopold Stokowski, and Resident Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra under Lorin Maazel. He made over 60 recordings, most of them for Chandos.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Bamert

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!