Frederic Hymen Cowen - Symphony No. 3; The Butterfly's Ball; Indian Rhapsody (Adrian Leaper)

Information

Composer: Frederic Hymen Cowen

1. The Butterfly's Ball, Concert Overture
2. Indian Rhapsody
3. Symphony No. 3 in C minor 'Scandinavian': I. Allegro moderato ma con moto
4. Symphony No. 3 in C minor 'Scandinavian': II. A Summer Evening on the Fjord: Adagio con moto - Allegretto
5. Symphony No. 3 in C minor 'Scandinavian': III. Scherzo: Molto vivace quasi presto
6. Symphony No. 3 in C minor 'Scandinavian': IV. Finale: Allegro ma non troppo

Czechoslovak State Philharmonic (Košice)

Adrian Leaper, conductor

Date: 1990

Label: Marco Polo

https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.223273

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Review

It is one of fate's cruel ironies that Frederick Cowen, an immensely influential figure in this country's musical life and a redoubtable champion of British composers in a long and distinguished conducting career (with the Philharmonic Society, the Halle, the Liverpool Philharmonic, the Scottish Orchestra, in Bradford, at the Cardiff and Handel Festivals, not to mention a daily concert for six months in Melbourne), as a composer himself became a back number in his own lifetime (he died in 1935). Little of his prolific serious output has been heard since, but with current curiosity about neglected corners of the repertoire and a general broadening of tastes Adrian Leaper (now assistant conductor with the Halle) has been emboldened to revive some of his music—though, significantly, not with a British orchestra.

A former Times critic regretted that Cowen did not ''stretch'' the orchestra as did, for example, his contemporary Elgar; but quite apart from the fact that this Scandinavian Symphony predates Elgar's First by nearly 30 years, it more than stands comparison with the orchestral writing of its period and by no means 'plays itself'. The Kosice orchestra enters into the spirit of the thing with assurance (except for some violin figures in the finale), and Leaper's readings are persuasive, particularly in the first two movements—the first the more individual, and conventional only as regards form, and the second (which carries a sub-title, ''Summer evening on the fjord'') calmly atmospheric (with horns sounding from a distance). The writing is highly professional, with extremely skilful orchestration, pleasing melodic facility and constantly surprising and effective key-changes (often by enharmonic modulation). It is understandable that the Times then thought this work (which established Cowen as a composer and enjoyed much popularity) ''the most important English symphony for many years''; but unfortunately the scherzo and the syncopated finale (which introduces trombones for the first time only in the coda) are developed from inferior material and sound too manufactured. The recording is more or less satisfactory, though the violins are too close-miked and the harp is too faint.

Of the other two works, The Butterfly's Ball is again finely scored, and its key-scheme shows a deft hand, but overall it is somewhat diffuse: the Indian Rhapsody (which does not argue any acquaintance with genuine Indian music) is a curious mixture of styles, the first theme pentatonic, the second based on the minor scale with a sharpened fourth, the rest, to a greater or less degree, European. As a piece of exoticism it reflects Victorian England rather than the Raj.'

-- Lionel Salter, Gramophone

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Frederic Hymen Cowen (29 January 1852 – 6 October 1935), was an English composer, conductor and pianist. Born in Jamaica and educated in England and Germany, among his teachers were Ignaz Moscheles, Carl Reinecke, Ferdinand David, Friedrich Kiel and Carl Taubert. As a composer, Cowen's most important work, his Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Scandinavian, brought him some international recognition. As a conductor, he was conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society, the Hallé Orchestra and the Philharmonic Society of London. Cowen's career, both as composer and conductor, is now unjustly forgotten.

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

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Adrian Leaper (born 1953) is an English conductor. Leaper studied horn and conducting at the Royal Academy of Music and for eight year was co-principal horn of the Philharmonia Orchestra. He was Principal Conductor of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria (1994-2001) the RTVE Symphony Orchestra in Madrid (2001-2010). He has made many recordings for the Naxos Records label. He has conducted for all four major London orchestras, the Moscow, Vienna and Prague Symphony Orchestras, in addition to many other radio, philharmonic, and symphony orchestras around the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Leaper

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