John Ireland - Music for String Orchestra (Orchestra of the Swan)

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Composer: John Ireland

1. Cello Sonata in G minor (arr. Matthew Forbes): I. Moderato e sostenuto
2. Cello Sonata in G minor (arr. Matthew Forbes): II. Poco largamente
3. Cello Sonata in G minor (arr. Matthew Forbes): III. Con moto e marcato
4. Summer Evening (arr. Graham Parlett)
5. In a May Morning (arr. Graham Parlett)
6. Soliloquy (arr. Graham Parlett)
7. Bagatelle (arr. Graham Parlett)
8. Berceuse (arr. Graham Parlett)
9. Cavatina (arr. Graham Parlett)
10. A Downland Suite (arr. Ireland/Geoffrey Bush): I. Prelude. Allegro energico
11. A Downland Suite (arr. Ireland/Geoffrey Bush): II. Elegy. Lento espressivo
12. A Downland Suite (arr. Ireland/Geoffrey Bush): III. Minuet. Allegretto grazioso
13. A Downland Suite (arr. Ireland/Geoffrey Bush): IV. Rondo. Poco allegro

Raphael Wallfisch, cello

Orchestra of the Swan

David Curtis, conductor

Date: 2016

Label: Naxos

https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.571372

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Review

Originally fashioned as a test piece for the 1932 National Brass Band Championships, John Ireland’s A Downland Suite (expertly retooled for string orchestra by the composer and his pupil Geoffrey Bush) is always welcome and felicitously served on this latest anthology from Warwickshire’s Orchestra of the Swan under David Curtis, set down in the mellow acoustic of the Townsend Hall in Shipston-on-Stour. In the Lento espressivo Elegy Curtis uncovers greater anguish than does Boult on his classic Lyrita recording from December 1965 (which radiates a typically unforced, tender glow all its own), whereas in the ensuing Minuet it’s Julian Lloyd Webber and a richer-toned ECO (also on Naxos, 4/15) who perhaps more consistently tug at the heartstrings. That said, I do love the thrusting vigour of Curtis’s Prelude (precisely Allegro energico as marked), and his shapely and infectiously spirited account overall is a most winning one.

Proceedings are launched with Matthew Forbes’s sympathetic orchestration of Ireland’s yearningly impassioned Cello Sonata from 1923, which successfully brings out this work’s kinship with the rugged tone-poem Mai-Dun (1921). That tireless champion of British music Raphael Wallfisch plays with full-throated eloquence; Curtis and company provide most sympathetic support. Of Graham Parlett’s six reworkings of solo piano pieces four are scored for cello and strings. All fall gratefully on the ear, though in the case of the exquisite ‘In a May Morning’ from Sarnia (1940 41) I do find it almost impossible to banish from my mind Ireland’s fastidiously idiomatic keyboard-writing.

By all means, then, investigate this very likeable survey – but don’t deprive yourself of experiencing the chamber and instrumental originals as well.

-- Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2016/Jun/Ireland_arrangements_8571372.htm

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2016/Jun/Ireland_arrangements_8571372_DHu.htm

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/10/john-ireland-music-for-string-orchestra-review-raphael-wallfisch-orchestra-of-the-swan-curtis

https://www.allmusic.com/album/ireland-music-for-string-orchestra-mw0002922976

https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.571372&languageid=EN

https://www.amazon.com/John-Ireland-Music-String-Orchestra/dp/B01C5PTXDM

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John Ireland (13 August 1879 – 12 June 1962) was an English composer and teacher of classical music. He studied piano with Frederic Cliffe and composition with Charles Villiers Stanford. He was strongly influenced by Debussy and Ravel as well as by the earlier works of Stravinsky and Bartók. From these influences, he developed his own brand of "English Impressionism", related more closely to French and Russian models than to the folk-song style then prevailing in English music. Ireland favoured small forms and wrote neither symphonies nor operas, although his Piano Concerto is considered among his best works.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ireland_(composer)

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Raphael Wallfisch (born 15 June 1953, London) is one of the leading English cellists of his generation. Wallfisch studied with Amaryllis Fleming, Derek Simpson, Amadeo Baldovino and Gregor Piatigorsky. His vast repertory ranges from 19th century staples by Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Dvorák to 20th century standards by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Respighi and Barber. He has also focused much attention on works by British composers such as Elgar, Delius, Bax, Maxwell Davies, MacMillan, Simpson, and Tavener. Wallfisch has recorded extensively for many labels, including Chandos, Nimbus, and Naxos.

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/raphael-wallfisch-mn0002030011/biography

http://www.raphaelwallfisch.com/?page_id=35

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