Edward German - Merrie England Suite; Nell Gwyn; Gipsy Suite (Adrian Leaper)

Information

Composer: Edward German

1. Nell Gwyn: I. Overture
2. Nell Gwyn: II. Country Dance
3. Nell Gwyn: III. Pastoral Dance
4. Nell Gwyn: IV. Merrymaker's Dance
5. Gipsy Suite: I. Valse melancolique "Lonely Life"
6. Gipsy Suite: II. Allegro di bravura "The Dance"
7. Gipsy Suite: III. Menuetto "Love Duet"
8. Gipsy Suite: IV. Tarantella "The Revel"
9. Henry VIII: No. 1, Morris Dance
10. Henry VIII: No. 2, Shepherds' Dance
11. Henry VIII: No. 3, Torch Dance
12. The Tempter: Berceuse
13. Romeo and Juliet: Pavane
14. Romeo and Juliet: Nocturne
15. Romeo and Juliet: Pastorale
16. Tom Jones: For Tonight "Sophia's Waltz-Song" (arr. E. Tomlinson)
17. Merrie England Suite: I. Hornpipe
18. Merrie England Suite: II. Minuet
19. Merrie England Suite: III. Rustic Dance
20. Merrie England Suite: IV. Jig

Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra

Adrian Leaper, conductor

Date: 1992 / 2022

Label: Marco Polo / Naxos

https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=8.555171

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Review

Although Britain has been the world center for what is known as light music, composer Edward German remains a bit underrated. In his own time, he was seen as the successor to Arthur Sullivan, and indeed, he was commissioned to complete Sullivan's final opera, The Emerald Isle, after Sullivan's death in 1900. In operettas, incidental music, and orchestral music, he carried forward Sullivan's Mendelssohnian Savoy opera style, spicing it up with ethnic influences. It is debatable how much Romani flavor there is in the Gipsy Suite, which contains a tarantella, not to mention a minuet (?), but as a tunesmith, German can stand with Sullivan and Offenbach. Consider the Berceuse from German's music for a play called The Conqueror, written by the Duchess of Sutherland; it's one of the most entrancing cradle songs from any era. There are four dance excerpts from German's operetta Merrie England, his most popular work, and one still occasionally performed; they sparkle, and although this music isn't naturally under the fingers of the Slovak Radio Symphony, the group sparkles here, no doubt aided by the work of conductor Adrian Leaper. It's a bit unclear why this 1994 recording jumped onto classical best-seller charts in 2022; all things English were certainly in the air, but this album hit its sales peak before the death of Elizabeth II. The most likely explanation seems to be that it is just chock-full of good tunes.

-- James Manheim, AllMusic

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Edward German (17 February 1862 – 11 November 1936) was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of English comic opera. German provided popular incidental music for many productions at the Globe and other London theatres, including Richard III (1889), Henry VIII (1892) and Nell Gwynn (1900). He also wrote symphonies, orchestral suites, symphonic poems, a considerable body of songs, piano music, as well as symphonic suites and other concert music.

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

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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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