Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity by Sir John Blackwood McEwen.

[Guest]

I would be grateful for every morsel of knowledge my fellow FoR3'ers are willing to share on Sir John Blackwood McEwen. Yesterday in listening to Sean Rafferty [14th December] he and his guest Harry Christophers spoke to Christmas Carols being folk LORE music. Is this composition of Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity of similar historical folk music of Scotland ?

thank you,
sigolene

[makropulos]

In terms of morsels of knowledge, here's part of the Grove Online article on him:

McEwen, John (Blackwood)
(b Harwick, 13 April 1868; d London, 14 June 1948). Scottish composer. He studied at Glasgow University (MA 1888) and the RAM (1893–5), where his teachers included Prout, Corder and Matthay. Active as an organist in Glasgow and Lanark (1885–91) and Greenock (1895–8), he also taught at the Athenaeum School, Glasgow before returning to the RAM to teach in 1898. A promoter of new music, he co-founded the Society of British Composers (1905) and served as president of the Incorporated Society of Musicians. Upon his appointment as principal of the RAM in 1924 he exerted a liberalizing influence, assisted in his efforts by Henry J. Wood and Lionel Tertis. His awards included honorary degrees from the universities of Oxford (MusD 1926) and Glasgow (LLD 1993), and membership in the University of Helsingfors. He was knighted in 1931, and retired from the RAM in 1936.

McEwen’s music synthesizes Scottish (and sometimes French) folk idioms and the Romantic legacy of Berlioz, Liszt, Wagner, and the French and Russian schools; Debussy was particularly influential. His extensive output reached its climax in the large-scale compositions written before World War I. In the Three Border Ballads (1905–8) his mastery of form and orchestration, backed by a powerful emotional impetus, rivals mature Elgar: Grey Galloway, the second ballad, stands out for its thematic distinction and rhythmic drive. The Hymn on the Morning of Christ’s Nativity (1901–5) is monumental yet intimate and engaging; like Grey Galloway and A Solway Symphony (1911) it can be considered among his finest works. McEwen’s mature style, best exemplified by A Solway Symphony, institutes textures and colours with a precision comparable to that of Florent Schmitt and the later works of Korngold and Walton. After suffering a breakdown in 1913, he concentrated on smaller forms. His 19 string quartets and seven sonatas for violin and piano are impressive additions to the chamber music repertoire; particularly notable are the String Quartet no.6 ‘Biscay’ in A (1913), the String Quartet no.13 in C minor (1928) and the Sonata-fantasia no.5 (1922).

I've heard and enjoyed some of the string quartets, and there are a few scores (including the "Solway Symphony") on imslp.org.
Good luck with finding out more about him - I think he's quite interesting :)

[Roehre]

Chandos has made recordings of a couple of McEwen's works, some orchestral works as well as string quartets.

[sigolene euphemia]

makropulos,

Thank you for the time put forth. I have not heard of 'Grove Online". I will come to resource the site most likely. Is it a considerable online of learning music ?

I never thought of music as idiomatic. Do you have a way of explaining this through the ether ?

Would you consider expanding upon what you find "quite interesting' of McEwen ? It engages me more when I learn from a person verses a book, online reference.

warm wishes,
sigolene

[sigolene euphemia]

Rohere,

Thank you. I do recognize the Chandos label as excellence in recording.

Also Rohere, the thread you master of quick responses of music is a fun puzzle for my head !

kind wishes,
sigolene

[David Underdown]

Simply the online version of Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, usually it's now wrapped up in Oxford Music Online, which also incudes the Oxford Companion to Music and at elast one other resource. If you hold a library ticket for your local authority's libraries, you should be able to get free online access - check the library's website.

[sigolene euphemia]

Thank you Mssr Underdown.

I do have a few cataloges from Oxford, such as "choral music - Something to sing about" 2004-5 of which we have ordered music from for my daughter's music camps.

All in all, I am slowly beginning to recognize how and why the classes were overflowing at Schoenberg Hall UCLA [University of Los Angeles], when I would slowly pass the doors in the hallway peering into the rectangle of glass on the door and seeing eager students. Well, I guess "slow" is how I am absorbing this vast realm of classical music.

kind wishes,
sigolene

[makropulos]

Sigolene, I suppose what the author of the Grove article meant by "idiomatic" is the way McEwen incorporates folk/traditional elements into quite a personal musical language. But what I find interesting about the quartets is the rather international flavour of his music - on the basis of the ones I've heard at least. He quite often sounds rather reminiscent of French composers (and wrote several works there), especially Faure (I don't want to risk the acute accent in case this message disappears in shock...) and sometimes Dvorak too. In other words, it's very well written and can be rather captivating. Do try a few of them if you can :)

David Underdown has explained about Grove Online. It's invaluable if you can get access to it.