Alwyn

[richardfinegold]

I don't know if this been discussed before but I couldn't pull up a thread dedicated to William Alwyn. I am interested in exploring his music but As he was a fairly prolific Composer I am not sure where to start. As his music bound to be more familiar in the U.K. than here I was hoping for some guidance

[Alison]

My starting point was the symphonies conducted by the composer on Lyrita.

Intriguing works atmospherically recorded with a fully engaged LPO.

[Nick Armstrong]

His First Symphony caught my ear when I attended a Prom performance in 2014, good place to start I'd have thought

The episode of Sound of Cinema on Alwyn provided a good introduction to his film output http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08dnhd6

[Parry1912]

Some excellent recordings of his music (including the symphonies) on Naxos

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

My starting point was the symphonies conducted by the composer on Lyrita.
Intriguing works atmospherically recorded with a fully engaged LPO.

My thanks to EdgeleyRob for his indefatigable enthusiasm for Alwyn* - I doubt that I would ever have investigated his work otherwise. These symphonies (either the LYRITA recordings under the composer, or the NAXOS under David Lloyd-Jones - or, better still, both; they complement each other so well) are superb works, much better than many other British Symphony cycles. Thematically, harmonically, dramatically, and structurally strong, Alwyn's melodic gift is wonderful - the end of the Third Symphony (da daa di daa daa DAaa daa: gorgeous!!!) will stay with you for hours afterwards.

I don't know the Hickox set Cali links to, but the Third Symphony from that set is also available on youTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxfG7cYbNrI

... worth 35mins of anyone's time!


After that I'd recommend the String Quartets for a more "private" type of Music-making (the Maginis, of course, on NAXOS). Then ... well, anything. (I'm less impressed by the Concerto Grossi, bit am still quite fond of the finale of the first, with it's use of the Tweets' "Birdy Song" as the main tune.)


(* - I also "owe" Edgey for the nudges towards Alkan, too. Sadly, I have yet to be impressed by some of his favoured composers further down the alphabet.)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Incidentally - that photo on the Hickox recording doesn't do the composer many favours! I prefer this one:

[teamsaint]

I' d also suggest the string quartets are well worth seeking out.

All of which reminds me that I have to stand in for ER on the teleprinter this afternoon, so I'd better go and find out how are teams are faring........

Edit..ignore me, Ferney got there first on the quartets.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Edit..ignore me, Ferney got there first on the quartets.

Naah! Good to see the recommendation seconded - after all, I was supporting the suggestions for the Symphonies from Cali and Alison.

[teamsaint]

Naah! Good to see the recommendation seconded - after all, I was supporting the suggestions for the Symphonies from Cali and Alison.

There is also this new recording of some early quartets.
I Listened to the first one on the CD,and found it very enjoyable.

https://www.somm-recordings.com/recording/william-alwyn-string-quartets-nos-10-13/

Any idea how Fort William are getting on so far ?

I need to sort the results out before I go out tonight.
A real treat tonight,Steve Knightly of Show of Hands is playing in the hall about 100 yards from our house

[Lat-Literal]

Piano Music 1 and 2 on Naxos - Ashley Wass.

Those are in my collection and here is a decent review of the first disc:

http://www.musicalcriticism.com/recordings/cd-alwyn-wass-0108.shtml

[Pianoman]

His setting of Strindberg's Miss Julie is most interesting, a difficult play to adapt but done with great atmosphere and skill, worth seeking out on (where else?) but Lyrita

[Barbirollians]

His setting of Strindberg's Miss Julie is most interesting, a difficult play to adapt but done with great atmosphere and skill, worth seeking out on (where else?) but Lyrita

I agree re the Naxos recordings of the symphonies . They are excellent .

Though the Barbirolli recordings of the first two symphonies are wonderful albeit in mono sound from the early 1950s .

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I agree re the Naxos recordings of the symphonies . They are excellent .

And the Hickox on youTube sounds pretty good, too. In fact, revisiting the LYRITA recordings (that I endorsed earlier) reminded me that there are details of the score (some of them important) that get lost in tutti passages - for example, right at the start of the Third Symphony, just before the first loud statement, there's a couple of bars for Basses and Bassoons, marked fff and with all notes accented, which are just lost in the composer's own recording (and I've tried it on various systems. so it's not just my lousy players). I wouldn't've known they were supposed to be there without looking at the score.

Which leads me to ask - does anybody know who sells the scores of the Symphonies these days? I'm fortunate in having access to copies available from Leeds library; but looking online, it doesn't look as if they're easily (or even "at all") available to buy.

[makropulos]

Which leads me to ask - does anybody know who sells the scores of the Symphonies these days? I'm fortunate in having access to copies available from Leeds library; but looking online, it doesn't look as if they're easily (or even "at all") available to buy.

Your best bet is to contact the William Alwyn Foundation, specifically Andrew Knowles: apkmusicprom@ntlworld.com
He will be able to tell you exactly what's available and how to get hold of it.

And for those who are interested, there's an Alwyn Festival next month: http://www.williamalwyn.co.uk/festival/

[Pulcinella]

Which leads me to ask - does anybody know who sells the scores of the Symphonies these days? I'm fortunate in having access to copies available from Leeds library; but looking online, it doesn't look as if they're easily (or even "at all") available to buy.

The Presto site lists them:

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/sm/composer|7300~category1|Orchestra-b/3