Bryden Thomson

[richardfinegold]

Going through the shelves the other day and came across the Martinu Symphony Cycle on Chandos conducted by Thomson. I had purchased it after i was so impressed with the Vaughn Williams cycle from these same forces. I did not have much of an appreciation for RVW but Thomson's recording of the 5th and Haitink's Antartica changed that for me. I collected all of the Thomson RVW and then dipped into Martinu.
I know virtually next to nothing about Thomson. I had never heard of him prior to the RVW, and I think he may have died soon after recording the Martinu.
Can some of you Islanders fill out the picture for me? Did he have much of a recorded legacy?

[Tevot]

Hello there,

You can find a selection of Thomson's recordings here:-

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/a/Conductor/2922/Bryden-Thomson/4

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[cloughie]

Hello there,

You can find a selection of Thomson's recordings here:-

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/a/Conductor/2922/Bryden-Thomson/4

Best Wishes,

Tevot

A very good journeyman conductor of British, mainly BBC Orchestras. I always felt he was underrated and his commercial recordings were made towards the end of his career. I like his Elgar symphonies - not too brisk! He made numerous broadcast performances eg a Dvorak Symphony cycle which ought to be in BBC Archives but I fear they are lost or wiped!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryden_Thomson

[Petrushka]

There is/was a recording of the Walton Symphony No 1 from the LPO and Bryden Thomson that seriously challenges the celebrated Previn recording and it's in better sound!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Symphony-1-William-Walton/dp/B000000AL1/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1393631867&sr=1-4&keywords=bryden+thomson+walton

[jayne lee wilson]

I rather gave up trying to nominate a best Martinu cycle a while ago as I think that Neumann/Czech PO (in the 2005 Japanese Mastersonic remaster), the Behlolavek/BBCSO and - yes, Thomson with the SNO were well ahead of the rest. It's one of the best things Bryden Thomson ever did, and Chandos' 2005 remastering has an ASTOUNDING beauty, detail and a scarily wide dynamic range - perhaps it does get a bit too fierce in some climaxes, but it's a great achievement technically and musically - the sort of 3-D orchestral spectacle that really compels your attention.

(The one qualifier to that would be No.6 - a work set apart from the others - I've yet to hear anyone quite match the blend of fantasy, beauty and sheer orchestral excellence that Munch managed in the Premiere recording with the Boston SO - a little off-thread here, sorry...)

[PJPJ]

There is/was a recording of the Walton Symphony No 1 from the LPO and Bryden Thomson that seriously challenges the celebrated Previn recording and it's in better sound!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Symphony-1-W...thomson+walton

It's a very fine disc. One concert which sticks in my memory is Thomson conducting Walton 1 at the Proms. A riveting experience.

[BBMmk2]

Bryden Thomson, was a very much loved and respected figure, by the musicians he conducted and everyone else. A friend of mine was conducted by him when he was in the LSO

[Roehre]

Going through the shelves the other day and came across the Martinu Symphony Cycle on Chandos conducted by Thomson. I had purchased it after i was so impressed with the Vaughn Williams cycle from these same forces. I did not have much of an appreciation for RVW but Thomson's recording of the 5th and Haitink's Antartica changed that for me. I collected all of the Thomson RVW and then dipped into Martinu.
I know virtually next to nothing about Thomson. I had never heard of him prior to the RVW, and I think he may have died soon after recording the Martinu.
Can some of you Islanders fill out the picture for me? Did he have much of a recorded legacy?

One of the high points of his legacy is IMHO without a whiff of doubt his Bax cycle, not only the symphonies, but also the best part of Bax's other orchestral output.

[Suffolkcoastal]

I concur with all of the sentiments above, what really stands out in the Martinu recordings is the inner detail that Thomson brings out so that one really hears the interplay of the various lines and orchestral colours. I think I first encountered Thomson as a boy when he used to conduct the Young Musician finals.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I used to attend the BBC Northern's live "lunchtime prom" concerts in Manchester Town Hall on Fridays during the 1960s. They were free to the public and the only down-side was the concert interval, when the orchestra lit up their cigarettes and the stench filled the room for the second half of the concert. I heard many new artists, such as the clarinettist, Janet Hilton, who was a star of the Royal Manchester College of Music. But the introduction to the styles of different conductors was exciting. With the Halle, I had heard Barbirolli , George Weldon and Maurice Handford and a tiny sprinkling of others, but the BBC Northern had a large number of guest conductors, including Charles Groves. When Bryden Thomson came, he was new to me, but he gave the most exciting performance of Mozart 39 I have ever heard. I never forgot that day and have a permanent image of his dynamic zest engraved in my memory.

[richardfinegold]

One of the high points of his legacy is IMHO without a whiff of doubt his Bax cycle, not only the symphonies, but also the best part of Bax's other orchestral output.

After reading this post I searched my shelves and discovered some Thomson/Bax recordings that have been sitting there un played for 20 years or so. Bax is a COmposer that has never clicked for me, although I have tried a couple of times.

[verismissimo]

... Bax is a COmposer that has never clicked for me, although I have tried a couple of times.

I first heard Bax in 1957, Richard, played by the CBSO under Schwartz, and I've been waiting for that click moment ever since!

[Barbirollians]

I had a couple of those pioneering Thomson Bax records - not a patch on Tod Handley's cycle in my opinion which did finally turn me on to Bax's works along with the Halle/Barbirolli wartime recording of the Third on Dutton.

[Oliver]

I'm not sure that Thompson's Bax is clearly inferior to Handley's except in the quality of the recordings. Perhaps Handley maintains clearer textures.... but is that due to the recordings?
I agree. Thompson is underrated. Kudos to Chandos for using him.

[gurnemanz]

I remember him as a frequent presence on the radio in BBC studio performances years ago and have a couple of his excellent recordings, acquired via the Chandos 30 Box:
Harty, Irish Symphony
Hummel, Piano Concertos, + Stephen Hough
Bax, Symphony No. 4 & Tintagel