Lutyens, Elisabeth (1906 - 1983)

[ahinton]

IIRC, the soprano in the recording of O Saisons was Teresa Cahill - though I'm sure the wonderful Ms Manning has performed it.

Then I stand corrected! - although Jane M has indeed performed it.

[HighlandDougie]

One of her most delicious pieces, her setting of O Saisons, O Chateau is, as far as I know, unavailable (not even via youTube - it was on a DECCA recording back in the '70s)

The Jane Manning recording of "Ô Saisons, Ô Chateaux" does seem to have disappeared without trace* but there is another recording where it's sung by Teresa Cahill, now reissued on Signum Classics:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Leaves-Robert-Saxton/dp/B0006OR0D0/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1412790099&sr=1-1&keywords=Red+Leaves+saxton

* which is because it doesn't exist - see below. The Marilyn Tyler recording was first issued in 1966 on an HMV LP which was subsequently reissued by Argo - details in FHG's post below.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Then I stand corrected! - although Jane M has indeed performed it.

We both do - on the ARGO recording (coupled with the Schoenberg Suite for Strings and Britten's Prelude & Fugue for strings) the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Norman Del Mar was joined by soprano Marilyn Tyler! (ARGO ZRG 751)

[Bryn]

O Saisons, O Chateau can be found on this disc. Not the recording already mentioned, however.

You also get the Six Bagatelles Op 113 (that 100 works later).

[Ah, missed the previous mention of this disc.]

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The Jane Manning recording of "Ô Saisons, Ô Chateaux" does seem to have disappeared without trace but there is another recording where it's sung by Teresa Cahill, now reissued on Signum Classics:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Leaves-R...+Leaves+saxton

[Lordgeous]

Thanks for that. Cannot find the tape (sadly) but I think it was the Argo recording I knew (seemingly re-issued on Pathe Marconi).

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Thanks for that. Cannot find the tape (sadly) but I think it was the Argo recording I knew (seemingly re-issued on Pathe Marconi).

Weren't they affiliated to HMV/EMI? The DECCA/ARGO release was itself a reissue of an EMI recording; part of a series sposored by the Gulbenkian Foundation - part of a fascinating series of unusual repertoire; the Weill Symphonies were recorded for the first time (sleeve notes by my old professor, the late Ian Kemp) as were pieces by Skalkottas, Gerhard and such young composers as Maxwell Davis, Birtwistle, Crosse and others.

[Lordgeous]

Correct!

[edashtav]

I have long loved her Music - amongst the very best written in the Twentieth Century (and not just in this country) somewhere between Stravinsky and Webern, but completely her own. One of her most delicious pieces, her setting of O Saisons, O Chateau is, as far as I know, unavailable (not even via youTube - it was on a DECCA recording back in the '70s) but the works others have mentioned are all wonderful. In addition to the NMC disc BeefO mentions, there's also another:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elisabeth-Lutyens-Chamber-Choral-Works/dp/B000IAZNFO/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1412777709&sr=1-1&keywords=elisabeth+lutyens

Is she due a revival? YES! This was the cause of an argument between Nicholas Kenyon and myself when, in her centenary year, not a single semiquaver of her Music was included in the Proms season. After declaring his admiration for her work, the Controller of the Proms said he hadn't any control over the content of the concerts - and, anyway, there was a work by Thea Musgrave programmed that year, so I had no grounds for complaint. Apart from The Tears of Night in 1994, her work hasn't appeared at the Proms since 1981 - nor, The Skull film Music apart, has much been broadcast.

And a great (and sometimes horrible) person - at the very end of her life, nearly blind, crippled with arthritis and knowing that she was dying, she produced two sets of "Triolets". Elegaic? Beggar that - lets see what new rhythms and harmonies we can get from just three players. (Smoking forty-odd of the other sort each day as she did so!)

This is worth every penny, too, for more information about her life:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pilgrim-Soul...sabeth+lutyens

What a lovely, wry and affectionate piece!

[Nick Armstrong]

What a lovely, wry and affectionate piece!

Indeed....

... and may I say that it's very good to have you back among us, ed.

[Alison]

Thanks for the replies. It seems my admiration is not misplaced.

The biography is on order and I shall continue to hunt down the cd items mentioned.

Maybe E L lacked the one true masterwork which might have secured her reputation more widely.

I am not sure on that though.

[Roehre]

I have long loved her Music - amongst the very best written in the Twentieth Century (and not just in this country) somewhere between Stravinsky and Webern, but completely her own. One of her most delicious pieces, her setting of O Saisons, O Chateau is, as far as I know, unavailable (not even via youTube - it was on a DECCA recording back in the '70s) but the works others have mentioned are all wonderful. In addition to the NMC disc BeefO mentions, there's also another:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elisabeth-Lutyens-Chamber-Choral-Works/dp/B000IAZNFO/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1412777709&sr=1-1&keywords=elisabeth+lutyens

Is she due a revival? YES! This was the cause of an argument between Nicholas Kenyon and myself when, in her centenary year, not a single semiquaver of her Music was included in the Proms season. After declaring his admiration for her work, the Controller of the Proms said he hadn't any control over the content of the concerts - and, anyway, there was a work by Thea Musgrave programmed that year, so I had no grounds for complaint. Apart from The Tears of Night in 1994, her work hasn't appeared at the Proms since 1981 - nor, The Skull film Music apart, has much been broadcast.

And a great (and sometimes horrible) person - at the very end of her life, nearly blind, crippled with arthritis and knowing that she was dying, she produced two sets of "Triolets". Elegaic? Beggar that - lets see what new rhythms and harmonies we can get from just three players. (Smoking forty-odd of the other sort each day as she did so!)

This is worth every penny, too, for more information about her life:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pilgrim-Soul...sabeth+lutyens

The Decca LP you mean actually was on Argo (ZRG 754) from 1974, in the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Series (vol.7), which explains why these recordings hardly have resurfaced (copyrights etc). It was an LP with the IIRC first professional recording of Schönberg's Suite for Strings Orchestra in G (1937), Britten's Prelude and Fugue for strings op.29 and the Lutyens piece, by the Royal Philharmonic, Del mar conducting and Marilyn Tyler the soprano soloist in O Saisons O Chateaux.
My first encounter with Lutyens as I got this LP (still on my shelves) in 1978.

for the record: In 2006 Lutyens was CotW in July, in which we were presented with:
Nox
Stevie Smith Songs: nor.1 Progression
Chamber concerto no.1
Stringquartet no.6
As I walked out
The Country of the Stars
Music for Orchestra II
Bustle for the WAAF
And suddenly it's evening
Requiescat
Motet: Excerpta Tractatus-Logico-philosophicus
The Valley of Hatru-Se
Lament of Isis on the death of Osiris
Music for Orchestra IV
Echo of the Wind
Driving out the Death
Voices of Love
Triolet I
The Skull
Rondel
Encore-Maybe
La Natura dell'Aqua
Chorale
She wasn't completely bypassed that year (and e.g. Grace Williams got the same treatment in her centenary year 2006 either)

Due for a reappraisal and a revival: most definitely !

PS Oops, I now see the LP has been mentioned earlier already. Overlooked that posting. Apologies for that.

[Beef Oven!]

The Decca LP you mean actually was on Argo (ZRG 754) from 1974, in the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Series (vol.7), which explains why these recordings hardly have resurfaced (copyrights etc). It was an LP with the IIRC first professional recording of Schönberg's Suite for Strings Orchestra in G (1937), Britten's Prelude and Fugue for strings op.29 and the Lutyens piece, by the Royal Philharmonic, Del mar conducting and Marilyn Tyler the soprano soloist in O Saisons O Chateaux.
My first encounter with Lutyens as I got this LP (still on my shelves) in 1978.

for the record: In 2006 Lutyens was CotW in July, in which we were presented with:
Nox
Stevie Smith Songs: nor.1 Progression
Chamber concerto no.1
Stringquartet no.6
As I walked out
The Country of the Stars
Music for Orchestra II
Bustle for the WAAF
And suddenly it's evening
Requiescat
Motet: Excerpta Tractatus-Logico-philosophicus
The Valley of Hatru-Se
Lament of Isis on the death of Osiris
Music for Orchestra IV
Echo of the Wind
Driving out the Death
Voices of Love
Triolet I
The Skull
Rondel
Encore-Maybe
La Natura dell'Aqua
Chorale
She wasn't completely bypassed that year (and e.g. Grace Williams got the same treatment in her centenary year 2006 either)

Due for a reappraisal and a revival: most definitely !

PS Oops, I now see the LP has been mentioned earlier already. Overlooked that posting. Apologies for that.

Great post R