A delightful record, full of good tunes, but not a collection to be played in one go – for English, Irish and Scottish folk music can be remarkably similar in idiom. The highlight is undoubtedly Eric Fenby’s witty Rossini on Ilkla Moor. In essence this is a pastiche Rossini overture with a luscious horn quartet introduction (like Semiramide), and the following allegro is built entirely on that famous Yorkshire folksong without a hat. I have heard the piece before, but never played with such a delicious lightness of touch. If you buy this CD, you’ll be regularly charming your friends with mock-Rossini.
On a more evocative note, Blezard’s picture of a romantic tryst by an eddying river makes a telling interlude, followed by Arthur Butterworth’s memorably haunting The Path Across the Moors, along which the orchestra treads steadily and nostalgically, and at the close (after simple horn calls), generates an almost profound melancholy.
The clouds then lift for Anthony Hedges’ Ayrshire Serenade, a most winningly lyrical triptych. It has an oboe solo for its centrepiece and a catchy, almost Waltonesque syncopated close. The oboe has also served in its pastoral role elsewhere, notably in the lovely ‘Siciliano’ of the Little Suite of Malcolm Arnold, originally written for brass, and skilfully orchestrated by Philip Lane. He is careful to retain the underlying brass sonorities, especially in the typically ebullient Arnoldian finale.
Lane’s own Suite of Coltswold Dances, which ends the programme, is a captivating sextet of so-English Morris tunes from the region, brilliantly scored in an Arnoldian fashion. ‘Constant Billy’, with its Celtic snap, is ravishing, but all six pieces produce a kaleidoscope of melody and colour. As with the first record in this series, the performances are sparklingly vivacious and lyrically idiomatic, and the recording is first-class. Most enjoyable!'