Ireland Orchestral & Choral Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: John (Nicholson) Ireland
Label: Enchant
Magazine Review Date: 3/1998
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 67
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CHAN7074
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (A) London Overture |
John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer
John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer London Symphony Orchestra Richard Hickox, Conductor |
| These Things Shall Be |
John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer
Bryn Terfel, Bass-baritone John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer London Symphony Chorus (amateur) London Symphony Orchestra Richard Hickox, Conductor |
| Greater love hath no man |
John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer
Bryn Terfel, Bass-baritone John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer London Symphony Chorus (amateur) London Symphony Orchestra Paula Bott, Soprano Richard Hickox, Conductor |
| (The) Holy Boy |
John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer
John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer London Symphony Orchestra Richard Hickox, Conductor |
| Vexilla Regis (Hymn for Passion Sunday) |
John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer
Bryn Terfel, Bass-baritone James Oxley, Tenor John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer London Symphony Chorus (amateur) London Symphony Orchestra Paula Bott, Soprano Richard Hickox, Conductor Teresa Shaw, Mezzo soprano |
| Epic March |
John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer
John (Nicholson) Ireland, Composer London Symphony Orchestra Richard Hickox, Conductor |
Author:
This appears to have gone without review in Gramophone on its first issue, and it would be a pleasure to make amends with enthusiastic comments now. Unfortunately, they rise hesitantly or not at all. There are nevertheless good reasons for giving the disc a second hearing, for Ireland is not a composer over-represented on record and of course the presence of Bryn Terfel, now a star, gives an added attraction. His part in it is really quite small, consisting of the short solo in These Things Shall Be, the still shorter one in Greater love hath no man, and an inconspicuous appearance in the solo quartet of Vexilla Regis: it hardly warrants the photograph and large lettering on the cover of the booklet, especially as the new design replaces the excellent original, which featured the composer and an evocative photograph of Oxford Street in 1924. Lewis Foreman’s notes are retained, and on their suggestion I have listened, but in vain, for the muted reference to Schumann’s Widmung (the opening line of which is still misquoted): I sometimes fancy I catch a hint of Grieg’s “I love but thee”, but no very hard evidence that Ireland went to the pictures to see a Richard Tauber film and came away with a song in his heart.
The notes also quote Ireland’s phrase about the London Overture as conceived “in a light and unportentous manner”. This performance under Hickox makes that harder to believe than does (say) the one under Barbirolli, quicker and more springy in its step. But ‘portentous’ is not a word that should be put in our heads when These Things Shall Be is on the programme: as Trevor Harvey, admirer and friend of Ireland, wrote when reviewing Boult’s recording (Lyrita, 10/68 – nla), it would be as well if the work “could be quickly forgotten”. A revival of the wartime Epic March does his memory less service still. TH said that the choral work sounded like Parry modernized; the March sounds like Walton backdated. Greater Love goes, I think, better with organ (the orchestral grandeur an inflation). Stanford thought highly of the student work Vexilla Regis, but it has not worn well. That leaves The Holy Boy, which is charming but lasts rather less than three minutes.'
The notes also quote Ireland’s phrase about the London Overture as conceived “in a light and unportentous manner”. This performance under Hickox makes that harder to believe than does (say) the one under Barbirolli, quicker and more springy in its step. But ‘portentous’ is not a word that should be put in our heads when These Things Shall Be is on the programme: as Trevor Harvey, admirer and friend of Ireland, wrote when reviewing Boult’s recording (Lyrita, 10/68 – nla), it would be as well if the work “could be quickly forgotten”. A revival of the wartime Epic March does his memory less service still. TH said that the choral work sounded like Parry modernized; the March sounds like Walton backdated. Greater Love goes, I think, better with organ (the orchestral grandeur an inflation). Stanford thought highly of the student work Vexilla Regis, but it has not worn well. That leaves The Holy Boy, which is charming but lasts rather less than three minutes.'
Ireland Orchestral & Choral Works
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