Boughton Flute Concerto. Aylesbury Games etc
No lost masterpieces, perhaps, though the charming Flute Concerto and the substantial Concerto for String Orchestra certainly merit their spirited resuscitation here
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Rutland Boughton, Ronald Corp
Label: Hyperion
Magazine Review Date: 1/2001
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 76
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CDA67185
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (3) Folk Dances |
Rutland Boughton, Composer
New London Orchestra Ronald Corp, Composer Rutland Boughton, Composer |
| Aylesbury Games |
Rutland Boughton, Composer
New London Orchestra Ronald Corp, Composer Rutland Boughton, Composer |
| Concerto for Flute and String Orchestra |
Rutland Boughton, Composer
Emily Beynon, Flute New London Orchestra Ronald Corp, Composer Rutland Boughton, Composer |
| Concerto for String Orchestra |
Rutland Boughton, Composer
New London Orchestra Ronald Corp, Composer Rutland Boughton, Composer |
Author: Andrew Achenbach
The curtain goes up on this typically enterprising, generous Hyperion anthology with the Three Folk Dances of 1911, a miniature suite for strings in three movements, boasting at its heart a ravishingly evocative setting (marked ‘Slow and sad’) of a haunting folk tune entitled The Weary Wave o’ Tyne. Amateur orchestras in particular have long since taken this music to their hearts, whereas the much later Aylesbury Games enjoyed far less happy fortunes. Finished on January 23, 1952 (Boughton’s 74th birthday), the piece bears a dedication to ‘my friend Charles Pope and the orchestra of Aylesbury, my native town’. From a purely technical point of view, Boughton’s expertly crafted score would have proved well beyond the scope of Pope’s modest outfit, and Boughton was never to hear a note of it in his lifetime (Pope finally premiered the work in April 1978, some 18 years after the composer’s death). Repeated hearings reveal a thoroughly engaging, at times slightly garrulous set of variations in three movements on a folksong-like theme of Boughton’s own devising.
Tragically, the Concerto for String Orchestra had to wait even longer than Aylesbury Games for its first performance (in September 1997 with the Bournemouth Sinfonietta under Alexander Polianichko at the Glastonbury Arts Festival). Boughton had written the piece some 60 years earlier as a token of thanks to the Boyd Neel Chamber Orchestra who had championed his Oboe Concerto at the 1937 Salzburg Festival (the programme also included the premiere of Britten’s Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge), but Neel’s band found Boughton’s writing too taxing. On disc it emerges as a work of prodigal confidence, no mean architectural splendour (its four movements play for some 32 minutes), wistful beauty (try the gorgeous Andante espressivo slow movement) and exuberant virtuosity. Anyone who has ever warmed to, say, Bliss’s Music for Strings or Howells’s Concerto for Strings (both from the same decade) should investigate without delay.
By comparison, the Flute Concerto wears an altogether less ambitious demeanour. The bracing opening movement is a delightfully clean-cut affair and it’s succeeded by a magical Adagio (whose outer portions are delicately and memorably embellished by the flute). Only the rather four-square finale lets things down somewhat. Soloist Emily Beynon seizes upon the many opportunities for grateful display with dazzling aplomb and irreproachable sensitivity.
Enjoyable, at times intriguing listening, then; certainly, Boughton acolytes will need no further prompting from me. Under Ronald Corp’s watchful lead, the strings of the New London Orchestra respond in commendably spick-and- span, dedicated fashion, and Tony Faulkner’s sound is beguilingly natural.'
Tragically, the Concerto for String Orchestra had to wait even longer than Aylesbury Games for its first performance (in September 1997 with the Bournemouth Sinfonietta under Alexander Polianichko at the Glastonbury Arts Festival). Boughton had written the piece some 60 years earlier as a token of thanks to the Boyd Neel Chamber Orchestra who had championed his Oboe Concerto at the 1937 Salzburg Festival (the programme also included the premiere of Britten’s Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge), but Neel’s band found Boughton’s writing too taxing. On disc it emerges as a work of prodigal confidence, no mean architectural splendour (its four movements play for some 32 minutes), wistful beauty (try the gorgeous Andante espressivo slow movement) and exuberant virtuosity. Anyone who has ever warmed to, say, Bliss’s Music for Strings or Howells’s Concerto for Strings (both from the same decade) should investigate without delay.
By comparison, the Flute Concerto wears an altogether less ambitious demeanour. The bracing opening movement is a delightfully clean-cut affair and it’s succeeded by a magical Adagio (whose outer portions are delicately and memorably embellished by the flute). Only the rather four-square finale lets things down somewhat. Soloist Emily Beynon seizes upon the many opportunities for grateful display with dazzling aplomb and irreproachable sensitivity.
Enjoyable, at times intriguing listening, then; certainly, Boughton acolytes will need no further prompting from me. Under Ronald Corp’s watchful lead, the strings of the New London Orchestra respond in commendably spick-and- span, dedicated fashion, and Tony Faulkner’s sound is beguilingly natural.'
Boughton Flute Concerto. Aylesbury Games etc
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
Subscribe
Gramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.