British Music For Strings

Listen on Presto Music. Free thirty day trial. Find out more.

The puckish skirls and jaunty rhythms in the ‘Prelude’ to Parry’s An English Suite show the 14 players keenly attuned to its courtly, neo-baroque idiom…On paper [the string transcription of Elgar's... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2021, 4 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 5 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Release Date: 27th Nov 2020
Catalogue No: 555382-2
Label: CPO
Length: 70 minutes

This item is currently out of stock at the UK distributor. You may order it now but please be aware that it may be six weeks or more before it can be despatched.

CPO - up to 35% off

Special offer ends: 24/04/2024

British Music - up to 25% off

Special offer ends: 08/05/2024

This release includes a digital booklet

CPO - up to 35% off

Special offer ends: 24/04/2024

Parry: An English Suite

Work length23:26

$7.00

$9.10

Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim
Douglas Bostock

I. Prelude

Track length4:07

$1.00

$1.30

II. In Minuet Style

Track length2:47

$1.00

$1.30

III. Saraband

Track length5:47

$1.00

$1.30

IV. Caprice

Track length2:37

$1.00

$1.30

V. Pastoral

Track length2:14

$1.00

$1.30

VI. Air

Track length2:22

$1.00

$1.30

VII. Frolic

Track length3:32

$1.00

$1.30

Elgar: Organ Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 28

Work length25:01

$5.00

$6.50

arr. for strings Hans Kunstovny
Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim
Douglas Bostock

I. Allegro maestoso

Track length8:34

$2.00

$2.60

II. Allegretto

Track length4:05

$1.00

$1.30

III. Andante espressivo

Track length6:16

$1.00

$1.30

IV. Presto

Track length6:06

$1.00

$1.30

Jacob, G: A Symphony for Strings

Work length22:29

$5.00

$6.50

Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim
Douglas Bostock

I. Andante maestoso

Track length8:37

$2.00

$2.60

II. Andante espressivo

Track length8:36

$2.00

$2.60

III. Allegro molto vivace

Track length5:16

$1.00

$1.30

About
Reviews
Explore

About

Our first CD featuring music for string orchestra by British composers presents works by Hubert Parry, Edward Elgar, and Gordon Jacob. The last-mentioned composer wrote a Symphony for Strings with clear contrapuntal textures and a slow introduction beginning with broadly striding octaves and dissonant sixteenth contrasts. Parry demonstrates his sovereign command of a whole range of different techniques and textures in his First Suite for String Orchestra and succeeds in producing a full, one-of-a-kind sound: Very British, indeed! Edward Elgar’s Organ Sonata represents a special case on this CD, where it is heard in the version for string orchestra by Hans Kunstovny. Some authors even earlier spoke of the sonata as a »thwarted symphony« because of its structure and design. The premiere of Kunstovny’s Elgar arrangement was held in Pforzheim in October 2006 under Sebastian Tewinkel before Douglas Bostock included it in his program in January 2020. The present recording was produced following this concert. Kunstovny, who assigned the subtitle »Swinnerton’s Dream« to his arrangement, was also present; it refers to the organist and choral conductor Charles Swinnerton Heap, the sonata’s dedicatee, who lent his support to Elgar’s works during the last decade of the nineteenth century.

Reviews

February 2021

The puckish skirls and jaunty rhythms in the ‘Prelude’ to Parry’s An English Suite show the 14 players keenly attuned to its courtly, neo-baroque idiom…On paper [the string transcription of Elgar's Organ Sonata] doesn’t look a promising idea, but Kunstovny makes a highly convincing case for his transcription, and Bostock elicits a bracingly articulate performance.

6th December 2020

This German representation of the British string repertory is admirably bold...The first [item], Parry’s An English Suite, has a sarabande that seems to hint at Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht.

Offer,British Music For Strings

CD

Downloads

Contents

Download queue