Alan Rawsthorne: Portrait of a Composer

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Preface
Acknowledgements
Prologue: Early Years (1905-25)
1 Apprenticeship (1925-35)
2 Making a Career (1935-8)
3 International Recognition (1937-9)
4 The War Years (1939-45)
5 Broadening the Canvas (1945-50)
6 The Fifties (1951-8)
7 Renewal (1958-63)
8 Personal Statements (1963-6)
9 The Last Years (1967-71)
Chronology
Index
Contents of the CD
1 Concertante Pastorale
2 Theme and Variations for 2 violins
3 Piano Concerto No. 1 (Second movement)
4 Overture Street Corner
5 Fantasy Overture Corteges
6 Clarinet Quartet (Finale)
7 Carol
8 Symphony No. 1 (First movement)
9 String Quartet No. 2 (Finale)
10 The Cruel Sea (Prelude and Nocturne)
11 A Rose for Lidice
12 Violin Concerto No. 2 (First movement)
13 Violin Sonata (1958) (Third movement)
14 Symphony No. 2 (Pastoral) (Finale)

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About

This is the first comprehensive study of the life and music of Alan Rawsthorne (1905-71), one of the leading British composers of the twentieth century. Rawsthorne came from the same generation of composers as Britten, Walton, Tippett, and Constant Lambert. Since his death in 1971 his music, after a period of comparative neglect, is currently enjoying a revival in performance and recording. The composer and pianist John McCabe here brings a lifetime's knowledge of the man and his music to a vivid portrait of Rawsthorne's life, drawing on conversations with his family, friends, and colleagues as well as contemporary documentation. Almost every one of his works is discussed, many of them in detail, demonstrating the versatility and range of Rawsthorne's vision, from popular works, such as Street Corner and the piano concertos, to the remarkable power of his lesser-known later works. In particular McCabe draws attention to the astonishing renewal of Rawsthorne's creative enery during his later period, and the immense broadening of his emotional and technical horizons leading to such masterpieces as the Third Symphony and Carmen Vitale. He makes a powerful case for a thorough reassessment of Rawsthorne's oeuvre.

Reviews

Tempo

What is particularly satisfying is McCabe's expert blend of description and analysis, so that, by the time he has finished walking you through a work, you know both what it must sound like and why it works

Tempo

McCabe has a complete command of his subject, effortlessly perceiving detail in individual scores and relating them to Rawsthorne's larger output

Tempo

With each new work McCabe alights upon, you are sent back to the music to listen to it again, to hear what you missed before he had pointed out what makes it tick

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