A very short, but important post: Ten composers that I consider worthy of rediscovery. Odd recordings of their
music exist in the catalogues, but typically they have been ignored by concert
promoters and record companies:-
- Francis Chagrin (1905-1972)
- Peter Racine Fricker (1920-1990)
- Ian Hamilton (1922-2000)
- Daniel Jones (1912-1993)
- Priaulx Rainier (1903-1986)
- Humphrey Searle (1915-1982)
- Robert Still (1910-1971)
- John Veale (1922-2006)
- Ian Whyte (1901-1961)
- William Wordsworth (1908-1988)
All of the above are important ‘symphonists’
– except for Priaulx Rainier. I have heard many of these and all demand to be
in the catalogue. Why not a cycle of Fricker or Hamilton rather than yet
another version of Beethoven or Elgar? Searle’s symphonies are all available on CPO
and they are superb. I am listening to
an old radio broadcast of Francis Chagrin’s First Symphony as I write. It just
cries out to be heard.
Only Whyte and Still have no items on Spotify, and even they may be hidden by the vagaries of the Spotify indexing, which favours and better describes non-classical music. Symphonies are not heavily represented on the playlists I scanned, but Searle certainly has some and they sampled well, as did several of the others' string quartets.
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