Alan Rawsthorne (1905–1971) was a British composer whose music blends structural clarity with expressive depth. Born in Haslingden, Lancashire, he initially pursued dentistry and architecture before committing to music, studying at the Royal Manchester College and later in Berlin. His breakthrough came in 1938 with Theme and Variations for Two Violins, followed by Symphonic Studies, which established his distinctive orchestral voice. Rawsthorne’s style is marked by contrapuntal textures, rhythmic vitality, and tonal focus, drawing comparisons to Hindemith and aligning him with British modernists like Walton and Tippett. He composed symphonies, concertos, chamber works, and film scores, including the extravaganza Practical Cats based on T.S Eliot’s famous poems. Though never flamboyant, his music is admired for its artisanry and emotional restraint.
There are three Symphonies in Rawsthorne’s catalogue (four if we count the early Symphonic Studies.) The three named examples follow a definite developmental path from the turbulent No.1 to the often-gentler No.2 Pastoral and finding a satisfying synthesis in the final Third Symphony, which unites the tension of the First with the subtlety of the Second.
On 15 November 1950, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Adrian Boult, gave the premiere performance of Symphony No. 1 at the Royal Albert Hall.
The symphony's uncompromising first movement opens authoritatively and turbulently, before the more tragic second theme emerges. It ends with a surprisingly quiet coda. There are echoes of the composer’s engagement with film music here. The second movement displays a detached melancholy, even despair. The mood of the Symphony is lightened a little with the quintuple-rhythm scherzo, revealing a little of Rawsthorne’s sense of humour. The finale has thematic nods back to the first movement. It is buoyant and full of invention, coming to an optimistic conclusion. Andrew Porter (New Statesman, 6 December 1952, p.680) considered that the overall impression of the Symphony is that it is “…written from a strength which finds [a] place, in passing, for tranquil beauty...” and that it is “a strong work without harshness or bitterness.”
Listen to Alan Rawsthorne’s Symphony No. l on YouTube, here. The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is conducted by David Lloyd-Jones. The source of the recording is Naxos 8.557480 (2005).
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