CD REVIEW -
OVERTURES FROM THE
BRITISH ISLES
VOLUME 3
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra RUMON
GAMBA
CHAN 20351 [TT
77:20]
It is 10 years
since Vol.2 in this
series was released and
the Gramophone reviewer
wrote of a time when "the
lines of delineation between
'serious' and 'light' were
blurred." The same could be
said of this companion album. All
the works, most rarely played
today, were composed between 1938
and 1949 with a mixture of
musical styles including some
delightful discoveries to be
made.
The album is off
to a great start with a
boisterous The Tinker's
Wedding by Havergal Brian
(1876-1972), who is best known
for having composed 32 symphonies
– an unusually high number
amongst his contemporaries –
25 of them after the age of 70.
There are three
world première recordings. Comedy
Overture is by Welsh
composer Daniel Jones OBE
(1912-93), who among much else
wrote the song settings for Dylan
Thomas's play 'Under Milk Wood.' The
Prospect of Whitby –
named after the famous London pub
– is by Robin Orr CBE
(1909-2006), Scottish organist
and composer. Resolution,
Op.25 is by Watford-born
Alan Bush (1900-95), composer,
pianist, conductor, teacher and
political activist.
Geoffrey Bush's
(1920-98) Yorick was the
King of Denmark's jester in
Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', "a
fellow of infinite jest, of most
excellent fancy", but was
written in memory of Tommy
Handley, a wartime comedian and
star of BBC radio's 'ITMA' ('It's
That Man Again') warmly
remembered by your reviewer. A
high-spirited Street Corner
was composed by Alan Rawsthorne
(1905-71) for ENSA, an
organisation that also provided
entertainment for our armed
forces during WWll, and over many
years was a popular work in the
concert hall, although today
largely forgotten.
Rebus was
Frank Bridge's (1879-1941) last
completed orchestral work first
performed in the same year after
his death and then remained
unperformed for 35 years. Richard
Arnell (1917-2009) wrote The
New Age in New York 'To my
friends in England'. With a
number of like-minded young
composers, he had gone to the USA
in the late 1930s and was unable
to return home when war was
declared.
Benjamin Britten's
(1913-1976) Overture to 'Paul
Bunyan' is a musical by W H
Auden and the composer, about a
mythical giant lumberjack
intended for schools. The
orchestration here is by Colin
Matthews in 1977 from the then
surviving piano score. Clifton
Parker's (1905-89) lively Overture
to 'The Glass Slipper', a
play written by Eleanor and
Herbert Farjeon, is a modern
retelling of the story of
Cinderella.
The album ends
with my favourite track: Rossini
on Ilkla Moor by Eric Fenby
(1906-97) featuring the clarinet
of John Bradbury. Fenby was the
amanuensis to the Bradford-born
composer Frederick Delius when
the latter became blind and
paralysed.
Musicologist Lewis
Foreman specialises in British
music and his booklet notes give
a lot more interesting background
information on each work.
The BBCPO is a
critically acclaimed ensemble
recognised around the world and
often featured here. Rumon Gamba
(b 1972) is the British-born
chief conductor of the Oulu
Symphony Orchestra in Finland and
has made over 50 Chandos CDs,
twice being nominated for a
Grammy Award. Prior to his tenure
in Oulu – recently extended
to 2028 – he served as chief
conductor of Norrlandsoperan in
Umeå, the Aalborg Symphony
Orchestra and the Iceland
Symphony Orchestra. He conducts
regularly across Europe with BBC
orchestras and has appeared at
the Proms on a number of
occasions. His two earlier discs
in this series were with the BBC
National Orchestra of Wales.
At the time of
writing, this release is already
in the list of Top 10 Albums.
©
Peter Burt, February 2026
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