Bantock - Celtic Symphony [Handley-Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]Here's the phenomenally underestimated Granville Bantock in what he calls his Celtic Symphony, for String Orchestra only [plus 6 harps!], it's in one movement, and lasts about 20 minutes, in my own mind it just doesn't fit the 'Symphony' mold, it's more like a Tone Poem, or a Fantasia, and its nearest cousin would be Vaughan Williams's Tallis Fantasia, it's gorgeous and should be just as well known as the VW work.
Vernon Handley died a couple of years ago, he was a staunch promoter of English Composers, and we have him to thank for this disc.
It opens with the most enchanting and astonishing string melisma [track 1, 0:00-0:38], which is repeated again so delicately and raptly [track 1, 1:20-1:56], if this doesn't tug your heart, then you ain't got one, track 2 is a more lively section, but it's built on variations of the opening, the opening comes back to wonderfully haunt us [track 2, 5:19-6:15], a solo violin and delicate strings play on our hearts in a slow section [track 3], the opening theme comes back in forte glory towards the end [track 5, 0:00-0:43], but it's the opening that you keep wanting to hear again and again, it's something very beautiful and special.
Here's excerpts of this Symphony played on YouTube.
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