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BRITISH ORCHESTRAL MUSIC
(Including Orchestral Poems, Suites, Serenades,
Variations, Rhapsodies, Concerto Overtures etc)

Written by Composers Born Between 1800 & 1910

A Discography Of CDs And LPs
Prepared by Michael Herman

© 2008-19 Michael Herman

Delius ~ Elgar ~ Holst ~ Vaughan Williams

Other composers: A-B ~ C-G ~ H-R ~ S-Z

Index of all national discographies

Most recent update: December 2019


INTRODUCTION
The predecessors to the discography at hand were written in 2007 and had the titles British and Commonwealth Symphonies (from the 19th Century to the Present) and British and Commonwealth Concertos (from the 19th Century to the Present). The current work was originally meant to fill in what its two predecedsors had omitted namely the remaining orchestral music that did not fit in those two main categories. However, as often happens in the writing of a book, initial plans become altered so this discography did not end up paralleling the other two in several important respects. First of all, as it became quite apparent that the material that needed to be documented was far more voluminous than originally thought, it was necessary to change the parameters for inclusion. Thus in this work the composers were limited to those born between the years 1800 and 1910 in most cases in the British Isles with the exceptions of several born in Australia (Kelly, Grainger and Benjamin) who became part of British musical life. It is hoped that both the chronological and geographical boundaries can be extended at a future date.

As the title implies the contents of this discography consists of recordings of British orchestral music that have appeared on LPs and CDs. The definition of "orchestral music" used herein is quite broad and includes works written for the concert hall as well as for the theater such as overtures and other orchestral excerpts from operas, ballets and ballet suites, incidental music and film scores. Music written for band is included selectively and is confined to a number of composers whose works for military and/or brass band are important works in those composers catalogues and constitute almost a standard repertoire in their particular medium. A similar selectivity has been used for the inclusion of composers of "light" classical music as those selected are as representative of British orchestral music as any of their more "serious" counterparts.

As in the previous discographies in this series, no attempt has been made to list every release of every recording of each work. There have just been too many reissues, especially from the major labels, to make this feasible for many recordings. Instead what is listed is the most recent release and the earliest release (if any on LP or CD) of that particular recording. In general, multidisc compendium releases are omitted unless they contain the sole modern release of a performance. Due to the material covered, the emphasis is usually on British releases except when there has been no traceable U.K. release or if a recording was initially released many years earlier only in the U.S. Finally, most incomplete recordings of a work have been omitted such as only one Variation from Elgar’s "Enigma Variations" or one of his "Pomp and Circumstance" Marches or one planet from Holst’s "The Planets." However, exceptions are made when an excerpt has taken on a life of its own and the complete work is rarely or never recorded such as the Minuet from Elgar’s "Beau Brummel" incidental music.

The entry for each composer consists of two sections. First there is a compact biographical paragraph that notes some essential information such as place of birth, higher musical education (including schools and prominent teachers) and subsequent musical careers in addition to composing. Compositional styles are not discussed in these paragraphs and readers are referred to the bibliography where various reference books that cover this subject are listed.

The second part of each composer entry consists of lists of his or her orchestral works (other than symphonies and concertos) that have been recorded and the various recordings of each work. The title of the work is followed by a year that indicates when the work was either composed, published or first performed as well as an opus number if it has one. The recordings are then listed alphabetically by the conductor's name. Each listing of a recording consists of the following components (if known): (1) Performers (in this order if all are involved - conductor, soloists, choral group, orchestra), (2) Other works on the recording. (3) Label and catalogue number and year of issue and (4) If the recording is a reissue, the original LP or CD release and its year of issue. Please note that the performers listed are for the entry work and not necessarily for the works that it is coupled with. Also, in most instances when an entry work is included in a collection of unrelated (i.e., non-British) music the list of couplings is not given but replaced by the title of the collection. Finally, there is some overlap among the discographies as the author felt that some works belonged in more than one category and, ultimately, the author hopes to combine all three discographies into one work.

*************

Music has been written for orchestral groups in Britain for several centuries. However, this work concentrates on the music written for the so-called "modern orchestra" that took shape in the nineteenth century. Starting in the previous century as musicians from the Continent imported a new symphonic tradition and the instrumental practices that accompanied it, orchestral concerts began to blossom in the British Isles and native composers began to supply works for these events. In addition, the establishment of conservatories such as the Royal Academy of Music would assure a steady supply of new composers and performers to greatly strengthen and expand this development.

For the greater part of the nineteenth century, the orchestral works of British composers were essentially derivative of German models with Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms being the most obvious paradigms. National references began to appear in the titles of a number of works in the latter part of the century such as Sullivan’s "Irish" Symphony, Parry’s "Cambridge" and "English" Symphonies, Stanford’s "Irish" Symphony and Mackenzie’s "Scottish" Piano Concerto but the works were stylistically not very different from their Continental counterparts. However these very composers ushered in the "English Musical Renaissance" and their students and successors, strongly influenced by the folk song movement, studies of the music of the Tudor Age, Russian romanticism as well as an infusion of impressionism from across the English Channel would produce orchestral music in the early years of the twentieth century that would have an unmistakeable British accent.

************

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I have received a lot of help in preparing this discography. First of all, Rob Barnett of MusicWeb International has been a constant source and conduit of information as well as helping eliminate a lot of errors by proofreading the entire work. I am very grateful to him as well as to Len Mullenger who has kindly hosted and prepared my Discographies for the MusicWeb International website and has always been amenable to my frequent updates of the material. I was also very lucky to come into contact with John Knowles whose expertise on the recordings of Sir Edward Elgar has greatly enhanced my section on that composer. Finally, the following people have given me some important information that I could not find on my own and I just want to express my sincere gratitude: Chris Bennett of The Elgar Birthplace Museum, Paul Brooks of the Barbirolli Society, Sue Creasey of Pavilion Records Ltd., John France, Gilles Gouset, Rod Hamilton at The British Library Sound Archives, David Russell Hulme, Lyndon Jenkins, Stephen Lloyd, Walter Simmons and Douglas Smith.

************

Please note that all recordings listed are CDs unless specifically designated as LPs (and in a few very rare instances EPs).

COMPOSER LIST
Because of the conversion of the discography to pdf, linking to individual composers is not possible. We have kept the list so that you are able to see who is included.







Addinsell, Richard
d’Albert, Eugène
Alwyn, William
Ansell, John
Austin, Frederic
Bainton, Edgar
Balfe, Michael
Bantock, Granville
Barnett, John
Bax, Arnold
Benedict, Sir Julius
Benjamin, Arthur
Bennett, William Sterndale
Berkeley, Lennox
Berners, Lord
Binge, Ronald
Bliss, Sir Arthur
Boughton, Rutland
Bowen, York
Boyle, Ina
Brian, Havergal
Bridge, Frank
Bush, Alan
Butterworth, George
Carroll, Walter
Carse, Adam
Chagrin, Francis
Cliffe, Frederic
Clifford, Hubert
Coates, Eric
Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel
Coles, Cecil
Collins, Anthony
Cooke, Arnold
Corder, Frederick
Cowen, Frederic
Curzon, Frederic
Davies, Henry Walford
Delius, Frederick
D'Erlanger, Frédéric
Duff, Arthur
Dunhill, Thomas
Dyson, George
Easdale, Brian
Elgar, Sir Edward
Elkington, Lilian
Farrar, Ernest
Fenby, Eric
Ferguson, Howard
Finzi, Gerald
Fogg, Eric
Foulds, John
Frankel, Benjamin
Gal, Hans
Gardiner, Henry Balfour
German, Edward
Gibbs, Cecil Armstrong
Goossens, Eugene
Gordon, Gavin
Grainger, Percy
Gurney, Ivor
Hadley, Patrick
Harris, Clement
Harrison, Julius
Hart, Fritz
Harty, Hamilton
Hely-Hutchinson, Victor
Holbrooke, Joseph
Holst, Gustav
Howell, Dorothy
Howells, Herbert
Hurlstone, William
Ireland, John
Jacob, Gordon
Johnstone, Maurice
Kelly, Frederick
Ketèlbey, Albert
Lambert, Constant
Lamond, Frederic
Larchet, John
Leigh, Walter
Loder, Edward
Lovelock, William
Lucas, Clarence
Lucas, Leighton
Lutyens, Elizabeth
MacCunn, Hamish
Macfarren, George
Mackenzie, Alexander
MacMillan, Ernest
Maconchy, Elizabeth
McEwen, John
Milford, Robin
Moeran, Ernest J.
Nixon, Henry Cotter
O’Brien, Charles
O’Neill, Norman
Orr, C.W.
Orr, Robin
Parry, Hubert
Phillips, Montague
Pierson, Hugo
Pitfield, Thomas
Quilter, Roger
Rawsthorne, Alan
Rootham, Cyril
Rowley, Alec
Rubbra, Edmund
Sainton, Philip
Sargent, Malcolm
Scott, Cyril
Smith, Leo
Smyth, Ethel
Stanford, Charles
Sullivan, Arthur
Sumsion, Herbert
Thomas, Arthur Goring
Tippett, Michael
Tovey, Donald
Toye, Geoffrey
Vaughan Williams, Ralph
Vinter, Gilbert
Wallace, William
Wallace, William Vincent
Walton, William
Warlock, Peter
Whitlock, Percy
Willan, Healy
Williams, Grace
Wood, Haydn

 

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

(1) BOOKS

Bird, John. Percy Grainger. London: Faber & Faber, 1976.

Callaway, Frank and David Tunley (eds). Australian Composition in the Twentieth Century. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1978.

Catalogue of Canadian Music for Orchestra. Toronto: Canadian Music Centre, 1976.

Clough, Francis F. and C.J. Cuming. The World's Encyclopedia of Recorded Music (including Supplements) in 3 vols. London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1952-57.

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2d ed., in 29 vols., edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. New York: Grove, 2001.

Hindmarsh, Paul. Frank Bridge: A Thematic Catalogue. London: Faber & Faber, 1984.

Holst, Imogen. A Thematic Catalogue of Gustav Holst’s Music. London: Faber Music Ltd., 1974.

Howes, Frank. The English Musical Renaissance. New York: Stein and Day, 1966.

Hughes, Meiron and Robert Stradling. The English Musical Renaisance 1840-1940: Constructing a National Music, 2nd edition. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001.

Kallmann, Helmut, Gilles Potvin and Kenneth Winters (eds). Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1981.

Kennedy, Michael. The Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams. London: Oxford University Press, 1964.

Knowles, John. Elgar’s Interpreters on Record: A Discography. London: Thames Publishing, 1985.

Layton, Robert (ed.). A Guide to the Symphony. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Leach, Gerald. British Composer Profiles: A biographical dictionary and chronology of past British composers 1800-1989, 2nd edition. Gerrards Cross, England: British Music Society, 1989.

Pirie, Peter J. The English Musical Renaissance: Twentieth century English composers and their works. New York: St Martin's Press, 1978.

Poulton, Alan J. A Label Discography of Long-Playing Records, 3 vols. Blandford, England: The Oakwood Press, 1975.

Sadie, Julie Anne and Rhian Samuel (eds). The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers. New York: W.W. Norton and Co, 1995.

Schaarwächter, Jürgen. Die britische Sinfonie 1914-1945. Cologne-Rheinkassel, Germany: Verlag Dohr, 1995.

Simpson, Robert. The Symphony, 2 vols. New York: Drake Publishers, 1972.

Slonimsky, Nicolas. Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 8th edition. New York: Schirmer Books, 1992.

Slonimsky, Nicolas. Baker's Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Classical Musicians (edited by Laura Kuhn). New York: Schirmer Books, 1997.

Thompson, Oscar (ed). The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, updated 11th edition. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1985.

 

(2) RECORD CATALOGS

Gramophone Classical Record Catalogue (retitled: Gramophone Classical Catalogue) (1953-1996)

Gramophone Compact Disc Catalogue (1983-1990)

Schwann Long Playing Record Catalog (retitled: Schwann 1 – Record and Tape Guide and Schwann Opus) (1949-2001)

 

(3) WEBSITES

GOVERNMENTAL AND ACADEMIC SITES

Australian Music Centre http://www.amcoz.com.au

British Library Sound Archive http://www.bl.uk/collections/sound-archive/nsa.html

British Music Information Service http://www.bmic.co.uk/collection/searchform.asp

Canadian Music Centre http://www.musiccentre.ca/home.cfm

Contemporary Music Centre Ireland http://www.cmc.ie/composers/index.cfm

Library and Archives Canada http:www.colectionscanada.gc.ca

Music Australia http://musicaustralia.org/apps/MA

New York Public Library Research Catalog http://catnyp.nypl.org/

Scottish Music Centre http://www.scottishmusiccentre.com

Welsh Music Information Centre http://www.wmic.org

COMMERCIAL SITES

Amazon (UK) http://www.amazon.co.uk

Arkiv Music http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/main.jsp

Chandos Records http://www.chandos.net

Crotchet http://www.crotchet.co.uk

Dutton Vocalion Records http://www.duttonvocalion.com

EMI/Virgin Classics http://www.emiclassics.com

Gramophone http://www.gramophone.co.uk

Hyperion Records http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk

Lyrita Recorded Edition http://www.lyrita.co.uk

MDT http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/pages/home/default.asp

MusicWeb International http://www.musicweb-international.com

Naxos Records http://www.naxos.com

 

COMPOSER AND CONDUCTOR SITES

Many contemporary composers have their own websites and others can be found on the websites of their publishers. There are also websites for earlier composers and conductors that are maintained by societies that promote their music and recordings. These can be found by typing the composer's name into any search engine.

 


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