MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


alternatively Crotchet   AmazonUK   AmazonUS

John METCALF (b. 1946)
Paradise Haunts ... (1995, orch. 1998) [25:13]
Three Mobiles (2001, rev. 2003, 2006)[14:10]
In Time of Daffodils (2006) [27:06]
Thomas Bowes (violin: Paradise) Gerard McChrystal (saxophone: Mobiles) Jeremy Huw Williams (baritone: Daffodils)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Grant Llewellyn
rec. Brangwyn Hall, Swansea, Wales, 20-21 December 2006
Texts included
SIGNUM SIGCD103 [66:31]



The title of Metcalf’s Paradise Haunts ... is drawn from a line quoted in a book about film-maker Derek Jarman: “Paradise haunts gardens and it haunts mine”. The composer came across this when reading a review at about the time Thomas Bowes - the soloist here - asked Metcalf for a new piece. The composer also mentions that he started work on the piece at a time when he felt the urge to simplify his musical language. Paradise Haunts... was “the first work to embrace a wholly pan-diatonic or ‘white note’ style”. This substantial work, a rhapsody in the form of a theme and variations, was originally written for violin and piano. Incidentally, the original chamber version has been recorded and is still available on Lorelt LNT111. The orchestral version was made some time later, in 1998. Variations unfold almost effortlessly and seamlessly, with enough contrast and variety to sustain the work’s long time-span. It concludes with a beautiful coda in which the music eventually dissolves into thin air. The music, as in the other works of Metcalf, is often warmly melodic and lyrical as well as strongly expressive. In the case of this particular work, I was often reminded of Barber’s Violin Concerto, which does not imply imitation but rather hints at the general tone of the music. A fine, accessible work, albeit steeped in tradition - by 20th century standards -  although the solo part must be rather demanding both in technique and in musicality.
 
Similarly, Three Mobiles started out for saxophone and piano. The orchestral version, actually for string orchestra, was made in 2003 when the work was revised. A further revision was made in 2006. The title refers to sculptures known as mobiles - Calder’s celebrated mobiles are an example. In the insert notes, the composer goes into some detail as to how he tried to relate his musical mobiles with those of Calder. The most important thing, however, is the music, although I suppose that close analysis of the score might prove revealing. Suffice to say that in substance Three Mobiles is a concertino for saxophone and strings. It consists of two short, lively outer movements framing a rather more developed, predominantly song-like central movement. Again a quite attractive work that should appeal to saxophone players willing to add to their sadly limited repertoire.
 
Like the other works here, In Time of Daffodils started life as a short song-cycle for baritone and piano. It sets To Daffodils (Herrick), Daffodils (Wordsworth) and To an Early Daffodil (Amy Lowell). In the meantime, however, BBC Radio 3 commissioned an orchestral work to mark the composer’s 60th birthday. He felt that a more substantial song cycle was possible and went on to choose three further poems: The Lent Lily (Housman), the Prologue to Endymion (Keats) and another poem by Amy Lowell (White and Green). Not content with this, he re-arranged his settings into two main parts separated by a short orchestral interlude. As if to emphasise the overall symmetry, each of the two parts is centred around a longer setting framed by shorter ones. The plan of the work is thus:-
 
Part I : The Lent Lily, Daffodils, White and Green;
Interlude;
Part 2 : To Daffodils, Endymion, To an early Daffodil.
 
Most of the poems are fairly well-known, although I must admit that those by Amy Lowell were new to me. All relate to Spring symbolising death and renewal, although the celebrated prologue to Endymion has a more general meaning. Again, Metcalf’s settings are fairly traditional, in the best meaning of the word, and the words come clearly through the warm, at times lush but always subtle scoring. The music is colourful, superbly scored and – again – attractive and accessible without condescension. While listening to this beautiful work, I often thought that this was the large-scale orchestral song-cycle that John Ireland never composed. Frankly, I mean that as a compliment.
 
These performances will not easily be bettered. Everyone sings and plays with conviction and commitment; and the whole is warmly, yet naturally recorded - a real pleasure from first to last.
 
Hubert Culot
 



 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.