The title Best of British is somewhat of a misnomer for,
apart from Welshman Karl Jenkins, all the music is by Englishmen.
Men at that, not a female composer in sight. But what about
Scotland? Where’s Hamish MacCunn’s magnificent Overture,
The Land of the Mountain and the Flood? And what about
Ireland? A bit more difficult this, I imagine, but Hamilton
Harty’s The Fair Day should have been included,
but With the Wild Geese would have been even better.
I realise that the content of the CDs is based on whatever is
in EMI’s vaults, so as there are many representative composers
from Wales, Scotland and Ireland who have not been recorded
by EMI their omission is obvious, but it still doesn’t
account for the collection being predominantly English. However,
I never complain for long when English music is on offer, and
this is a lovely collection which I played through the minute
I got the polythene wrapping off the box.
This is a very interesting compilation. A decision must have
been made that some of EMI’s best recordings were going
to be included. Thus, of the eleven Handel excerpts, we have
two from Mackerras’s 1967 recording of Messiah,
still one of the best, a fine Zadok the Priest from King’s,
Stephen Cleobury’s arrangement of Thine be the glory,
a spritely Queen of Sheba from Owain Arwel Hughes and,
best of all, six pieces from the Water and Fireworks
Musics with the Virtuosi of England under Arthur Davison.
Elgar is given nine pieces, and quite right too, not least because
EMI has recorded much Elgar over the years. The two excerpts
from Gerontius sound very well, with a young Janet Baker
in wonderful voice with Glorious John at the helm. Lawrence
Collingwood’s 1964 accounts of the two salon pieces are
most welcome. Nimrod, and the Larghetto, from
the Serenade, both by Boult, and the Adagio from
the Cello Concerto, in the much underrated Robert Cohen
performance, bring some gravity to the proceedings. Land
of Hope and Glory is given in its original from, from the
Coronation Ode, in a full-blooded performance under Philip
Ledger and Vernon Handley’s 4thPomp
and Circumstance March is straightforward and most enjoyable.
Vaughan Williams, who, for some, is the quintessence of English
music is lucky enough to have four complete works in this collection.
David Nolan is a sweet-voiced soloist in The Lark Ascending,
the Tallis Fantasia is beautifully paced, the Greensleeves
Fantasia is delightful, and everybody lets their hair down
for the March (Seventeen Come Sunday), all under Handley.
Hickox directs easy-going performances of the Variants on
Dives and Lazarus and Rhosymedre.
Karl Jenkins might seem to be a strange choice for this set
but his four pieces go to show just what a variety of work has
been created in the last century in Britain. Adiemus
made Jenkins’s name and he has followed this success with
some big choral and orchestral pieces, from which we have three
excerpts.
With Walton we’re back on familiar territory. I am very
happy that it was Boult’s recording of Crown Imperial
which was chosen for this is the longer, first version, of the
score. It is a very resplendent piece of work, both from composer
and performer. Frémaux and Groves give fine performances
of the Popular Song and the affecting Touch her soft
lips and part.
John Rutter has written some of the most attractive and approachable
music of the past 40 years. But that’s not to say that
he hasn’t created some works of a deeper, personal, nature.
His Requiem is a superb work, and it succeeds because
it is unpretentious and speaks directly to the heart. I am sad
that there was only room for the Requiem aeternam from
this piece. A Gaelic Blessing is a gentle benediction
which receives an understated performance from John Scott and
his musicians.
Now we are left with nine composers, each represented by one
work. The Warsaw Concerto has transcended its wartime
film origins and can take its place proudly in this collection.
In fact, it’s only one of two concerted works here! Daniel
Adni is a fine soloist and plays it as the romantic concert
piece it so obviously is. EMI recorded quite a lot of Malcolm
Arnold over the years and I think that he deserved more than
the first dance from the 2ndSet
of English Dances, but it’s here, I suppose, because
many will recognise it as being the title music for the TV,
now Radio, programme What the Papers Say. The same is
true of Britten and the Sentimental Saraband, from the
Simple Symphony doesn’t really do him any favours
by its inclusion.
Butterworth’s The Banks of Green Willow is given
in a lovely performance under Neville Dilkes and Groves gives
an heroic account of Coates’s The Dam Busters March.
As you’d expect, Delius, the nature poet next; and Hickox
directs a suitably flowing and gentle account of On Hearing
the First Cuckoo in Spring. It’s a shame that Holst
is only represented by an excerpt from The Planets. Admittedly
it’s a fine piece but EMI has much to choose from and
here, surely, was a miscalculation. Likewise Parry. Jerusalem
is a great tune - far too good to be the National Anthem but,
again, EMI has a couple of short orchestral works which I would
have preferred. Finally, Spem in Alium, is one of the
glories of British Church music, if not of British music in
general. This is perfection. The members of the Tavener Choir
excel themselves here.
I really enjoyed this collection, no matter what reservations
I may have about some of the pieces chosen, it’s a pleasant
and interesting walk through the music of part of our country;
sorry Scotland and Ireland. Despite ranging in time from 1964
to 2003, the recordings stand well side by side, are clean and
clear and with a wide dynamic range, and one would never guess
their provenance. There are no notes, just a list of contents,
but no matter for they aren’t really necessary.
I suppose that this is aimed at the Classic FM listener, or
someone who doesn’t want a complete work but is happy
with a bit of this and a bit of that. However, it might just
make some investigate the complete works and that is no bad
thing.
Bob Briggs
Disc details
CD 1
Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872 - 1958) The
Lark Ascending (1914) [14:50]
Gustav HOLST (1874 - 1934) . Jupiter, the Bringer
of Jollity, from The Planets - Suite, op.32) (1914/1916) [8:30]
Edward ELGAR (1857 - 1934) Adagio from Cello Concerto
in E minor. op.85 (1918) [5:03]
George Frederic HANDEL (1685 - 1759) Hallelujah,
from Messiah (1741) [3:59]
Edward ELGAR Nimrod, from Variations on an Original
Theme, 'Enigma', op.36 (1899) [3:52]
George Frederic HANDEL Air, from Water Music,
Suite in F (1717) [4:90]
Karl JENKINS (b.1944) Agnus Dei, from The Armed
Man, A Mass for Peace (1999) [3:36]
Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas
Tallis (1910) [14:41]
George Frederic HANDEL For unto us a child is
born, from Messiah (1741) [4:16]
Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on Greensleeves (1934)
4:80
Edward ELGAR Pomp and Circumstance March No.4 in G, op.39/4
(1907) [4:44]
Edward ELGAR Softly and gently (The Angel’s Farewell),
from The Dream of Gerontius, op.38 (1899 /1900) [6:55]
CD 2
George Frederic HANDEL Thine be the glory, from
Judas Maccabaeus (1747) (arranged by Stephen Cleobury) [2:57]
Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus
(1939) [3:60]
George Frederic HANDEL Zadok the Priest, Coronation
Anthem No.1 (1727) [6:70]
George BUTTERWORTH (1885 - 1916) The Banks of
Green Willow - Idyll for orchestra (1913) [6:40]
John RUTTER (b.1945) A Gaelic Blessing (1978)
[1:47]
Malcolm ARNOLD (1921 - 2006) Allegro non troppo,
No.1 from English Dances, Set 2, op.33 (1951) [3:70]
Edward ELGAR But hark! a grand mysterious harmony. from
The Dream of Gerontius, op.38 (1899 /1900) [8:13]
George Frederic HANDEL Bourrée, from Water
Music, Suite in F (1717) [2:24]
Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Rhosymedre, from Three Preludes
Founded on Welsh Hymn Tunes (1920) (orchestrated by Arnold Foster
(1938)) [4:09]
C H H PARRY (1848 - 1918) Jerusalem (orchestrated
by Edward ELGAR (1922))
[2:45]
George Frederic HANDEL The Arrival of the Queen
of Sheba, from Solomon (1749) [3:23]
Thomas TALLIS (c1505 - 1585) Spem in alium (1570)
[10:15]
George Frederic HANDEL Alla Hornpipe from Water
Music, Suite in D (1717) [3:17]
Karl JENKINS Adiemus (1995) [3:56]
William WALTON (1902 - 1983) Crown Imperial -
Coronation March (1937) [8:33]
CD 3
Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS March (Seventeen Come Sunday),
from English Folk Songs Suite (1923) (orchestrated by Gordon
JACOB (1895 - 1984)) [3:70]
John RUTTER Requiem aeternam, from Requiem (1985) [5:34]
Edward ELGAR Chanson de matin, op.15/2 (1899 orch 1901)
[3:35]
George Frederic HANDEL Bourrée, from Water
Music, Suite in D (1717) [1:29]
Eric COATES (1886 - 1957) The Dam Busters March
(1954) [3:54]
Karl JENKINS In Paradisum, from Requiem (2005) [5:21]
George Frederic HANDEL La Réjouissance,
from Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749) [2:90]
Benjamin BRITTEN (1913 - 1976) Sentimental Saraband,
from Simple Symphony, op.4 (1934) [7:60]
Richard ADDINSELL (1904 - 1977) Warsaw Concerto
(1941) [8:53]
Edward ELGAR Larghetto, from Serenade in E minor, op.20
(1888/1892) [5:19]
George Frederic HANDEL Minuets I & II, from
Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749) [2:19]
Karl JENKINS Benedictus, from The Armed Man, A Mass for
Peace (1999) [7:34]
Edward ELGAR Salut d'amour, op.12 (1888) [3:46]
Frederick DELIUS (1862 - 1934) On Hearing the
First Cuckoo in Spring (1912) [6:20]
William WALTON Popular Song, from Façade - Suite
No.2 (1922 orch 1938) [2:14]
William WALTON Touch her soft lips and part, from Henry
V Suite (1944) (arranged by Muir MATHIESON (1911 -
1975)) [1:50]
Edward ELGAR Land of Hope and Glory, from Coronation
Ode, op.44 (1902) [4:32]
Janet Baker (mezzo), Alfreda Hodgson (alto), Felicity Lott (soprano),
Richard Morton (tenor), Stephen Roberts (bass), Daniel Adni
(piano), Robert Cohen (cello), David Nolan (violin), Ambrosian
Singers, Cambridge University Musical Society Chorus, Côr
Caerdydd and Cytgan (choral trainer: Gwawr Owen), Goldsmiths
Choral Union, Hallé Choir, Choir of King’s College,
Cambridge, National Chamber Choir of Great Britain (chorus master:
Michael Brewer), Choir of St Paul’s Cathedral, Serendipity
(choral trainer: Timothy Rhys-Evans), Sheffield Philharmonic
Chorus, Tavener Choir, Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Bournemouth
Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, City
of London Sinfonia, English Chamber Orchestra, English Sinfonia,
Hallé Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London
Symphony Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, New Philharmonia Orchestra,
Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra,
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Virtuosi of England, The Wallace
Collection, West Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra, Kenneth
Alwyn, Owain Arwel Hughes, John Barbirolli, Adrian Boult, Stephen
Cleobury, Laurence Collingwood, Arthur Davison, Neville Dilkes,
Louis Frémaux, Charles Groves, Vernon Handley, Richard
Hickox, Karl Jenkins, Philip Ledger, Charles Mackerras, Neville
Marriner, Andrew Parrott, Simon Rattle, John Scott
rec. 1964-2005 
