This is Dutton's second disc featuring music by Thomas Dunhill, and the fourth featuring music by Richard Arnell. In 2005, the enterprising English label had released a disc of Dunhill's chamber music by the [wimpLink artistId="3968130"]Endymion Ensemble[/wimpLink] containing two quintets and a Phantasy Trio. But as lovely and imaginative as those works are, they pale before this discs' magnificent Symphony in A minor. Written between 1914 and 1916, it was one of a handful of symphonies composed by the Englishman during the First World War, and though the horrors of those dreadful years are only distantly reflected in its music, there is a power, a weight, and even a nobility to Dunhill's Symphony that raises it to nearly the same heights as [wimpLink artistId="3659042"]Elgar[/wimpLink]'s symphonies. The work was premiered in 1923 and performed more than five times between then and 1935 -- but after that remained unknown and unheard until the occasion of this world-premiere 2007 recording with [wimpLink artistId="7302743"]Martin Yates[/wimpLink] leading the [wimpLink artistId="3845435"]Royal Scottish National Orchestra[/wimpLink]. While 72 years is a long time to wait for revival, Dunhill's Symphony was well worth it. With its romantically charged Moderato, its racing Prestissimo, its haunted Adagio non troppo, and its almost tragic closing Allegro, the work proves a sincere, expressive, and exceedingly well-wrought work. In [wimpLink artistId="7302743"]Yates[/wimpLink] and the Scottish players' passionate and polished performance, it should be thoroughly enjoyable for anyone who enjoys the symphonies of Parry, Stanford, and [wimpLink artistId="3659042"]Elgar[/wimpLink].
Already represented in the Dutton catalog by four symphonies, an overture, a concerto, and a disc of chamber works, Richard Arnell returns with his 1952 Lord Byron: A Symphonic Portrait. A rousing, even exciting work with big themes, bold orchestrations, and immediately attractive forms, Lord Byron adds a new dimension to Arnell's musical character -- an evocative, lyrical, even sensual, and above all pictorial dimension that no doubt informed his highly successful (at least in their time) ballet scores.
Recorded in Glasgow's Henry Wood Hall by producer [wimpLink artistId="9514045"]Michael Ponder[/wimpLink] and engineer Dexter Newman, this disc will be mandatory listening for fans of twentieth century English music.