Syms 2 & 7/Festival [Import]

In the 1970's the Musical Heritage Society licensed many Lyrita recordings for release in the United States. At the time, MHS, via their licensing arrangement with Lyrita, was practically the exclusive source for many of Britain's greatest composers. The music of Arnold Bax, E.J. Moeran, Edmund Rubbra, John Ireland, Gustav Holst, George Butterworth and many others thus became available in first class recordings, and I eagerly collected them all.

Among the Lyrita recordings offered by MHS was Rubbra's Seventh Symphony conducted by Adrian Boult, which makes up the second half of this Lyrita cd. To me, the Seventh is the pinnacle of Rubbra's symphonic output - it's modern without being at all abstract, flowing, mysterious and totally engaging. If pressed for a comparison, I would put it in the same category as Alan Hovanness's "Mysterious Mountain." It is one of the masterpieces of 20th century British symphonic music and no collection of modern music should be without it. It has held up very well to more than 30 years of listening, and I thus recommend it without reservation.

The companion piece here is Rubbra's Second Symphony, which I was unfamiliar with until acquiring this disc. To be honest, I usually go straight to the Seventh and thus haven't listened to the Second more than a couple of times; consequently I'm not knowledgable enough to comment on it.

That I award this disc 5 stars is based on the Seventh Symphony alone - any enjoyment provided by the Second Symphony should be considered a bonus.

I must confess that Edmund Rubbra strikes me as a quite uneven symphonist. On the one hand, he has composed deeply memorable, dark, mainly slow movements. On the other hand, he has also composed less convincing, light movements with irritating melodies (e.g., the finale to the fifth symphony). These are frequently combined in one package, which makes his symphonies in general, at least in my ears, less attractive than those of many of his British contemporaries, for example Bax and Vaughan-Williams.

The seventh symphony from 1957, however, is a carefully structured and consistent work that must be regarded as a true masterpiece. Here we are on Rubbra's dark side: it's a work of anxiety and violence, with deeply memorable melodies and moods. No classical collection should lack a recording of this exceptional, beautiful and convincing symphony.

This 1969 Lyrita recording features Adrian Boult's superb interpretation of this stunning work, with London Philharmonic Orchestra. Vernon Handley's recording of the second symphony is an obvious fill-up, even if Rubbra's second is among his better, earlier works.

Highest possible recommendation.