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5.0étoiles sur 5
Charming music for strings, Fév 27 2004
I picked up this recording on the strength of the first three volumes of the series even though this installment had few titles with which I was familiar. From the opening dance of Peter Hope's Momentum Suite I had a feeling I would not be disappointed. And I wasn't the rest of Hope's suite is as wonderful as it's opener with an Intermezzo that is beautiful and the playful third movement Momentum. Next up two pieces, from composer Frank Bridge, both of which were new to me in this new string arrangements by Paul Hindmarsh. Fine examples of why Bridge is one of the last GREAT British composers, I'm accustomed to hearing them in their original string quartet formats, but Hindmarsh's effective treatments retain the feel of the original works. Other famous composers represented on the disk are Holst with his Moorside Suite, written, as were most of his works for string orchestra, for the junior orchestra at St. Paul's Girls School. This work which seems so at home played by a string orchestra was originally composed for brass band... I just can't imagine, especially the gentle and flowing Nocturne movement. Two other highlights are wonderful performances of Delius' Two Aquarelles, both arranged for string orchestra by Eric Fenby four years after the composer's death. The Lento has more than a touch of melancholy to it that is sure to put a lump in your throat. Paul Lewis was unknown to me but his English Suite made me an immediate fan. Probably the most recent composition from the four volumes in the English String Miniatures series, composed in 1993, it sounds like both homage and pastiche at the same time. "Neo-pastoral", then? Yet still, the Meditation movement is just another example of how well the British write for string orchestra. Pick this one up (and if you don't have volumes 1 -3, you'll need them as well).
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