Overtures from the British Isles Volume 3
BBC Philharmonic / Rumon Gamba
rec. 2024, MediaCityUK, Salford, Manchester, UK
Chandos CHAN20351 [77]
The first two releases in this series were reviewed here – Volumes 1 and 2 – and this third volume follows a decade after the second was released. It contains music from composers whose birth dates range from Havergal Brian in 1876 to Geoffrey Bush in 1920 and music that is more compressed compositionally – 1938 to 1948.
Some are better known than others and several are making their first discographic appearance – Daniel Jones’s Comedy Overture, Robin Orr’s The Prospect of Whitby and Alan Bush’s Resolution – so on no account despair if you have a few of these overtures on your shelves as there will certainly be things here you’ve not come across. Coincidentally, or not, John France, who reviewed volume 2, made a plea for a volume of mid-twentieth century works and even suggested the Robin Orr overture, amongst a select list of desirable things, so maybe we reviewers are listened to after all.
Havergal Brian’s The Tinker’s Wedding is notable for its second subject’s expressive depth and its colourful, rhythmically vivid quality whilst Geoffrey Bush’s Yorick is a memorial tribute to the comedian Tommy Handley. Its outer sections are airy and spruce and its central panel appropriately reflective, though never overly sombre. There are a couple of pieces, at least, with long discographic histories and of them, Alan Rawsthorne’s Street Corner is the most distinctive. First recorded on 78s by his friend Constant Lambert, this piece marries breeziness of material with astute orchestration to produce a characterful piece. I’ve a feeling Rawsthorne’s lighter works have been overlooked of late, despite the past advocacy of Lyrita and Dutton.
I enjoyed hearing Daniel Jones’ Comedy Overture, written two years before Rawsthorne’s example, as it has engaging contrasts and nice handling of the brass. It’s all confidently accomplished and lacks only a gripping sense of characterisation. That certainly couldn’t be said of Frank Bridge’s Rebus, completed the year before his death – in the event he never heard it performed – which demonstrates the orchestrational subtleties of which he was capable even in a smaller canvas such as this. Unheard for years after its première, it was revived by the Frank Bridge Trust and recorded by the LPO and Nicholas Braithwaite for Lyrita and years later by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Richard Hickox. Its lyricism is burnished and rich and it’s more a tone poem than an overture, and is – in my view – the outstanding work on this disc.
Robin Orr mines a Waltonian sense of nautical bustle (as per Portsmouth Point) in The Prospect of Whitby, which deserves its reclamation and Richard Arnell’s The New Age perfectly represents the essence of these overtures in its careful balancing of vitality with introspection. Britten’s Overture to Paul Bunyan was orchestrated by Colin Matthews in 1977 and foreshadows elements familiar from his Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Alan Bush’s Resolution owes its origin to the brass band and was later re-written for full orchestral forces, including a piano part. It pushes the overture genre farthest to the dark side – there are some abrasive, melancholy moments – but also ensures these are balanced by jollity. Its brass origins can certainly be heard, and this allows the work to grow in amplitude and determination. Clifton Parker is best remembered for his film scores but his music for The Glass Slipper was written for a stage play and is crafted in the best traditions of British Light Music – balletic, easy-going and delightful. As a finale, there is Eric Fenby’s larky Rossini on Ilkla Moor, the earliest piece in this selection, composed in a real hurry in 1938. It’s a witty homage to Rossini and ends the disc on a note of uncomplicated fun.
Most of these pieces have been recorded before, as noted, on labels such as Lyrita, Dutton, Naxos, Resonance, and Guild by eminent practitioners, but Chandos here offers a third mix-and-match selection, expertly performed here in the decidedly studio and very clear acoustic of MediaCity, as opposed to the very much more ‘philharmonic hall’ sonics of, say, the Mackerras recording of Brian’s The Tinker’s Wedding. Not a criticism, just an observation.
However, one criticism is that Lewis Foreman’s excellent notes have been organised in such a way that they don’t reflect the track listing at all. I wish I could insert the appropriate emoji that fully conveys my irritation at this practice.
One final thing to note, though, is the cover art, a droll piece of wordplay. It’s an image of ‘Sun Star on Whitby Abbey’ a picturesque vision of a religious ruin – rather than a picture of The Prospect of Whitby itself, which is a pub in Wapping.
Jonathan Woolf
Previous review: John Quinn (January 2026)
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Contents
Havergal Brian (1876-1972) – The Tinker’s Wedding: Comedy Overture (1948)
Geoffrey Bush (1920-1998) – Yorick Overture (1949)
Alan Rawsthorne (1905-1971) – Street Corner Overture (1944)
Daniel Jones (1912-1983) – Comedy Overture (1942)
Frank Bridge (1879-1941) – Rebus (1940)
Robin Orr (1909-2008)– The Prospect of Whitby (1948)
Richard Arnell (1917-2009) – The New Age: Overture, op.2 (1939)
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) – Overture to Paul Bunyan, op.17 (1941)
Alan Bush (1900-1995) – Resolution, op.25 (1944)
Clifton Parker (1905-1989) – Overture to The Glass Slipper (1944)
Eric Fenby (1906-1997) – Rossini on Ilkla Moor Overture (1938)
