JOHN FOULDS

 

Sakari Oramo

 

April-England

Dynamic Triptych (Piano Concerto)

Music-Pictures (Group III)

Lament from A Celtic Suite Op.29

Song of Ram Dass

 

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Peter Donohoe, piano

 

John Foulds (1880-1939): an unsung hero of British composition, variously described as a “quintessential eccentric” and as “England’s answer to Charles Ives”. A historical link between Elgar’s Edwardiana and later generation figures like Britten and Tippett.

 

This latest disc follows the critical and artistic success of Warner Classics’s first volume of Foulds orchestral music released in 2004, performed by Sakari Oramo and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra…

 

Gramophone - “Don’t miss this gem of a release.” BBC Music Magazine -“sheer originality.” The Independent on Sunday - “The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra have rarely sounded more ravishing than in Foulds’s 1910 ‘music-poem’ Mirage.” Best Buy in Classic FM magazine, November 2004.

 

Oramo and the CBSO are pioneering performers of Foulds’ music. Like the first disc, this new instalment includes a premiere recording and rarely heard works.

 

Premiere Recording – Music-Pictures Group III (Foulds’s answer to Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition)

 

Fould’s Piano Concerto Dynamic Triptych is a flamboyant showcase for piano and orchestra, deploying the composer’s interest in unorthodox scales and rhythms, with hints of big-band jazz swagger. Pianist Peter Donohoe is a specialist in early 20th century British music.

April-England is Foulds in pastoral mood. The Song of Ram Dass reflects his interest in the Orient; the nostalgic Scottish theme Celtic Lament was Foulds’s ‘greatest hit’ during his lifetime.

 

The project has the backing of the Foulds estate and John Foulds’ son, Patrick, contributes an introductory essay.  Unusual but highly charismatic repertoire. 

 

Warner Classics 2564629992