Lloyd: Symphony 1 & 2

 

If George Lloyd were a burgeoning composer today, I think he would make a rather good writer for concert band. I think it is the way in which he handles winds, brass, and percussion that leads my mind in this direction.

As a young composer in his own time, Lloyd's ability to handle large forces is firmly in place. I love the skipping dotted idea which opens Symphony no. 1 in A Major, as well as how the final movement brings back that motive, but sets it in a more complicated imitative form.

For a-one movement symphony, Lloyd gets a lot of mileage out of these recurring ideas, and I like his handling of the variations during the opening eight minutes, allowing us to hear the composer fully exploit his resources for orchestra. It is all contrasted with long-bowed lyricism in the middle section, although this mostly gives way to the outer portions.

George Lloyd was thoroughly Neo-Romantic, allowing little in the way of 20th-Century modernism to get in his way. I could see some wanting more 20th Century dissonance or angst, but I like his musical voice as being an extension of Tchaikovsky and the like.

In his Symphony no. 2, he extends his approach to the symphony to four movements, although shines the focus on movements two and four. Oddly, Lloyd opens his work in a waltz time, yet avoids any staid or generic setting of that particular dance form, instead providing the listener with a perky Scherzo.

A rather ruminative, yet cinematic slow movement follows, although I sense more of a Spanish romance by the time the swelling erupts towards the end. There are some lovely orchestral solos throughout this section as well, where the undulating accompanying figures are quite beautiful.

A very short third movement is set as a twee march. Some equate this part to Tchaikovsky's Miniature March, but this one is not precious like the Russian master's. Instead, there are some sinister moments stuck in there amongst the high-pitched pipings.

While Lloyd's First Symphony ends with a bang, he sets the final movement of his Second Symphony at a steadier Andante, additionally marked 'with melancholy', eventually ending in a calm.

He throws a lot into this finale, bringing back earlier ideas and setting them intermingled amidst some musically concerning gloom and tension. It is almost as if brass chorales are surrounded by the constant threat of storms, punctuated by piccolo.

Again, it seems Lloyd feels at ease writing for winds, brass, and percussion, and this conclusion allows him the canvas to display those skills.

As to these performances, the Albany Symphony Orchestra in Symphony no. 1 and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in Symphony no. 2 are both lead by the composer in the early 90s. Most George Lloyd aficionados would have neophyte listeners begin with Symphonies 4 through 8, however, I don't think anyone will be disappointed starting chronologically, for they are a treat as well.

Works
Symphony 1 in A Major (24.50)
Symphony 2 (33.57)

Performers
Albany Symphony Orchestra
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
George Lloyd, conductor

Label: Albany
Year: 1990-92

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