Lloyd: Symphony 7 & 8

 

I chewed off quite a bit by pairing these two symphonies together.

First, they are large symphonic creations, running at around 45 minutes each. Yet they each only have three movements, so each movement is rather involved.

Moreso, George Lloyd's musical voice turns serious with these two symphonies. Moods lean towards the pensive and melancholy, although the composer is always very giving with ample contrasts, even within a movement.

Symphony no. 7 dons the program of Proserpine, the Queen of Hades, who I know as Persephone. Purloined from the living world, she brings beauty and justice to the Underworld. Ralph Vaughan Williams also wrote an orchestral Proserpine early in life, but I think Lloyd is the more successful of the twain.

The opening and middle movements are more lyrically beautiful, while Lloyd saves any menace for the conclusion. Even then, the finale is filled more with fantastical murmurs than anything overblown.

The Seventh seems more of a fit to follow the aftermath of WWII compared to the happily picturesque Fourth Symphony, which actually followed Lloyd's service in the war. The amount of inward, brooding music-making here is a surprise considering the buoyancy of the previous six symphonies. I daresay, Lloyd may be approaching the ideals of late-Romanticisms with these later symphonies. Time will tell...

If anything, Symphony no. 8 is more troubling. The work's introduction is meandering and uncertain, although Lloyd is never more than a stone's throw from indulgent Romanticisms; he just doesn't give in to it as readily as he once did.

Even once the Allegro proper begins, and light dares to peek in, Lloyd doesn't relinquish immediately, nor prolong, feelings of ultimate satisfaction. Only until about 15 minutes in, of 19, does the big tune arrive completely, although, even here, he doesn't dwell on the arrival any longer than he has to. While Lloyd has always been a superb symphonic craftsman, perhaps the composer has now learned how to drag his listener along with enticement.

Right in the center of the lyrical middle movement are some loud, dissonant chords, something I wouldn't normally expect from Lloyd. Otherwise, the composer offers long-breathed string lines, all amidst atmospheric winds and a martial timpani which underline a darker intent in places.

George Lloyd gets right down to business in the concluding movement of his Eighth, with rhythmically taut exhortations from winds, brass, and percussion. There is still a sense of unease carried over, and once again, I am surprised at the move Lloyd has made from his early symphonic sixtet. Despite this, I detect a cartoonish soft-shoe section amongst the brass-led folderol, so wit is still conscious within Lloyd's symphonies. Plus, the preponderance of malleted percussion is notable in both works, but particularly this finale.

New to these two symphonies is the presence of the Philharmonia Orchestra, again led by Lloyd. As with the previous three symphonies, Lloyd leads just as strongly compared to the earlier recordings in this same music from Sir Edward Downes.

Listen on YouTube

Works
Symphony 7 (49.48)
Symphony 8 (45.52)

Performers
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Philharmonia Orchestra
George Lloyd, conductor

Label: Albany
Year: 1991-96

 

 

 

 

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