The Prize of Hyperion's Liner Notes

 

Too bad the label was recently sold off to Universal.

Regardless, I enjoyed Hyperion's approach to liner notes. On most other Classical Music liner notes, many authors dryly describe the music proceedings without any consideration to where to hear those descriptions. Hyperion, on the other hand, puts in track numbers, and sometimes specific timings, amidst the descriptions so the listener can follow along if they wish.

The only downside is sometimes Hyperion will not give a complete tracklist with timings. Take the opening Overture to a Greek Tragedy, here split into four tracks despite being a one-movement work. While I appreciate the many tracks, no ink is spilled to provide each track's runtime, nor the name or tempo which is usually given. Still, inside the liner notes descriptions, the individual track numbers are mentioned aside prose-like musical goings-ons.

The aforementioned Greek Overture is indeed musically tragic, often times heroic and others baleful, continuing a brass-laden serious tone throughout its 18 minutes. Contrastingly, Pierrot of the Minute is described as a comic overture, reminding me some of Paul Dukas with its light orchestral colors and lyrical digressions.

The Wilderness and the Solitary Place relates more to the main dish of the recording, especially in its colorful percussion and uplifting Biblical text. That entree is The Song of Songs, a 150-minute song cycle, here excerpted into 40-minutes worth of vocal solos and orchestral features. Of course, these sensual texts from Psalms have been covered many times, such as that by Rene Clausen and Richard Nance in Set Me As a Seal, and Daniel Pinkham in Many Waters from his Wedding Cantata, all in smaller, more intimate choral settings compared to Bantock's intense, passionate, grandiose musical set pieces.

As with much of Sir Granville Bantock's music, much of Song of Songs ape Richard Strauss-ian swollen strings and heaving climaxes, especially during the love topics. I think I prefer Bantock's Sappho for voice and orchestra (BLOG), although it is nice to finally hear much of this work. Like that work, Elizabeth Connell is willing to dig into the lower range aggressively, and even if she and tenor Kim Begley aren't the sweetest of voices, they play up the dramatics strongly. The 3rd Day section almost acts akin to an Intermezzo, providing an instrumental-only break in the middle away from the vocal solos.

Overall though, I believe I like the individual orchestral works on this program more than the vocal offerings, but this could be tinged by my less-than-enthusiastic response to late-Romanticism. Otherwise, Vernon Handley and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform wonderfully, and the soloists add over-the-top dramatics effectively, even if they are not the sweetest-timbred singers.

 

 

 

 

Works
Overture to a Greek Tragedy (26.05)
Pierrot of the Minute (11.40)
Christus: Wilderness and the Solitary Place (14.32)
Song of Songs (9.31)

Soloists
Elizabeth Connell, soprano
Kim Begley, tenor
William Prideaux, baritone

Performers
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Vernon Handley, conductor

Label: Hyperion
Year: 2003
Total Timing: 77.58

 

 

 

 

 

Again, I am not entranced by Bantock's late-Romanticisms, but there is much to enjoy here if you do.

Personally, I like the overtures best, and The Song of Songs is a nice bit of exploration on record.

I have a feeling had Hyperion and Vernon Handley continued the series beyond these six volumes, the law of diminishing returns would have reared its head, despite much more unrecorded music lying out there from the composer.