Bantock: A Celtic Symphony; A Hebridean Symphony; The Witch of Atlas

Featuring

Vernon Handley
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Granville Bantock

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Compositional Technique

The Celtic Symphony, a late work by Bantock, calls for a string orchestra and suggests no fewer than six harps for its proper effect, which are used in this recording.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Bantock was deeply influenced by Liszt and Wagner, and much of his work is programmatic or text-dependent, often on a grand scale with heroic or exotic themes.

Composer Biography

Bantock was a musician of exceptionally wide sympathies, championing British music while also keenly interested in contemporary European composers like Debussy, Richard Strauss, and Sibelius, who dedicated his Third Symphony to Bantock.

Compositional Technique

Like most of Bantock's Celtic works, the Celtic Symphony makes use of Hebridean folksong, specifically 'Sea-Longing' (An Ionndrainn-Mhara), collected by Marjory Kennedy-Fraser.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Bantock had two chief enthusiasms that influenced his music: an abiding interest in all things Oriental (Near and Far East) and a passion for all things Celtic, acknowledging his own Highland ancestry.

Composer Biography

Sir Granville Bantock's father, an eminent London surgeon, initially forbade him from pursuing music professionally, only relenting after Bantock showed disinterest in a Civil Service career.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded in All Hallows, Gospel Oak, on August 21 and 22, 1990, with Tony Faulkner as Recording Engineer and Martin Compton as Recording Producer.