IDAGIO | Bantock: Overture to a Greek Tragedy - Holbrooke: The Birds of Rhianno

Featuring

Nicholas Braithwaite
Vernon Handley
Philharmonia Orchestra
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Granville Bantock
Joseph Holbrooke

Cyril Rootham

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Historical Context

Cyril Bradley Rootham and Josef Holbrooke were part of a generation of composers born within a decade, alongside figures like Holst, Ravel, Bartok, and Stravinsky.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Rootham's First Symphony reflects his physical vigour, with main ideas often starting on strong accents and extending into long paragraphs.

Compositional Technique

Bantock's 'Overture to a Greek Tragedy', based on Sophocles' 'Oedipus at Colonus', uses a striking sombre 5/4 fanfare-like 'fate' motif and sudden changes of mood.

Composer Biography

Josef Holbrooke, despite being an outstanding pianist and score-reader, pursued a career as a composer, which kept him from tying himself to more than brief appointments as a performer or conductor.

Composition History

Holbrooke's 'The Birds of Rhiannon' is subtitled 'A Poem', suggesting its relation to his Celtic operas, similar to how Wagner's 'Siegfried Idyll' relates to his 'Ring' cycle.

Compositional Technique

Rootham's First Symphony features distinctive orchestration, with a love of primary colors and frequent switches to almost vocal passages for the brass ensemble.

Composer Biography

Sir Granville Bantock, the composer of 'Overture to a Greek Tragedy', initially trained as a chemical engineer and for the Indian Civil Service before being allowed to study music.