The recordings on this album come from the Richard Itter Broadcast Collection, a private archive of over 1500 works recorded from BBC transmissions between 1952 and 1996.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Fricker believed that music should avoid both "out-of-date romantic clichés" and "technical exercises which take no account of the sound produced," emphasizing balance and proportion.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Fricker assimilated aspects of the styles of Béla Bartók, Arnold Schoenberg, and Igor Stravinsky to create his own distinctive, highly expressive, urbane, and freely atonal musical language.
Composer Biography
Fricker was the first British composer to establish his reputation entirely after World War II, gaining recognition for his Wind Quintet (1947) and String Quartet in one movement (1948).
Recording & Production
Richard Itter, the collector, used professional equipment to record BBC VHF/FM broadcasts from his home, initially on magnetic tape, with important performances transferred to acetate discs.
Critical Reception
In the 1950s and 1960s, Peter Racine Fricker was highly esteemed by critics, with one claiming he was "unquestionably the most impressive talent to appear in post-war England."
Composer Biography
Peter Racine Fricker (1920-1990) was a British composer whose middle name came from his great-grandmother, a direct descendant of the French dramatist.
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