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Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
Galop in A minor [4:53]
Leopold GODOWSKY (1870-1938)
Mouvement Mélancolique (1911) [16:12]
Sergei RACHMANINOFF (1873-1943)
Suite No 2, Op 17 (1901) [24:25]
Leopold GODOWSKY (1870-1938)
Passacaglia (1927) [17:02]
David STANHOPE (b.1952)
The Promenade March [5:15]
Grand Fanfare (2006) [5:16]
David Stanhope and his Orchestra
No recording details given
TALL POPPIES TP265 [73:24]

At the point I requested this disc for review, I did not realise that the orchestra mentioned in the title; “David Stanhope and his Orchestra” is a digital one. Stanhope clearly believes in the artistic and commercial value of producing full length CD’s in this medium as this is his sixth. Essentially, Stanhope not only arranges the works here for full orchestra he then creates the audible version of the score detailing every dynamic, note length and attack and timbre. This is a laborious and painstaking job and it is to Stanhope’s credit that the illusion of a ‘real’ orchestra is as effective as it is. The liner details the two music sample libraries that Stanhope used; Vienna Symphonic Library and East West Quantum Leap. To give you some idea of the amount of data involved, the latter library comes supplied in files totalling 67 GB. The idea being to offer samples of just about any note on any instrument at any dynamic and any attack and expressive execution. Stanhope’s rationale for the value of such recordings is that it affords composers the opportunity to have their large-scale scores performed and recorded in a way that would not be economically possible using a 90 piece symphony orchestra. By extension it allows the listening public to hear works such as the ones on this disc which they otherwise would not. Stanhope is an extremely experienced and diverse musician; he has had an extensive career as performing horn and trombone player and concert pianist, alongside an impressive CV as composer and arranger. Add to that list the substantial skill of realising these digital scores and Sir Charles Mackerras’ description of Stanhope as “An absolutely outstanding musician” is clearly well-deserved.

I have written about this in some detail because I want to underline just how skilful and demanding producing this kind of work is. In the liner Stanhope makes the claim that; “few ears, even those of an expert, are likely to notice the difference between an actual orchestra and a digital one like my orchestra, if not told beforehand.” For all my admiration of Stanhope’s skill, that is simply not the case. Perhaps because I have spent my professional performing career sitting in orchestral string sections, there is no way the string sounds in particular on this disc sound authentic or realistic. There is an absolute homogeneity to the collective sound that is evidently ‘synthetic’. Interestingly, other parts of the orchestra seem more effective. I suspect the issue with the strings is the massed nature of the sections. When there are roughly 30 violins in a symphony orchestra at any given second in any given work there will fractional differences in attack/tuning/dynamic/articulation that collectively are insignificant but that over a musical phrase give it individuality and life. When each note is sampled and re-sampled to create an idealised ‘perfect’ version the result lacks humanity. Oddly, the muted (con sordino) samples and tremolandi are particularly poor. In his liner, Stanhope councils against listening for flaws – or as he says the absence of flaws – but I found that my ear was continually drawn back to the actual sound. There is another odd artefact in the string sound which I kept noticing – the ‘front’ of the notes have a strange bulbous attack, a kind of instantaneous swell that I simply do not recognise from the real world of playing. Some samples are very effective – the brass groups ring out thrillingly with the trombone choir at moderate dynamics having real warmth and richness. If concentrated listening was not the primary reason for playing this disc – supposing the music was there as a soundtrack to a film for example - I doubt these concerns would appear at all.

So in reviewing this disc I have to say I did not enjoy the actual soundscape much at all. Which leaves the music itself and how it has been arranged. On this level, things are much more impressive. Stanhope is a skilled and insightful arranger. Not that he seeks to pastiche the composers he is arranging instead preferring a large-scale orchestral treatment of these virtuoso keyboard works. The Liszt Galop is something of a helter-skelter musical rollercoaster. Musically it is rather insubstantial with its main pleasure being derived from appreciating the skill it takes to perform. Of course a computer is completely indifferent to that aspect so rather undermining the impact. There is a manic figuration early on arranged for violins and hyper-active xylophone that would simply never be performed with the level of unanimity you hear here. If it were, you would have an audience out of their seats but knowing its a computer leaves me cold. The two transcriptions of works by Leopold Godowsky are substantially more impressive as pieces of music. I had not heard either in their original solo piano forms. The Mouvement Mélancolique is the title Stanhope has chosen to give his arrangement of the last movement of Godowsky ’s epic Piano Sonata. Moving on now from my concerns with the actual sound here, Stanhope has created an impressive and compelling arrangement in its own right. The music suits the tonal and registrational variety an orchestra can provide and Stanhope is very adept at exploiting the range of instrumental colours at his command.

Much the same can be said of his treatment of Rachmaninoff’s Suite No 2. Stanhope writes in his liner that such an arrangement might be deemed “controversial” but I must say I think the reverse – given what non-orchestral scores of Rachmaninoff have already been arranged already, I am surprised no-one did this before. In four movements this Suite almost suggests a smaller-scale symphony. Stanhope states that he did seek to recreate Rachmaninoff’s orchestral palette, and the results are effective and wholly enjoyable. Certainly I can imagine this having a life in the ‘real world’ of orchestral playing. Returning to Godowsky , his Passacaglia of 1927 was something of a revelation. The original work for solo piano was written as a tribute to Franz Schubert on the centenary of his death. The work is an extraordinary set of 44 variations, cadenza and fugue based upon the first eight bars of Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony. I have not heard the keyboard original – something I intend to correct in the light of hearing this version – but it is an astounding work and one that works extremely well in its orchestral garb. Stanhope’s skill and understanding as a pianist allows him to dig deep into the essence of the original work and then re-imagine it for full orchestra. Again, I can imagine this being very impressive in actual performance.

The disc is completed by two of Stanhope’s own works which he himself in the liner describes as “noisy”. Garish might be another word – a kind of John Williams’ Olympic Fanfare without the subtlety. I cannot imagine listening to either work again especially in this manufactured form.

Of course because this disc was created on a computer over an extended period of time there is no recording information as such. David Stanhope provides the liner where he explains some of his compositional choices which are interesting as well as promoting the case for such digital orchestras. Clearly this disc is the result of many hours hard, dedicated and skilled work. I wish it did anything except leave me completely cold.

Nick Barnard