Paul
Conway’s article on the Lloyd Symphonies
Each of these three
CDs derive directly from vinyl albums
issued just before the launch of the
CD. It was not an auspicious time for
what were super-premium price LPs. That
said, interest in Lloyd was intense
– at least in some quarters. Lloyd’s
Piano Concerto No. 1 The Scapegoat
broadcast by John Ogdon in the mid-1960s
had left little or no impression generally.
It was a summer evening broadcast on
BBC Radio 3 in 1977 that turned things
around. On 4 July 1977 after much persuasion
by Ogdon we heard a studio recording
of Lloyd’s Eighth Symphony. It instantly
grabbed the attention with its grandly
uproarious melodic saturation. In 1981
the Proms resounded to what may well
be Lloyd’s finest work at least alongside
the Seventh Symphony. The captivating
Sixth Symphony – at less than 30 minutes,
his shortest - was performed to an enthusiastic
audience. It was done in rip-roaringly
romantic style by the then BBC Northern
Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edward
Downes – the same forces who had brought
the Eighth out into the admiring sunlight
in 1977. In fact Manchester was to be
the scene of many Lloyd premieres although
during that time the BBCNSO metamorphosed
into the BBC Philharmonic. Symphonies
2, 5, 7, 9 and 10 all had performances
there; not to mention the whole of his
Festival of Britain opera John Socman.
The grand exception which links us back
to the present set was the first public
performance of the Fourth Symphony which
was given by Edward Downes and the Philharmonia
one baking day during the Cheltenham
Festival: 13 July 1981.
This set has competition
but in the shape of recordings made
by Albany with the composer conducting.
These are all at premium by comparison
with this 3 for 2 permanent pricing.
The counterparts are the Fourth with
the American orchestra who were Lloyd’s
champions for so many years. This was
issued first on AR002 and latter in
hybrid SACD on TROY 498. At 65:07 it’s
a more languorous approach that the
composer brings to this symphony which
was borne of trouble and nightmare on
the Arctic convoys of the 1940s. The
sound is splendid but I enjoyed the
extra vituperation brought by Downes
to the first movement. The sound is
vintage sunset analogue – truly magnificent
with sweet strings, a growling bass
and brass magnificently rendered. Interestingly
this symphony which one always expects
to be more tortured than it actually
is sounded even lighter in the hands
of the BBCPO and Rumon Gamba when I
heard this in BBC Studio 7 in Manchester
in 2006. Gamba certainly brought out
the balletic and fey side of the music
emphasising the Berlioz and Tchaikovsky
strands rather than the grand tragedy.
Downes, especially in the first movement,
mines a tense vituperation that recalls
the mood of Walton’s con malizia
movement in the First Symphony.
Overall though the Fourth Symphony seems
to have been written as a spell against
tragedy rather than a mirror of tortured
experience. The finale – and much else
though – is truly gripping and exciting
in the euphoric way we experience Tchaikovsky
4. The fact that the majestic theme
of the finale sounds like a fragment
of the old song ‘In the Quarter Master’s
Stores’ dilutes none of its effect.
One finds more grit however in the Fifth
and Seventh Symphonies and it’s a pity
that Downes and the Philharmonia never
got to the Seventh although they did
tackle it very effectively in the BBC
studio with the BBC Phil. The only recording
of this very fine symphony is on TROY057
where the conductor is the composer
and the orchestra the BBCPO. The Fifth
is more sombre but with some really
grand moments. The sound is just as
resplendent as that for the Fourth.
This too has competition from Albany
and the composer with the BBCPO on TROY
022 at 56:28; just a shade faster than
Downes. The Fifth has more heroic-tragedy
about it than the Fourth or for that
matter the Eighth which is agile, grand
and euphoric. Lloyd never lacked for
a melody and he knew how to manipulate
it with the mastery of a Tchaikovsky.
Once again, with the Eighth, the Albany
recording, the latest recorded amongst
their symphonies, which was also made
with the Philharmonia, plays for about
the same time as the Lyrita: 45:52.
In interpretative and sound terms despite
the digital divide there’s little to
choose between them.
For the record the
original three Lyrita Recorded Edition
LPs were:-
SRCS-113 Lloyd Symphony
No. 8
SRCS-124 Lloyd Symphony
No. 5
SRCS-129 Lloyd Symphony
No. 4 in B
This Lyrita set is
irresistible if you want to explore
Lloyd’s symphonies for the first time.
I know at least one person who has remained
unimpressed by Lloyd. Certainly his
best purely orchestral work is to be
found in the symphonies 4-8 where this
romantic master vies with Bax and Alwyn
but remains completely distinctive.
The top-line merits of this set are
accentuated by Lewis Foreman’s excellent
notes which nicely chart the Lloyd renaissance,
by the glories of the analogue engineering,
by Downes’ grip on the Fourth Symphony
and by the thoughtfully attractive pricing
decision.
Rob Barnett
for details
Philharmonia Orchestra/Edward Downes 
