MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


 

Buy through MusicWeb for £11.00 postage paid World Wide. Try it on Sale or Return
You may prefer to pay by Sterling cheque or Euro notes to avoid PayPal. Contact for details

Musicweb Purchase button

Daniel JONES (1912-1993)
Symphony No. 4 (1954) [31:35]
Symphony No. 7 (1972) [21:54]
Symphony No. 8 (1972) [24:32]
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Charles Groves (Sy 4 & 7)
BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra/Bryden Thomson (Sy 8)
rec. 18-19 April 1972, Studio No. 1 Abbey Road, London (4, 7) originally released on EMI ASD 2855; 10-11 February 1979, BBC Llandaff originally released on BBC Regium REGL 359 (8). ADD
The original recordings with support from the Welsh Arts Council. CD transfer and re-mastering supported by the Arts Council of Wales.
LYRITA SRCD.329 [78.05]


Sound Sample
Excerpt Symphony 4(iii)



Only a year ago I was lamenting on this site the lack of attention paid to composer Grace Williams. Two reasons for such neglect sprang to mind; firstly, she was female, secondly she was Welsh. One year on and matters have not really improved. Cardiff University did plan a Grace Williams Symposium, only for it to be cancelled due to bad weather - how unlikely is that in Cardiff? BBC Music Magazine included some of Williams’ music on one of their cover CDs, sparking some momentary interest in one of Wales’ finest composers. In the long term, however, none of this has had much of an impact upon the reputation of, and coverage of, Welsh composers. It seems that, whilst record companies are quite willing to exploit the Welsh musical heritage (Kathryn Jenkins, Voices of the Valley etc.) they seem unwilling to promote the wealth of home-grown talent that is ready to be explored. One can hardly blame them when you would be hard pushed to find a CD such as the present album in any record shop in Cardiff - dominated now by the twin giants of HMV and Virgin. Even Naxos, despite their sterling efforts to record the musical byways of the British Isles, have thus far neglected the Welsh.
 
In the case of Daniel Jones I think such neglect is unfair. On the strength of this record, I’m not sure that I would invest in an entire symphony cycle; his musical voice is one of grim determination, with the emphasis more on the grim. To make a crass generalisation, I could say that the symphonies on this disc are basically a set of variations on Vaughan Williams’ Fourth Symphony. Anyone familiar with that piece will probably know by now if the present issue will appeal.
 
Jones’ own Fourth Symphony makes its intentions clear in the opening bars, glowering minor triads in the low brass. The ensuing eleven minutes are absolutely gripping but, as I have suggested, quite gruelling. Things liven up for the central movement, which displays some deft touches of orchestration. Then Jones returns to grim solemnity for the final movement. Lyn Davies, in his excellent booklet notes (my own personal contender for ‘booklet notes of the year’) postulates that there are three distinct phases of Jones’ symphonic output. The Fourth certainly falls into the first category, that relating to the late Romantic tradition. Certainly the shadow of Mahler looms large, in intent if not scope – at 31:35 this symphony is something of a dwarf compared to Mahler’s symphonic output. I was perhaps most reminded of Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem in its unremitting bleakness. It is also worth noting that this symphony was composed in memory of Dylan Thomas.
 
The Fourth Symphony was composed in 1954; the other two works on this disc originate from two decades later. Both the Seventh and Eighth Symphonies were composed in 1972, both the results of commissions - from the Royal Philharmonic and the Swansea Festival respectively. Groves was the dedicatee of the Seventh and it is he who conducts both this work and the earlier Fourth. The Royal Philharmonic may not be the most glamorous of the London orchestras but they play here with great fire and enthusiasm. They also appear to be completely inside the idiom and the (originally EMI) recording is not far short of spectacular.
 
The Eighth Symphony sees a change of orchestra and conductor. Thomson, like Groves, was a great admirer of Jones and this shows in his powerful reading of the work. The (then) BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra also play magnificently, proving that a recent spate of fantastic concerts (in their current guise as BBC NOW) was not just the result of inspired leadership from Thierry Fischer. The unnamed pianist does exceptionally well in the third movement Capriccioso.
 
To return finally to the booklet notes; Davies mentions Jones’ ‘zest for life’. I could not honestly say that I felt much of that whilst listening to this CD. But I am very glad to have made the acquaintance of Jones’ symphonic output. Whatever his failings, Jones certainly does not deserve the neglect that he has suffered and his symphonies, whilst not displaying the last ounce of originality that would make them repertoire classics, should be heard more often. Those familiar with Lyrita releases will know what to expect from the presentation; I do quibble with the price though. Were it not for the relative neglect by Naxos of the Welsh, this disc could conceivably price itself out of the market. Naxos should certainly consider this repertoire; it appears that there is a niche that they have not yet conquered.
 
see also reviews by Rob Barnett and Stephen Hall
 
Owen E. Walton
 



 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.