Robin Wallington unearths a handful of lesser-heard gems spanning the 19th and 20th century. Today, we’ll introduce you to a few composers you may not have heard of, but whose work you’ll soon be seeking out.
Discover Doreen Carwithen, film music’s unsung heroine of the 1940s and 50s, who enjoyed huge success before she set her own career aside in the service of her husband’s, and then we rewind a century to spend some time in Germany with ambitious and determined Emilie Mayer, who captivated audiences as she travelled Europe with her compositions. We pause for a moment’s tranquillity with Arnold Bax, whose enchanting sound world might initially suggest Delius or Vaughan Williams, but whose voice is entirely distinctive.
So too is Ernest John Moeran’s, a contemporary of Bax’s, and a composer similarly influenced by folk traditions, but whose work often skirts the overtly pastoral and feels surprising and inventive. And finally, let us introduce you to Pamela Harrison, a very special composer whose influences included Bax and Moeran and above all, the sheer beauty of nature as she perceived it. A delightfully original and hugely accomplished composer, her Royal College of Music tutor Gordon Jacob lauded her "genius" and he wasn’t wrong.
Current Â鶹ԼÅÄ New Generation Artist Kunal Lahiry performs as soloist for Harrison’s Concertante for piano and string orchestra.
Doreen Carwithen: Bishop Rock, Overture
Pamela Harrison: Concertante for piano and string orchestra
Arnold Bax: Summer music
Ernest John Moeran: Rhapsody No. 2
Emilie Mayer Symphony: No. 1 in C minor
Robin Wallington, conductor
Kunal Lahiry, piano