Search - Leighton, Thomson, Lso :: Symphony 3 / Cello Concerto

Leighton, Thomson, Lso
Symphony 3 / Cello Concerto
Genre: Classical

Track Listings (6) - Disc #1
1. Concerto For Cello And Orchestra Op. 31: I. Allegro com moto - Meno mosso
2. Concerto For Cello And Orchestra Op. 31: II. Scherzo And Trio: Allegro molto e ritmico (il piu presto possible) - Moderato e dolce
3. Concerto For Cello And Orchestra Op. 31: III. Lentissimo: molto sostenuto
4. Symphony No.3 'Laudes Musicae' For Tenor Solo And Orchestra: I. Adagio molto - Allegro con moto
5. Symphony No.3 'Laudes Musicae' For Tenor Solo And Orchestra: II. Scherzo: Allegro molto e scherzoso
6. Symphony No.3 'Laudes Musicae' For Tenor Solo And Orchestra: III. Finale: Adagio molto e sostenuto

CD Details

All Artists: Leighton, Thomson, Lso
Title: Symphony 3 / Cello Concerto
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Chandos
Release Date: 10/28/1992
Genre: Classical
Styles: Forms & Genres, Concertos, Historical Periods, Modern, 20th, & 21st Century, Instruments, Strings, Symphonies
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 095115874127

Synopsis

Amazon.com

Leighton (1929-1988) wrote a kind of rigid neo-romanticism, very much in the tradition of the British composers of his generation, i.e. Arnold, Walton, and Finzi. Leighton's Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (1955) is a morose, introspective work wherein the cello weaves in and out of tonal (and sometimes atonal) background characterizations of the orchestra. Leighton's Symphony 3 (1984), subtitled Laudes musicae, is for tenor and orchestra, with the verse provided by the composer. Here, the words "sing," "singing," and "praise" are extended by melismatic phrases. The symphony is about art and music, and is quite contemplative. A surprise masterpiece. --Paul Cook

CD Reviews

Startling

David Saemann | 12/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kenneth Leighton was an English composer who spent most of his adult life in Scotland. When he died in 1988, this CD was recorded a few months later as a tribute album. It is haunting music. The Cello Concerto was premiered when Leighton was 26. It is a dark and brooding work, centered on a few recurring motifs in the cello part. It is not an easy work to play, and Raphael Wallfisch is an excellent advocate for the piece. The Third Symphony comes from some years later. It is a far less thorny, more euphonious piece. It contains settings of words by Sir Thomas Browne, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Shelley, and the composer himself, all on the subject of music. Hence the title, The Praise of Music. The vocal line is given to a tenor, and it is highly reminiscent of Britten's operas. Neal Mackie was the soloist at the premiere, and he does a fine if sometimes taxed job on the lyrics. Throughout the CD, Bryden Thomson generates the kind of excitement in the orchestra that he always seemed to bring to British music. The sound engineering is good, if a little too resonant. I bought this disc to add to my understanding of Bryden Thomson's repertoire, but you would be well advised to buy it for the composer, too."