Search - Roylance, Gavin, Halle Orchestra :: Battle of the Atlantic Suite

Okay follow-up to a great work.

Newton Ooi | Phoenix, Arizona United States | 05/10/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Written after Roylance and Galvin recorded their Tall Ships Suite, this suite also tells a story of ships in the Atlantic Ocean; this time of a Royal Navy Warship traveling the North Atlantic in WWII during 1943. Composed of several pieces, each piece has a distinct tone, melody and emotional impact. Each piece represents a different stage of the ship's travel across the sea, which makes it similar to its counterpart; the Tall Ships Suite. The emotional and melodic range from one piece to the next is quite great; and one could listen to all the pieces in a row and think that each was composed by a different person. In this respect, it is quite different from the Tall Ships Suite, in which one could tell that they were all composed by the same person, and should be played together. Overall, this music is okay; not great and not as majestic as the Tall Ships Suite. There is singing though in the last piece, which might broaden the appeal of this work over the prior Suite."