Simply idyllic, this 2CD set couples a traversal of English seasons with idyllic music for cello and orchestra by English composers, all rapturously performed by the Academy and Marriner.
CD 1
FREDERICK DELIUS: On hearing the first Cuckoo in Spring
FRANK BRIDGE: Enter Spring
JOHN FOULDS: ‘April – England’
FRANK BRIDGE: Summer (Tone poem for orchestra)
PERCY GRAINGER: Harvest Hymn
ARNOLD BAX: November Woods
FRANK BRIDGE: Christmas Dance ‘Sir Roger de Coverley’
CD 2
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Romanza (from Tuba Concerto)
EDWARD ELGAR: Romance, Op. 62
EDWARD ELGAR: Une Idylle, Op. 4 No. 1**
FREDERICK DELIUS: Two Pieces for Cello and Chamber Orchestra
PERCY GRAINGER: Youthful Rapture
GEORGE DYSON: Fantasy for Cello and Orchestra
JOHN IRELAND: The Holy Boy (arr. Palmer)
WALFORD DAVIES: Solemn Melody
PERCY GRAINGER: Brigg Fair (arr. Palmer)**
GUSTAV HOLST: Invocation for Cello and Orchestra
CYRIL SCOTT: Pastoral & Reel*
Julian Lloyd Webber, cello [CD 1]
John Lenehan, piano [CD 2*]
John Birch, organ [CD2**]
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Neville Marriner
‘… first-class performances’ Fanfare