Search - Andrew Penny :: HOLBROOKE: Children of Don (The) / The Birds of Rhiannon

Holbrooke cut short!

K. Farrington | Missegre, France | 03/14/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The same comments I wrote on the sister disc to this Marco Polo release (Ulalume, Bronwen, The Bells etc.) go for this one but with one big difference. On the first CD for Holbrooke's Orchestral Works we had over 71 minutes music whereas here we have just over 46 minutes. It seems that Marco Polo decided to cheapskate us captive purchasers who they know will always pay full price for any rare collection of English Music which is unavailable elsewhere. The works here are all 'bleeding orchestral chunks' from Holbrooke's Welsh legend trilogy and are beautifully played and recorded throughout. The Birds of Rhiannon is a very serious substantial tone poem and the fluttering birds music, played as Bronwen dies in the arms of Caradoc in his opera, is very evocative. The Children of Don and Dylan both contain much beautiful music, revealing a lyrical gift as well as an ability to build up tension by the use of horns and brass, backed by heavy percussion. It is all good. I just wish that Marco Polo could have been a little more generous with the spare 25-30 minutes capacity on this CD and provided the starved public with some more rarities from this neglected composer. However, we have to take the rough with the smooth (in coloquial English: we mustn't grumble) and if you love this kind of music, just buy it and keep smiling! After all, at least this stuff on the CD is now available...lose one star though."