Susan Gritton, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis - Holst: Orchestral Works Vol. 3 (2013) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. The Mystic Trumpeter, Op. 18: "Hark! some wild trumpeter" -
02. The Mystic Trumpeter, Op. 18: "Blow again, trumpeter" - "O, how the immortal phantoms crowd around me" -
03. The Mystic Trumpeter, Op. 18: "Blow again, trumpeter" - "O trumpeter" -
04. The Mystic Trumpeter, Op. 18: "Now, trumpeter, for thy close"
05. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: Prelude. Invocation to Pan, "O Thou, whose might palace roof doth hang" (Chorus)
06. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: Ia. Song and Bacchanal, "Beneath my palm trees, by the river side" (Soprano)
07. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: Ib. Song and Bacchanal, "And as I sat, over the light blue hills" (Soprano)
08. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: Ic. Song and Bacchanal, "Whence came ye, merry Damsels" (Chorus) - "Within his car, aloft, young Bacchus stood" [Soprano] - "Whence came ye, jolly Satyrs" [Chorus]
09. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: Id. Song and Bacchanal, "Onward the tiger and the leopard pants" (Soprano) - "Bacchus, young Bacchus" [Chorus]
10. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: IIa. Ode on a Grecian Urn, "Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness" (Chorus)
11. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: IIb. Ode on a Grecian Urn, "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard" (Chorus)
12. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: IIc. Ode on a Grecian Urn, "Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed" (Chorus)
13. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: IId. Ode on a Grecian Urn, "Who are these coming to the sacrifice?" (Chorus)
14. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: IIe. Ode on a Grecian Urn, "O Attic shape! fair attitude! with brede" (Chorus)
15. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: IIIa. Scherzo. Fancy, "Ever let the Fancy roam" (Chorus)
16. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: IIIb. Scherzo. Folly's Song, "When wedding fiddles are a-playing" (Chorus)
17. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: IVa. Finale. "Spirit here that reignest!" (Soprano) - "God of the golden bow" [Chorus]
18. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: IVb. Finale. "Then, through thy Temple wide" (Soprano) - "'Tis awful silence then again" [Chorus]
19. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: IVc. Finale. "Next thy Tasso's ardent numbers" (Soprano) - "But when Thou joinest with the Nine" [Chorus]
20. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: IVd. Finale. "Bards of Passion and of Mirth" (Chorus)
21. First Choral Symphony, Op. 41: IVe. Finale. "Spirit here that reignest" (Soprano) - "Bards of Passion and of Mirth" [Chorus]



This is our third CD devoted to orchestral works by Gustav Holst. The series was inaugurated by Richard Hickox who sadly passed away in 2009 after having completed only Volume 1. Fortunately, Chandos was able to secure the services of its exclusive artist the acclaimed conductor Sir Andrew Davis for the second volume. Now Sir Andrew turns to The Mystic Trumpeter and the First Choral Symphony, this time conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the Grammy-nominated soprano Susan Gritton. Composed originally in 1904 and revised in 1912, The Mystic Trumpeter received only two performances in Holst’s lifetime, and it was not revived until 1980. Holst based the work on a poem from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, and the influence of Hindu thought is clearly present throughout. Holst drafted the First Choral Symphony in 1923. The work received a mixed reception at the time, to some extent provoked by the highly varied and non-sequential choice of texts, all by Keats. The poetic variety is reflected in a score full of extremes of contrast. Holst himself said of this Symphony: ‘I think the work as a whole is the best thing I have written.’

DOWNLOAD ALBUM [flac]

DOWNLOAD ALBUM [Hi-Res]