Repertoire: The BEST Moeran Symphony in G minor

Who was Moeran? Have a look and find out. He only wrote one symphony, and there have only been a handful of recordings, but it's a beautiful work that you'll certainly want to explore.

[mikeheffernansongwriter]

One of the truly great 20th century English/Irish composers. One can feel the Irish roots and Anglican church influences within his melodies. That and the folk music influence is what makes music from that part of the world so special. His 2nd Rhapsody and string quartets and Air in Serenade in G are masterpieces. Thanks for giving this great talent a much deserved spotlight!

[shantihealer]

AT LAST!!! Some publicity for Moeran! He's practically unknown but wrote truly delightful music with an Irish-English wistful folk song like feel. Thank you, thank you for this and for rating him so highly. His E flat string quartet available on Naxos is also so beautiful. After this you HAVE TO do a talk on the Mount Everest of English music - WALTON 1. Yes???

[burmesecolourneedles]

Thank you SO MUCH for bringing this to the fore. I absolutely love this work, perhaps my favourite symphony, which is a strong statement I know... I still play my set of 78s of the Lesley Heward recording (yes, the 78rpm discs themselves) which to me is definitive and in someways unbeatable - it's said that Moeran was present for some of it, or the rehearsals, but I gather he had to be removed after a while! I totally agree, the Boult Lyrita recording is sumptuous in every way.

[francispanny]

Thank you once again. I just bought the recording with Sir Adrian Boult and I loved it. Great orchestration, too.

[johnporter]

Thank you for this review. I first discovered this symphony on 78s with Heward. A great remastering is the Pristine Classics version. I have the Lloyd Jones but thanks to you, I’ve just ordered the Boult. Good old Sir Adrian.

[TheCastlepoet]

Delighted to see the love, mostly, for Moeran. I picked up the Lloyd-Jones recording on a whim some years back, along with a Naxos disc of Moeran's chamber music (two string quartets and a string trio)--a very happy discovery.

Moeran's violin concerto is also well worth searching out. (Party trick: Play the opening 30 seconds of the concerto for a friend, and don't identify the piece. They'll tell you it's Delius.) As with the symphony, there are only a handful of recordings--notably, John Georgiadis/ Boult, LPO (Lyrita), Lydia Mordkovitch/ Handley, Ulster Orch (Chandos), and Tasmin Little/ Andrew Davis (Chandos again).

~ John Drexel

[charlierumoldboi]

Very well done. A good appraisal of the available recordings. I agree with your choice of Boult's recording, it is simply quite wonderful. Also, I agree with your evaluation of Lyrita recordings, beautiful to listen to, the pinnacle of the analog age. The Lyrita recording of the cello concerto, coupled with the overture and 2nd rhapsody is worth its weight in gold as another superlative interpretation by Boult.

[williamwhittle]

A wonderful work I’ve loved for many years. Have all five recordings you mentioned, including the Dutton cd.

[GuyBeausoleil]

Thank you very much for this revelation. Always looking for neglected composers.

[TheGintonic]

Totally agree! I know E.J. since 30 years+ and have all the recordings including the original shellac . One of the greatest works ever written, and still unimaginable for me that it is still mostly unknown.
For me the hottest candidate for THE symphonie to end all symphonies ;), it definitely will be the one to take with me to the well known Island if I would be forced to get there with just one record . Obviously the 6 12" shellacs because I need no power supply :)
With power supply the Heward as well, there is a new brilliant mastering.

[Allanfearn]

No disrespect, but I once met a Rochdale bass-trombonist who had actually played in the HEward recording (NOT HOward) who had drunk a few pints with Moeran at the time. He didn't think Moeran was a particularly heavy drinker, but his war wounds had made him less resistant to alcohol. I can't for the life of me see this piece as anything other than the sort of post-world-war I symphony Vaughan Williams wrote in his Pastoral Symphony - the sort of music (rather like the 1920s landscape paintings of John Nash, let alone Paul), in which the veteran tries to reconstruct in the finest detail the pre-war securitirs he knows have gome for ever, and tries to face the fact he can't. With this (not Walton - too young, and in any case we know the Walton Symphony 1 is about an love affair) symphony, and one or two others, you can't either. If you asked them direct, folk who fought in the First War simply refused to say what it had been like. My father-in-law, an ordinary holder of an ordinary medal for bravery, burst into tears the only time I ever asked him, sixty years and more later. This piece is really about what it doesn't say, as much as what it does. Norman del Mar, a recording of whose RLPO broadcast had better survive somewhere, conducted as though he understood this. Heward certainly did.

[mattestabrook]

I haven't listened to Moeran in several years, but thanks to your reminder, I will surely turn back to his Symphony in G Minor. Moeran also sketched out a second symphony, which Martin Yates was tasked with completing. Dutton released the resulting work in 2011. If you enjoy the atmospherics and lyricism of Moeran's Symphony in G Minor, you will likely appreciate the Sketches for Symphony No. 2 as well.

[mike-williams]

The opening reminded me of George Lloyd's 5th Symphony. I don't know the Moeran but will seek it out, and dig out my Lloyd and Rutland Boughton. The times could benefit from the balm of some English pastoral melodies.

[dianamcdougall]

I have the Lyrita recording and it sounds great.

[josefkrebs]

The Dilkes was reissued on EMI in 1988, coupled with Lonely Waters and Whythorne's Shadow, and Butterworth's A Shropshire Lad and The Banks of Green Willow. It's a just fine performance, in just fine sound. I don't think it displaces Boult or Handley, but is a fine compliment to keep the piece fresh for repeated listening.

[bannan]

Well done Sir. Moeran. Do you know his violin and cello concertos? Give 'em a spin.

[MichaSchlechtriem]

Sinaisky's live performance back from the Proms for me is the finest one.Sadly it is not easy to find on CD.

[denbigh]

Grew up on the Dilkes which I have not seen on CD. In my memory it is better than all the others but my memory may be playing tricks - as to the quality of the piece I believe Benjamin Britten approved it !

[amythomaselder]

Thank you! By the way, I sense that a whole world lies behind the statement that the Sinfonietta is a better coupling than the Rhapsody. What makes a good coupling? What aspects of the music appear in one coupling versus another? I'd love a whole segment on the best CD couplings and why. (Tried to send you a longer message via Classics Today.)

[markfarrington]

Long Live Old Raspberry (as the Delius circle called him) !