Fanfare Reviews
from January/February 1981
HOLST: Suites for Band: No. 1 in E-Flat, Op. 28, No. 1; No. 2 in F, Op. 28, No. 2. Hammersmith--Prelude and Scherzo, Op. 52. VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: English Folk Song Suite. Toccata Marziale for Military Band. London Wind Orchestra conducted by Denis Wick. NONESUCH N-78002, produced by John Boyden, $5.98.
Here is an intelligently-conceived-of disc of some of the best British band music, its values convincingly expressed by the London Wind Orchestra, the personnel of which are listed on the jacket. With the exception of Holst's Hammersmith, the contents neatly duplicate those of the old Mercury Fennell/Eastman disc, and so for many collectors it will seem time to replace a worn-out copy with this new one. The extra piece, moreover (recorded elsewhere by Fennell), makes this disc seem quite the bargain. A caveat, however: Wick cannot touch Fennell for sheer excitement (the Mercury bright sound must be credited for assisting a classic performance), though in Hammersmith he does get the blood moving a bit faster. (Fennell is currently rerecording these pieces in digital sound for another label.) With their good annotation and splendid surfaces, though, it is hard not to like these new versions, particularly for listeners not possessed of and by the old Fennell.
John Ditsky
Copyright © 1981 by Fanfare, Inc. Reprinted by permission from Volume 4, No. 3 (January/February 1981), page 129. This article reviews an LP version of ASV Quicksilva 6021.
ARNAUD: Three Fanfares for Brass and Percussion. VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Toccata Marziale. English Folk Song Suite. GRAINGER: Lincolnshire Posy. Shepherd's Hey. Cleveland Symphonic Winds conducted by Frederick Fennell. TELARC DIGITAL DG10050, $17.98.
As more and more record companies begin to explore the standard repertoire of music on the new digital recordings, the period of the "demonstration record" is happily coming to an end. One of the problems with some of these digitals is that they can make a lot of mediocre ensembles and music sound remarkably good by their sheer presence and ear-splitting volume. For this reason, I have approached such records with some element of trepidation. Frederick Fennell's several new releases on Telarc--in fact most Telarc records--may be classed as "demonstration" records, and one or two of the pieces recorded on this latest album may be described as mediocre. Leo Arnaud's Fanfares have disagreeable connotations, often serving to alert me that some good TV programming on ABC had been pre-empted by a sports event. Vaughan Williams is no favorite of mine, and Percy Grainger's bouncy-bounce music always puts me in the mind of a Peter Schickele parody. So, I felt that 1 had enough personal prejudices against the music and the composers to see through the technical wizardry of digital recording, tempered, I might add, with a great respect for Frederick Fennell which goes back over two decades. Well, that opening Fanfare was breath-taking, especially since the very difficult French horn parts of the original scoring have been reinstated. While the first two of these Fanfares have been associated for some years now with the Olympic Games, they were actually composed about 25 years ago for a larger work called Bugler's Dream, joined on this recording by the newly composed Olympiad. Unfortunately, Arnaud's hazy credentials cannot conceal the fact that practically none of his original music has made it to disc, and the Olympiad shows no distinct advancements over its much older brethren. Learning that about two minutes' worth of his music was to be recorded, such was his exhilaration that he quickly dashed off the Olympiad, and flew from Hollywood to Cleveland for the recording sessions, bringing his little drum with him!
While the Toccata Marziale is typically brash, militant, and noisy, taking full advantage of the outer extremes of digital capabilities, the Folk Song Suite is, after all, a bright and brilliant refreshment. The major realization I experienced at this point is that while the louder passages are roughly equivalent to having the whole ensemble sitting on your sofa, the softer sections are astonishingly clean, noiseless, and intensely "correct" to the car. A quick check was provided by my own recent purchase of the same piece as performed by the London Wind Ensemble conducted by Denis Wick on Nonesuch (N-78002--God, where their prices have gone!), which, in isolation, is a fine performance. But in comparison with Fennell's showing, it sounds as if the phonograph is playing in the next room.
Fennell re-records here Grainger's Lincolnshire Posy, which he gave us in 1958 as part of that memorable series on the old Mercury label (still available), revealing that age has only increased his keenness and sensitivity in handling such music. I won't say that the record is worth the price, because 1 think the price is grossly inflated. Telarc is one of the leaders in the field of high-quality digital recording, but unless some steps are taken to reduce the price of these expensive recordings, their commercial success will be limited. After the demo-disc period is over, most record-buyers will prefer conventional recordings or more sensibly priced digitals to these. After all, most record buyers do not have the equipment to adequately reproduce them, and better sound at twice the price is no sales stimulus.
M. J. Albacete
Copyright © 1981 by Fanfare, Inc. Reprinted by permission from Volume 4, No. 3 (January/February 1981), pages 228-229. This article reviews one of the two LPs that was combined to form Telarc CD 80099.
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