COMPOSERS: Searle
LABELS: CPO
WORKS: Symphony No. 1; Symphony No. 4; Night Music; Overture to a Drama
PERFORMER: BBC Scottish SO/Alun Francis
CATALOGUE NO: 999 541-2
From the eloquent, Bergian Night Music written for Webern’s 60th birthday to the stark, essentialised gestures of the Fourth Symphony, this disc valuably reinstates Humphrey Searle as an insufficiently recognised radical voice in postwar British music. The First, long ago recorded by Decca, remains a classic of its time. Good recording, well-prepared and dedicated performances. Calum MacDonald
Searle
From the eloquent, Bergian Night Music written for Webern’s 60th birthday to the stark, essentialised gestures of the Fourth Symphony, this disc valuably reinstates Humphrey Searle as an insufficiently recognised radical voice in postwar British music. The First, long ago recorded by Decca, remains a classic of its time. Good recording, well-prepared and dedicated performances. Calum MacDonald
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:16 pm