British Flute Concertos

Beynon Emily Tovey Bramwell Bbc Orchestra

British Flute Concertos
Format
Audio
Published
24 April 2012
ISBN
0095115171820

British Flute Concertos

Beynon Emily Tovey Bramwell Bbc Orchestra

Catalogue # CHAN10718

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The Welsh flautist Emily Beynon plays a selection of British\nflute concertos, accompanied by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales\nand Bramwell Tovey. Beynon is the Principal Flute of the Royal\nConcertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. Equally at home in front of\nthe orchestra as in its midst, she has also performed as soloist\nwith, amongst others, several BBC Orchestras, the Philharmonia\nOrchestra, NHK Symphony, and the Vienna, Prague, Netherlands and\nEnglish Chamber orchestras.

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Sir Lennox Berkeley was one of the leading British composers of\nthe mid-twentieth century, a Francophile who brought to his music\nclarity, economy, and elegance. His Flute Concerto, composed in\n1952 and dedicated to John Francis, displays these qualities in\nabundance, as well as the lyricism which had become more prominent\nin his post-war works. It is scored for an orchestra of two oboes,\ntwo bassoons, two horns, timpani, and strings.

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In 1976, Berkeley took on the difficult task of orchestrating\nthe piano part of Poulenc’s Sonata for Flute and Piano. We know\nfrom a diary entry that Berkeley was expecting the task to prove\ndifficult, and perhaps he made the task even more taxing by\nchoosing not to include a harmonic instrument in his orchestral\ncompletion. In the end, though, his instruments of choice were used\nwith great ingenuity. For example, in the opening, the piano part\nis transferred to interlocking clarinets and bassoons, and in the\nmiddle section, the greater weight of the piano is replaced first\nby strings, and then by the full orchestra.

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Alwyn was seventy-five years old, and contemplating giving up\ncomposition, when he was approached by the English Chamber\nOrchestra Wind Ensemble to write a piece for it. The work, a\nConcerto for Flute and Winds, was completed in 1980. In 2006, at\nthe request of the William Alwyn Foundation, John McCabe arranged\nit for flute and full orchestra, the version included on this\ndisc.

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The Magic Flute Dances by Jonathan Dove is based loosely around\nthe opera by Mozart, and was written in response to a commission\nfrom The Young Concert Artists Trust and Emily Beynon. The\nstoryline is here explained by Dove: ‘What happens to the magic\nflute at the end of Mozart’s opera? Does Tamino give it back to the\nthree ladies? Does it lie in a box, forgotten, at the back of a\ncupboard? Does it, perhaps, come out and dance, singing to itself\nabout Tamino’s adventures? When Emily Beynon asked me for a\nconcerto that had some connecttion with Mozart, I thought this\ncould be an opportunity to let the flute out of its box.’

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Alwyn: Concerto for Flute & Eight Wind Instruments arranged\nJohn McCabe for flute and full orchestra

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Berkeley, L: Flute Concerto, Op. 36

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Dove: The Magic Flute Dances

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Poulenc: Flute Sonata, Op. 164 orch. Lennox Berkeley

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Review

Emily Beynon is stunning flautist who is Principal Flute of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. Originally from Wales, she returns to England to perform work with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. It’s a beautiful set of works celebrating the compositions and musicianship of the British Isles. Although many of the works were not originally written for flute and orchestra, the transcriptions are seamless with the flute part.

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