Bax: Symphony No 3. Happy Forest.

Advantages: Contrasting: dramatic and relaxing, darkness to light
Disadvantages: Frustrating if you live in a city

...Scene by the brook 3rd Movement: Allegro Merry gathering of country folk 4th Movement: Allegro Thunderstorm 5th Movement: Allegretto Shepherd's song: Happy and thankfulfeelings after the storm Beethoven himself called this the "Pastoral Symphony". The symphony was representitive of Beethoven's love of the country. He intended the music to evoke feelings rather than to imitate nature although there are some overt imitations contained within the piece. There are clear bird calls within the second movement and a dramatic thunder storm in the fourth. In his sixth symphony, Beethoven moves away from tradition adding an extra movemnet to the convential four movements of a symphony. The Conductor Herbert Von Karajan was born in Salzberg in 1908. He was the principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from 1955 to his death in 1989... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great passion, beautiful melodies, unrestrained romanticism
Disadvantages: The finale doesn't quite convince in it's purpose

...HAPPINESS, OR TRAGEDY? After the doom-laden confessional that was the Fourth Symphony, Tchaikovsky was finally getting more in peace with himself. His fame began to spread and by 1885 he was already considered a national hero. This time saw the maturation of Tchaikovsky's style from the more blatantly folk-song oriented works and the more youthfully turbulent ideas to a more mainstream and calmer drift. Following the Fourth Symphony came the Violin Concerto, the Second Piano Concerto, the colourful overtures Capriccio Italien (composed during his bright stay at Italy) and 1812 (with the famous cannon-fire finale), the subtle String Serenade, the elegiac Piano Trio, a couple of small operas, and the large scale Manfred Symphony, amid some smaller scale works, all predominately genial in character. In 1888, after getting over his fear... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great work
Disadvantages: none

...It is an amazing fact that a year after its first performance Anthony Payne's elaboration of Elgar's sketches for his Third Symphony have become part of the mainstream orchestral repertoire. Payne, a musicologist and a composer, took on the monumental task of pieceing together the few sketches that Elgar left before his death and expanding them in a complete symphony. The results are incredible. Although Payne is cautious to guard against calling the symphony an original Elgar work (as so much was of Payne's invention)the piece has an unmistakable Elgar feeling. Originally recorded by the partnership that gave the work's first performance (Andrew Davis and the BBC Symphony Orchestra) this new recording with the Bournemouth Symphony conducted by Paul Daniel (music director at English National Opera) is a much weightier and envigorating... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful