Hello everyone. I have a busy weekend so for the time being, to hold everyone over I'm adding another of my (highly regarded, practically world renowned!) "unopened discs pile from 2013" posts; this time it's a Toccata Classics (how happy I would be to join the Toccata Discovery Club if I had any $$ left! What a great, adventurous label..the British 'Marco Polo' of the 21st century perhaps?) recording, and therefore time to get to know the music of an obscure (British) composer, Philip Spratley. I really like what I'm hearing so far, which is the 1st track on disc, from the "Cargoes" Suite..I'm only 3 minutes in and it's only getting more beautiful; rippling piano, the gentle travelings of winds, and now the awakening of the full orchestra which is making me think both of the French impressionists and the English pastoral school, especially (early) R.V.W. That's all I can say thus far, I am indeed hopeful and excited to continue on this 75 minute journey before getting to bed!
So, once again, here's hoping we all enjoy this discovery...
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Philip_Spratley_Orchestral_Music_Vol.2-Tzadik.zip
http://www32.zippyshare.com/v/hvTaTdSO/file.html
21 comments:
This is great stuff. Never heard of Mr Spratley, so it's good to have my eyes opened. There is obviously a volume 1 - have you recourse to that one as well? Your blog is ace, and I've made many discoveries. Rock on!
I love John Clare:
- - - - -
I Am
I am: yet what I am none cares or knows,
My friends forsake me like a memory lost;
I am the self-consumer of my woes,
They rise and vanish in oblivious host,
Like shades in love and death's oblivion lost;
And yet I am! and live with shadows tost
Into the nothingness of scorn and noise,
Into the living sea of waking dreams,
Where there is neither sense of life nor joys,
But the vast shipwreck of my life's esteems;
And e'en the dearest--that I loved the best--
Are strange--nay, rather stranger than the rest.
I long for scenes where man has never trod;
A place where woman never smil'd or wept;
There to abide with my creator, God,
And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept:
Untroubling and untroubled where I lie;
The grass below--above the vaulted sky.
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper cd por la sinfónica de Siberia y tocando una Sinfonia dedicada a Pascal,resplandeciente,sublime y vesánico cd,como un regalo de mi cumpleaños(3-3-68),gracias,thanks,un cd new,extraño y para esplorar y difundir en mi humilde programa radial ´´Coral de las francas´´,sabados y domingos,nexo= wwww.fmsanponciano.com.ar ,muchas gracias por este regalo y sorpresa deslumbrante Tzadik,un abrazo de Doktor Tapirman.
Many thanks and regards from The Netherlands.
Veel dank en groeten uit Nederland.
Hi Terry, thanks for the kind words! Well there is indeed a "volume 1" although Toccata doesn't call it that. It's their only other Spratley disc from 2009, "Works for String Orchestra", which sadly I do not own. When I bought this disc it was the only I saw. After hearing this disc I can tell you I'm dying to get the String Works cd; I'm just too poor at this time. Otherwise I'd be on Amazon etc. today! TZ
Hi Scraps
"I Am" is beautiful, and poignant.. J Clare's words often resonate deeply with me. It's nice to have it posted in the comments :) Regards, TZ
You are welcome Toon! TZ
Hola Doktor T. Feliz (tarde) cumpleaños mi amigo !!! (Me gustaría tener un disco lloyd para publicar para su cumpleaños en el tiempo ..) Estoy hapy te gusta este cd, yo también ahora que lo he oído, la música realmente de calidad. Me gustaría escuchar su programa de radio, y así lo haré en la semana .. También tengo la intención de publicar muchos discos Toccata raros así que estad atentos para que
:-) TZ
And "I Am" was written (poignantly indeed) after a long time committed to the Northampton General Lunatic Asylum (which at the time was at least humane).
I'm also listening to the first track right now. It's very nice, quite a bit programmatic, which is alright for non-purists like me. Thanks a lot for sharing this and adding yet another candidate for my next physical cd order. As a matter of fact I've also been considering to join the Toccata Discovery Club; they release very interesting and unknown pieces, and the slightly cold-war stance they make display of in their booklets elicits a yearning of past, less obscure times.
What a second movement! The third one has just started, in a quite stormy mood.
French Impressionism and English Pastoral? I am there! Thanks you for this!
half of the links aren`t working,
would you mind mending?
Yes, in your copious free time.
Hey Scraps, I didn't know that the poem came to be during a stay at a psychiatric (lunatic asylum then) hospital. One can sense the suffering and darkness however; as I said, these are words that resonate deeply.. Best, TZ
Hello Johannes nice to hear from you again. Yes, joining the discovery club would be a lot of fun needless to say, I do hope I can do so in the future when the tides change for me. You are absolutely correct about the booklets; I think you described it beautifully. Regards, TZ
Hi Paul, I do hope you enjoyed! TZ
Anon- if you would like any files re-upped, you need to be specific. I don't have any idea which files have expired. TZ
Maravilloso... Muchísimas gracias.
Hola Quantum, you are most welcome! TZ
I was thinking about ordering this CD and then I found this Blog. I am definitely going to place that order now ! Another bonus, reading this Blog, was to see the John Clare poem " I Am " quoted. Just one of this great poet's wonderful poems - and many or his greatest written whilst in asylums (as well as Northampton he was, four years before going there, also at an asylum in Epping Forest, Essex ). If any of you would like to see where Philip Spratley was inspired to write "A Helpston Fantasia", John Clare's cottage in Helpston is open to the public weekends (check for details,though). It is a lovely village; including St.Botolph's Church where Clare is buried. Philip has said that he was affected by seeing John's own MSS of folk songs and tunes that he had collected.
Hi there Marmon, welcome to the blog and thank you for commenting! I like knowing that you are now motivated to buy the disc; Toccata is a real treasure, and supporting such an enterprising and passionate label (clearly full of nutty music lovers like ourselves!!) is really important. I only wish I could afford to buy my discs from Toccata directly; I can always find a better deal, and I only do so because I am pretty much in a state of near-poverty (and shouldn't be $$ any discs at all!)
I also want to join the Toccata Music Club (or Music Friends? I forget what it's called) badly, but there's
no way I can afford that now. They send you new releases via postal monthly. Enticing!
How I wish I could make such a trip, sounds wonderful! Hope the helpful info motivates others who visit here.
Don't be surprised to see John Clare quoted around here; the visitors on this blog are smarter and more cultured than I am clearly ;)
Regards,
TZ
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