Harold Truscott - Orchestral Works - Symphony in E Major - Suite in G Major - Elegy for String Orchestra - National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Gary Brain - Marco Polo 1994

This disc of orchestral music by the ridiculously neglected British composer and pianist Harold Truscott (1914-1992) is one of my favorite Marco Polo recordings of all time. All three works presented here are beautiful, however it is his extremely powerful and impressive "Symphony in E Major" that is the total knock-out here. It has been observed that the Symphony takes it's inspiration to a degree from Carl Nielsen, Mahler, and Franz Schmidt, the latter being a composer that Truscott was an expert on (Truscott was apparently an immense musical authority in general). That said, his symphony is utterly fresh and it is an original voice that we hear throughout. I think it's truly great.  The "Elegy for String Orchestra" is a lushly moving work, it's creation and dedication being enveloped in mystery as the superb booklet notes explain. The "Suite in G Major" is the lightest in mood, and it is an engaging way to begin this invaluable collection.

There is also a second Marco Polo disc of Chamber Music, and other than that one can only turn to Toccata Classics series of Truscott's piano music (he wrote a lot, including over 20 sonatas) which is a recent project; thus far only one volume has been released. There are also a few vinyl LPs on the Altarus label (from the 1980s I think) of Truscott's piano sonatas-I do not know which sonatas off-hand, and also many moons ago The British Music Society recorded two cassettes also exploring a few of the piano sonatas. One can only hope that Truscott's output (he wrote a good amount of music happily) will be properly explored someday; I can see (well, wish that) labels such as Dutton taking up the cause, perhaps Naxos which would seem natural, or Toccata as it's beginning to survey his piano music. I'm enjoying this disc once again so very much that I actually emailed Toccata today inquiring about any plans for orchestral projects!

I am keeping this one lossless (apple lossless, which is still m4a..) so the disc is uploaded as 2 files.

Enjoy this special music!

Harold_Truscott_Orchestral_Works(Part1)-Tzadik.zip

http://www27.zippyshare.com/v/hRI6kG8I/file.html

Harold_Truscott_Orchestral_Works(Part2)-Tzadik.zip   <-last 3 tracks (Symphony) & jpgs/booklet.  

http://www71.zippyshare.com/v/PNw0pmxU/file.html

And 320 Lame Mp3 for Doctor T:

Harold Truscott_ Orchestral Works@320Mp3.zip

http://www63.zippyshare.com/v/znUpLjFF/file.html