(Section D)
Led by LAURANCE TURNER
Conducted by CLARENCE RAYBOULD and CYRIL B. ROOTHAM
The opera, or rather music drama, Bronwen, is the third of the trilogy composed by Josef Holbrooke on the text of T. E. Ellis (the pen name of Lord Howard de Walden). The three dramas (the first two are The Children of Don and Dylan) together form an epic of Wagnerian dimensions entitled The Cauldron of Amvyn, founded on Welsh mythology. The first of the trilogy was produced in London in 1912 and performed later in Vienna and Salzburg (1923) ; Dylan was produced in London two years later at Drury Lane Theatre ; and Bronwen was given its first performance by the Carl Rosa Opera Company in 1929. The story of the trilogy is tragic, and passionate, and the music is in keeping with the strong, darkly painted moods of the text. The overture to Bronwen is often separately played in the concert room.
Serenade............. Karol Rathaus i. Allegretto. 2. Moderate. 3.
Allegro con brio
(First performance in England)
Karol Rathaus , who was bom in 1895 and studied under Franz Schreker , is one of the more prominent of the younger Austrian modernist composers. He has composed two operas, Fremde Erde and Der letzte Pierrot, both of which were produced at the Berlin State Opera. He has also composed two symphonies, a Suite for violin and chamber orchestra, Tanzstücke, an overture, and this Serenade. Among Rathaus's chamber music there are three piano sonatas, a ballad, two string quartets, and a violin sonata.
The Serenade was composed in 1932 and first performed in Berlin in 1933. A Revel................ Felix White
(First performance)
Felix White 's ' A Revel ' is the seventh of nine orchestral works and was composed some years ago. According to the composer, it depicts a scene of indoor festivity, one in which we have
' heard words that have been
So nimble, and so full of subtle flame,
As if that every one from whence they came
Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest.'
Symphony in C minor ...... Rootham
(First broadcast performance) (Conducted by the Composer)
I. Adagio non troppo : Allegro ritmico. 2. Adagio molto; alia marcia. 3. Allegro molto. 4. Allegro con spirito