Gerhard: Symphony No. 2; Concerto for Orchestra

“Although the avowed purpose of Gerhard's Concerto for Orchestra (1965) was to highlight the orchestra as an entity rather than its constituent sections or instruments, and while it may not have the immediate universal appeal of, say, Kodály's or Bartók's works with the same title, it has never been surpassed for its imaginative handling of instrumental sonorities or for its virtuoso demands on the players. It has to be said right away that this is a stunning performance: not merely does the BBC SO rise spectacularly to the work's demands, but Bamert shows himself exceptionally skilful at securing internal balances.

It's worth quoting Gerhard's own words: 'My favourite listener is one who does not read explanatory programme notes … I stand by the sound of my music, and it is the sound that must make the sense…a work of music takes shape only in the mind of the listener.'

Gerhard's Second Symphony has been represented on disc only by the revised version (Metamorphosis) which had had to be completed by Alan Boustead (available on Auvidis Montaigne); although Gerhard may have felt the original too cerebral, it was at least all his, and tough going as it undoubtedly is, it's very welcome to all interested in the mental processes of this quite exceptional musician. The opening of the work's second section, with its clicking percussion, is hauntingly mysterious, and the final nightmare palindrome Scherzo (of which only a fraction exists in the Boustead version) is one of his most astonishing creations. With first-class recording throughout, this must be regarded as an essential disc for all admirers of Gerhard.” --Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

Gerhard: Symphony No. 3, Epithalamion, Etc

This recording received a 1998 "Critic's Choice" award from Gramophone magazine.

At a time when Schoenberg and Stravinsky were thought of as opposite poles, Roberto Gerhard was combining the density of the one with the dynamism of the other in a wholly personal synthesis. You can hear this in the Piano Concerto's mood swings from the dark and brooding to, in the finale, a Spanish take-off that Chabrier would have thought off the wall. Gerhard's 1960s music is in-your-face modernism that holds you in its grasp, embracing sound with an enthusiasm that remains inspirational today.

Listen to the tape part of the Third Symphony--a cut-and-paste job that trounces most of the computer-music generation in its imagination and feeling for what's possible. Epithalamion features material originally intended for, of all things, Lindsay Anderson's film This Sporting Life. Not that its impact is any less than coherent; the percussion writing alone has a fantasy that will keep you entranced. Well prepared performances, superbly recorded. This is still music of the future. --Richard Whitehouse

MP3 320 · 143 MB