Naxos continues to do what it can to put Chandos out of business, offering at budget price recordings every bit as good, or in this case better, than the premier releases from the full-priced competition. George Dyson is very much a “budget” composer, in the sense that although his music is enjoyable, professionally crafted, and solidly British, there’s nothing here that others of his school didn’t do better. For example, if you’re into musical evocations of Merrie Olde Englande, represented by the jolly overture At the Tabard Inn, then both Vaughan Williams (Falstaff) and Holst (At the Boar’s Head) have greater color and character. The “great English string tradition”, which of course is neither particularly English nor terribly traditional historically speaking (don’t tell them that), has its most noteworthy advocates in Elgar, Vaughan Williams, and Britten. Dyson’s Concerto da Chiesa, based on hymn tunes, is a lovely work, but it’s no Tallis Fantasia.
This leaves the Symphony in G, a piece full of vigor and earnest workmanship, but again just a touch bland. Contemporary works such as Walton’s First, Bliss’ A Colour Symphony, or even E. J. Moeran’s single essay in the genre all make this amiable piece sound a bit pale in comparison. But as I said, this is solidly written music very much in the early 20th century English tradition, and so best sampled in an excellent, budget-priced collection like this one. The Bournemouth Symphony under David Lloyd-Jones plays these pieces every bit as well as does the LSO for Hickox, and Lloyd-Jones’ interpretations are marginally superior as well: a touch swifter, more rhythmically incisive, and just as well engineered. So if you’re looking to sample this composer’s orchestral music, you can’t go wrong with this release. If you love what you hear, you can explore the big choral works and other instrumental pieces on Chandos at your leisure, or in any event until Naxos gets around to them too.
