Anyone who pines for the glory days of the Empire, or who just simply loves to wallow in the fabulous music that those days inspired, look no further. On this two-disc program of selections “based on the acclaimed BBC Radio 4 series”, we hear the grand themes that helped define and fix in millions of memories the events, trends, attitudes, and symbols of the past century–from a distinctly British point of view. From Elgar’s Coronation March, Parry’s I Was Glad, and Walton’s Crown Imperial and Orb & Sceptre we hear the echo of centuries of kings and queens and ceremony; the classic, idyllic scene of pastoral Edwardian England is represented by Butterworth’s warm, musical painting The Banks of Green Willow; war and its many facets (including propaganda), the dominant theme of the 20th century, also gets a large share of these two discs, with Holst’s “Mars” from the Planets, Walton’s Spitfire Prelude & Fugue, and various works by Eric Coates–including his famous Dam Busters March. The Brits’ love of radio and television themes is reflected by Coates’ Knightsbridge March, Ronald Binge’s Sailing By, and Michael English’s This Sceptred Isle Theme. Of course, there’s much more–Elgar’s “Nimrod” from Enigma Variations, John Tavener’s now-ubiquitous Song for Athene (in a not-so-great performance), Vaughan Williams’ The Pilgrim’s Progress, Grainger’s Irish Tune from County Derry, and on and on–31 tracks in all. The performances vary–they’re taken from many different dates, places, and labels–but the performers and orchestras are among the Empire’s finest, and in all their contributions make for a solid compilation, musically and programmatically. And since you buy this sort of thing mainly for the program, if this is your cup of tea, stop pining and start wallowing! [8/18/2000]
