Hubert Parry’s shorter orchestral works avoid the tedium of his far-flung oratorios while being more formally free than his symphonies. The Symphonic Variations of 1897 are based on a very simple, brief, folksong-like theme that Parry subjects to a series of Brahmsian inventions–though he comes up with a few pleasantly surprising twists of his own, making for an interesting 14 minutes. Brahms’ death that same year greatly affected Parry, who composed the Elegy as a tribute to the man who had so influenced him. This dramatic work, which quotes from Brahms’ A minor String Quartet and the First Symphony, unexpectedly brings to mind Tchaikovsky and Liszt in its more passionate passages.
Richard Wagner was the explicit impetus for the Concertstück in G minor (Parry composed it soon after attending Wagner’s 1877 London concerts), and it echoes the style of that composer’s earlier works, such as the Flying Dutchman and Faust overtures. From Death to Life (1914) is a symphonic poem in two movements. One of Parry’s last works, it is somberly introspective in the first part, while the second is in that celebratory style that would be recognized today as “Elgarian”. Matthias Bamert once again is the champion of the unknown, bringing these rarely heard works (the Concertstück receives its premiere on this recording) beautifully to life, with enthusiastically committed playing from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Chandos provides its usual big, reverberant sound.
