Magical - thank you Sir Charles and David M - it was so frustrating in my childhood to read the Sullivan had written a cello concerto but it was mainly lost - but now here we have this gem. My only regret about S's career was that he didn't write more concert works. Imagine, say, a Sullivan violin concerto!! Bliss!!
I cannot imagine how anyone 's memory can be so good as to be able to reconstruct a concerto in the way Mackerras did, years later. But exactly how close it was to Sullivan's score maybe will never be known, but it is nevertheless a lovely little concerto, full of that melody and charm that for me characterises so much of Arthur Sullivan's delicious music. On a tangent, I have a double CD of the Songs of Arthur Sullivan, and they are an absolute delight. Highly recommended!! Best to you all!! Peter A :) :) :)
I hear some Saint Seans with a splash of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky in this piece. What a treat. These lesser known works should be performed more often.
It should be noted this concerto is a reconstruction of the original. The complete score was never published and lost in a fire . Only the solo cello part remained. Sir Charles reconstructed the whole score from memory since he had conducted a performance years before. Also music experts from the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society assisted. This is second recording.
Not just a reconstruction, but a reconstruction of a work which, despite public performances by the virtuoso cellist for whom it was composed, was never actually completed to Sullivan's satisfaction during his lifetime, - hence the wonderfully constructed first two [or three, depending on how one counts!] movements - contrasting so greatly with the uncharacteristically somewhat sterile and academic 'study' of the finale. We owe a vast debt to the late Sir Charles Mackerras and his musical memory for allowing us to hear a semblance of what Sullivan originally intended.
Sir Arthur Sullivan:D-dúr Gordonkaverseny 1.Allegro moderato 00:05 2.Andante espressivo 03:22 3.Molto vivace 10:17 Paul Watkins-gordonka BBC Szimfonikus Zenekara Vezényel:Sir Charles Mackerras
It’s always a treat to hear what Sullivan had to offer without Gilbert’s world of topsy-turvy bogging him down; he really had fun expressing his creativity, and his Beethoven influence is clearly audible. :) (NOTE: This isn’t to throw shade at Gilbert or his comic operas - in fact, I’m planning to watch one he did without Sullivan. I’m just noting that Sullivan hated working with him, at least in the later years. Plus, it’s always good to hear something different.)
With respect, there may be a very obvious reason: just as when we were planning a school production of 'Patience' [now nearly fifty years ago] there was an agonised complaint from a - very self-important and supposedly 'musically sophisticated' - member of the sixth form that "some of the music Sullivan claims as being original in this opera has been obviously and deliberately plagiarised from the score of 'Swan Lake'"! Entirely satisfyingly, even the most basic comparison of the dates of the two works shows that 'Patience' [composed in 1880/81] predates 'Swan Lake' by at least fourteen or fifteen years, leading to the subsequent delightful "collapse of stout and pompous party". All Sullivan's work was, however, extremely well known in St. Petersburg society: - he was counted as being a personal friend by Tsar Alexander III. The answer to your question would therefor seem to be self-evident!
I always felt Sir Arthur was one of the greats in musical composition.❤
Magical - thank you Sir Charles and David M - it was so frustrating in my childhood to read the Sullivan had written a cello concerto but it was mainly lost - but now here we have this gem. My only regret about S's career was that he didn't write more concert works. Imagine, say, a Sullivan violin concerto!! Bliss!!
I cannot imagine how anyone 's memory can be so good as to be able to reconstruct a concerto in the way Mackerras did, years later. But exactly how close it was to Sullivan's score maybe will never be known, but it is nevertheless a lovely little concerto, full of that melody and charm that for me characterises so much of Arthur Sullivan's delicious music. On a tangent, I have a double CD of the Songs of Arthur Sullivan, and they are an absolute delight. Highly recommended!! Best to you all!! Peter A :) :) :)
What a pleasure! I love Sir Arthur Sullivan and this was a real treat! Thank you❣️
I hear some Saint Seans with a splash of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky in this piece. What a treat. These lesser known works should be performed more often.
Typical tuneful Sullivan. A joy to listen to !
Belleza de música!!!!!!
Thanks for uploading this, and the original autograph manuscript for the cello part.
It should be noted this concerto is a reconstruction of the original. The complete score was never published and lost in a fire . Only the solo cello part remained. Sir Charles reconstructed the whole score from memory since he had conducted a performance years before. Also music experts from the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society assisted. This is second recording.
Not just a reconstruction, but a reconstruction of a work which, despite public performances by the virtuoso cellist for whom it was composed, was never actually completed to Sullivan's satisfaction during his lifetime, - hence the wonderfully constructed first two [or three, depending on how one counts!] movements - contrasting so greatly with the uncharacteristically somewhat sterile and academic 'study' of the finale. We owe a vast debt to the late Sir Charles Mackerras and his musical memory for allowing us to hear a semblance of what Sullivan originally intended.
What a great song!
"song"
???
Sir Arthur Sullivan:D-dúr Gordonkaverseny
1.Allegro moderato 00:05
2.Andante espressivo 03:22
3.Molto vivace 10:17
Paul Watkins-gordonka
BBC Szimfonikus Zenekara
Vezényel:Sir Charles Mackerras
It’s always a treat to hear what Sullivan had to offer without Gilbert’s world of topsy-turvy bogging him down; he really had fun expressing his creativity, and his Beethoven influence is clearly audible. :)
(NOTE: This isn’t to throw shade at Gilbert or his comic operas - in fact, I’m planning to watch one he did without Sullivan. I’m just noting that Sullivan hated working with him, at least in the later years. Plus, it’s always good to hear something different.)
Why does the 3rd mvt scream Tchaikovsky violin concerto... Even though this cello concerto was premiered over a decade before?
With respect, there may be a very obvious reason: just as when we were planning a school production of 'Patience' [now nearly fifty years ago] there was an agonised complaint from a - very self-important and supposedly 'musically sophisticated' - member of the sixth form that "some of the music Sullivan claims as being original in this opera has been obviously and deliberately plagiarised from the score of 'Swan Lake'"! Entirely satisfyingly, even the most basic comparison of the dates of the two works shows that 'Patience' [composed in 1880/81] predates 'Swan Lake' by at least fourteen or fifteen years, leading to the subsequent delightful "collapse of stout and pompous party". All Sullivan's work was, however, extremely well known in St. Petersburg society: - he was counted as being a personal friend by Tsar Alexander III. The answer to your question would therefor seem to be self-evident!
memory is one thing - but the composer's intentions are another - this really cannot be counted as 'true' Sullivan