DYSON, George (1883-1964) - Church and Organ music

Obra d'Edmund Blair Leighton (1852-1922), pintor anglès (1)

- Recordatori de George Dyson -

En el dia de la commemoració del seu 52è aniversari de decés

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Parlem de Pintura...

Edmund Blair Leighton (London, 21 de setembre de 1853 - London, 1 de setembre de 1922) va ser un pintor anglès. Es va formar inicialment amb el seu pare Charles Blair Leighton, un respectat pintor de retrats que va exhibir a la Royal Academy of Arts entre els anys 1843 i 1854. Edmund Blair Leighton va estudiar a la University College School, abans d'entrar a la Royal Academy. Va començar a pintar als 21 anys tot començant a exposar a la Royal Academy el 1878. Especialitzat en temàtica històrica i romàntica, el seu dibuix de realisme extrem i la seva artesania meticulosa el van ajudar a convertir-se també en un dels màxims representants del Prerafaelitisme. Tot i exposar durant més de 30 anys a les acadèmies britàniques, va ser un artista lliure desvinculat del món acadèmic. El 1885 es va casar i va tenir dos fills si bé no va deixar mai de pintar fins el dia de la seva mort el setembre de 1922 a Londres.

Font: En català: No disponible - En castellano: Edmund Blair Leighton (1852-1922) - In english: Edmund Blair Leighton (1852-1922) - Altres: Edmund Blair Leighton (1852-1922)

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Parlem de Música...

George Dyson (Halifax, 28 de maig de 1883 - Winchester, 28 de setembre de 1964) va ser un organista i compositor anglès. Membre del Royal College of Organists des dels 16 anys, es va formar a partir del 1900 al Royal College of Music amb Stanford. Allà va obtenir la Beca Mendelssohn el 1904 que el va premiar amb un viatge a Itàlia. Allà va rebre formació de Sgambati i la protecció oficial de Clara Novello, la filla de Vincent Novello. Més tard va viatjar a Viena i Berlín, ciutat on va conèixer a Strauss. Van ser aquells els primers anys en la carrera de compositor de Dyson escrivint el seu Symphonic Poem "Siena" i el seu Evening Service in D (1907). El 1907 va tornar a Anglaterra on va rebre la recomenació pública d'Hubert Parry en el càrrec de director musical del Royal Naval College d'Osborne. Des d'allà va viatjar al Marlborough College el 1911 abans d'assolir la condició de professor del Royal College of Music el 1921. Aquell any també va ser nomenat director musical al Wellington College, establint-se, el 1924 i definitivament, a Winchester, ciutat on va consolidar la seva labor com a compositor. La dècada del 1930 es va convertir en associat del Three Choirs Festival pel qual va escriure nombrosa música. El 1938 va assolir el càrrec de director del Royal College of Music, el 1942 va ser condecorat amb l'ordre de cavaller i el 1952 es va retirar definitivament. En reconeixement, el 1953 va rebre el títol de Royal Victorian Order. Va morir a Winchester el setembre de 1964.

OBRA:

(selective list)

Vocal:

Choral with orch:
In Honour of the City (W. Dunbar), chorus, orch, 1928;
The Canterbury Pilgrims (G. Chaucer), S, T, Bar, chorus, orch, 1931;
St Paul’s Voyage to Melita (Bible: Acts), T, chorus, orch, 1933;
The Blacksmiths (anon., 14th-century), pf, chorus, orch, 1934;
Nebuchadnezzar (Bible: Daniel, Apocrypha), T, B, chorus, org, orch, 1935;
3 Songs of Praise, SATB/unison vv, str (1935);
3 Songs of Courage, 1935;
O Praise God in his Holiness (Ps cl), coronation anthem, SATB, orch/org, 1937;
Quo Vadis?: a Cycle of Poems, 2 pts, SATB soli, chorus, orch, 1939;
Motherland (W. Watson), SATB, orch, 1940;
4 Songs for Sailors, 1948;
Invocation to Science (W. Wordsworth), 1949;
3 Choral Hymns, SATB, str, 1951;
Confortare (Be Strong and of a Good Courage), coronation anthem, SATB, orch, 1953;
Sweet Thames Run Softly (E. Spenser), Bar, chorus, orch, 1954;
Agincourt (W. Shakespeare), chorus, orch, 1955;
Hierusalem (St Augustine), S, chorus, str qt, str, hp, org, 1956;
Let’s Go A-Maying (R. Herrick), SSA, str, 1957;
A Christmas Garland, Mez, SSA, str, 1959

Choral (SATB unless otherwise stated):
c50 works incl. Mag and Nunc in D, 1907;
TeD laudamus, 1914;
To Music, 1919;
Benedicite in D, 1923;
Jubilate, 1924;
Mag and Nunc in D, 1924;
TeD and Benedictus in C (1924);
Song on a May Morning (J. Milton), SA, ob, hp, 1933;
A Prayer for the King, 1937;
O Praise God in his Holiness, 1937;
The Rising Day, unison, 1938;
God Made Us All (J. Keble), 2-pt, 1939;
Vespers, 1939;
Mag and Nunc in F, 1945;
Song for a Festival (C.D. Lewis), B, SATB, 1951;
Live for Ever Glorious Lord (J. Austin), tr vv, SATB, 1952;
Ye Choir Above, unison, 1953;
I Will Worship (Ps lxxxviii), unison, 1954;
Ye That Do Your Master’s Will, 1954;
TeD and Benedictus in F (1955);
Benedicite in F, 1956;
3 Rustic Songs (Herrick), male vv, 2 pf, 1957;
A Spring Garden (Herrick), SA, hp, 1957;
Hail, Universal Lord (Milton), SATB, org, 1958;
Nocturne, 1960;
A Summer Day (A. Hume), suite, SA, pf, 1961;
The Canterbury Pilgrims, choral suite, SSAA, pf, 1964

Orch:
Children’s Suite (after W. de la Mare), 1920;
Prelude, Fantasy and Chaconne, vc/va, orch, 1936;
Sym., G, 1937 (1940);
Vn Conc., 1941;
At the Tabard Inn, ov., 1943;
Conc. da camera, 1949;
Conc. da chiesa, 1952;
Conc. leggiero, pf, str, 1953

Kbd:
The Open Window, 8 pf pieces, op.12a;
6 Lyrics, pf, 1920;
Epigrams: 10 short pieces, op.9, pf, 1920;
Twilight: 4 preludes, op.14, pf, 1920;
My Birthday: 3 Little Pieces, pf, 1924;
Prelude and Ballet, pf, 1925;
Primrose Mount, pf, 1928;
Bach’s Birthday: 4 Fugal Sketches, pf, 1929;
Revelry in D, pf, 1938;
12 Easy Pieces, pf, 1952;
Prelude and Postlude, org, 1956;
Voluntary in D, org, 1958;
Variations on Old Psalm Tunes, org, 3 books, 1959–61;
Fantasia and Ground Bass, org, 1960

Chbr:
In Pixieland: 4 easy pieces, vn, pf 1918, reissued 1999 as Woodland Suite, also arr. str, wind ad lib;
3 Rhapsodies, str qt (1920);
Revery in D, vn, pf, 1924
Songs, educational music, easy vn pieces, children’s pf pieces

Principal publishers: Novello, Oxford, Stainer & Bell, Thames

Literatura:

The New Music (London, 1924, 2/1926)
The Progress of Music (London, 1932)
Fiddling while Rome Burns: a Musician’s Apology (London, 1954)
C. Palmer, ed.: Dyson’s Delight: an Anthology of Sir George Dyson’s Writing and Talks on Music (London, 1989) 

Font: En català: George Dyson (1883-1964) - En castellano: No disponible - In english: George Dyson (1883-1964) - Altres: George Dyson (1883-1964)

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Parlem en veu pròpia o en veu d'altri...

The music of Sir George Dyson has enjoyed something of a renaissance in recent years; in the recording studios at least, if not in the concert hall. Credit for that must go, most of all, to Chandos and Richard Hickox for their estimable series of recordings of Dyson’s larger-scale works. I’ve been delighted to be able to hear for the first time fine works such as the Violin Concerto and Quo Vadis and not just because, like Dyson, I was born in Halifax in what was then the West Riding of Yorkshire. It’s much more than native Yorkshire pride. Dyson’s music is of great interest in its own right. The present CD was something of a pioneering release. It was first issued quite some time ago, long before the Chandos-led rediscovery of Dyson and was engineered by Bob Auger, in itself something of a guarantee of excellence. Auger produced a very satisfying sound, using the acoustic of the college chapel intelligently and atmospherically and integrating the organ well with the choir. The recital benefits not just from good engineering but from fine choral singing. There isn’t a listing of the choir but it sounds to me to be about two dozen strong. The top line is taken by sopranos, not trebles, and at least some of the altos are male. The sopranos and tenors produce a bright sound and the basses, while not heavy, give a solid enough foundation to the ensemble. The singers have clearly been well prepared by Owen Rees for their diction is excellent throughout, balance is always good. The choral tone is forward and clear and rhythms are consistently alert and precise. On top of all this Ian Coleman’s organ accompaniments are thoroughly musical and supportive. Coleman comes into his own in the five solos allotted to him. Four of these are by Dyson himself and it was a nice idea to include the slender tribute by Herbert Howells, an effective organ transcription (by whom?) of one of his clavichord pieces from the collection entitled Howells Clavichord. These organ pieces are nicely contrasted. In particular it’s good to hear the paired Prelude and Postlude together.

The former is a ruminative mood-setting piece while the latter would send any congregation out of the church with a spring in their collective step. As will be noted from the heading, most of the choral works come from the period towards the end of Dyson’s life and they do share for the most part something of a sense of the serenity of old age. Lines are long, harmonies full and satisfying. But I mustn’t give the impression that the music is complacent. The Te Deum, for example, is sturdy and confident, as is the organ piece, A Voluntary of Praise, which dates from the late 1950s. However, most of the music is lyrical in style and I especially enjoyed the flowing, delightful setting of the Benedicite. From the other end of Dyson’s career comes the ‘Mag’ and ‘Nunc’ of 1907. The Magnificat is a fine, four-square, robust setting while its companion is easeful and gentle. It’s rather remarkable that such quintessentially Anglican music should have been written in Dresden while the composer was studying in Germany. All the choral music sounds as if singers will derive great pleasure from the singing of it. It is understandingly written for the human voice and while it is far from bland or facile it does not place extreme demands on the choir. In short it was designed by a skilled and practical musician to be sung by good church choirs rather than to gather dust on the shelves because it made insensitive demands on singers. (As an aside I had a nostalgic moment listening to the final item, Valour. I remember singing this very piece at school and I haven’t heard it since. Dyson gives Bunyan’s words what the annotator rightly calls a “memorably masculine treatment”). I enjoyed this disc very much and strongly recommend it to anyone interested in the English choral tradition. The performances are first class and are well recorded. The notes are succinct but useful and full English texts are provided. And all at a bargain price. Perhaps George Dyson wasn’t a composer of the first rank but he was not an inconsiderable figure and his well-crafted, sincere and enjoyable music is well worth hearing.

John Quinn (source/font: aquí)

Gaudiu i compartiu! 

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Informació addicional... 

INTERPRETS: Ian Coleman (organ); Choir of St. Catherine’s College, Cambridge; Owen Rees
AMAZON: DYSON, G. - Church and Organ music

IMSLP: George Dyson (1883-1964)

CPDL: George Dyson (1883-1964)

SPOTIFY: DYSON, G. - Church and Organ music



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