Matthews - Horn Concerto & Alphabicycle Order - Hallé: CDHLL7515 - CD or download

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I'm not surprised that Colin Matthews says that he hugely enjoyed writing Alphabicycle Order, a setting of 26 nonsense poems by Christopher Reid. The young choristers are plainly having a ball,... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2009, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 20th Oct 2008
Catalogue No: CDHLL7515
Label: Hallé
Length: 53 minutes

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Matthews, C: Alphabicycle Order

Work length31:11

$26.00

$36.40

Henry Goodman, Richard Watkins (soloist)
Hallé Youth Choir, Cantoers Roborienses, Hallé Orchestra
Edward Gardner

Alphabike

Track length2:03

$1.00

$1.40

Butterflea

Track length1:23

$1.00

$1.40

Cluckwork

Track length0:33

$1.00

$1.40

Diffodils

Track length1:37

$1.00

$1.40

Eyeland

Track length1:06

$1.00

$1.40

Fountain-climbing

Track length1:57

$1.00

$1.40

Gruntparents

Track length0:41

$1.00

$1.40

Hair-bear

Track length1:03

$1.00

$1.40

Iciclist

Track length1:04

$1.00

$1.40

Jelliments

Track length0:30

$1.00

$1.40

Knu

Track length1:22

$1.00

$1.40

Liarbird

Track length1:23

$1.00

$1.40

Moonologue

Track length1:50

$1.00

$1.40

Nose-bush

Track length0:39

$1.00

$1.40

Oy-oy

Track length0:45

$1.00

$1.40

Popgum

Track length1:01

$1.00

$1.40

Queen Bean

Track length0:54

$1.00

$1.40

Rabbitsong

Track length1:47

$1.00

$1.40

Sleepdogs

Track length1:59

$1.00

$1.40

Trash-Chest

Track length0:56

$1.00

$1.40

Umbrellaphant

Track length1:01

$1.00

$1.40

Vumpire

Track length0:36

$1.00

$1.40

Wherewolf

Track length0:57

$1.00

$1.40

Xylophonophobia

Track length1:27

$1.00

$1.40

Yatch

Track length0:48

$1.00

$1.40

Zagzig

Track length1:49

$1.00

$1.40

Matthews, C: Horn Concerto

Work length22:23

$10.00

$14.00

Richard Watkins (soloist)
Hallé Orchestra, Hallé Youth Choir
Mark Elder

Vigoroso (Offstage Horns)

Track length0:46

$1.00

$1.40

Freely

Track length2:28

$1.00

$1.40

Sostenuto

Track length0:51

$1.00

$1.40

Andante con moto

Track length3:15

$1.00

$1.40

Calmo

Track length1:42

$1.00

$1.40

Scorrevole

Track length2:52

$1.00

$1.40

Poco sostenuto

Track length1:38

$1.00

$1.40

Sostenuto

Track length2:49

$1.00

$1.40

Più sostenuto

Track length1:40

$1.00

$1.40

Sostenuto

Track length4:22

$1.00

$1.40

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World Premiere Recordings

“Alphabicycle Order might not be Matthews’s most serious work but it is an extraordinarily accomplished one. Brilliantly diverse in its musical language. Alphabicycle Order is a textbook example of how to write for diverse forces in a meaningful, inclusive yet unmistakably individual way” Gig Magazine

Reviews

February 2009

I'm not surprised that Colin Matthews says that he hugely enjoyed writing Alphabicycle Order, a setting of 26 nonsense poems by Christopher Reid. The young choristers are plainly having a ball, whilst Henry Goodman's narration strikes the right note between mock-seriousness and an acknowledgment of the ridiculous. And the music is accessible in the best sense of that much over-and mis-used word: varied, concise, often intensely rhythmic, and very much in touch with the sentiments of the poems. The Horn Concerto is a much more serious affair, with the soloist's lyrical lines competing with an offstage horn quartet... ...Richard Watkins, who gave the first performance, makes the most of the character of the protagonist...

21st January 2009

As a showcase for [Matthews's] and the orchestra's stylistic versatility, the two works on this disc – both world premiere recordings - couldn't be bettered...Richard Watkins, for whom [the Concerto] was written, plays with great lyricism, with the orchestra matching his sonorous and controlled tone to create a haunting performance.

2010

Elemental musical images of sorrow and farewell can be as prominent in contemporary composers as they were in Purcell, Beethoven or Mahler. Ligeti's Horn Trio is a particularly memorable instance, and Colin Matthews's Horn Concerto has a set of comparable associations, including the Les adieux Sonata and the 'Abschied' from Das Lied von der Erde.
Orchestral C Matthews 724 Cast as a sequence of elegies, predominantly lyrical but with occasional outbursts of rage, Matthews's music sustains its dark, questing spirit under the confident control of Sir Mark Elder in this first recording, and soloist Richard Watkins is an unfailingly eloquent presence, even when heard in the distance, offstage. The spatial aspects of the piece benefit from being seen as well as heard, but the drawbacks of a sound-only encounter are minimal, so strong is the character of the music.
In one sense the contrast provided by the companion piece could hardly be more extreme.
Alphabicycle Order, for children's choir, narrator and orchestra, is a joyously witty musical response to Christopher Reid's brilliantly surreal traversal of the alphabet, and the evident relish with which it is tackled by the Hallé's young singers, backed to the hilt by narrator Henry Goodman and the orchestra under Edward Gardner, shows just how enjoyable it must have been for everyone involved. But Matthews brings an edge and panache to the music – echoing but never merely imitating Britten – which turns what could have been simply a fun piece into something stronger and more durable.
These are two excellent recordings of notably substantial 21st-century compositions.

February 2009

…two excellent recordings of notably substantial 21st century compositions.

2011 edition

[Matthews] shows his paces with a highly original Horn Concerto which is mostly gently expressive, but also momentarily boldly forceful. It has a superbly confident soloist in Richard Watkins...Alphabetical Order is an engagingly friendly but never bland setting, spiced with wit...the orchestra under Edward Gardner enjoy themselves, and so do we.

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