Ireland: These Things Shall be

This BARBIROLLI ENGLISH MUSIC ALBUM contains something of a scoop in that the recording of Elgar’s Enigma Variations was made on 12 May 1947, the first time Barbirolli recorded the work. For some undiscoverable reason, the discs were never issued and the work was re-recorded on 23 October of the same year (also issued on CD by the Barbirolli Society on SJB1017). His affection for this inexhaustible masterpiece shone through every performance of it he gave as he gloried in the piquancy of the illustration of Elgar’s “friends pictured within” — and he liked to remind Michael Kennedy that the Variations and JB were born in the same year, 1899. Elgar’s genius was to weld his series of vignettes into a large-scale composite portrait — of himself. This gift for writing a miniature which was a microcosm of a big work is illustrated also in the second (the exquisite Lullaby) of the Three Bavarian Dances, a previously unpublished take, recorded on 30 May 1947.

Sir Adrian Boult championed his fellow British composers; the results can be heard to this day on a multitude of recordings with the LPO on Decca and Lyrita, many still considered benchmark recordings. This included Vaughan Williams symphonies complete, extensive documentation of the works of Elgar and Holst, as well as Delius and Bax along with Ireland with Boult recording the symphonic rhapsody Mai-Dun, The Overlanders and in 1967 the Piano Concerto with pianist Eric Parkin.

Eileen Joyce is one of the few female classical artists to enjoy a celebrity, almost pop status, commencing during WWII and continuing right through the 1950's, her popularity often being compared with that of Vera Lynn. As Vera Lynn was the 'Wartime Sweetheart', entertaining the troops, Eileen Joyce boosted morale through the war performing as part of Jack Hylton's Blitz Tours. Her audience grew immensely through her film appearances, most famously performing the Rachmaninov concerto in Brief Encounter. As an Australian, she was a 'colonial' showman in Britain at a time of elite intellectual and social snobbery, and this somewhat worked against her, Joyce opting for the BBC Proms popular concerts at the expense of Royal Philharmonic Society recognition enjoyed by her contemporaries Solomon and Curzon.

John Ireland drew musical inspiration from his English heritage, its poets and landscapes. He became a celebrated composer during the first half of the 20th century, championed by conductors such as Sir Adrian Boult, who conducted the première of These things shall be in 1937. Boult programmed this Promenade concert in 1949 to mark Ireland’s 70th birthday.