Grainger: Spoon River

“The Bilder Duo, pianists Caroline Weichert and Clemens Rave, are frankly impeccable in this repertoire, technically spot-on and a lot of fun for the ears. They’ve been a duo since 2007, and they clearly enjoy this music... it all comes down to how you like your Grainger: if you like it on keyboards, run out and grab this.” MusicWeb International, March 2013

“played with appropriate gusto but also, where required, delicacy of spirit by the Dallas Wind Symphony under Jerry Junkin.” MusicWeb International

“There is as much to savour musically as there is in Ms Thwaites’s sympathetic and thoughtful playing of her compatriot’s works” Gramophone Magazine

“Miss Thwaites seems to have Grainger in her blood. This collection is absolutely superb for her playing and sensitive voicing… I can not imagine a more beautiful piano sound. This is one CD all Delians and Graingerites should have, even if you have a dozen other Grainger piano CDs” The Delian

“Here's a recipe guaranteed to delight Grainger acolytes and inquisitive newcomers alike: a liberal sprinkling of old friends, three of the composer's most ambitious creations and no less than four world premiere recordings. Falling into the last two categories comes the giddily inventive English Dance No 1. Bearing the inscription 'For Cyril Scott with long love', this is the work of which Gabriel Fauré exclaimed: 'It's as if the total population were a-dancing.' Hickox and company have already set down this remarkable piece in its final scoring from 1924- 9; the present orchestration dates from 1906-9 and wears an even more exuberantly colourful demeanour than its successor.
Originally conceived in 1907 for 24 winds (in which guise it can be heard on Chandos), the bracing, somewhat Delian Hill Song No 2 is played in its final incarnation from 1948 for symphony orchestra. That same year, Grainger accepted a commission for an even more ambitious wind-band creation, The Power of Rome andthe Christian Heart, based on ideas from as far back as 1918 and given here with the optional string parts. It's an imposing, oddly moreish affair, whose second half borrows material from the 1943 orchestral essay Dreamery (Chandos) as well as the first movement ('The Power of Love') of the marvellous Danish Folksong Suite. From a clutch of indelible favourites, to be singled out are the well-upholstered 1919 orchestration of the supremely touching Colonial Song, GreenBushes and that memorably tangy 1920 harmonisation of the Irish Tune from County Derry.
Hickox secures a set of performances that are simply past praise in their combination of stylish swagger and heartwarming commitment to the cause. Wonderful Chandos sound, too, irrepressibly vivid. Terrific stuff!” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“This is perhaps one of the most riveting and satisfying anthologies of Grainger's music. Hamelin's superb control and artistry just about sweep the board if you're looking for a disc that not only brings you all the old favourites but also explores some of the less familiar music, such as Grainger's arrangements of two of Stanford's Irish Dances, the Cakewalk Smasher, In Dahomey or some of the rather less familiar folk-music settings such as The Merry King – the latter a delightful discovery.
The deceptive ease with which Hamelin presents these pieces is quite breathtaking. The Irish Tunefrom County Derry, for instance, contains some exacting problems which call on the pianist to play ppp in the outer fingers and mf with the middle in order to bring out the melody which Grainger places almost entirely within the middle register of the piano, and yet Hamelin makes it sound incredibly natural.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Martin Jones is a superb advocate for this rich kaleidoscope. His playing is delightfully exuberant and he is able to reach both the thunderous heights of power demanded by the Tchaikovsky concerto transcription and the delicacy of fingerwork required in folksongs such as 'Molly on the Shore'. He handles Grainger's complex counterpoints and voicing with superb clarity, achieving quasi-orchestral textures and colouring …” BBC Music Magazine

“ a collection that allows us to see how much more there was to Grainger than Country Gardens and "Shepherd's Hey"...the indefatigable Penelope Thwaites is the spirited Chandos Grainger house pianist...With 127 premiere recordings, 19 CDs for the price of four has to be the bargain of the year.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2011

“Does anyone really need 19 discs of Percy Grainger’s music? Yes, they do...Barry Peter Ould’s sleeve notes are fascinating. I’ll still be exploring this music for years to come” Graham Rickson, The Arts Desk, 14th May 2011

“the most comprehensive collection of [Grainger's] music available...the two wind band collections are especially fun discs. The splendid players of the [RNCMWO] clearly enjoy Grainger's rhythmic buoyancy, while relishing his feeling for wind colour.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition