London Mozart Players - Parry: Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Blest Pair of Sirens (2023) [Digital Download 24/96]

Hubert Parry (1848-1918), regarded by many (including Edward Elgar) as the finest English composer since Purcell, and as the father of the modern English tradition, is best known for his hymn Jerusalem (immortalised by the Women’s Institute and English cricket supporters alike!). His anthem I was glad, written for the coronation of Edward VII, in 1902, has been used also at the coronations of George V, Elizabeth II, and Charles III (who is a proclaimed fan of Parry’s music). He taught composition at London’s Royal College of Music from 1883 to 1895, when he succeeded Sir George Grove as director of the College, a post he held until his death. His distinguished list of pupils included Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Frank Bridge, and John Ireland. Inspired initially by the German romantics Mendelssohn and Schumann, Parry quickly became a devotee of Brahms and Wagner, whose influences can be heard in much of his output. But, from his earliest works, his own individual voice can be heard very clearly. Commissioned for the Three Choirs Festival, in Gloucester in 1880, his Scenes from Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound is just such an early work. The première received a mixed reception, but despite numerous repeat performances, in Cambridge, Oxford, and London, all with rave reviews, the piece sank into obscurity. Vernon Handley gave a performance for BBC Radio 3 in 1980, to mark the centenary of the première, but this world première recording is the first chance for modern audiences to hear this outstanding work.

Sarah Fox, soprano
Dame Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano
David Butt Philip, tenor
Neal Davies, baritone
Crouch End Festival Chorus
London Mozart Players
William Vann, conductor

Tracklist:
01. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part I: No. 1, Maestoso, assai lento
02. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part I: No. 2, Monarch of Gods and Dæmons (Prometheus)
03. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part I: No. 3, Alas! Ah me! (Prometheus)
04. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part I: No. 4, Thrice three hundred thousand years (Voice from the mountains)
05. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part I: No. 5, Awful sufferer! (Mercury)
06. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part I: No. 6, Prometheus! Immortal Titan! (Chorus of Furies)
07. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part I: No. 7, 'I felt thy torture, son (The Earth)
08. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part I: No. 8, From unremember'd ages we (Chorus of Spirits)
09. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part I: No. 9, How fair these airborn shapes! (Prometheus)
10. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part I: No. 10, Life of Life! (Voices of Spirits)
11. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part I: No. 11, Fair are others (Contralto)
12. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part II Scene 1: No. 12, Allegro moderato. Ye congregated pow'rs of heav'n' (Jupiter)
13. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part II Scene 1: No. 13, Awful shape, what art thou? (Jupiter) - Eternity (Demogorgon)
14. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part II Scene 1: No. 14, Oh, that thou wouldst make mine enemy my judge (Jupiter)
15. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part II Scene 1: No. 15, Soon as the sound had ceased (Spirit of the Hour)
16. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part II Scene 2: Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part II Scene 2: No. 16, The pale stars are gone! (Voice of unseen Spirits) - The voice of the Spirits of Air and of Earth (Semichorus of Hours)
17. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part II Scene 2: No. 17, We come from the mind (Spirits)
18. Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Part II Scene 2: No. 18, Then weave the web of the mystic measure (Chorus of Spirits and Hours)
19. Blest Pair of Sirens


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