George Lloyd - recommended music. 

 

This selection by Rob Barnett, reprinted from BBC Music Magazine

 

In recent years, Lloyd has been well served by record companies, particularly Albany Records, which has recorded all his piano concertos and all the symphonies. The following may be useful for those new to Lloyd's music: 

SYMPHONY NO. 4
Albany SO/Lloyd  Albany TROY498
Lloyd's attempt to come to terms with his wartime experiences

SYMPHONY NO. 11
Albany SO/Lloyd Albany TROY 060
Another large scale work, with a wider range of orchestration

SYMPHONY NO. 7 
BBC Philharmonic/Lloyd Albany TROY057
The best of Lloyd, controlled, dark in spirit, heroic in execution and beautiful

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 4
Kathryn Stott (piano) LSO/Lloyd Albany AR004
This concerto ideally complements the symphonies recommended here 
in demonstrating Lloyd's range of expression

VIOLIN SONATA and LAMENT, AIR AND DANCE
Tasmin Little (violin), Martin Roscoe (piano) Albany TROY029
Apart from works for piano (solo and 4 Hands) this is the only chamber music which Lloyd wrote.

REQUIEM and PSALM 130
The Exon Singers conducted by Matthew Owens,
with Stephen Wallace, (counter-tenor)Albany TROY450

Written in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, this was the composer's final work and represents a conscious leave-taking, 'under sentence of mortality' and with full realisation that it could only be completed if the music was pared down to small chorus and organ. This disc will be lovingly appreciated by any admirer of the vocal music of Faure, Rutter or Holst. A lovely remembrance of a warm-hearted composer who wrote against the spirit of the times and whose music finally met success. His was a dazzling creativity.

 

Rob Barnett