George Lloyd: The Symphonies Nos. 7 - 12 conducted by the composer [4CDs]

"It is an extraordinary journey to hear the whole of George Lloyd’s symphonies over a single period of time, a psychodrama if ever there was one… After the toil and trouble of No 7, Lloyd says ‘the 8th came along, which has really no programme at all behind it. I had just wanted to enjoy myself’…  His mastery of the orchestra is totally obvious, surpassing, say, Respighi at his best (or worst)…  There is a wonderfully emotional climax in the first movement, something you might hear in a romantic movie, and this is not a criticism. The finale matches the rest of the piece.  I loved the tune which mostly centres on two adjacent notes, and the breathless coda which is full of manic energy.  This 1965 work did not have to wait for a performance as long as Lloyd’s other post-war symphonies, the heroic Edward Downes conducting the première broadcast in 1977. It received a rapturous response from the listening public.  Could someone please have a word with John Wilson about this piece?!..." Geoffrey Atkinson, British Music Society

"Lyricism and the dance saturate the first movement (Symphony No.8) – Lloyd was well-known as an operatic composer earlier in his career but it’s clear to me that he would have flourished as a ballet composer – and there is a considerable amount of colour and contrast, full of sectional dynamism and characterful colour. Listen to the percussion writing as well, which Lloyd inevitably handled with panache, and to a memorable tune that emerges after some symphonic strife. The Funeral march in the central movement emerges wraith-like though once again Lloyd’s gift for melodic efflorescence irradiates this movement. The thistledown finale is rather Mendelssohnian in inspiration, as Lloyd admitted to Lewis Foreman in the notes for the Downes recording, quoted by Paul Conway in his majestic booklet notes...

I realise I’ve already saluted Paul Conway’s notes but it deserves to be done again. As before, an inevitable loss is the LP sleeve art and I regret not being able to see D. G. Rossetti’s Proserpine which adorns the Conifer LP of No.7 so beautifully, the lonely Munch on the cover of Symphonies 9 and 2, and the 1814 view of Albany by James Eights on the cover of No.11. Still, Time rolls on and bears all its sons and daughters away. Note that the photographic booklet – Lloyd in pictures – is in the earlier box.

If you missed Lloyd’s symphonies or if you bought some piecemeal as they were released and have given away your LPs or if you’ve since caught up with some CDs but not nearly all the symphonic canon, here is your chance. You will be well rewarded. Lloyd’s music is direct even when elusive, commanding even when equivocal, and is strongly lyrical – some of his lyricism is simply unforgettable. It is also richly, ripely and colourfully orchestrated. Here it is in two competitively priced boxes." Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International Full review here

"Lloyd did not attempt to write a ‘significant’ ninth symphony like Beethoven. Composed in 1969, this one begins very much on the lighter side with melodies reminiscent of Music while you work. The Largo enters a different sound word with distinctly dissonant harmony, particularly in the brass. That mood is blown away by the finale with its accompanying motor rhythm and brass fanfares. The melodies somehow reminded me of a Tchaikovsky finale…Lloyd has his own distinctive voice. By any reckoning these symphonies give much pleasure." Ronald Corpm, British Music Society

"There is over 30 more minutes of music here, all colorful, engaging, and vibrant. These are significant 20th Century symphonies that, despite the Lloyd renaissance at the end of his life, remain criminally under-performed and recorded; most of these symphonies have only been recorded once or twice. Lloyd deserves another reappraisal; symphonies as spirited, approachable, and memorable as his might be just the thing to get more people into our concert halls. Until then, I will be content with this fantastic, affordable reissue. There is currently no better way to listen to Lloyd’s symphonies, so find these while they are still available. Extensive liner notes are included." FARO, American Record Guide 

"Conducted by the composer himself, you couldn't get more insightful interpretations than found in these recordings. With unwavering audio quality from start to finish, regardless of the orchestra or recording venue, these newly-minted sets are a must for anyone invested in 20th century symphonic music. Heartily recommended!" Jean-Yves Duperron, Classical Music Sentinel 

"Presented in a sound that does justice to an inventive and often abundant orchestration, George Lloyd's complete symphonies could not have found a better defender of his own creativity than himself. Attentive to details, sensitive to impulses and climaxes as well as to more serene tracks, he finds in the BBC Philharmonic, the Philharmonia or the Albany Symphony, motivated formations which, under his direction, highlight a rich and varied corpus. Music lovers curious about less frequented musical lands will find great pleasure in (re)discovering a worthy neoclassical representative of twentieth-century English music." Jean Lacroix, crescendo magazine

"Lloyd became a symphonist despite himself. When he was in his twenties he seemed destined to be a composer of operas and it is likely that, had the vicissitudes of war not intervened, he would have written music for the stage exclusively. In an article for the June 1939 issue of the Musical Monthly Record, Harry Farjeon wondered why music for Lloyd was ‘not centred in the concert hall but in the theatre’ and quoted the young composer as being ‘interested only in opera’. There are strong traces in the symphonies of what might have been: the intensely lyrical, cantabile nature of the writing; the intermezzo-like movements; the opera buffa qualities of the finales and the feeling for the long line which runs through those supple and sweeping melodies all denote a born opera composer. In the event his operatic aspirations were cruelly cut short and it is to his courageous, life-affirming twelve symphonies that we must look to chart his development, recovery and eventual triumph." PrestoMusic