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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another gem from Chandos!,
By
This review is from: Dyson - The Canterbury Pilgrims · Overture ~ At the Tabard Inn · In Honour of the City / Kenny · Tear · S. Roberts · LSO · Hickox (Audio CD)
To any lover of English culture, this combination is irresistible. Geoffrey Chaucer's position in our literature is assured for all time. With other immortals like Shakespeare, Milton, Spenser, Pope, Dryden etc., he is used by generations of schoolchildren to bring those dusty pages of history to life by sheer dint of his creative literary genius. The Canterbury Tales was written at the end of the 14th century as an English response to the nascent Renaissance on the continent, specifically writers like Dante, Bocaccio and Petrarch who produced works in the vulgar tongue like the Roman de la Rose and the Decameron. The backgound for the work is that a group of pilgrims travelling from Southwark to Canterbury tell one another tales to pass the time away. Although Chaucer's sources for many of his tales may sometimes have appeared from beyond these shores his Prologue and the ensuing descriptions of the 'gods plentie' are truly English to the core. This is the material that Dyson uses in this chorus and orchestra piece; he does not venture into the tales thmselves. Dyson uses his easy going, friendly style right from the beginning with his fanfare and the opening motiv, portraying the Tabard Inn at Southwark as the Pilgrims set out; you can almost see the flag fluttering in the April breeze. Chaucer's text has been translated into modern English by the composer and he brilliantly underpins every line of Chaucer's famous descriptions with colourful, tuneful music that never fails to interest with its mercurial invention. For example listen to the careful orchestration around the Knight with its glories of 'chivalrie' and its undertones of 'curtesie'. The bravery and warlike side is set off against the fact he bore himself 'as meek as is a maid', with a quiet conclusion, implying the warlike glories are of the past but he still has a great dignity. The spring like freshness of the young Squire is reflected in the scoring with flutes and light woodwind dusting the tenor soloist's line. This is a work that has been thought out and worked at for a long period. This CD was an Editor's Choice for the Gramophone and I can only humbly concur with their adjudication. A delight to listen to. Dyson does not use fake mediaevalism a la Korngold. He might use a little modal writing in 'the Nun' but this is pure twentieth century music showing the universal nature of the pilgrims, namely as 'types' we would recognise in our contemporary world despite the passage of six hundred years. This is not so much as what they do but as to how they are. For instance, we might not have a Pardoner anymore but we have charlatans who have taken up another profession with as much sanctimony as Chaucer's character. Hickox and Co are clearly enjoying themselves immensely and we can only but join in the fun. They must start playing this at concerts after this CD. Wonderful stuff!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Beautiful Choral Work That Deserves to be MUCH Better Known!,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Dyson - The Canterbury Pilgrims · Overture ~ At the Tabard Inn · In Honour of the City / Kenny · Tear · S. Roberts · LSO · Hickox (Audio CD)
I went searching for recordings by Yvonne Kenny, and found this wonderful piece! The recording is spacious, live and clear. The performances, impassioned!! Dyson is a wonderful, practically unknown, unappreciated composer. What he does in this piece is rather like what Bernstein did in his setting of Voltaire's CANDIDE, where Bernstein captured the essence of what Voltaire was trying to say. Dyson's characterizations of the characters of the Canterbury Tales are like detailed little photographs. He sketches musically, in the 20th century, what Chaucer was trying to picture for us in words in the 14th century. I studied Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in my Master's programme and even wrote several papers about some specific tales. Dyson does not set the tales, but draws musical portraits of the characters from the introduction. The tenor walks off the stage as he begins the Knight's tale, a tradition started by the first tenor soloist in the 1930's. This music is contemporary British, lush, melodic, and orchestrated down to the most minute details. Do not miss this performance of this piece if you are a fan of Chaucer, British choral music or both!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thoroughly enjoyable,
By
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This review is from: Dyson - The Canterbury Pilgrims · Overture ~ At the Tabard Inn · In Honour of the City / Kenny · Tear · S. Roberts · LSO · Hickox (Audio CD)
What I have heard of George Dyson's output has been somewhat variable, but his most famous work, the grand cantata "The Canterbury Pilgrims" (based on the Prologue to Chaucer's Canterbury Tale) is a thoroughly engaging, endearing, big-hearted, lovable work. It is as subtle as a freight train, perhaps, and something of Chaucer's sly subtleties are inevitably lost, but the result is nevertheless quite superb and at least exuberantly effective - the thematic material is strong, the music is atmospheric and the whole thing is skillfully put together to deliver something of a punch. The style is thoroughly Victorian with only the faintest trace of the twentieth century, though Vaughan Williams's Sea Symphony seems an apt stylistic comparison - if you enjoyed that one, you'll surely enjoy the Canterbury Pilgrims.
The work consists of a sequence of portraits, and Dyson draws them with skill and variety, but he also achieves a certain momentum, unity and actual narrative structure. The whole thing is finely scored and Dyson employs the chorus very skillfully. The performances are overall outstanding; Robert Tear is particularly brilliant - not only are his (not too subtle) characterizations very effective; he also sings with a beautifully rich, warm tone. Roberts and Kenny put in quite compelling performances as well, though Tear tends to steal the show. The London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra are predictably excellent, and Hickox leads them in another first-rate, marvelously colorful, glowing, brilliant and energetic performance of English music. We also get two interesting fillers; At the Tabard Inn is an overture based on themes from the main work and provides an effective opener; In Honour of the City predates the main work by two years and provides an excellently suitable close to the program. Again the performances are brilliant. The sound is up to Chandos's highest standards, texts are included and the notes are good - all in all, a real winner, enthusiastically recommended (especially if this kind of music appeals in general).
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