This Sceptred Isle

This Sceptered Isle (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 12, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: BBC Legends
• ASIN: B00004KDFI
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #463,758 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Crown Imperial, coronation march for orchestra

2. London (London Every Day), suite for orchestra: Knightsbridge - March

3. Enigma Variations, for orchestra, Op. 36: Nimrod (Variation 9)

4. The Banks of Green Willow, idyll for orchestra

5. Fantasia on Greensleeves, for harp, flute & strings (arranged by R. Greaves; from the opera 'Sir John In Love')

6. I Was Glad (Psalm 122), anthem for chorus & organ (or orchestra)

7. The Planets, suite for orchestra & female chorus, Op. 32, H. 125: Mars

8. Coronation March, for orchestra, Op. 65

9. Land of the Mountain & the Flood, overture for orchestra, Op. 3

10. Country Gardens, folk song for orchestra (arrangement not by Grainger) (BFMS 22)

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. The Pilgrim's Progress, opera: And Their Original had been the Dunghill

2. The Pilgrim's Progress, opera: They Shall not Overflow Thee

3. The Pilgrim's Progress, opera: All the Days of Eternity

4. The Pilgrim's Progress, opera: Marriage Supper of the Lamb

5. The Three Elizabeths, suite for orchestra: Halcyon Days

6. The Three Elizabeths, suite for orchestra: Springtime in Angus

7. Spitfire Prelude & Fugue, for orchestra (from film score 'The First of the Few')

8. Warsaw Concerto for piano & orchestra (for the film 'Dangerous Moonlight'/'Suicide Squadron')

9. The Dam Busters, march for the film score

10. Henry V, choral suite (arr. by M.Sargent) and orchestral suite (arr. by C.Matthieson): Passacaglia (Death of Falstaff)

See all 15 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I HAVE seen this CD and really like it., October 30, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: This Sceptred Isle (Audio CD)

This is a two CD set on which, though several of the cuts are edited, more than half appear in their entirety. What a splendid set they make! I've always been a fan of the musical grandeur evinced in British Imperial music. This album, particularly the first disc, offers music from this genre in spades, both instrumental and choral works. Hubert Parry's "I Was Glad" shines out in dazzling brilliance. Listening to Walton's warhorse "Crown Imperial" and Elgar's "Coronation March" we can visualize the full ceremony of state. And listening to Coates' "Dam Busters March" brings to mind all the hope of a proud people fighting, down to its last collective drop of blood, a mortal threat being wrought by an invader's ruthless forces. I'm sure this sounds melodramatic, but after all, total emotion is what this music is all about. I might ask for a cut or two less of Coates or Walton, not because those recordings were not excellent, but because, instead, I'd have liked a cut from Bridge, Tippett, or even Rutter. But, excepting that slight objection, this CD duo does its job most excellently and well.

3.0 out of 5 stars Eh...it's fine..., April 28, 2009

By 

C. Adams "American Citizen" (Warroad, MN United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: This Sceptred Isle (Audio CD)

This CD is not what I had hoped...it just sort of goes along with each song sounding the same as the one before. I love English music and had hoped for something more...vivid or rousing or something. At any rate, this is just "fine"...definitely not worth the money I paid for it. Ouch.