Wallace: Creation Symphony in C sharp minor / Pelléas and Mélisande Suite / Prelude to the Eumenides [Import]

William Wallace (Composer), Martyn Brabbins (Conductor), Glasgow BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Glasgow BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Martyn Brabbins
• Composer: William Wallace
• Audio CD (December 9, 1997)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Hyperion UK
• ASIN: B000003002
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #384,824 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Prelude To The Eumenides

2. Pelleas And Mélisande Suite: The Love Of Pelleas For Mélisande

3. Pelleas And Mélisande Suite: Spinning Song

4. Pelleas And MélisandeSuite: The Death Of Mélisande

5. Creation Symphony In C Sharp Minor: Adagio - Allego - In The Beginning God Created The Heaven And The Earth...

6. Creation Symphony In C Sharp Minor: Andantino - And God Made Two Great Lights...

7. Creation Symphony In C Sharp Minor: Allegro - And The Spirit Of God Moved Upon The Face Of The Waters...

8. Creation Symphony In C Sharp Minor: Allegro maestoso - So God Created Man In His Own Image...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quirky CD Buy!, March 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Wallace: Creation Symphony in C sharp minor / Pelléas and Mélisande Suite / Prelude to the Eumenides (Audio CD)

It is always nice to find a little known composer, buy a CD, and find a masterpiece. Thetopic of creation has been been composed by all the greats, but as of recent times, has been forgotten about. William Wallace cover the whole gammit, evolving from chaos to eventual rejoicing. This is a huge work worthy to take on Berlioz at any cost.

The BBC brass section blew me away the first time I heard this work, both in technique, dynamics, and sensitivity. Furthermore, this composition falls in the cracks of Vaughan Williams and Holst, a lost composition that should be an added gem in any classical CD collection!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Modestly rewarding music in excellent performances, June 6, 2010

By 

G.D. (Norway) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wallace: Creation Symphony in C sharp minor / Pelléas and Mélisande Suite / Prelude to the Eumenides (Audio CD)

William Wallace (1860-1940) was a Scottish composer and writer on music, a professor of Harmony at the Royal Academy of Music, a classical scholar and Hebrew scholar, a medical doctor (eye surgeon), poet and painter. Maybe he spread his net too widely, for his compositions have more or less sunk without a trace - in that respect the Hyperion revival, consisting of this and a companion disc devoted to his symphonic poems, is very welcome. Is the music worth it? I'd go for a "yes", although there are no hidden masterpieces here, nor even an individual voice - yet there is much to savor nonetheless in Wallace's very late romantic, Wagnerian (and Lisztian) music.

The Prelude to The Eumenides dates from 1893 and follows the story outline of Aeschylus's story pretty closely. The result is a slightly episodic work, extravagant but without particularly distinguished thematic material and a work which is overall a little to long. The attractive music for Pelléas and Mélisande from 1900 is more notable, from the passionate opening through the very charming Spinning Song (an innocent but effective waltz sequence) and to the grief-laden, dark finale. There are many fine touches here, although the music falls severely short when compared to alternative treatments of the subject matter (Debussy, Sibelius and Fauré) - an unfair comparison, perhaps, but another way of putting the point I am driving at would be to say that while I'm glad to have heard Wallace's treatment of it, I am less sure I will return to it very often.

The main offering here, however, is the large scale Creation Symphony, Wallace's response to the Biblical story of creation. While again not a masterpiece - the thematic material just isn't strong enough - it is a very rewarding work with many impressive musical touches and colorations; in particular the radiant, shimmering calm music representing the light, but also the depiction of the creation of man is vividly and imaginatively done. It is overall a very fine work, well worth hearing, and throughout Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Scottish SO work wonders to bring the music to life; they are given a splendid recording as well. So to sum up, this is a disc very well worth acquiring of a composer worth getting to know if you don't expect to find another Bantock, say. Definitely recommendable.