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After hearing the Grainger works on this disk (among other experiences) I remain unmoved. However, Kenneth Leighton was a better man than I am and found his music inspiring enough to compose the heart-rending string octet on themes of Grainger also featured in this recording.
Although Leighton was English (from Yorkshire, and a chorister in Wakefield Cathedral), anyone expecting the gentle pastoral musings of Vaughan Williams and his school is in for a surprise. Having completed his musical education with Petrassi in Italy, Leighton shrank neither from contrapuntal textures nor from stern, purposeful dissonance in the service of Latinate emotion and passion. However, he usually worked within traditional forms, performing forces, tonalities, spiritualities, and instructions in Italian. Hence, perhaps, his obscurity in America: too abrasive to conservative ears, while not venturesome enough for the avant-gardists. Now that the classical-music world at large has taken at least a respite from its exhausting pursuit of chimeras, the combination of assured craftsmanship and emotional accessibility of Kenneth Leighton's works commend him as a prime candidate for wider appreciation.
