Edwardian Romance

Sir Granville Bantock was a contemporary of Elgar and at the time was considered to be no less a figure. It is history that so far has treated them differently. Elgar himself said that Bantock had "the most fertile musical brain of our time" and his music was considered more modern than Elgar. I think the dates of his life are significant here, 1868 - 1946, a period when changes in society at large and certainly in music were overwhelming. So to be writing still in a romantic vein at the outbreak of WW2 was looked upon as being anacronistic. This cd by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vernon Handley features three works, including one written in 1939 to which the anachronistic tag could be applied. It was his third symphony but had the programmatic title of The Cyprian Goddess. Bantock didn't write any film music but there is a visual feel here and a nostalgia that is understandable in a man of his age at the time. The other works are Helena, a set of variations on the theme of his wife's initials and a reply to Elgar's Enigma written just after at the turn of the century, and a poem for orchestra based on Dante and Beatrice. Music of a time and place but not to be criticised for that and certainly standing comparison with Elgar.