Anglo-Irish Pastoralism

Today it is a disk of music by the 20th century Anglo-Irish composer E J Moeran. There are two works on the disk; Symphony in G Minor and Sinfonietta, composed in 1937 and 1940 respectively. The performers are the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Lloyd-Jones. Moeran belongs to that generation of British composers blown away by the disaster and cultural ramifications of WW2, dying in 1950 at the relatively young age of 56, a situation not helped by a WW1 war wound and alcohol abuse. The music in the symphony is a very fine evocation of the British and Irish countryside, an atmospheric account using elements of Irish and Norfolk song. The Sinfonietta is more episodic but was also inspired by the country landscape, this time around Shropshire. Often castigated for what they were not, composers such as Moeran and Bax are now widely appreciated for what they were and their music is very enjoyable on those terms.