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Indomitable
Spirit - the Music of George Lloyd: TROY 703
This CD is a retospective compilation of some of Lloyd's
lesser known works. There is barely a minute of George
Lloyd's music in which you cannot hear his English roots,
and none which so fully embodies them as Party Politics,
which combines the pomp of Elgar with the playfulness
of Walton. Lloyd first came to prominence through opera,
and no collection of his work would be complete without
an extract from his first great work, Iernin. Written
when Lloyd was just 19, this solo from the first act displays
an emotional maturity which belies its composer's youth.
Like so many, George's first musical training was as a
violinist: his empathy with the instrument, formed during
four years' study with the virtuoso Albert Sammons, is
clearly evident in the 2nd movement of his 1st Violin
Concerto. In the concertos we see the composer at his
most eloquent, from the crashing anguish of the 1st 'Scapegoat'
Piano concerto, to the bittersweet Cello Concerto. Through
all of his music, it is the unerring sense of melody which
makes Lloyd stand out: in 12 symphonies rammed with memorable
tunes, some great moments come in the adagios, such as
the 2nd movement of his 7th Symphony, where wistful melancholy
and stirring cantabile strings mingle with a panache to
rival Mahler. In Memoriam conveys a similar air of lyrical
but dignified reminiscence, this time scored exclusively
for Brass - a Marine bandsman in WWII, Lloyd became renowned
as a writer of test pieces for National Brass Band contests.
Interestingly, late in his life, as he came to write his
final work, a Requiem, Lloyd chose not to indulge in the
soulful tunes which he wrote so freely, instead producing
a piece more instinctively characterful: the Counter Tenor
solo recalls his early operatic influences, and the choruses
are often as exhilarating as the brass outbursts in his
symphonies. It was with choral music that Lloyd, after
years out of action and out of favour, once more found
wider appreciation - the Benedictus is typical of the
dramatic writing in his Symphonic Mass and Litany which
continues to captivate singers and audiences alike. A
lifelong devotee of Verdi, Lloyd wrote most naturally
on a grand scale; by means of contrast his chamber music
is intense and controlled. The Violin Sonata, bubbles
with a tempered vivacity, whereas the piano works are
more serene: The Lily Leaf and the Grasshopper is a masterful
descriptive miniature; the quiet Intercom Baby is a singular
vindication of Lloyd's melodic defiance. A man of many
colours, George Lloyd is perhaps best summed up in the
final track, from his 4th 'Arctic' Symphony: the composer
paints a respectful and vivid picture of the ocean which
changed his life, yet from beneath its terrible glassy
texture rises the unmistakeable sound of the indomitable
spirit. |
Biographical
Details
George Lloyd was born at St. lves, Cornwall, in 1913. He began
playing the violin at the age of five and writing music at ten.
Later he studied the violin with Albert Sammons, counterpoint with
C.H. Kitson and composition with Harry Farjeon. In 1932 he wrote his
First Symphony, which was later played by the Bournemouth Municipal
Orchestra. Two more symphonies quickly followed, the Third being played
by the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
His first opera 'Iernin', with a libretto by his father, was produced
at Penzance, Cornwall, in 1934; it was so successful that the following
year a special season was arranged for it at the Lyceum Theatre, London;
The Times commented that "... George Lloyd showed that rarest of all
qualities in a British composer, an almost unerring perception of what
the stage requires". The composer was by then conducting all his own
works.
During the summer of 1936 he was in Switzerland and met a Swiss girl,
Nancy Juvet; they were married the following year.
In 1938 a second opera, 'The Serf', conducted by Albert Coates, was
produced at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and subsequently in
Liverpool and Glasgow. Reviewing the opera the Liverpool Daily Post
wrote "... let us say at once that Mr Lloyd's opera is the most
successful that has appeared on the native stage since Rutland
Boughton's 'The Immortal Hour"'.
These early successes were brought to an abrupt end in 1939 by the
Second World War, during which George Lloyd served in the Royal
Marines. Most of his service was spent in the Arctic on Convoy duty,
as bandsman and gunner on HMS Trinidad, where, after several
engagements his ship was torpedoed. He was one of only three members
of the band to survive, and he was severely shell- shocked. His health
and personality disintegrated, and he was invalided out in 1942.
He was unable to do any work of any kind for over three years but
in 1945 he recovered sufficiently to leave England for his wife's
home in Switzerland, where he lived until 1948 and wrote his Fourth
and Fifth Symphonies.
Returning to England, he and his father were commissioned by the
Arts Council to write a new opera for the Festival of Britain, to
be played throughout the country by the Carl Rosa Opera Company.
This opera 'John Socman', was given a series of performances in
1951, but very serious problems with the production, combined with
the pressure of having completed the opera within two years and with
continued bad health, drove George Lloyd into abandoning the musical
world and withdrawing to the country.
During the next two decades he and his wife built up a carnation
and mushroom growing business; composition was only intermittent.
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Eventually his health improved and more works were
written so that by 1973, when he sold his business, he had four
more symphonies and four concertos to his credit.
In 1977 George Lloyd's musical fortunes took on a new lease of life;
his Eighth Symphony was premiered by the BBC Northern Symphony
Orchestra under Edward Downes. It made an immediate impact on the
listening public. Since then the BBC have performed seven more
symphonies, but meanwhile three were recorded for the Lyrita
label by the Philharmonia Orchestra, London, conducted by Edward
Downes.
In 1984 George Lloyd made his re-appearance as a conductor,
performing his Fourth Piano Concerto at the Royal Festival Hall,
London, with the London Symphony Orchestra and Kathryn Stott as
soloist. He has now recorded all four of his piano concertos and
all twelve of his symphonies for the Albany label; the Eleventh
and Twelfth Symphonies were commissioned by the Albany Symphony
Orchestra, New York; during the '89-'91 seasons George Lloyd acted
as Principal Guest Conductor of the orchestra. In 1993, Lloyd was
commissioned by the Brighton International Festival to write his
'Symphonic Mass', which was recorded by Albany Records shortly after
the premiere. This was followed by recordings of the complete opera
'Iernin', highlights from his Festival of Britain opera 'John Socman',
and the premiere performance and recording of 'A Litany, '
commissioned by the Guildford Choral Society and performed at the
Royal Festival Hall, London, in March 1996.
In autumn 1996, George Lloyd suffered heart failure, and was treated
in hospital for some weeks. He was determined to carry on working
however, as he felt that he had more music which he wanted to write,
and within a year he had completed a cello concerto. The strain of
that work caused further deterioration in his health, and recognising
that his days were probably numbered, he set about writing his
Requiem Mass, dedicated to the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales.
He felt that his strength would not be equal to the effort required
to compose a full orchestral score, so he wrote for small chorus,
counter-tenor soloist, and organ. The score of the Requiem was
completed in early 1998, and he finished the proof-reading about
six weeks before he was once again admitted to hospital suffering
from heart failure. He died on July 3rd, 1998, at the age of 85.
His wife Nancy, who contributed so much to George Lloyd's life and
work, survived him by 18 months. She returned to Switzerland to
visit her family in late 1999, and died near Lancaster in February
2000, a few days away from her 87th birthday.
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