Steve Elcock: Orchestral Music, Volume One
The English composer Steve Elcock (b. 1957) has been writing music since his teens, but with virtually no contacts in the musical world, told no one what he was doing – and thus has evolved a compelling symphonic style entirely his own, combining virtuoso orchestral writing with a sense of momentum that has its roots in the Nordic-British tradition of Sibelius, Nielsen, Simpson, Brian and similar figures. His Third Symphony is a vast canvas generating fierce energy and titanic violence, leavened at times by a sardonic sense of humour. Choses renversées par le temps ou la destruction is a dark symphonic triptych where fragile beauty is constantly at threat from the forces of ignorance. The breezy, buoyant Festive Overture, by contrast, has a Waltonian swagger that barrels on with relentless good humour.
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Paul Mann, conductor
James Clark, leader
Richard Casey, harpsichord Tracks 4, 6
Listen To This Recording:
-
Symphony No. 3, Op. 16 (2005–10)
- I. Allegro
- II. Ostinato (Allegro moderato)
- III. Passacaglia (Tempo di sarabande)
- I. colonnes brisées
- II. Choses renversées par le temps ou la destruction, Op. 20: II moulins de dieu
- III. Choses renversées par le temps ou la destruction, Op. 20: III dernier homme debout
- Festive Overture, Op. 7
Choses renversées par le temps ou la destruction, Op. 20 (2013)
Festive Overture, Op. 7 (1997)
First Recordings
Seth Blacklock :
The name Steve Elcock will not be familiar to most lovers of classical music, including afiçionados, but if there is any justice in the musical world, this situation will be reversed, and needs to be.
The first disc ever released of Elcock’s music is, to use a massive understatement, quite something. I can only echo what others more qualified than I have said: that it is remarkable that such individual, well-wrought and captivating music has had to lie in wait for decades to make it to recordings. Elcock’s masterful orchestrations are wonderfully imaginative, not a note (or a timbre, or compositional device) is wasted; the music is fresh, bracing, exciting, cinematic, intriguingly designed (and, in the case of one work, deconstructed); there is an immediacy to it which is enchanting and the listening experience leaves you wanting more. Further discs will be eagerly awaited.
I hope Elcock’s star will rise thanks to this recording and the diligence shown by conductor Paul Mann, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, label owner Martin Anderson and everyone else involved, but most especially because the composer’s music is thrillingly new, honest, personal and unencumbered by claims of derivation from other composers – claims that can sometimes hamper a composer’s voice. Add to this the, by turns, unassuming and immersive booklet notes by Elcock and Mann and the disc should, by rights, gain all involved the attention that their hard work deserves.
Elcock’s story is truly inspiring and I unreservedly recommended this release.
Guardian :
“Steve Elcock (born 1957) is a phenomenon. … Now, championed by the conductor Paul Mann, we can start to savour this extraordinary mind. This first disc features his dark, titanic Third Symphony, its unstoppable energy brilliantly captured by the RLPO. … A triumphant debut recording.”
—Stephen Pritchard, The Guardian
Gramophone :
‘This album is what kick-started Elcock’s rise in public awareness. Paul Mann elicits a driving, compelling account of the Third Symphony from the orchestra, as he does of Choses renversées par le temps ou la destruction and the early Festive Overture. The recording was cautiously welcomed by Andrew Mellor at the time, but for me it’s a winner.’
—Guy Rickards, Gramophone
MusicWeb International :
The performances are strongly energized […] there’s no doubting the commitment of conductor or orchestra. It will be productive to hear more of Elcock’s music, whether in large-scale form or in the case of some of the chamber music that has been performed of late. It can only act as a spur to consider the range of his compositions and their particular sound worlds and inspirations.’
—Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International
Arcana.FM :
‘Is it recommended?
Indeed, not least when the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra sounds so committed to the cause under the guidance of Paul Mann. The latter contributes an informative overview of these pieces, complemented by the composer’s autobiographical outline. Further instalments are planned, rightly so, but it would be a pleasure to hear these works – the Third Symphony in particular – in live performance; affording this music the tangibility it amply warrants.’
—Richard Whitehouse, Arcana.FM
Art Music Lounge :
‘The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic plays extremely well in all of these, the sonics are excellent, and overall this is another feather in Elcock’s hat.’
—Lynn René Bayley, Art Music Lounge
Classical Music Sentinel :
‘Instead, what I hear from a composer who didn’t witness the first professional performance of one of his pieces until he was 52, is the hard work of an artist who’s absorbed all the raw energy and emotional turmoil evident within the last century of music and forged it into his own highly personal style without succumbing to fads and/or failing to see the final outcome, the audience. It doesn’t adhere to any specific rules or follow any preset formulas, but instead grows and develops in a highly organic manner, and in that sense reminds me of the orchestral music of Carson Cooman but inflicted with frenzied despair and a keen sense of life’s larger machinations. […]
I highly recommend the music of Steve Elcock to all of you out there still fascinated and enthralled by solid symphonic writing, something that we simply cannot allow to be knocked down by time or destruction.’
—Jean-Yves Duperron, Classical Music Sentinel
WTJU :
‘This recording shows Elcock to be a masterful orchestrator, as well as an imaginative melodist. […]
Paul Mann and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra sound great in this recording. Elcock has a fresh musical voice and one that should be heard. I’m glad Toccata made the investment and brought these works out of the drawer.’
—Ralph Graves, WTJU
Fanfare :
‘Paul Mann and his Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra make a splendid case for this demanding music, and I cannot imagine the music being better served than it is here.’
—Fanfare
Classical Source :
‘[The Festive Overture] is a very accessible and enjoyable piece, exuberant, witty, lyrical, colourful and uplifting.
[Symphony No.3] is music of elemental force and eerie atmosphere – Robert Simpson’s Fifth comes into the equation – and proves to be a gripping narrative, very potent and, one suspects, generated from entirely personal and deep feelings, an unstoppable juggernaut if an organised one. […]
However, roll on Volume Two … this first is well-recorded, certainly vivid and dynamic, excellently played and conducted with conviction.’
—Colin Anderson, Classical Source
The Observer :
‘Music of awesome power and majesty that has gone completely unheralded. […] His Choses renversées par le temps ou la destruction pits fragile beauty against brute forces of ignorance, while his Festive Overture is a breathtakingly clever pastiche of Walton and Elgar. […] A triumphant debut recording.’
—The Observer
The Art Desk :
‘Well-recorded, certainly vivid and dynamic, excellently played and conducted with conviction.’
—The Art Desk
BBC Radio 3 :
‘Recording of the Week
7th October 2017’
—BBC Radio 3