The fourth volume of Dutton Epoch's exploration of John Foulds' light and theatre music is every bit as entertaining as the previous volumes, with many delightful discoveries, and concentrates on typically extrovert and tuneful music from the 1920s and '30s. It is complemented by the surviving two movements (the Lento e Scherzetto) of a second cello concerto (it would actually have been the first) from 1906, and our first experience of Foulds' grandly Wagnerian unheard epic The Vision of Dante, in the premiere performance of the Prelude. The atmospheric suite from George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan once one of Foulds' most popular works and the Prelude to Euripides' tragedy Hippolytus bring a more serious tone to the proceedings. The boisterous and catchy Grand Durbar March, however, reminds us that Foulds spent his last years in India.

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Carnival (ca. 1934)

The Vision of Dante Prelude (1905-08)

Lento e Scherzetto for cello and orchestra, Op.12 (1906) BH
Lento calmo Scherzetto: Allegro molto ed elegante

Saint Joan Suite, Op.82 (1924 arr 1925)*
i. Domrémy
ii. The Fairy Tree
iii. The Maid
iv. Orleans
v. The Martyr
vi. Epilogue

Hippolytus Prelude, Op.84 No.1 (1925) BA
edited and partially reconstructed by Malcolm MacDonald

Puppet Ballet Suite (1932-34)
i. Prelude
ii. Love-scene
iii. Passepied
iv. Dream Waltz
v. March Finale

Badinage (1936)
edited by Malcolm MacDonald

Grand Durbar March (1937-38)

World Premiere Recordings except*

BH Benjamin Hughes (cello solo)
BA Bethany Akers (oboe solo)
BBC Concert Orchestra
Ronald Corp (conductor)

Recorded: Abbey Road Studio No.1, London, 10-12 September 2013 [2-10, 13] & Watford Colosseum, 7 February 2014 [1, 11-12, 14-18] CDLX 7311

“This may well be the most rewarding volume yet in Dutton’s hugely enterprising John Foulds series.” “Throughout, Ronald Corp secures a chipper and affectionate response from the BBC CO. A truly excellent anthology.” Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone, November 2014

“This is a particularly exuberant addition to Dutton’s ongoing series devoted to this early 20th-century British maverick.” “Ronald Corp and the BBC CO pitch with gusto and lovely bright colours.” Geoff Brown, BBC Music Magazine

“Ronald Corp draws committed playing from the BBC CO” Richard Whitehouse, International Record Review, October 2014