Nearly as fine an English symphony as was composed in the '30s -- and that list includes
Walton's First,
Vaughan Williams' Fourth, and
Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem -- E.J. Moeran's G minor Symphony, premiered in 1937, is almost but not quite a four-movement masterpiece. As driven as
Walton, as poetic as
Vaughan Williams, and as dramatic as
Britten, Moeran's symphony is a thoroughly gripping work that succeeds expressively and formally but crucially lacks a distinctive compositional profile. Even in this brilliantly played and masterfully conducted 1968 recording with
Adrian Boult leading the
New Philharmonia, Moeran's symphony, though superbly composed, sounds oddly empty. Too often, one hears Sibelius in the scoring,
Vaughan Williams in the developments, and
Walton in the ostinatos. Too often, one senses Moeran's striving to achieve more than he is capable of -- movements seem to go nowhere, climaxes seem to hang in the air, and the finale's six-chord cadence is wholly unconvincing. Better are Moeran's three-movement Sinfonietta and his Overture for a Masque from 1944. Lighter works with cleaner scoring and more straightforward structures, the works under
Boult and the
London Philharmonic are sparkling and sprightly charmers. Warmly but cleanly recorded in stereo by Lyrita, this disc is for dedicated fans of English modernist orchestral music only.