[L]ocal enterprise, to be sure, but one which deserves nationwide or indeed international dissemination…. John Marsh …spent 40 years of his life at Chichester in Sussex… The five symphonies were written between about 1770 and 1788. The spirit of Handel is apparent, as is the influence of J. C. Bach ... But Marsh was more than a mere provincial amateur. His work has strength and a very pleasant, engaging and individual personality, the quality of invention is high, and the craftsmanship is skilled, steady and secure…. Marsh deserves much more than local posthumous esteem, for there were contemporary composers of international fame who wrote much less appealing music than here…. The Chichester Concert, on copies of 18thcentury instruments, are an accomplished group, and Ian GrahamJones directs stylish, lively performances. The players are recorded in an attractive, quite spacious acoustic and the quality is first rate.
— Gramophone
Rare English symphonies that straddle the baroque and classical styles
John Marsh: Five Symphonies
Chichester Concert / Ian Graham-Jones
Alto ALC-1017
Number of Units: 1 CD
EAN: 894640001172
English composer John Marsh was in fact an amateur — albeit a greatly gifted amateur. His father, a captain in the Royal Navy, wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. But Marsh, more interested in music, persuaded his father to allow him to undertake legal training. He became an apprentice of a solicitor in Romsey — as he learned to play the violin and several other instruments. When Marsh set up practice in Romsey for himself, he also founded a series of subscription concerts for which he himself wrote some compositions. His 1776 move to Salisbury to enter a legal partnership also opened an opportunity to play violin in subscription concert series of which he became leader in 1780 and write symphonies which were performed during the subscription concerts as well as during the Salisbury Festival. Subsequent moves to Kent and Chichester followed the same pattern, and his skill as a musician, impressario, and musical leader had an enormous impact on the evolution of concert presentation in late 18th century England.
Sadly, few of his compositions have survived; those that do reveal his impressive skills as a composer, as Ian Graham-Jones and his players demonstrate in this program of symphonies by Marsh.
| CD 1 |
| 1 |
Symphony No. 1 in B-flat |
I. Allegro |
01:15 |
| 2 |
Symphony No. 1 in B-flat |
II. Andante |
00:55 |
| 3 |
Symphony No. 1 in B-flat |
III. Allegro |
01:03 |
| 4 |
Symphony No. 3 in D |
I. Allegro |
01:15 |
| 5 |
Symphony No. 3 in D |
II. Andante |
03:26 |
| 6 |
Symphony No. 3 in D |
III. Presto |
02:02 |
| 7 |
Symphony No. 4 in F |
I. Allegro |
01:42 |
| 8 |
Symphony No. 4 in F |
II. Larghetto |
01:55 |
| 9 |
Symphony No. 4 in F |
III. Minuetto |
01:52 |
| 10 |
Symphony No. 6 in D |
I. Largo maestoso - Allegro spiritoso |
00:43 |
| 11 |
Symphony No. 6 in D |
I. Andante |
04:22 |
| 12 |
Symphony No. 6 in D |
II. Minuetto |
02:07 |
| 13 |
Symphony No. 6 in D |
III. Allegro scherzando |
01:57 |
| 14 |
A Conversation Symphony for Two Orchestras |
I. Allegro maestoso |
06:10 |
| 15 |
A Conversation Symphony for Two Orchestras |
II. Andante - Adagio |
04:29 |
| 16 |
A Conversation Symphony for Two Orchestras |
III. Allegretto |
06:09 |
Chichester Concert / Ian Graham-Jones
All symphonies edited Ian Graham-Jones except No.1, ed. Brian Robins
Rec: Chichester July 1989
Producer: Jackie Warrender; Associate Producer: Arthur J. Cook
Recording Engineer: Antony Howell,
Licensed from Francis A. Wilson
Mastered for alto by Paul Arden Taylor (www.dinmore-records.co.uk)
Last modified on Wednesday, 28 September 2011 16:22
