Lloyd: Symphonies 6 & 10, John Socman Overture

This CD contains the sixth and tenth symphonies of George Lloyd and is essential to any collector wanting the complete set of Lloyd's 12 symphonies. The CD, also, contains the Overture to "John Socman". The 10th Symphony ("November Journeys"), dating from 1981, is scored for brass. The other works are scored for full orchestra.The music is delightful. The performances by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and the recordings are very good indeed.I am pleased to recommend this disc.

I suspect some may view the music of George Lloyd (1913-1998) as something of a guilty pleasure. His idiom is staunchly conservative, melodic, life-affirming and atmospheric, very much out of touch with his times, one might argue. But, more importantly, it is a genuine pleasure. This is superbly crafted, inventive and imaginative music, full of color, spirit and memorable material - the early works of Braga Santos strikes me as an obvious comparison, though Lloyd's language is very much British. That said, I probably wouldn't quite recommend newcomers to the music to start with this disc - the fourth symphony being probably the obvious recommendation (though I admit that I do not know more than a few of his symphonies).The sixth symphony is rather small-scale compared to the majority of Lloyd's symphonies; not only is it shorter, it is also more lightly scored. Though it may lack the profundity of some of the others, it makes up much in formal tautness and elegance. The opening movement is spirited and spry, sporting one of the simple, haunting themes one expects from the composer, effectively and resourcefully developed. The calmly nostalgic adagio is simple but effective, and the final Vivace is ebullient and twinkling, folk-like and impish. No, this work doesn't try to scale any existential heights or the deepest abysses but neither, remember, did Mozart.The tenth is a different proposition. This is a rather large-scale work scored for brass only, and although I am sure brass aficionados would find it interesting, for us ordinary listeners this is a bit too much. It is certainly skillfully put together, and Lloyd certainly knew how to write for his forces, but although some of the ideas are good they don't strike me as being quite on the level of some of his other music, though the finale is very effective - it is also a bit more modern in sound than the sixth. Still, I can't avoid deeming this one primarily for the specialists.As a bonus we get the enjoyable, lively John Socman overture, and everything is played with spirit and panache by the BBC Philharmonic (the BBC Philharmonic Brass in the tenth) under the direction of the composer. I have no complaints about the performances, nor the recorded sound, and this is, indeed, a really enjoyable disc - though again, none of the works can quite stand up to (especially) the composer's fourth symphony.