English suites no. 6

[calimac]

Here's another charmer by Hubert Parry, Lady Radnor's Suite. Helen, Countess of Radnor, was an enthusiastic amateur musician who conducted the first performance of this suite with her all-female string orchestra at a charity concert in 1894 (not 1902, an oft-cited date which is when it was published).

It's a precursor to the neo-Baroque music which became so popular in the 1910s and 1920s. The movements all have Baroque-evocative titles. The contents are Prelude (0:00), Allemande (2:40), Sarabande (5:06), Bourrée (8:10), Slow Minuet (11:18), and Gigue (13:37).

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[cmcmck]

So glad to listen to it again! :o)

[calimac]

And such a crisp performance, too! I checked several, and you definitely picked the best full one on YouTube.

[cmcmck]

That's what I thought! There's a tendency to take it a little too slow these days.