BBC - Symphony Orchestra - Performances

The Manchester-born composer and conductor John Foulds came from a musical family: his father was a bassoonist with the Hallé, and in 1900, Foulds followed him into the orchestra, as a cellist. The Hallé's conductor, Hans Richter, recognised Foulds's talent as a conductor; on a visit to Germany in 1906, he introduced Foulds to Delius, Mahler and Humperdinck. Conducting lessons with Lamoureux, Mahler and Nikisch followed, but the success of tone poem Epithalamium at a Henry wood Promenade Concert that same year prompted Foulds to leave the Hallé and launch himself as a composer.

Foulds initially made his mark in light music and theatre music, but public service appointments ranging from music director with the Central YMCA, to that of European music director of All-India Radio, showed a wide ranging, culturally inquisitive, and socially responsible talent; time spent in Sicily and Paris further broadened his horizons.

Latterly, because of his job and his travels in India, Foulds's music became influenced by the myriad tonal and rhythmic possibilities of the Indian raga – including its use of repetitions. Accordingly, Foulds's music may be seen to prefigure the work of composers as diverse as Messiaen and John Adams.

The writer Malcolm Macdonald summarises Foulds's music as follows: 'His most admired contemporaries included Busoni, Skryabin and Bartók; among English-speaking composers his output has affinities with Grainger and Holst. Upon an early stylistic basis deriving from Schumann, Brahms, Liszt and Wagner, Foulds steadily expanded his range to command diatonic dissonance, folksong elements, extreme chromaticism, bitonality, in synthesis with pioneering advances of his own.'

Perhaps Foulds's best-know 'serious' work (though it is seldom performed) is the quasi-piano concerto, Dynamic Triptych; but in its day, the World Requiem – a commemoration for the war dead – cemented Foulds's 'serious' reputation much as his popular Keltic Lament had done for his light music output in 1911. The World Requiem was adopted by the British Legion as the centrepiece of its Armistice Night celebrations from 1923 to 1926 – these events were the precursors of the Festivals of Remembrance which are televised from the Royal Albert Hall every November. A large-scale work for soloists, choirs, organ and orchestra, the World Requiem involved 1200 musicians in its early performances; a modern revival is long overdue.

Recommended recording: Warner Classics 2564 62999-2 includes Foulds' Dynamic Triptych, April-England, Music-Pictures Group III, The Song of Ram Dass and the perennial light music favourite, Keltic Lament. With Peter Donohoe (piano) and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sakari Oramo.

Also recommended: Warner Classics 2564 61525-2 – 'Three Mantras' from Avatara; Lyra Celtica – concerto for voice and orchestra Op. 50 (1925); Apotheosis (Elegy) – Music Poem No. 4 for violin and orchestra Op. 18 (1907); Mirage – Music Poem No. 5 for orchestra Op. 20 (1910). With Susan Bickley (mezzo), Daniel Hope (violin) and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo.

© Graeme Kay/BBC

John Foulds: A World Requiem