''This England'' is a classical music album by the

Oregon Symphony The Oregon Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded as the 'Portland Symphony Society' in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States. I ...

under the

artistic direction An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since th ...

Carlos Kalmar Carlos Kalmar (born February 26, 1958, in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan conductor.Macaluso, p. 194 Biography Kalmar began violin studies at age six. At age fifteen, he enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Music where his conducting teacher was Karl ...

, released by Dutch record label

PentaTone Classics Pentatone (stylized as PENTATONE) is an international classical music label located in Baarn, Netherlands. History Three former executives of Philips Classics, Giel Bessels, Dirk van Dijk and Job Maarse, established the label in 2001. The name ...

in November 2012. The album was recorded at the

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (opened as the Portland Publix Theatre before becoming the Paramount Theatre after 1930) is a historic theater building and performing arts center in Portland, Oregon, United States. Part of the Portland Cent ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

, at five performances in February and May 2012. It contains works by three

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

20th-century composers: Edward Elgar's ''

Cockaigne (In London Town) ''Cockaigne (In London Town)'', Op. 40, also known as the ''Cockaigne Overture'', is a concert overture for full orchestra written by the British composer Edward Elgar in 1900–1901. History The success of the ''Enigma Variations'' in 1899 was ...

'', Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 5, and "Four Sea Interludes" and "Passacaglia" from

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

's opera ''

Peter Grimes ''Peter Grimes'', Op. 33, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Montagu Slater based on the section "Peter Grimes", in George Crabbe's long narrative poem '' The Borough''. The "borough" of the opera is a fictional ...

''. The recording was the orchestra's second under Kalmar's leadership, following '' Music for a Time of War'' (2011), which also included works by Britten and Vaughan Williams. ''This England'' received positive critical reception but failed to chart.

Background and composition

''This England'', released by Dutch record label

on November 13, 2012, contains compositions by three

20th-century composers: ''

'' by Edward Elgar, Symphony No. 5 by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and "Four Sea Interludes" and "Passacaglia" from the opera ''

'' (1945) by

. The album contains ten tracks, with works divided into separate tracks for each movement and interlude. The works were recorded live at the

in Portland, Oregon, at five performances in February and May 2012. Symphony No. 5 and ''Cockaigne'' were performed February 18 and 19 as part of the program "Kahane Plays Mozart";"Kahane Plays Mozart": * * the works by Britten were performed May 12–14 as part of the program "Arnaldo Cohen Plays Tchaikovsky"."Arnaldo Cohen Plays Tchaikovsky": * * In his review of the February 18th live performance, ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...

'' James McQuillen noted disturbances from the audience, including coughing and the ringing of one attendant's cell phone. McQuillen suggested the disturbances could be removed from the audio by engineers if the February 19th recording was not preferable. The album was the second recorded during Kalmar's tenure, following '' Music for a Time of War'' (2011), which also included works by Britten and Vaughan Williams and which received

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

nominations for Best Orchestral Performance and

Best Engineered Album, Classical The Grammy Award for Best Engineered Recording, Classical has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes: *In 1959 the award was known as Best Engineered Record (Classical) *From 1960 to 1962 it was awarded as Best Enginee ...

. The recording was the second of four albums expected to be produced by the Symphony and PentaTone by the end of the 2014–2015 season, all under Kalmar's artistic leadership. Like ''Music for a Time of War'', ''This England'' was recorded in hybrid multichannel (

surround sound Surround sound is a technique for enriching the fidelity and depth of sound reproduction by using multiple audio channels from speakers that surround the listener (surround channels). Its first application was in movie theaters. Prior to s ...

)

Super Audio CD Super Audio CD (SACD) is an optical disc format for audio storage introduced in 1999. It was developed jointly by Sony and Philips Electronics and intended to be the successor to the Compact Disc (CD) format. The SACD format allows multiple a ...

format. Blanton Alspaugh served as producer. Alspaugh and John Newton were the recording

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the ...

, and mixing and mastering was conducted by Mark Donahue. In addition to recording the performances, the Boston-based company Soundmirror edited, mixed and mastered the audio. Program notes for the recording were written by Steven Kruger. The album's cover art was designed by David McLaughlin, art director for the Symphony. The Symphony celebrated the recording by hosting a CD release party in late October.

Works

Elgar conducted the world premiere of ''Cockaigne (In London Town)'' at a

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...

concert at

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...

in London in June 1901. The Oregon Symphony last performed the overture in January 1990, under Norman Leyden. The work, which is approximately 15 minutes in length, employs two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, one contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, two cornets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, five percussionists, strings. Symphony No. 5 was composed during the period 1936–1943 and premiered in June 1943, with Vaughan Williams conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall in London. The widely performed work evokes serenity and pastoral settings; despite being completed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Vaughan Williams originally intended the work to be an opera when he began writing it before the war. The symphony, which is approximately 41 minutes in length, contains four movements ("Preludio", "Scherzo", "Romanza" and "Passacaglia") and includes two flutes (second doubling piccolo), oboe, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani and strings. The Oregon Symphony's February 2012 performances were its first performances of Symphony No. 5. The recording continues with Britten's "Four Sea Interludes" and "Passacaglia". The four interludes ("Dawn", "Sunday morning", "Moonlight" and "Storm") have been published separately as Opus 33a; "Passacaglia" has also been published separately as Opus 33b. ''Peter Grimes'' premiered on June 7, 1945, at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London, conducted by

Reginald Goodall Sir Reginald Goodall (13 July 1901 – 5 May 1990) was an English conductor and singing coach noted for his performances of the operas of Richard Wagner and for conducting the premieres of several operas by Benjamin Britten. Early life Goodall ...

. On June 13, Britten conducted the four interludes with the London Philharmonic in Cheltenham; Adrian Boult conducted "Passacaglia" with the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

on August 29. Prior to 2012, the Oregon Symphony's most recent performance of "Four Sea Interludes" had been in 1993 under

James DePreist James Anderson DePreist (November 21, 1936 – February 8, 2013) was an American conductor. DePreist was one of the first African-American conductors on the world stage. He was the director emeritus of conducting and orchestral studies at T ...

; the orchestra had never presented "Passacaglia". The interludes and "Passacaglia" are approximately 16 minutes and 7 minutes, respectively, and include two flutes (both doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, bells, cymbals, gong, snare drum, tam tam, tambourine, tenor drum, xylophone, celeste, harp and strings. The percussion section added a 14-foot chime to produce bell sounds, which had to be stationed horizontally on stage.

Reception

''This England'' received positive critical reception. David Patrick Stearns of '' Philadelphia Daily News'' awarded the album 3.5 out of 4 stars and, also referring to the success of ''Music for a Time of War'', wrote that the repertoire has "perfectly wide appeal, especially in vital, muscular performances such as these". Stearns, who appreciated Kalmar's balance of technicality and the music's "exterior atmosphere", called the performances "thoughtful" and "incisive". He also noted the originality of the interludes and "Passacaglia" from ''Peter Grimes'', claiming they "won't be mistaken for anybody else's." In his review for ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', Brian Horay wrote that the orchestra delivered "knockout" and "beefy-yet-restrained" performances of the ''Peter Grimes'' compositions. Referring to ''This England'' and its preceding album, which featured ''

Sinfonia da Requiem ''Sinfonia da Requiem'', Op. 20, for orchestra is a symphony written by Benjamin Britten in 1940 at the age of 26. It was one of several works commissioned from different composers by the Japanese government to mark Emperor Jimmu's 2600th annive ...

'', Horay said the recordings "showcase Kalmar and his band as supreme interpreters of Benjamin Britten's amazingly colorful brand of orchestral anxiety, inviting the listener to delve ever deeper into painful, yet rewarding, symphonic ambivalence." Classical CD Review's Robert Benson called the Elgar performance "brilliant" and appreciated that "Passacaglia" was programmed before "The Storm". Benson complimented Kalmar (calling him a "conductor to watch") as well as the sound of the recording, describing it as "well-balanced orchestral sound, with a wide dynamic range". He noted the lack of audience interference with the sound and assured audiophiles that they would appreciate the quality. Steven Ritter of Audiophile Audition wrote that the Symphony performed "with a brilliance and verve equal to any on record" and were "entirely attuned to the 'English' idiom". Ritter complimented Kalmar and the orchestra for the performances, saying "Who knew Oregon could sound like this? PentaTone should hold on to this bunch as long as they can, and explore as much repertory as they can handle. Great sound, performances, and production!" Several Oregon publications included ''This England'' on their lists highlighting local products. ''

Portland Monthly ''Portland Monthly'' (also referred to as ''Portland Monthly Magazine'') is a monthly news and general interest magazine which covers food, politics, business, design, events and culture in Portland, Oregon. The magazine was co-founded in 2003 b ...

'' included the album on their list of "November's Best PDX Stuff", which showcases Portland's "coolest products and ideas". ''The Oregonian'' included the album on their list of "25 local gifts under $25". Oregon ArtsWatch contributor Brett Campbell recommended the album on his list of Oregon classical music "stocking stuffers". Campbell wrote that, despite the acoustic limitations of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, the live recordings "achieve admirable depth and clarity that bring out unexpected elements in both major 20th century English compositions". He also complimented Kalmar and the orchestra for their "tightly wound expressiveness" and "sharp" performances, and said their recording of ''Cockaigne'' can "proudly stand alongside other top versions by the likes of the London Symphony Orchestra". ''

The Portland Mercury ''Portland Mercury'' is an alternative bi-weekly newspaper and media company founded in 2000 in Portland, Oregon. It has a sibling publication in Seattle, Washington, called '' The Stranger''. Contributors and staff Editor-in-chief: Wm. Steven ...

'' invited local music industry professionals to list "Portland's Top Five Records of 2012"; the reviewer known as "Angry Symphony Guy" (Brian Horay) included ''This England'' at the top of his list. The CBC Radio 2 program "In Concert" designated the album as the Disc of the Week for the week of January 7, 2013. In her review, the CBC's Denise Ball said of the recording, "the sound is vivid and fresh, and the orchestra plays with remarkable depth of colour and rhythmic drive."

Track listing

Track listing adapted from the album's liner notes. # "''

'', Opus 40" ( Edward Elgar) – 15:02 Symphony No. 5 in D major ( Ralph Vaughan Williams) #

"Preludio: ''Moderato''" – 11:57 # "Scherzo: ''Presto misterioso''" – 5:12 # "Romanza: ''Lento''" – 10:56 # "Passacaglia: ''Moderato''" – 10:15 "Four Sea Interludes" and "Passacaglia" from ''Peter Grimes'', Opus 33a and b (

) #

"Dawn: ''Lento e tranquillo''" – 3:50 # "Sunday morning: ''Allegro spiritoso''" – 3:53 # "Moonlight: ''Andante comodo e rubato''"– 4:54 # "Passacaglia" – 6:53 # "Storm: ''Presto con fuoco''" – 4:30

Personnel

Credits adapted from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

and the album's liner notes.

Production and design

* Blanton Alspaugh – producer * Mark Donahue – mastering, mixing *

– conductor * Steven Kruger –

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

* David McLaughlin – cover art * John Newton – engineer * Franz Steiger – liner notes translation * Brigitte Zwerver-Berret – liner notes translation

Oregon Symphony

* Fumino Ando –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

* Keiko Araki – violin * Jennifer Arnold –

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

* Clarisse Atcherson – violin** * Lucia Atkinson – violin*** * David Bamonte –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

(assistant principal) * Catherine Barrett – harp*** * Joēl Belgique – viola (principal) * Joseph Berger –

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

(associate principal) * Ron Blessinger – violin * Edward Botsford – bass (assistant principal) * Lily Burton – violin* * Sergio Carreno –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

* Ruby Chen – violin * JáTtik Clark –

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

(principal) * Emily Cole – violin * Julie Coleman – violin * Steve Conrow – trumpet* * John Cox – horn (principal) * Jennifer Craig – harp (principal) * Dolores D'Aigle – violin (assistant principal second) * Eileen Deiss – violin * Marilyn de Oliveira –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

(assistant principal) * Niel DePonte – percussion (principal) * Frank Diliberto – bass (principal) * Lisbeth Dreier – violin* * Mark Dubac – clarinet, E-flat clarinet * Jonathan Dubay – violin * Jennifer Estrin – violin*** * Greg Ewer – violin** * Silu Fei – viola * Daniel Ge Feng – violin * Kenneth Finch – cello * Lynne Finch – violin * Trevor Fitzpatrick – cello * Peter Frajola – associate

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

, violin * Erin Furbee – assistant concertmaster, violin * Brian Gardiner – percussion*** * Mary Grant – horn * Kathryn Gray – violin * Jonathan Greeney –

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

(principal) * Yoko Greney –

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

*** * Kimiko Hamaguchi – violin*** * Martin Herbert –

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

(principal) * Donald Hermanns – bass * Leah Ilem – viola * Nancy Ives – cello (principal) * Brian Johnson – bass * Jeffrey Johnson – bass * Mary Ann Coggins Kaza – violin * Graham Kingsbury – horn (assistant principal) * Evan Kuhlmann – bassoon (assistant principal), contrabassoon * Todd Kuhns – clarinet (assistant principal) * Sarah Kwak – guest concertmaster, violin * Shin-young Kwon – violin * Eileen Lande – violin * Aaron LaVere –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

(principal) * Ryan Lee – violin * Matthew McKay – percussion * Ben McDonald – trumpet*** * John McMurtery – flute,* piccolo* * Carin Miller Packwood – bassoon (principal) * Kyle Mustain – English horn, oboe * Yoshinori Nakao – clarinet (principal) * Charles Noble – viola (assistant principal) * Gayle Budd O'Grady – cello * Alicia DiDonato Paulsen – flute (assistant principal) * Stephen Price – viola * Brian Quincey – viola * Gordon Rencher – percussion*** * Charles Reneau – bass trombone, trombone * Viorel Russo – viola * Jason Schooler – bass * Timothy Scott – cello * Jessica Sindell – flute (principal) * Deborah Singer – violin * David Socolofsky – cello * Chien Tan – violin (principal second) * Robert Taylor – trombone (assistant principal) * Adam Trussell – bassoon * Karen Wagner – oboe (assistant principal) * Martha Warrington – viola * Inés Voglar – violin * Raffaela Wahby – violin* * Alicia Waite – horn * Jennifer Whittle – violin*** * Chris Whyte – percussion * Micah Wilkinson – trumpet** * Jeffrey Work – trumpet (principal)

Notes

* * designates acting orchestra members * ** designates musicians on a leave of absence * *** designates guest musicians.

References

External links

''Huffington Post'' review at Soundmirror

Oregon Symphony CD Review: ''This England''

Oregon Symphony (February 2012)

at PentaTone {{Portal bar, Classical music, England, Oregon 2012 classical albums 2012 in Portland, Oregon Albums produced by Blanton Alspaugh Albums recorded at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall Oregon Symphony albums PentaTone Classics albums Works about England