Search - Charles Villiers Stanford, Vernon Handley, Ulster Orchestra :: Stanford: Piano Concerto 2 / Concert Variations

Stanford (1852-1924), along with Parry, form the first stage of the three-stage rocket of British Romanticism. They taught Vaughan Williams's generation. Stanford based nearly all his music on indigenous folk music themes, but still tended to be more classically expressed. His Piano Concerto 2 (1911) is a direct homage to Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto 2, which Stanford had also conducted. His Concert Variations upon an English Theme (Down Among the Dead Men), of 1898, is a more youthful work, a series of variations on an ancient theme from William Chappell's Popular Music of Olden Time. Dynamic and engaging--a Chandos gem. --Paul Cook