(Section D)
(Led by LAURANCE TURNER )
Conducted by EDGAR BAINTON
JOHN IRELAND has written very little orchestral music ; indeed, he has not written a great deal in any form in relation to his reputation. He composes only when he has something to say and he is satisfied to publish only when he is convinced that he has said it as well as he is able.
Of the orchestral works he has so far issued, one in 1913, one in 1921, this prelude, The Forgotten Rite, is the earlier. It is very largely a poem of Nature. It has its base in a dim age when nature loomed more fully in men's lives than it does at present, and the mood of the music is well in keeping with Ireland's outlook. It was born of impressions received during a holiday in the Channel Islands. The music proceeds with a slow, stately stride for the most part and there is an element of mystery throughout. More than one climax is reached it is true, but in the end the music dies away softly in the distant memories of a dim age.
JOAQUIM TURINA is one of the youngest of the brilliant modem Spanish school. He studied, as most of his colleagues have done, in Paris at the Schola Cantorum under Vincent d'Indy. This work has a link with England, since it is dedicated to Enrique Fernandez Arbos, who for many years was a Professor at the Royal College of Music, and who still possesses more friends in England than almost any Continental conductor. The titles of the movements give a clue to the music ; Triana is a suburb of Seville, and the music is a picture of holiday-making in that place. The Procession, although a separate movement, is actually intended to be part of the fête.