To be given before an audience in the Concert Hall, Broadcasting House
Dennis Noble (baritone)
Alan Bush (pianoforte)
The BBC Men's Chorus
(Chorus master, Leslie Woodgate )
The BBC Orchestra
(Section E)
Led by Laurance Turner
Conductor, Sir Adrian Boult
Concerto for pianoforte and orchestra, with baritone solo and male voice chorus in the last movement. Text by Randall Swingler
Alan Bush
1 Con moto moderato ma deciso. 2 Con vivacita ma non troppo allegro. 3 Grave-Allegro vigoroso
(Solo pianoforte, ALAN BUSH. Solo baritone, DENNIS NOBLE)
Alan Bush was born in London in 1900, studied at the Royal Academy of Music where he is now a professor, and was a pupil of John Ireland for composition. His ' Dance Overture ' and String Quartet, ' Dialectic ', were broadcast for the first time in 1935, and his Concert Piece for cello aM piano was broadcast in March, 1937.
The Concerto for piano and orchestra, with baritone solo and male voice chorus is his most recent and most important work to date. It is in three movements, and the choir makes its entry in the last, which is in the form of a Rondo. The solo part is a virtuoso part throughout, with the exception of the last movement, when the piano is subordinated to the chorus and soloist. The composer's intention is to bring his work into line with life, and to link it up with some of the problems of existence in the social community of today ; and the role of the chorus is to do this by making a direct appeal to the audience. Thus their opening words are: 'Friends, we would speak a little of this performance', and the work ends with a forecast of the future and a reference to ' things to come