Conductor, Sir DAN GODFREY
PHILIP CATHIE (Violin)
From The Pavilion, Bournemouth
As in the case of all great composers, Brahms was the centre of a circle many members of which, such as Herzogenberg, Bronsart, Ignatz Brüll, and Friederich Gernsheim , if not possessing genius, at least had great talent. Gernsheim was born of Hebrew parents in 1839, and studied at the Leipzig Conservatorium under Moschelcs, Hauptmann, and Richter, afterwards becoming well known as an accomplished pianist, composer, and conductor. His compositions include four symphonies and a number of chamber works, and the Violin Concerto in D which is to be performed this afternoon. Briefly summing up Gernsheim's style, one might say that it is always scholarly and tinged with the influence of Brahms, and certainly in this Concerto there is much more intellectual depth than in Max Bruch.
Rachmaninov has little in common with the Russian Nationalist composer and, like Tchaikovsky, is far more cosmopolitan in outlook. His music is characterised by sweeping and expressive melodies of a romantic kind, vitality of rhythm, and a masterly use of rich orchestral colour, which qualities are to be found in abundance in the E minor Symphony. This fine work was first performed in England at the Leeds Festival in 1910 under the baton of the composer.
(From Bournemouth)