GUSTAV HOLST (1874-1934): Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 - First Choral Symphony for Soprano, Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 41, The Mystic Trumpeter for Soprano and Orchestra, Op. 18.

Description: This series continues with apparently only the third recording of the Choral Symphony (1924) which sets a veritable rag-bag of texts by Keats (including many with Greek subjects, like the famous "Ode to a Grecian Urn", which uses archaic open fifths).  The music is particulary challenging for the singers, with chromatic phrases and bitonal chords especially noteworthy in its scherzo (with orchestral reminiscences of Mercury from The Planets). Wagnerian elements still cling to the early (1904, rev. 1912) setting of Whitman. (This was the program Richard Hickox was recording with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales when he died in 2008; Chandos, needless to say, could not use those incomplete takes and had to start all over afresh.) Texts included. Susan Gritton (soprano), BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra; Andrew Davis.