Bowen Symphony no 2

 Day 90

Bowen Symphony no 2 op 31

BBC Philharmonic

Andrew Davis

York Bowen was one of those composers whose music you tended to find in piles of old music in dusty second hand shops. It seems to have been reasonably easy to get music printed in the pre-war period and so much of what was published has vanished into obscurity. York Bowen had undergone a signficant revival in the last 20 years and now there are recordings of much of his music and there is an active society dedicated to promoting his music. 

This symphony dates from 1909 - relatively early in his long composing career. At that time he was seen as one of the leading British composers - major figures performed his music and no less an authority than Saint Saëns commented that Bowen was the leading English composer of his day. But after the first war his star waned and his music fell out of the repertory. This symphony is a full blooded work which lasts about 45 minutes. The biggest influence on the music seems to be Tchaikovsky - indeed on a cold hearing you could easily imagine the work to be by a Russian composer. But perhaps the main issue with the work is its lack of stylistic coherence. Alongside the intense Russian music other parts of the symphony sound more like the sort of British light music which featured in Hyperion’s fabulous light music series. Nothing wrong with that of course - I love some of those pieces - but the contrast does jar. I get the sense that Bowen threw everything he could at the piece - the end in particular is rather overblown and Bowen seemed reluctant to actually reach the final chord!

So another interesting British symphony. Much to enjoy along the way but nothing here which suggests that Saint-Saëns’s view has been vindicated by 100 years of history.