Quilter Three English Dances

 Day 129

Quilter Three English Dances

Northern Sinfonia

Richard Hickox

I’ve never had a particular interest in the 20th century English song tradition so although I do know a few of Quilter’s songs he is a not a composer I knew much about - the only orchestral piece of his I can recall hearing is the Children’s Overture.  These three dances date from 1911. I found them pleasant enough but at the same time not particularly memorable. There’s nothing of the wit that Grainger - a fellow member of the Frankfurt Gang (see day 127) - brought to such music. One felt that any competent English composer of the time could have turned out music like this almost on demand without too much effort or thought. Quilter fills up a space in the alphabetical list of composers in this blog but I am not sure that, based on this music, he does much more than that!