WALTER LEIGH (1905-1942): Overture: Agincourt, Concertino for Harpsichord and String Orchestra, Music for String Orchestra, A Midsummer Night's Dream - Suite for Small Orchestra, The Frogs, Jolly Roger Overture.
Catalogue Number: 10J061
Label: Lyrita
Reference: SRCD.289
Format: CD
Price: $18.98
Description: Leigh was a chameleon-like composer who wrote music perfectly suited for particular occasions and events. Nothing on this disc sounds like any of the other pieces - the Elgarian pomp of Agincourt (for King George VI's coronation in 1937), the Gilbert & Sullivan-like Jolly Roger overture (1933), the sometimes Ravelian, neo-classical Concertino of 1934 - and his apparent desire to work under constraints and with deadlines probably precluded any such self-expression in his music, making it hard to imagine what the "personal" Leigh might have been like. Trevor Pinnock (harpsichord), London Philharmonic Orchestra, New Philharmonia Orchestra; Nicholas Braithwaite. 1979 and 1985 LP releases.