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CECIL ARMSTRONG GIBBS
ODYSSEUS
& GEORGE DYSON
FOUR SONGS FOR SAILORS

CECIL ARMSTRONG GIBBS
Odysseus: Symphony in four movements (1937-8) for soprano and baritone soli, mixed chorus and orchestra
(words by Mordaunt Currie)

Susan Gritton (soprano)
Mark Stone (baritone)

SIR GEORGE DYSON
Four Songs for Sailors (1948) for chorus, strings, brass and timpani

BBC CONCERT ORCHESTRA
LONDON ORIANA CHOIR
David Drummond (conductor)

Recorded at The Colosseum, Town Hall, Watford, 24-25 November 2007

Armstrong Gibbs was once a favourite composer of local choral societies, but his masterpiece, the choral symphony Odysseus, has seldom been heard because it immediately preceded the Second World War and afterwards never really established itself. Yet it is a cherishable score, and if you like Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony you will love this tuneful and evocative work. Here Susan Gritton and Mark Stone revel in their roles as soprano and baritone soloists respectively. Telling the familiar story of Odysseus’s legendary wanderings around the eastern Mediterranean after the fall of Troy , and his return to Ithaca , Odysseus – which in fact is Gibbs’s second symphony – has long been requested by enthusiasts. It is vividly realised by the London Oriana Choir and the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by David Drummond. The choir also make Four Songs for Sailors, Dyson’s tuneful songs for chorus, strings, brass and timpani, sound effortless, and with the work’s theme of ships and sailors is the perfect complement to Armstrong Gibbs’s epic vision.

Cecil Armstrong Gibbs: In the High Alps; Lakeland Pictures; Herbert Howells: Gadabout; Slow Dance; Cobbler's Hornpipe; There was a most beautiful lady; Triumph Tune; Sarum Sketches; Rhapsody; Jackanapes.

Alan Cuckston, piano

Swinsty FEW 123CD

Paul Corder: Nine Preludes; William Hurlstone: Capriccio in B minor; Ernest Farrar: Valse Caprice & Shadow Dance; J.B.McEwan: Three Preludes; Frederick Delius: Dance for Harpsichord & Three Preludes; Cecil Armstrong Gibbs: Four Preludes; Herbert Howells: Phantasy.

Alan Cuckston, piano

Swinsty FEW 118CD

Arte Nova Voices includes Cecil Armstrong Gibb's 'Three Men of Gotham' with works by Paul Edmonds, Cecil Engelhardt, Michael Balfe Cecile Louise Chaminade, Renato Brogi, Luigi Denza, Johannes Brahms, H Weidt, Carl Hirsch & Felix Mendelssohn.

Peter Edelmann, Paul Armin Edelmann, baritones & Philp Moll, piano

Arte Nova 80788

Britain's Choice includes Cecil Armstrong Gibb's 'Dusk' with works by Percy Grainger, Roger Quilter, Geoffrey Toye, Henry Balfour Gardiner, Gordon Langford, Robert Farnon, Ernest Tomlinson, Trevor Duncan, Frederic Curzon, Ronald Binge, Robert Docker & Peter Hope.

Light Music Society Orchestra conducted by Vivian Dunn

Vocalion CDLK4182 (2CD set)

British Light Music Classics Volume 1 includes Cecil Armstrong Gibb's 'Dusk' with works by Wilhelm Meyer Lutz, Geoffrey Toye, Archibald Joyce, Albert William Kettelby, Edward White, Charles Ancliffe, Anthony Collins, Robert Farnon, Vivian Ellis, Frederic Curzon, Eric Coates, Sydney Baynes, Charles Williams, Ronald Binge

New London Orchestra conducted by Ronald Corp

Hyperion 66868

British Light Classics Volume 2 includes Cecil Armstrong Gibb’s ‘Dusk’ with works by Daniel Strong Godfrey, Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Eric Coates, Charles Williams, Robert Farnon,
Geoffrey Toye, Albert William Ketèlbey, Frederic Curzon, Ronald Binge, Sir Hamilton Harty, Charles Ancliffe, Peter Hope, Ernest Bucalossi, Archibald Joyce, Sydney Baynes,
Wilhelm Meyer Lutz.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Barry Wordsworth

UK Light 62020

British Light Music Miniatures includes Cecil Armstrong Gibb's 'Dusk' with work by Anthony Collins, Mark Lubbock, Benjamin Frankel, Vivian Ellis, Arthur Benjamin, Robert Docker, Edward Elgar, Harry Dexter, Ken Warner, Gordon Jacob, Ernest Tomlinson, Gilbert Vinter, Geoffrey Toye, Edward White, George Melachrino and Clive Richardson.

RTE Concert Orchestra conducted by Ernest Tomlinson

Marco Polo 8223522

Ca' the yowes - A Collection of 20th Century Part Songs includes Cecil Armstrong Gibbs's 'The Listeners' with works by Lennox Berkeley, Gustav Holst, Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, Frederick Delius, Robert Chilcott, Gerald Finzi & Traditional.

The Gentlemen of St. John's College Choir

Etcetera Records 66868

The Complete New English Hymnal Volume 10 includes Cecil Armstrong Gibb's 'Judge eternal, throned in splendour' with hymn tunes by Charles Wesley, William Jones, James Green, William Croft, John Ireland, William Henry Monk, Richard Redhead, John Randall, Percy Carter Buck, John Roberts, Thomas Olivers and some traditional & anonymous.

Christopher Gray, organ; Truro Cathedral Choir conducted by Andrew Nethsingha

Priory Records 710

English Organ Music from Hull City Hall includes Cecil Armstrong Gibbs's 'Lyric Melody' from Six Sketches for Organ Book One with works by Basil Harwood, Thomas Dunhill, Percy Whitlock, Christopher Steel, William Faulkes and Francis Jackson.

Roger Fisher, organ

Amphion PHICD197

Favourite English Songs includes Cecil Armstrong Gibb's 'Silver Op.30 No.2' with works by Edward Elgar, Maude Valerie White, Thomas Dunhill, Roger Quilter, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Dorothy Hogben, Benjamin Britten, Lennox Berkeley, Geoffrey Bush, Herbert Howells, Frank Bridge, Michael Head, Liza Lehmann, Graham Peel, Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, Lord Berners, Percy Grainger, Peter Warlock and William Walton.

Felicity Lott, soprano & Graham Johnston, piano.

Chandos Collect CHAN6653 [originally released on CHAN 8722]

Forever England includes Cecil Armstrong Gibb's 'A Song of Shadows Op.15 No.3' with works by Henry Purcell, William Byrd, John Rutter, Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Edward Elgar

Performers: Judy Loman, Simon Preston, Ruth Watson Henderson, Paul Houle, Margaret Wolfe, Gillian Howard
Conductor: James Judd, Willfried Boettcher, Jean Ashworth Bartle
Orchestra/Ensemble: Hallé Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Children's Chorus

IMP Carlton Classics 6702799

Janet Baker English Song Anthology includes Cecil Armstrong Gibbs's 'This is a Sacred City' & 'Love is a Sickness Op.44/1' with works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Ireland, Michael Head, Thomas Dunhill, Peter Warlock, Herbert Howells, Ivor Gurney, and Gerald Finzi

Dame Janet Baker, Martin Isepp, piano

Regis RRC1265

A Marian Christmas includes Cecil Armstrong Gibbs's 'Cradle Song' with music by Franz Biebl, David Conte, Robert Parsons, Johannes Brahms, Healey Willan, Gaspar van Weerbeke, Terry Schlenker, Tomás Luis de Victoria, David Cutforth, Peter Warlock,
Charles Hubert Parry, Alfred Whitehead, Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Hugo Distler, Michael Praetorius

St. Martin's Chamber Choir conducted by Timothy J. Krueger

St Martin's Chamber Choir 7905

My Own Country includes Cecil Armstrong Gibbs's 'The Stranger' and 'Five Eyes' with works by Arthur Sullivan, Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Roger Quilter, George Dyson, Ivor Gurney, Herbert Howells, Michael Head, Peter Warlock and Benjamin Britten.

Harry Sever, Robert Bottone, piano

Herald HAVPCD311

The Queen's Hall Light Orchestra Volumes 1 & 2 includes Cecil Armstrong Gibb's 'Dusk' with music by Robert Busby; Arthur Benjamin; Charles Williams; Robert Farnon; Frederic Curzon; Sidney Torch; Clive Richardson; Eric Coates; Clifton Parker; Len Stevens; Peter Yorke; Haydn Wood; Jack Strachey; Vivian Ellis; Joyce Cocharane; Lloyd Thomas; Geoffrey Henman; James Moody; Richard Addinsell; Jack Beaver; Tony Lowry; Eric Siday; Philip Green; Michael North; John Holliday; Mark Lubbock & Montague Phillips.

Queen's Hall Light Orchestra

Dutton Vocalion CDEA 6021 & 6061

The Singers - Maggie Tayte includes Cecil Armstrong Gibb's 'The Fields are full of summer still' with works by Jaques Offenbach, Andre Messager, Gabriel Faure, Reynaldo Hahn, Anton Dvorak, Henry Gibson, Sigmund Romberg, Charles Cuvillier, Noel Coward, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Roger Quilter, Frederick Delius, Frank Bridge, Amherst Webber & Graham Peel.

Maggie Teyte, soprano; George Reeves & Rita Mackay, piano.

London Decca 467916 review

Steal Away to Jesus- Spirituals and Prayers includes Cecil Armstrong Gibbs's 'Tranquility' with works by Josquin Des Préz, John Sheppard, Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Franz Schubert, Leos Janácek, Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Frederick Delius, Francis Poulenc, Traditional

Wells Cathedral Choir conducted by Andrew Nethsingha

Griffin 4050

Twenty Four Aspects of an Amorous Nature includes Cecil Armstrong Gibb's, The Cherry Tree with works by John Ireland, Roger Quilter, Maude Valerie White, Gerald Finzi, Michael Head, Peter Warlock, Henry Carey, George Frederic Handel, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gunter Raphael, Arthur Somervell, Edward Elgar & Frank Bridge.

Peter Jeffes, tenor and David Woodcock, piano.

Symposium 1183