CDs featuring Philip SPRATLEY

TOCC0088   details

Philip Spratley: Music for String Orchestra

Sinfonietta, Op. 6
Clarinet Concertino, Byard’s Leap, Op. 27
Recorder Concertino, A Gallery of Cats, Op. 26
Suite, In Outlaw Country, Op 12b

Linda Merrick, clarinet
John Turner, recorder
Tracey Redfern, trumpet
Eira Lynn Jones, harp
Royal Ballet Sinfonia, orchestra
Barry Wordsworth, conductor
Manchester Sinfonia, orchestra
Philip Spratley, conductor

This CD reveals a fresh, original and immediately attractive voice in British music. Philip Spratley, born in Nottinghamshire in 1942, has his roots in English folksong and his compositions are strongly evocative of the countryside – though animated by a rhythmic vivacity and drive that recalls Shostakovich, Britten and Tippett. Spratley’s music also abounds in memorable melodies, and his ability to write tunes with the ring of folksong about them reveals him as a true heir of Holst and Vaughan Williams.