William Boyce: 8 Symphonies - ASMF, Neville Marriner

William Boyce
8 Symphonies
Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner
Decca 444 523-2

Review of the original LP release on Argo of this recording:

The first thing Beethoven used to ask after a concert he could not hear was "Were the tempos right?", and they must have seemed just as important to Boyce, almost as deaf by the time these symphonies were published, for he marked every movement with rather more care than was then usual. On this otherwise excellent disc it seems to me that some of his directions have been wilfully ignored. For example, Boyce marked three of his middle movements Vivace, and though it is true that Handel's Vivace markings used to be taken too fast, there can be no case for playing such movements Lento as they sometimes are on this disc. The delicious little trifle in the middle of No. 3 is quite ruined by slowness. In his Turnabout recording, Faerber gets the tempo just right, as also that of the central Vivace in No. 2. Again Marriner is much slower, though this time the effect is entrancing. However in the middle of No. 4 both take the Vivace too slowly, Marriner very much too slowly, and a delightful movement comes to nothing.

Perhaps the trouble springs from a feeling that the second movement in a three-movement symphony must be slow, but Boyce did not share this feeling; he sometimes liked it to be fast and piquant. However there is plenty that can be liked without reservation on this disc. Quick movements are played with the light vitality we expect of this ensemble. Trumpets and horns shine through the texture more clearly than on the rival disc. In spite of the slow tempos almost all the repeats are made and although this results in each side playing for over half an hour I detected no falling-off in the excellent quality. I would only question the excessive prominence given to the bassoon solos in the middle of No. 3, solos that Boyce did not actually ask for though he might have accepted them.

Poor old Boyce keeps getting the stick for being behind the times, and certainly this is not the sort of music expected of composers in 1760, the year of publication. But in fact he wrote four of these symphonies in the 1730s or early forties and only two after 1750; they were not old-fashioned when written. The necessary research was done 20 years ago by Gerald Finzi, and the sleeve-note should have named and dated the works of which these 'symphonies' were originally the overture. Incidentally this would show why the finale of No. 6 is so langorous—the reason being that this was the overture to Boyce's Solomon based on that Biblical Love Duet, The Song of Solomon. This marvellous movement is exquisitely played, but so are most of them. All in all this disc is to be preferred to its rival; the quality is certainly better. But there is room for a still better version; the music deserves it.

R.F., Gramophone Magazine 1978

Boyce: 8 Symphonies - The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock

William Boyce
8 Symphonies
Trevor Pinnock, The English Concert
Archiv 419 631-2

Here you go Kwork! The ultimate version.

William Boyce's eight Symphonys (to follow his own spelling) are not symphonies in the modern sense but a collection, issued for concert use, of overtures he had composed over a period of nearly 20 years for theatre pieces and court odes. They represent English eighteenth-century music at its excellent and unpretentious best, notably in their formal unorthodoxy. There are brisk little binary allegros, French overtures (with a marked English, or Italian, accent), fugues that cheerfully stop being fugal then as like as not start again, middle movements with a curiously naïve, rural tunefulness (or airiness, as Boyce's contemporaries might have put it), and sturdy dance movements, often with happy touches of English eccentricity to their lines. And there are movements that can't readily be pigeon-holed, so individual are they. Sometimes you may be reminded of Handel, for example by the trumpets-and-drums opening movement of No. 5 in D, which hints at the Fire works Music; but this piece was written in 1739, nearly a decade earlier. Boyce is wholly himself.

The performances here, the first on record to use period instruments, are a delight—cleanly articulated, decisive in rhythm, just in tempo. The French overture-like movements that open Nos. 6 and 7 are crisp and brilliant; the more Italianate first movements, like those of Nos. 2 and 4, have a splendid swing. And the tone of gentle melancholy behind the fine, expansive D minor first movement of No. 8 is particularly well caught. (The finale here, a gavotte with two variations—one with a moving bass part, the other with violin triplets—does have Handelian echoes, especially of the Op. 3 No. 2 Concerto.) Three of the symphonies have middle movements marked Vivace, which often leads conductors into unsuitably quick tempos; but Pinnock obviously knows that, in eighteenth-century England, Vivace meant a speed not much above Andante, and for once these movements make proper sense: they are lively, to be sure, but not fast. But it was a mistake to play the repeats in the slow movement of No. I as flute solos (admirably though they are done)—there is no authority for this and the effect is foreign to orchestral music. At one or two points, for example the fugal music in the first movement of No. 3, more shapely bass playing would have given the music a firmer sense of direction.

This recording, however, comfortably surpasses any rivals in terms both of style and accomplishment; and the sound of the modest-sized band (strings 4.4.2.2.1) is brightly and truly reproduced.

S.S., Gramophone Magazine 1987

Welcome to All the Pleasures - The English Concert, Pinnock

Bach, Boyce, Haydn, Händel,
Mozart, Purcell, Scarlatti, Vivaldi
Welcome to All the Pleasures
The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock
Archiv 437 175-2

I am thrilled that Archiv Produktion in Canada has assembled "Welcome To All The Pleasures", and happy that it includes so many personal favorites from my discography. This celebration of choral, keyboard and orchestral music on authentic instruments is a voyage filled with delicious musical pleasures and warm personal memories, for 1993 marks my fifteenth anniversary with Archiv Produktion, and the twentieth anniversary of my founding of The English Concert. My new assosiation with Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra is providing every bit as adventurous and is filled with the pleasures of rich musical rewards. So, indeed, welcome to all the pleasures!

Trevor Pinnock

Boyce: Symphonies - London Festival Orchestra, Ross Pople

William Boyce
Symphonies
London Festival Orchestra, Ross Pople
Arte Nova Classics 74321 34032 2

I didn't hesitate when I came across this, especially at the price. Pople has a solid reputation, and the pieces have been standards for years. The music is lightweight and enjoyable - technically early classical (published 1760) but with a strongly Late Baroque cast, and is, not surprisingly, reminiscent of Handel. Much of it was actually written before 1750 and the collection wasn't published till later, when this style of music was already outdated. There's not much more to say - it's not especially profound stuff, just charming. Here it's played on modern instruments; period instruments give this music a bit more grit, which doesn't hurt it one bit.

Amazon Customer Review

Boyce: The 8 Symphonies - I Solisti Zagreb, Antonio Janigro

William Boyce
The 8 Symphonies
I Solisti Zagreb, Antonio Janigro
Vanguard Classics 08 9055 71

No info, no review, no rating... Only the most wonderful and cheerful music you can ever imagine. Enjoy! :)

Boyce: 8 Symphonien - ASMF, Sir Neville Marriner

William Boyce
8 Symphonien
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Capriccio 10 421

Before there were the symphonies of Mozart and Beethoven, William Boyce was composing the musical baby steps which would lead to the development of symphonies. His music is lovely and moving, and I have long wished that he would be given more exposure. It seems as if my wish might come true as I have heard of release of more of his music lately. Boyce's symphonies are more like what we would call movements - short and sweet. All eight of these symphonies take only an hour to listen to. This version of his eight symphonies taken in hand by the great Sir Neville Marriner and the Orchestra of St. Martin's of the Fields is a good place to start. This is a fine addition to anyone's music collection.

Patricia H. Parker, Amazon Customer Review

Boyce: Overtures 1-9 - Cantilena, Adrian Shepherd

William Boyce
Overtures 1-9
Cantilena, Adrian Shepherd
Chandos CHAN 6531

A Penguin Guide * * * Recording.

Chandos reissues offer rare repertoire, including a collection of nine Boyce overtures unique to the CD catalogue. They come from a group of 12 published by the composer in 1770, their musical material deriving from various birthday and New Year odes, although the music, of course, is orchestral. Their late-baroque style is robust, with bright scoring for horns and trumpets and flutes and oboes giving added colour. There is a flavour of the Handel of the Water Music, but the flutes take the music forward in time. There are usually three or four sections to each piece, often with sub-divisions of tempos within movements, and the writing is attractively fresh and tuneful. The performances by Cantilena are full of character, yet spontaneously sprightly; the recording is excellent, although rather forward, but clean-timbred and full with a good ambience. Most enjoyable.

Gramophone Magazine

Boyce: The 3 Concerti Grossi, Overtures 10-12 - Cantilena

William Boyce
The 3 Concerti Grossi, Overtures 10-12
Cantilena, Adrian Shepherd
Chandos CHAN 6541

A Penguin Guide * * * Recording.

A worthwhile reissue on Collect is that of the three Concerti grossi of Boyce; inventive and rewarding works, full of character. I have gained much pleasure from this music, which was new to me, and it is very well played by Cantilena under Adrian Shepherd. Just try, if you can, the opening Moderato of the first of these concertos (in B flat major) and you will be tempted to explore further. As a fill-up Chandos have added Nos. 10-12 from Boyc,e's set of Overtures MBTD6531; (1) CHAN6531). The first nine were reissued earlier and were welcomed by me last October. The final three are no less enjoyable, with some fine horn playing in Nos. 10 and 12 and trumpets regally prominent in the former. Excellent sound.

Gramophone Magazine

Boyce: Eight Symphonies - Serenata of London, Barry Wilde

William Boyce
Eight Symphonies
Serenata of London, Barry Wilde
Carlton Classics 30367 01722

Legenday recording of Boyce's Eight Symphonies.

Boyce: The 8 Symphonies - Württemberg Chamber Orchestra

William Boyce
The 8 Symphonies
Württemberg Chamber Orchestra, Jörg Faerber
Carlton Classics 30371 00052

It's a shameful thing that these fresh, inspirating, virile pieces, arguably the finest musical products of Georgian England, should so long have been out of the catalogue as a complete set. And now they have come, it's from an orchestra at Heilbronn in Wurtemberg: at least someone in Germany realizes that we haven't always been a "Land ohne Musik". The performances are worthy, substantially better in most ways than the Brunswick set from America by the Zimbler Sinfonietta which for so long were the only versions available. For a start, they use the reliable edition by Max Goberman (Doblinger/Universal; miniature scores can be bought, at 5s. 6d. or 6s. 6d. each). Although all eight are fitted on to a single disc—Nos. 1-4 and 6 on Side 1, Nos. 5, 7 and 8 on Side 2—most of the repeats are done. And tempi are pretty well chosen : those three central Vivace movements in Nos. 2, 3, and 4) are taken steadily but with a gentle vivacity, as they should be—Vivace was only a moderate tempo marking in eighteenth-century England. Some of the allegros I feel are just a shade on the speedy side—the opening movements of Nos. 1 and 3, for example: Boyce's textures are by no means simple, and need a little time to be properly articulated. Here, anyway, they often emerge a trifle spongy, which is largely a matter of attack: something of the sheer melodic high spirits, the very English open-air freshness, is missing. But I don't want to make too much of these minor criticisms. Most of the music is finely done— the dances with a proper swing, the French overtures with rhythms that sound sharp but not unnaturally prickly. Boyce's original orchestration is of course followed, with its delicate use of flutes and bassoons, and in No. 5 the trumpets are properly stirring. The opening Pomposo of No. 8—a broad, serious piece, yet like all Boyce essentially genial in the final resort, as these players realize—is outstandingly fine. This disc is marvellous value (eight symphonies at 2s. 21-d. each—devaluation indeed!) and I warmly recommend it.

S.S., Gramophone Magazine

Boyce: The 8 Symphonies - I Solisti di Zagreb, Antonio Janigro

William Boyce
The 8 Symphonies
I Solisti di Zagreb, Antonio Janigro
Vanguard Classics 08 6115 71

Okay honestly, I think this is just another release of a recording previously uploaded here but the music is as wonderful as ever.

Boyce: Symphonies - London Festival Orchestra, Pople

William Boyce
Symphonies
London Festival Orchestra, Ross Pople
Arte Nova Classics ANO 340320

"Ross Pople's performances confirm that he senses an ongoing revelation." -- Gramophone

William Boyce (1711-1779) was one of the earliest composers to popularize the symphony, and his seven short works continue to delight to the present day. In 1980 Ross Pople founded the London Festival Orchestra, whose numerous recordings for Hyperion and ASV have attracted positive reviews, and he has been seen often on the BBC. The repertoire of the London Festival Orchestra embraces the very widest range--from the eclectic and contemporary to the classical and baroque, from Boccherini and Bach, to Tippett and Tavener. The excellence of the LFO's playing is reflected in the outstanding reviews its recordings have universally received.

Boyce: The Eight Symphonies - I Solisti di Zagreb, Janigro

William Boyce
The Eight Symphonies
I Solisti di Zagreb, Antonio Janigro
Vanguard Classics 08 2037 71

Same same... But different!

Boyce: The Eight Symphonies - English String Orchestra

William Boyce
The Eight Symphonies
English String Orchestra, William Boughton
Nimbus Records NI 5345

“... well crafted, tuneful and engaging” Billboard Magazine

Boyce: Eight Symphonies, Op.2 - Mallon, Aradia Ensemble

William Boyce
Eight Symphonies, Op.2
Kevin Mallon, Aradia Ensemble
Naxos 8.557278

William Boyce's eight Op. 2 symphonies have been fairly well treated on disc--versions by Pinnock (Archiv), Marriner (Capriccio), Boughton (Nimbus), and Ronald Thomas (CRD) have long satisfied both period- and modern-instrument fans--but it's been about 10 years since anyone's had a go at these very fine and enormously appealing exemplars of 18th-century English style, albeit in the manner of Handel's theatrical works. In fact, casual listeners would be forgiven for believing these relatively short, tuneful, rhythmically buoyant, skillfully scored pieces were from the pen of George Frederic himself. These so-called "symphonies", three-movement works most of which are cobbled from Boyce's stage compositions, are so ingratiating and melodically ear-catching that it's a wonder they aren't more common to concert programs. And certainly, if you're looking for a recording that shows these symphonies at their best, this one should be your first choice, as the vibrant sound, clean articulation, apt dynamic contrasts, and lively rhythms combine to make these performances both irresistible and worthy of many repeats. Kevin Mallon's Aradia Ensemble executes these pieces as well as we can imagine, and the sound places us in an ideal listening perspective. If you like Handel and you don't know these pieces, don't hesitate.

David Vernier, Classics Today.com

Boyce: Symphonies Op.2 - AAM, Christopher Hogwood

William Boyce
Symphonies Op.2
Christopher Hogwood, The Academy of Ancient Music
L'Oiseau-Lyre 436 761-2

I think I might have borrowed a couple of the scans from somewhere but unfortunately I forgot from where and who.

The Boyce Eight Symphonys (as he himself spelt the title) are one of the treasures of English eighteenth-century music, cheerful, unassuming and confident, full of good tunes, and typically English in the heterodoxy of their style—their quirky lines, their refusal to follow the regular procedures, their mixture of baroque and classical features, with their fugues declining to remain fugal, their very un-French French overtures: all this is part of their particular charm. These pieces started life as overtures, to stage works or to odes, and Boyce later collected them for publication as concert pieces. Some years ago, Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert made an excellent recording which I thought unlikely to be surpassed; but I'm not sure that this new one isn't even better. It is certainly different, in several ways.

Christopher Hogwood gives a great deal of attention to the textural depth of the music, and you hear a good deal more of inner detail; Pinnock rather favours a breezier approach, with more concentration on the melodic line and the momentum. And while Pinnock's performances have a lot of energy and spontaneity, Hogwood's are a good deal more thoughtful and more attentive to detail. He shapes the cadences with considerable care, for example in the first movement of No. 2 or the Gavotte of No. 5. The inspiriting first movement of No. 4 receives a particularly delightful performance, rich and solid, with a happy sense of the music's logic; and Hogwood catches the eccentric character of the music well, for example in the curious M'oderaio movement at the middle of No. 7 or in the odd little Vivace at the centre of No. 3. Vivace in these pieces signifies a slowish movement, but I fancy Hogwood overdoes it slightly in the middle movement of No. 4, which is surely a bit heavy-footed. All the fugal movements go well, done with vitality and a feeling for their logic.

If you already have the Pinnock version, you may safely remain content; if not, however, the new one should certainly be considered, for, at a very modest sacrifice of freshness, you do have readings that go just a shade deeper, with no want of spirit.

SS, Gramophon.net

Boyce: Symphonies Nos. 1-8 - Menuhin Festival Orchestra

William Boyce
Symphonies Nos. 1-8
Menuhin Festival Orchestra, Yehudi Menuhin
EMI 586 047-2

With so many competing performances at every price level why should you consider these 1971/72 performances under Yehudi Menuhin and the Menuhin Festival Orchestra? Indeed, it's difficult not to steer a prospective purchaser of the Boyce symphonies to the new recording on Naxos, which captures as much as any recording the wonderful upbeat spirit of this timelssly charming music. Perhaps the best answer is the inimitable and generally unique virtues of the Menuhin version among the multitude of Boyce symphonies available. We are fortunate that there are many fine versions, and this performance is also good enough to garner a full five stars, and so I make my plea so we not forget this fine achievement.

Menuhin's well-recorded performances (at Abbey Road) of these evergreen charmers offers a break from modern 'period' instrumental sound. While most modern performances of the Boyce symphonies wend their way through the eight works at over an hour, older versions were somewhat brisker. The excellent and universally praised Trevor Pinnock CD with The English Consort on DG, seeming from a very different musical venue, though only recorded a decade and half later in 1986, checks in at just about one hour, for example, while Menuhin moves through the eight symphonies about four minutes faster. I haven't timed my fifites monural recordings of the Boyce symphonies - these works quickly found a secure home among classical record buyers in the LP era - but I can't recall any of them slowing down quite as much as we do today. (I call this the Mahlex complex - the tendency of today's conductors to invest more and more detail into their performances by going slower.)

Between the earliest monorual versions and today's Digital CDs came several LP versions, including the Menuhin. Among these was a set by the outstanding Haydn conductor, Antonio Janigro, (see Janogro's fabulous Marie Therese and others on his Haydn set on Vanquard). Sadly, Janigro never connected with Boyce, and his CD is hopelessly out of touch with Boyce and English Barogue style. Running through at a little over 51 minutes, Janigro never seemed to find any traction or depth in the works. Around this time the largely forgotten Jorge Faerber led a real gem of a recording of the Boyce symphonies, an utterly charming happy-go-lucky performance with the Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra of Heilbronn issued in America on the Turnabout label. Though far too fast for today's pundits, Faerber's remains one of the most ebullient of all the recorded versions. In such joyous celebratory music as these pieces of Boyce Faerber's way is certainly the ideal approach. Sadly, his version exists only in a poor CD transfer with exaggerated bass ruining everything.

Which leaves the Menuhin version above, with the Menuhin Festival Orchestra. It seems to have gotten lost in the musical shuffle taking place during the seventies academic revolt against bloated romanticized performances of Baroque music. Yet I like it more than most of the recent CD sets of the Boyce symphonies. There remains much for fans of Boyce to admire in these performances, and in particular qualities no longer present in today's performances of Boyce's symphonies. Apart from a wealth of fine elevated music-making, Mehuhin's wonderful humanism, a major feature of his best work, is readily apparent throughout the set. All this care and loving attention is given in the service of music derived from the 1760 set, compiled from the highlights of Boyce's large ouerve; pieces chosen for their vivacity, melodious charm, and distinquished part-writing.

Menuhin, who left us equally carefully presented efforts in the music of Handel, never short changes Boyce's variety and color; as might be expected in a group led by such a great solo violinist these performances give greater emphasis than any others to the graces of exquisite string playing. Moreover, Menuhin highlights the soloist to a far greater extent than any performances before or since, a feature of his manner especially striking in the slow movements, where the Arcadian philosophy of rural England sets off in slower sylvan mis-en-scene intermezzos against the riotous uptempo jigs and prestos of theater music from Boyce's own 18th century urban London.

Boyce's eight symphonies can be heard in modern versions, with a greater emphasis on the most up to date scholarship. However, this 1973 recording remains one of my favorites, especially for its originality and grace. If you already own a modern version such as the fine performances by Marriner or Pinnock, this Menuhin CD makes for a pleasureable change of pace. You can most easily hear the differences between the modern versions and the Menuhin group by samplying the slow movements, where really distinquished soloists can be heard playing what sounds like mini-concertos.

I like this version a lot, and play it, along with the Faerber, more often than any of my other Boyce symphony CDs. From my point of view, you can never have too much Champagne, nor too many versions of Boyce's wonderful music!

LP buffs should know that both the Menuhin and the Faerber are readily available as long playing records on the used market for a 'pittance'. Both gain enormously when played in their orignal format. The strings in the Menuhin are truly captivating, rich bewitching sounds largely suppressed in the CD dub.

Boyce: Symphonies, Op.2 - AAM, Christopher Hogwood

William Boyce
Symphonies, Op.2
The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood
Decca 473 081-2

Assuming that this is another release of the same recording I found it fitting to add this Gramophone Magazine review:

The Boyce Eight Symphonys (as he himself spelt the title) are one of the treasures of English eighteenth-century music, cheerful, unassuming and confident, full of good tunes, and typically English in the heterodoxy of their style—their quirky lines, their refusal to follow the regular procedures, their mixture of baroque and classical features, with their fugues declining to remain fugal, their very un-French French overtures: all this is part of their particular charm. These pieces started life as overtures, to stage works or to odes, and Boyce later collected them for publication as concert pieces. Some years ago, Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert made an excellent recording which I thought unlikely to be surpassed; but I'm not sure that this new one isn't even better. It is certainly different, in several ways.

Christopher Hogwood gives a great deal of attention to the textural depth of the music, and you hear a good deal more of inner detail; Pinnock rather favours a breezier approach, with more concentration on the melodic line and the momentum. And while Pinnock's performances have a lot of energy and spontaneity, Hogwood's are a good deal more thoughtful and more attentive to detail. He shapes the cadences with considerable care, for example in the first movement of No. 2 or the Gavotte of No. 5. The inspiriting first movement of No. 4 receives a particularly delightful performance, rich and solid, with a happy sense of the music's logic; and Hogwood catches the eccentric character of the music well, for example in the curious M'oderaio movement at the middle of No. 7 or in the odd little Vivace at the centre of No. 3. Vivace in these pieces signifies a slowish movement, but I fancy Hogwood overdoes it slightly in the middle movement of No. 4, which is surely a bit heavy-footed. All the fugal movements go well, done with vitality and a feeling for their logic.

If you already have the Pinnock version, you may safely remain content; if not, however, the new one should certainly be considered, for, at a very modest sacrifice of freshness, you do have readings that go just a shade deeper, with no want of spirit.

SS, Gramophon.net

Boyce: The Eight Symphonies - Bournemouth Sinfonietta

William Boyce
The Eight Symphonies
Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Ronald Thomas
CRD 3356

William Boyce (1710-1779) was the successor to the English baroque musical tradition pioneered by the great Henry Purcell. Though sometimes overlooked, Boyce was an important composer whose symphonic works serve as the transition from the purely baroque styles of Vivaldi and Handel to the early classical style of Haydn. In the Eight Symphonies contained here, it is impossible to not be struck by Boyce's brilliant orchestrations, especially his use of woodwinds and the dramatic flourishes he gave to the trumpet and horn parts. Ronald Thomas and the Bournemouth Sinfonietta bring out these stylistic details in this beautifully delineated recording.

Jacob Anthony, MusicalHeritage.com

Boyce: Symphonies I-VIII - Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields

William Boyce
Symphonies I-VIII
Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner
Argo 417 824-2

Release Information
* William Boyce (1711-1779) was the leading English composer of the late Baroque, equally at home in church and theatre music.
* His 8 Symphonies of 1760 are characteristically tuneful and appealing works.

"Marriner treats these superb examples of English baroque to exhilarating performances, with the rhythmic subtleties in both fast and slow guaranteed to enchant ...the recording has plenty of ambience.” The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs