# John Ireland: I'm a beginner to his music



## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

Hi

I love British music, but would like to explore beyond the standard Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Britten to explore composers whom I consider underrated. John Ireland is one of them. and I have considered the following works and recordings with which to begin my journey of discovery:

























I'd love to know your thoughts about these works and recordings and what to expect from John Ireland's music, as someone who is more used to Elgar, Vaughan Williams and, to a lesser extent, Britten and Finzi. I can only spend so much money at a time, but please do make recommendations and I'll look into them for the future. As you can see, I like exploring a composer in depth. There's so much British music out there that fascinates me, so I thought I'd dip in. I wanted to share my thoughts here first to see what you think.

Kind regards

Louis Solomons


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I find him a very rewarding composer. I'd start with this:










although the Naxos version of the piano concerto (his best work imo) is probably good as well.

Other British composers worth investigating based on your OP are Bax and especially Moeran.


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## David Phillips (Jun 26, 2017)

I'd go for the John Wilson album which looks to be a nice overview of Ireland's orchestral music. The string quartets are fine but they're early works and not really typical of his mature stuff.


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

Ireland was a very fine pianist (there's a recording on YouTube of him playing his _April_), and if you like piano I'd suggest listening to pieces like _The Island Spell_ and _Amberley Wild Brooks_ for starters!


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

Roger Knox said:


> Ireland was a Ivery fine pianist (there's a recording on YouTube of him playing his _April_), and if you like piano I'd suggest listening to pieces like _The Island Spell_ and _Amberley Wild Brooks_ for starters!


I'm not particularly fond of solo piano...it's a bit plain. Cpncertos are more my ''cup of tea''.


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## LouisMasterMusic (Aug 28, 2013)

David Phillips said:


> I'd go for the John Wilson album which looks to be a nice overview of Ireland's orchestral music. The string quartets are fine but they're early works and not really typical of his mature stuff.


I assume that you are referring to the CD on the Halle label. What about the Naxos CD though?


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## David Phillips (Jun 26, 2017)

LouisMasterMusic said:


> I assume that you are referring to the CD on the Halle label. What about the Naxos CD though?


I used to like the Piano Concerto and have several recordings of the music, but I've gone off it over time and it doesn't say much to me any more. You might like it though, and the other pieces on the CD are fine.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

If you wish to explore the chamber works of John Ireland I'd actually give the string quartets a miss for now as they were composed before he arrived at his own individual style. Far more rewarding are the violin sonatas and the two mature piano trios, and Naxos have provided good recordings of them all.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

As for orchestral etc. I second the Hallé release shown in the OP and would also suggest this release on Chandos which features some of his vocal works, even though _A London Overture_ and _Epic March_ are duplicated with the Hallé set:










Finally, Ireland was also a noted composer of piano miniatures, and many of these can be found along with his excellent piano concerto on this 2-disc release:


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