# George Lloyd



## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

This may make me seem hopelessly reactionary (the noise you hear are my friends going into hysterics) but how many here have listened to the music of George Lloyd (1913-1998) and what are your thoughts about him?


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

His Requiem is wonderful. I've heard one of his symphonies and I liked it but can't remember which one. He is on my to buy list.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Conservative, yes, but a good listen. I have his symphonic mass on CD, and a few pieces downloaded.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

I have recordings of all of his symphonies and many of his other works. There are many of us here who are big fans of Lloyd.

Whenever the anti-contemporary crowd complains that all modern works are atonal sounding, one of the many composers we mention is Lloyd.

There are many threads concerning Lloyd. I would recommend the following:

http://www.talkclassical.com/29405-music-george-lloyd.html

http://www.talkclassical.com/22834-george-lloyd-100-years.html


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I don't even remember how I came to know about him but I do remember my first two recordings, the 5th & 8th symphonies done by Edward Downes back in the vinyl days. Since them I have bought all the symphonies, a couple of the piano concerti and some of the vocal works. I think that his Symphonic Mass is a masterpiece.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

I find some of his music rather 'empty', but other pieces I find to be really great to listen to. Of the symphonies, my favourite is no.11


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

There are a number of composers I had never heard of in all my music training, subsequent later reading and listening, of whose existence I've learned of through TC.

George Lloyd is one of those, Raff another, Medtner another still. 

Each wrote a fair amount, made pretty full careers. They certainly knew how to write. The works sound to me very much of their time.

It is not that relative conservatism that bothers me, but I find each has something about the very basic materials, their themes, their harmonic usage, where I find them of little interest -- it sounds to me bland and fairly of-the-period generic, including Lloyds' particular stamp of mixed modern with that period's late modern romanticism. Lloyd also seems to me near paper thin homophonic, i.e. theme or tune, chords, and little else going on throughout the texture.

I've tried the various youtube links for each of these three composers several times -- and I find myself turning them off in but a few moments in while trying out their symphonies, concerti, etc. 

I'm sure others find Lloyd 'a good listen' while whatever it is, or isn't, it does not communicate enough to me to have me listening all the way through.

ADD: techniquest's commented word, "Empty," is to me pretty apposite, re: Lloyd, to me too, Medtner and Raff.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I first came to Lloyd by way of the Fifth Symphony, which remains a favorite work. I have also accessed the Fourth, the Arctic, Symphony quite regularly. 
Tonight, because of this post, I've turned back to Lloyd -- the Eighth Symphony. The gentle, sombre Lento movement is quite a contrast to the outer movements. Lloyd himself claimed to not understand what had happened as he had set out to write, in his terms, "a vivacious symphony" of "bright, highly coloured music". The slow movement confounds the symphony and the composer. But perhaps it is the music of the haunting life experience of this WWII soldier who suffered severe shell-shock that drained his health and left him unable to compose effectively for years.
In any case, Lloyd's music is worthy stuff -- fine contributions to the English symphonic oeuvre. I would not want to be without the symphonies in my collection.


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## maestro267 (Jul 25, 2009)

I have recordings of the 4th and 7th Symphonies, and the Symphonic Mass. The ending of the Sanctus 5th movement of the Mass is a huge, powerful, very loud bit to rival the climaxes of Mahler. An epic passage!


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