Chandos's brave and important Parry series, conducted with sterling musicianship and remarkable insights by Matthias Bamert, adds another choral disc to the four out of the five symphonies so far issued. Recently The Soul's Ransom and The Lotos Eaters were released (1/92) and now comes the large-scale, nearly hour-long cantata Invocation to Music, a ten-movement setting of a poem by Parry's friend Robert Bridges and composed ''in honour of Henry Purcell'' for the bicentenary, in 1895, of his death. The first performance was at the Leeds Festival that year. How many have there been since then?
Chandos's brave and important Parry series, conducted with sterling musicianship and remarkable insights by Matthias Bamert, adds another choral disc to the four out of the five symphonies so far issued. Recently The Soul's Ransom and The Lotos Eaters were released (1/92) and now comes the large-scale, nearly hour-long cantata Invocation to Music, a ten-movement setting of a poem by Parry's friend Robert Bridges and composed ''in honour of Henry Purcell'' for the bicentenary, in 1895, of his death. The first performance was at the Leeds Festival that year. How many have there been since then?