Composer(s): Gregson, Edward
Conductor(s): Gernon, Ben
Label: Chandos
Genre: Concerto
Period: Contemporary
Catalogue No: CHAN20356
Barcode: 095115235621
Release Date: 11/2025

GREGSON, E.: Concertos for Tuba, Viola and Oboe (J. Galloway, R. Knight, R. Roberts, E. Gregson, BBC Philharmonic, Gernon)

An award-winning English composer of international standing, and one of the leading composers of his generation, whose music has been performed, recorded, and broadcast in many countries, Edward Gregson celebrates his eightieth birthday in 2025. He continues to compose and perform as actively as ever. This album presents three major concertos, interspersed with two shorter works for piano and orchestra. A Song for Bram was written in memory of his great friend and advocate, the conductor Bramwell Tovey. A Song for Sue, re-working the central Nocturne from his Concertante for Piano and Brass Band (1966), is a 2024 tribute to his wife. One of the most performed of all his works, the Tuba Concerto was written for John Fletcher, who gave the first performance in 1977. Gregson’s Concerto for Viola and String Orchestra ‘Three Goddesses’ was given its first performance in 2023 by Rachel Roberts. The goddesses depicted in the three movements are Morrigan (Celtic warrior queen and earth mother), Aphrodite (Greek goddess of love and beauty), and Diana (Roman goddess of the hunt). First performed by these forces in 2020, the Oboe Concerto ‘A Vision in a Dream’ is inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem Kubla Khan. In following the narrative, Gregson comes closest in his series of concertos to producing a descriptive symphonic poem.

Tracklist

Gregson, Edward
Knight, Ross (tuba)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
1I. Allegro deciso06:30
Knight, Ross (tuba)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
2II. Lento e mesto06:14
Knight, Ross (tuba)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
3III. Allegro giocoso06:53
Knight, Ross (tuba)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
Gregson, Edward (piano)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
4A Song for Bram (version for piano and orchestra)06:30
Gregson, Edward (piano)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
Roberts, Rachel (viola)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
5I. Morrigan: Slow, thoughtful - Not too fast, menacingly06:55
Roberts, Rachel (viola)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
6II. Aphrodite: Quite slowly and mysteriously - Flowing07:31
Roberts, Rachel (viola)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
7III. Diana: Fast, with energy04:51
Roberts, Rachel (viola)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
Gregson, Edward (piano)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
8A Song for Sue (version for piano and strings, revised 2024)05:33
Gregson, Edward (piano)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
Galloway, Jennifer (oboe)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
9Prologue: — -02:30
Galloway, Jennifer (oboe)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
10Duologue: Faster, with a sense of foreboding -05:02
Galloway, Jennifer (oboe)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
11Pastorale: Quite slowly, amoroso -06:38
Galloway, Jennifer (oboe)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
12Round Dance 1: Quite fast, menacingly -01:42
Galloway, Jennifer (oboe)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
13Round Dance 2: Faster, with exuberance -01:26
Galloway, Jennifer (oboe)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
14Round Dance 3: Più mosso. Quite fast, and precisely -01:00
Galloway, Jennifer (oboe)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)
15Epilogue: Senza Tempo02:14
Galloway, Jennifer (oboe)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra)
Gernon, Ben (Conductor)

Total Playing Time: 01:11:29