Orchestral Music, Volume Four
Toccata Classics, 2026
8/10
Listen to Orchestral Music, Volume Four
The composer, conductor, violinist, singer, pianist, jazz drummer and poet, David Hackbridge Johnson, sees 2 of his pieces delivered by Jonathan Powell and the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra.
“Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 455 ‘After Bruno Schulz’” opens with Powell’s eerie keys and the orchestra’s playful winds across the 3 chapters that can get tense, cinematic and are quite alluring.
“Symphony No. 18 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 488 No. 3” occupies the back half, and it’s full of meticulous string interaction, rich percussive bouts, and colorful brass that has the capacity for minimal, elegant moments just as it does loud and booming gestures.
The first track here surrounds Kafkaesque fantasy world and the tragic fate of the Polish-Jewish writer and artist Bruno Schulz, and the 2nd track takes influence from Bax, Britten and Vaughan Williams, and is a response to the English landscape, as seen through the paintings of a number of artists whose work Hackbridge Johnson acknowledges.
A really intricate affair, the players on hand and Johnson’s conducting make every moment worth repeated listens.
Travels well with: Artur Lemba- Chamber Music, Volume Two; Havergal Brian- Complete Choral Songs, Volume Two