Description
The South African-born, British composer Victor Hely-Hutchinson (1901-1947) was a musical polymath: pianist, orchestrator, conductor, composer, academic, reviewer, and administrator. After the Second World War he became Music Director of the BBC. He died, aged just 45, after succumbing to pneumonia during the long winter of 1947 – in part perhaps brought on by his reluctance to switch on the radiators in his office in order to save on rationed fuel.
Amongst his numerous compositions few are still performed. His best known work – Carol Symphony (1927) – is, however frequently aired during the festive period. The symphony is essentially a collection of four preludes, each based on one, or more, traditional English Christmas carols.
The third movement – arranged here – is a slow movement with outer sections based on the Coventry Carol which is given a quasi-medieval treatment creating a bleak, icy atmosphere, and a central interlude featuring an enchanting and uplifting setting of The First Nowell. Sections of this movement were used in a 1943 BBC adaptation of John Masefield’s The Box of Delights, and also in a 1984 BBC TV adaptation of the same novel.
