CD Review: English Clarinet Concertos

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Concerto for clarinet by Humphrey Procter-Gregg

This very welcome Dutton CD concentrates upon music for clarinet and orchestra….The repertoire has been cleverly chosen.”

Robert Matthew-Walker, International Record Review, November 2005

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Procter-Gregg’s music was completely unknown to me. I knew of him only as one of Maxwell Davies’ teachers in Manchester. His Clarinet Concerto is traditional in structure and idiom. The first movement sometimes seems to hark back to Brahms, but the other two movements - a beautifully lyrical Andante and an animated Allegro molto - are obviously closer to the 20th Century mainstream, neither reactionary nor progressive, but certainly enjoyable.

I cannot but recommend this attractive collection of unfamiliar, but rewarding works that all deserve much more than the occasional hearing.

Hubert Culot - Music Web USA

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Extracts from ‘Two Views’ – from Clarinet & Saxophone Summer 2006

1. John Robert Brown

How can these appealing pieces have been so neglected? Here is a CD essential to your record collection.... Scott believes that the concertos by Leighton Lucas and Humphrey Procter-Gregg are real gems. I agree – though nowadays some would categorise them as top quality light music. Nevertheless, they deserve to be better known.

One hopes that the performances on this CD will attract attention from those broadcasters and concert organisers who possess the pluck and positivity to use criteria other than anniversaries to plan their programmes.

2. John Playfair

Humphrey Procter-Gregg, the Professor at Manchester through the 40s and 50s... it is extraordinary to think that during his reign the student body included Birtwistle, Goehr, and Maxwell Davies! His concerto flows along very agreeably and is well worth having on disc.

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