Peter Racine Fricker – Symphony No. 1 (Louisville Orchestra / Whitney) from Vinyl

PETER RACINE FRICKER
Symphony No. 1 (Op. 9)
The Louisville Orchestra
conducted by
Robert Whitney

My transfer from vinyl. FLAC @ Compression Level 8. Scans, including typo-ridden back cover of very dry and academic programme notes by the composer himself, included. Restoration removes vinyl noise only; room sound and the occasional dodgy analog edit remain intact.

Solidfiles: https://www.solidfiles.com/v/v8LLzZzWRLMnR
MEGA: https://mega.nz/#!MwQhSBwA!jIGuLHEdA3n-pK132NZzqZmYxrfvNm2qdgTDE97C5yo

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-8UlmhKOzM

Peter Racine Fricker remains virtually unknown, even in his native England. Only a handful of recordings exist on CD – of his symphonies, only No.2 and No. 5 were released – the former in a coupling with Robert Simpson and Robin Orr on EMI, and the latter in somewhat poor quality from amateur radio recordings on Lyrita Itter Broadcast Collection.

This is the only commercial recording of Symphony No. 1 – made in 1967 and released by RCA. This transfer comes from a mint Italian pressing made ten years later. (It was advertised as "EX" – my expectations were accordingly low. It turned out to be the quietest, cleanest piece of vinyl I’ve ever had – outclassing even brand new records. Despite being unsealed, the recortd itself appears to be unplayed. They really don’t make ’em like they used to.) The RCA Gold Seal record was not over-filled (the symphony runs just over thirty minutes) meaning a comfortable portion of dead wax on each side and good quality sound throughout. It’s a dense work, occasionally a little claustrophobic (in the good way) that sits balanced precariously on the narrow line between tonal and atonal. I really love the piece. If you’re a fan of well-orchestrated, angular music that retains a loose tonal centre, do give Fricker a try.

Fricker moved to the United States in 1964, hence the somewhat unusual choice of American orchestra on this recording. The conductor is the legendary Robert Whitney, who founded the Lousville Orchestra in 1937, and remained chief conductor until 1967.

Interest in Fricker seems to be reinvigorating of late, so perhaps we will see more recordings – or at least CD releases of existing ones – in the future.

Updated with YouTube link and additional information. 🙂

Many thanks, Fricker is had to find these days so these old recordings are especially valuable to those who like his style.

Thanks for sharing this interesting work, I’m not familiar at all with this composer.
I must confess, not everything is my cup of tea but it was indeed a worthwhile listen and the music would fit a Hitchcock thriller like a glove.

The quality is indeed astounding, as are all your vinyl transfers by default. If I find the time I will check out the other symphonies

Many thanks, Fricker is had to find these days so these old recordings are especially valuable to those who like his style.

He is… and I’m not quite sure why. He wasn’t the greatest in the world, but there are dozens or far less-deserving composers who have undergone big revivals. Fricker compares very well to other 20th century British symphonists. Why, for example, have pretty much all of Robert Simpson’s compositions been recorded, but Fricker has barely anything? (I like some of Simpson’s music but so much of it is so bloody dour and academic it’s hard to find something to cling on to.)

Thanks for sharing this interesting work, I’m not familiar at all with this composer.
I must confess, not everything is my cup of tea but it was indeed a worthwhile listen and the music would fit a Hitchcock thriller like a glove. The quality is indeed astounding, as are all your vinyl transfers by default. If I find the time I will check out the other symphonies.

You’re very welcome! It’s not going to be to everybody’s tastes. To enjoy music like this I have to be in the right frame of mind otherwise it just drives me mad.

It’s definitely worth checking out some of his other works if you find the time, although he has barely been recorded at all so you’re limited mainly to shitty sounding off-air recordings on YouTube… but some of the music is jaw-dropping. 🙂

I gave this a listen with my breakfast, not having heard of Fricker before, although it seems Fricker was in the RAF at the same time as my father. I enjoyed it more by imagining it was accompanying a drama film rather than as a piece of classical music. Fricker is certainly different from other English composers of the period like Vaughan Williams. The transfer is very nice. Thank you for your work in sharing TT.

Thank you tangotreats for another of your truly unique postings here and as always for your informative and thoughtful commentaries.

Thank you share!

Thank you, tangotreats, for the introduction to Fricker and this work!