Beulah Tracks from iTunes
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COMPACT DISCS

Between 1993 and 2001 Beulah established itself as an award winning and highly accliamed classical music and middle of the road compact disc label. Now we are re-issuing the best performances from our back catalogue.
Our compact discs are played on BBC radio from time to time. We keep a list of discs played on the BBC.

Download tracks from iTunes

All titles listed below are available at any time as downloads at iTunes.

We have listed all the tracks available for download from iTunes HERE

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  1PD7 The Clouds Will Soon Roll By
  Theatre and cinema organs across England played by great orangists in their heydays. Features :
  • Quentin M McLean
  • Terance Casy
  • Gilbert Chadley and Alfred Ulge
  • Reginald Foort
  • Reginald Dixon
  • Reginald New
  • Harry Davidson
  • Sydney Gustard
  • Leslie James
  • Sandy MacPherson
  • Edward O'Henry
  • Harold Ramsey
  • F Rowland Tims
  • Sidney Torch
  
  Although no longer availabe on disc you can download the tracks for only £7.99 from [iTunes]
  
  
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  2PD7 Whistling in the Dark
  More theatre and cinema organs across England played by great orangists in their heydays. Features :
  • Al Bollington
  • Alex Taylor
  • Archie Parkhouse
  • Reginald Foort
  • Reginald Dixon
  • Sydney Gustard
  • Harry Davidson
  • Sidney Torch
  • Leslie James
  • Sandy MacPherson
  • Edward O'Henry
  • Harold Ramsey
  • F Rowland Tims
  • Donald Thorne
  
  Although no longer availabe on disc you can download the tracks for only £7.99 from [iTunes]
  
  
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  1PD25 Hamilton Harty
  composer, conductor and arranger
  
  Although now best known as a conductor, during his lifetime Hamilton Harty enjoyed a fine reputation as composer, arranger and accompanist. This disc celebrates all four talents.
  It contains recordings made between 1926 and 1934 with Sir Hamilton Harty conducting the Halle Orchestra unless othewise shewn:
  • Nymphs and Shepherds from Act VI The Libertine (1692) (Purcell)
    Dance Duet from Act I Hansel und Gretel (1893) (Humperdinck)
    Manchester School Children's Choir
  • Water Music (1715-17) - 1 Allegro (Handel arr Harty)
    London Philharmonic Orchestra
  • Irish Symphony - Scherzo (Harty)
  • With the Wild Geese (Harty)
  • The Corsair Overture (Berlioz)
  • Royal Hunt and Storm from Les Troyens (Berlioz)
  • Hungarian Rhapsody No 4 (Liszt arr Doppler)
  • Flight of the Bumble Bee from Act III The Tsar Saltan (1900) (Rimsky Korsakov)
  • Kovanshchina - Prelude (1886) (Mussorgsky)
    
  
  
  "There is great musicianship here, even if the price is sometimes a hectic scramble, as in the superlative Berlioz performances. Wonderful to hear Handel on such a grand scale, too, after a diet of authenticity." Michael Tanner in BBC Muisc Magazine May 2008
  
  

  Robert Matthew-Walker in February 2008 International Record Reivew writes: This disc admirably transferred by David Michell opens with one of the most famous of all 78 rpm discs - Purcell's "Nymphs and Shepherds"("the Libertine") with the Manchester Schools Children's choir from 1929. After 80 years the freshness and excellence of the singing and Harty's superbly right tempos give great pleasure, the more so in this very fine and almost silent transfer. A very worthwhile tribute to a great musician

  
  
  Rob Cowan in The Gramophone March 2008 writes "75 minutes of consistent musical pleasure...vital performances of two of Harty's own works With the Wild Geese and the scherzo from the Irish Symphony... we're given spontaneous sounding Berlioz and one of the most thirlling performances of Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody ever committed to disc, the Fourth."
  
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  1PD17 Van Beinum Conducts Berlioz
  
  
  • Symphonie Fantastique
  • La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24:
    • Minuet Des Feux Follets
    • Marche Hungroise
    • Ballet de Sylphes
  • Les Troyennes, H. 133b: Marche Troyenne
  Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam conducted by Eduard van Beinum (recorded 1946-52)
  
  

  << [Cette Fantastique] est une pure splendeur, souple, naturelle, energique, avec une Scene aux Champs gorgee de couleurs irresistibles. >> (Francis Dresel, Repertoire 169 p. 40 - juin 2003)

  
  
  Sold Out
  Although no longer availabe on disc you can download the tracks for only £7.99 from iTunes
  
  
  
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  14PD8 Collins Sibelius Cycle
  Recorded between 1952 and 1955 the Hasting born Anthony Collins takes the London Symphony Orchestra on a journey through all seven symphonies. At times you can sense the orchestra are on the edge of their seats.
  The four disc set contains:
  • Symphonies nos 1 to 7
  • Karelia Overture
  • Pohjola's Daughter
  • Nightride and Sunrise
  • Pelleas and Melisande - excerpts
  
  "Still in a class of its own" - Patrick Waller Classical CD Reviews- March 2006 MusicWeb-International
  Andrew Achenbarch writes in The Gramophone for May 2006:

  Anthony Collins' 1952-55 Sibelius cycle with the LSO for Decca has acquired something of a cult status over the decades. Personally, I've long held mixed feelings about this much vaunted venture so was profoundly grateful for the chance to renew acquaintance and see if my reactions would alter. Of course Kenneth Wilkinson's hugely vivid and tastefully balanced Kingsway Hall sound remains an enormous pleasure in itself. Beulah's thankfully non-interventionist transfers are slightly less smooth but have marginally more body and projection than Tony Hawkins' exemplary previous efforts for this same label.
  A disappointingly tentative, undermotivated Fourth aside, Collins' readings possess a red-blooded fevour and thrusting energy to which many will rightly respond.

  
  The brilliance, clarity and presence of these recordings made by the legendary balance engineer Kenneth Wilkinson spurred the remastering team lead by Simon Heyworth at Super Audio Mastering to reproduce on these compact discs a sound which when played through a single loudspeaker either directly in front of the listener or from a corner reflex cabinet will propel the listener into the Kingsway Hall with its live acoustic, and the London Symphony orchestra of the 1950s. They sound pretty good through two speakers, but the advantage of using a single speaker is that you will hear the original balance without any phase problems or side effects.
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  4PD15 Elgar's Falstaff
  On this disc Anthony Collins conducts performances of Elgar's symphonic study Falstaff, Introduction and Allegro for Strings and the Serenade for Strings, whilst Sir Malcolm Sargent conducts three marches, Pomp and Circumstance Nos 1 and 4 and Imperial March.
  "Collins' instinct for the dramatic from his experience in films stands him in excellent stead in Falstaff. This is a very good version indeed, worthy to stand alongside the fine accounts by Tate and Rattle. " Elgar Society Journal Nov. 1995.
  "Few match Collins in the way his timing helps you visualize the story behind each incident. This is an invaluable offering to remind us of the mastery of a conductor whose achievement was never fully appreciated in this country in his lifetime. " Gramphone Feb 1996.
  
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  2PD15 Van Beinum Conducts Elgar
  Cockaigne Overture
  Cello Concerto
  (Anthony Pini - cello)
  Wand of Youth Suites
  Elegy
  
  London Philharmonic Orchestra
  Eduard van Beinum (conductor)
  
  Recorded in the Kingsway Hall, London
  1949/1950
  Andrew Achenbach writing in The Gramophone Magazine, September 2006:

  ...I thoughly enjoyed reaquainting myself with this performance of the Elgar Concerto ... its a selfless, intensely musical reading, notable for the soloist's hard working dedication and Eduard van Beinum's observant support. For once the great slow movement is not pulled around - and how instinctively these artists tap the vein of arching sorrow under those darkening skies.
  
  Cockaigne fairly swaggers with exuberance, the LPO responding with tremendous zest and fresh-faced application for its then chief, yet there's tenderness, poetry and humour aplenty when required. even finer are the Wand of Youth Suites. Van Beinum extracts heaps of vigor, innocence, nostalgia and wit from these captivating miniatures, and I'd place his poetic and strongly characterised accounts at the top of the pile... So if you failed to snap up this valuable compilation first time round, you've no excuse now.

  
  Rob Cowan on Radio 3 CD Review (23 September 1995) said of this performance of the Cockaigne Overture " I was bowled over...it has newsreel type excitement ". He went on to remark that Anthony Pini's performance of the Cello Concerto was "equivalent to the Albert Sammons Violin Concerto, very straightforward, very deep as an introspection, very personal but not over demonstrative. Its extremely moving. "
  
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  4PD10 The Art of Campoli
  Alfredo Campoli performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto over 900 times during his career as a soloist. On this disc we release his 1949 recording with the London Philharmonic conducted by Eduard van Beinum. It is coupled with his 1954 recording of the Elgar Violin Concerto under the baton of Sir Adrian Boult.
  Rob Cowan in Gramophone for February 2006 writes:

  The reappearance of the Beulah label brings with it a number of old friends, none more welcome than Alfredo Campoli's consistently sympathetic 1954 account of Elgar's Violin Concerto with the London Philharmonic under Sir Adrian Boult. You might say that Campoli's urbane and warmly felt account is the nearest thing we have to a Kreisler Elgar Concerto. The coupling is equally valuable: Campoli, the LPO and Eduard van Beinum in the Mendelssohn Concerto, a nicely transferred 1949 recording impressive as much for van Beinum's incisive conducting as for the smiling demeanor of Campoli's interpretation.

  
  Jonathan Woolf at Music Web International writes that Campoli has withstood the ravages of time, technological advance and successive critical judgments with lasting assurance. Read his full review.
  
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  12PD23 Bizet - The Fair Maid of Perth
  We have reissued a recording of a live stuido performance of Bizet's charming Fair Maid of Perth conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham.
  The strong cast reflects the best of British singers of the day. It includes:
  • Gwen Catley
  • Lorely Dyer
  • Richard Lewis
  • Trefor Jones
  • Norman Walker
  • Owen Brannigan
  Two disc set 134 minutes.

  There is some surface noise from the acetates but overall the sound quality is good. The notes include a comment made by Philip Hope-Wallace when the broadcast was repeated in 1979 to mark the centenary of Beecham's birth. He wrote: "the beguiling melodies are exactly the sort of light music which Beecham could give a delicacy and vitality all its own. It is a lovely recording which does not sound its age of nearly 30 years ago." Twenty-two years further on those comments remain entirely apt. ...
  ...admirers of Bizet should snap up this issue while they can. The same applies to devotees of Beecham, the more so since this is a 'live' performance caught on the wing and a splendid example of his art in music to which he was so well suited.

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  2PD12 Boult's Planets
  Sir Adrian Boult conducts the wartime BBC Symphony Orchestra in Holst's Planet Suite. Released with earlier recordings of Crown Imperial (Walton) and Variations on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (Vaughan Williams)
  
  "The performance has an indefinable rightness about it, a supreme authority that makes it difficult to imagine the score being interpreted any other way. Has Mars ever resounded with more terrifying ferocity since? I very much doubt it. In Venus the playing of the BBC SO has a translucent beauty, while the impish Mercury really sparkles. Jupiter has marvelous exuberance and sparkle, its big tune lent enormous dignity and humanity. Saturn, too, is paced to perfection, and Uranus goes about his mischievous antics with terrific swagger. In Neptune one notes again the exquisite poise of the orchestral response ." Gramophone Dec. 1996.
  
  John Quinn writes of the Planets for Classical Music on the Web:

  Beulah's transfer is a good one. There is some surface hiss from the 78s but it never distracts. To a large degree this is due to the quality of the performance. Though wartime call-ups had deprived the BBCSO of many of the players who had graced its ranks in the 1930s this performance shows that it remained a fine orchestra. The playing is very fine throughout. As for Boult, his interpretation simply seems 'right'. Under his baton the music is allowed to breathe and speak for itself (the "big tune" in 'Jupiter' is given with simple eloquence and is all the better for it.)

  John Quinn comments on the Tallis Fantasia:

  What does come through very clearly is the quality of the BBCSO's strings. The tone is full and rich and the players respond eloquently to Boult's unfussy direction. The contrasts between the three groups of players are well observed by performers and engineers alike. It is fascinating to compare this performance with Boult's last recording of the piece which he made in 1975 with the LPO, also for HMV. In the earlier recording accents are more sharply observed and there seems a greater degree of urgency (the 1975 account is the longer by over two minutes). Both, however, are supremely authoritative.

  John Quinn concludes:

  A splendid and important issue. Top-drawer performances captured in sound which is really quite excellent for the period. The well-researched notes are ideal for an 'historic' issue for they place the performances in their historical context. This is an essential purchase for admirers of Sir Adrian and for lovers of English music. The recordings capture him in his prime performing music for which he had an especial affinity. They also give us a vivid illustration of the magnificent orchestra which he created from scratch.
  Enthusiastically recommended.

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  3PD15 Boult Conducts Elgar
  We produced a limited edition reissue (now sold out) of this disc of Sir Adrian Boult conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra in recordings made between 1934 and 1944 of Elgar's Second Symphony, the Prelude from the Dream of Gerontious and Sospiri
  Andrew Achenbarch writes of the Elgar Second Symphony in The Gramophone for May 2006 :
  " This is a majestic rendering and arguably the most penetrating Elgar Second ever committed to disc. "
  " The muscular suppleness of the performance may come as a surprise, leaving all others standing as Elgar resurrects the spirit of delight by strength of will. This could be Toscanini at his most energetic. ...Boult's 1944 performance, produced by Walter Legge in clean and well-balanced 78rpm sound, is still the one to combine the best performance of all worlds. It embraces passion and precision, lithe strength of line and an atmospheric delicacy epitomised by the way Sir Adrian guides Elgar's final vision softly and gently to its resting place. " - David Nice in Building A Library in BBC Music December 2005
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  1PD11 Tchaikovsky Symphonies
  Two historic recordings. The first recording of Symphony No2 was by the Cincinatti Orchestra conducted by Sir Eugene Goossens in February 1941. Two years later The National Symphony Orchestra assembled in London's Kigsway Hall to record Symphony No 5 conducted by Sidney Beer in the first ffrr recording.
  
  Edward Greenfield in The Gramophone ( May 1995) writes of the Second Symphony - "Goossens brisk and dramatic reading comes over with spelindid bite... his springing of rhythm is most persuasive "
  He writes about the Fifth Symphony - "Sdney Beer was highly regarded by the many musicans he worked with, generously spending his wealth at a difficult time on bringing together a remarkable body of players, including such stars as Dennis Brain, Gareth Morris, Leon Goossens, Reginal Kell and Bernard Walton. As his fresh and direct reading of Tchaikovsky's Fith demonstrates (sadly marred by a tradional 100 bar cut in the finale) he was able to inspire them on record to produce elctrifying results.f "
  
  Although no longer availabe on disc you can download the tracks for only £7.99 from [iTunes]
  
  
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  1RF4 When The Heart Is Young: A Recital of Songs by Franz Lehar
  Sarah Leonard sings songs by the master of Viennese operetta Franz Lehar. Accompanied by Andrew Ball (piano)
  
  Rob Barnett writes for Classical Music on the Web:

  Unlike many Beulah issues this recital is a new recording. It showcases the voice of Sarah Leonard and the lyric delights of Franz Lehar. A glancethrough the Gramophone database reveals Sarah Leonard as a seasoned recording artist with many discs to her name. The territory takes in Monteverdi and Purcell but with the preponderance in favour of the more modern repertoire: John Harle, Michael Nyman, Alexander Goehr, Gorecki, Bryars and Schnittke. She has also recorded British songs. Lehar is not a name I would have associated with her voice - my problem - not hers. On Radio 3 she has broadcast songs by Bax and at least one vocal work by Elisabeth Maconchy (The Golden Echo and the Leaden Echo). Although only one of these nineteen songs comes from an operetta several of them have the inflections and spirit I associate with Lehar's 'centre of gravity (or is it levity?). Some of the accompaniments cry out for orchestral treatment (perhaps they exist?) although vivid work by Andrew Ball is never in doubt. The singing is ripe and affecting; singing with the meaning of the words as well as with the musical line. If I have one reservation it is that I had the impression that some of the higher notes were not as comfortably handled as they might have been. The impression is sometimes effortful rather than effortless. However the important thing is the spirit of these songs and that seems well caught. Leonard excels in Die Du Mein Alles Bist with its birdsong - all silvery restraint; while Das Lockende Lied is a coloratura display of Queen Of Night melisma. Mucht's jubelnd rather recalled the Disney musical film 'Beauty and the Beast'. A highlight is Nimm mich mit with its grand heroic inflection in the piano as well as a touch of Griegian simplicity.

  
  
  Although no longer availabe on disc you can download the tracks for only £7.99 from [iTunes]
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  Tattoo
  This compact disc of 21 tracks recorded live at the pre-war Aldershot Tattoos. The sound of 1,000 bandsmen marching around Rushmoor Area is unique and never to be repeated.
  Although no longer availabe on disc you can download the tracks for only £7.99 from iTunes .