Check the volume level of your speakers before pressing play on Symphonic Studies by 20th century English composer Alan Rawsthorne. This work from 1939 begins with a blast of sustained sound from the full orchestra, reminiscent of the melodramatic opening-title tracks from film scores of 1940s and '50s cinema, a few of which Rawsthorne himself composed. Within this work's twenty minutes, bombastically grandiose sections alternate with quieter, more sprightly sections, whose mysterious sound and use of celesta bring to mind Danny Elfman's Tim Burton scores (hear minute five, for example). Eschewing the moroseness of its contemporaries from Europe, Symphonic Studies is a dynamic and entertaining concerto for orchestra.

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Symphonic Studies
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