In the early 1950s Rubbra’s Fifth Symphony was a repertory piece and broadcast with frequent regularity. Indeed it aroused such keen interest that when Barbirolli’s pioneering 78rpm set first appeared (HMV, 2/52), it warranted the cover of The Gramophone. Ten years later it had all but disappeared from programmes, and although a second recording was made by the late Hans-Hubert Schonzeler, this is its first digital recording. Let me say straight away that this is the finest account of the Fifth Symphony I can remember hearing (memories of Stokowski conducting it in the early 1950s are dim though I recall that he exaggerated some dynamic markings in the slow movement to great effect and secured wonderful unanimity of attack). Part of the success of Richard Hickox’s series is his instinctive feeling for the tempo at which this music best comes to life and his scrupulous adherence to dynamic markings. Find the right tempo and everything falls into place; observe every dynamic nuance and the textures achieve the right degree of transparency. Of course the quality of the Chandos and BBC recording also plays an important part: there is great detail, presence and warmth.
The Eighth Symphony (1966-8), subtitled Hommage a Teilhard de Chardin, was composed in a very different climate, for by the late 1960s Rubbra’s music was out of fashion. I can testify to the composer’s dismay at the lack of interest shown by the then BBC hierarchy, and the new symphony had to wait three years for its first performance in Liverpool. Teilhard de Chardin was a French Jesuit priest, a philosopher and palaeontologist, whose thought had a great influence on Rubbra. On first acquaintance the music’s mystical feel and luminous texture are at times reminiscent of Holst, but Hickox’s performance has opened my eyes (or ears) to depths that have previously eluded me. The Eighth speaks of deep and serious things and in this performance proves a powerful musical experience. The Ode to the Queen, which completes the disc, is something of a discovery. Commissioned by the BBC to celebrate the Coronation of the present Queen, it is Rubbra’s only song-cycle with full orchestra. The songs – settings of three poems on regal themes by Richard Crashaw, Sir William Davenant and Thomas Campian – are highly inspired, and are beautifully sung here by Susan Bickley. A triumphant conclusion, then, to Richard Hickox’s Rubbra cycle. '