Marsh: Symphonies

"Limited invention, but this English gentleman's music is certainly agreeable. Though Marsh's invention can be banal and short-breathed, there is an indefinable quality of robust Englishness to many of his melodies. Several movements have a distinct whiff of Handel, especially the catchy country-dance finale of No 8, with its piquant changes of instrumental colouring (shades here of the Water Music). There are rollicking Handelian fanfares, too, in the first movement and minuet of the most ambitious and massively scored symphony, No 6, though Marsh's acknowledged inspiration here was Haydn's late symphonies.
The 'London Bach', Johann Christian, is another unmissable influence, above all in the ConversationSymphony, an original take on Bach's symphonies for double orchestra.
As ever in their 'Contemporaries of Mozart' series, Matthias Bamert and the LMP give carefully prepared, well-paced performances, rhythmically lively without falling into autopilot, and balancing polish with a down-to-earth directness crucial to Marsh's music. Among a clutch of expert soloists, the horns deserve a tip of the hat for their brave braying in the brief 'hunting' symphony, No 7. The recording has an attractive bloom. A modestly pleasing curio, recommended to anyone who likes to venture down 18th-century symphonic byways."
(Gramophone Classical Music guide)

"As always in this series, the London Mozart Players under Matthias Bamert provide impeccably stylish performances."
(BBC Music)