Description

Essentially an eclectic, Ridout yet did not lack for individuality. His music, though intensely felt, is prevailingly sunny and affirmative; it eschews the ‘doom and gloom’ manner and self-conscious profundity of much 20th-century concert fare. Ridout liked fun in music and could not easily resist concluding a work with a ‘good tune,’ one of which can be heard throughout this transcription of FALL FAIR for brass band – originally an orchestral piece – by Stephen Bulla. Ridout saw no need to strive for ever-new styles, or for a progress through styles, or for the role of musical inventor; style for him was a means of communication, not the ‘message’ itself. In this aloofness from contemporary conformity, he can be perceived to be more original than many innovators and one of the determined communicators of his day.

LEVEL: D

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