Die Toteninsel (1880) by Arnold Böcklin

Reviews

GRAMOPHONE (Octobre 2017)

"It is humbling that a self-taught European composer in his sixties can have written such a stack of well-crafted, emotionally honest and non-derivative music without anybody really noticing and with hardly a note being performed professionally"

ARCANA (Richard Whitehouse)

"Toccata Classics continues its coverage of Steve Elcock (b1957) with this second instalment of orchestral music – dominated by the Fifth Symphony with provocative allusions to its most famous predecessor, together with shorter yet distinctive pieces from either end of his output."
Full review on : https://arcana.fm/tag/steve-elcock/

Paul Howarth on TOCCATA CLASSICS (May 2020)

"This eagerly anticipated release of the second volume of Steve Elcock’s orchestral works does not disappoint. This is marvellous contemporary music and whilst challenging, it is nonetheless approachable, entirely logical and contains moments of transcendence which had this listener reaching for his handkerchief. (…) the insistent and melodic ostinato, the glorious slow movement and the exhilarating finale leave one astonished at the quality of music on offer here. Does anyone write adagios like this anymore? Well yes. Steve Elcock does. It goes without saying that this release is a triumph and the shorter pieces, Incubus and Haven, merit the same attention as the symphony. With an extensive essay by Francis Pott on Steve Elcock’s symphonic composition in the accompanying booklet, and superb playing by the Siberian Symphony Orchestra under Dmitry Vasiliev, you have an essential purchase for anyone wishing to hear an original musical voice, and yet one firmly located in a Western classical tradition. Listening has been a privilege and my feelings on hearing these pieces for the first time, will remain with me"

Jean Lacroix, Crecendo Magazine (June 2020)

"...une vaste aventure tourmentée, souvent violente et aux aspérités rythmiques... "

Full review on : https://www.crescendo-magazine.be/la-musique-symphonique-flamboyante-de-steve-elcock/

Ralph Graves (September 2020)

"Elcock has a strong musical personality, and his works show great originality. Plus, they have an internal logic that guides the listener through the music."
Full review on : https://www.charlottesvilleclassical.org/posts/elcock-orchestral-volume-2

Richard Hanlon (Musicweb international 2019)

"Features of Elcock’s style that strike the listener more or less instantly (…) are the confidence and fluency of his writing, a seemingly infinite melodic and harmonic imagination, an unerring sense of purpose and direction..."
Full review on : http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Apr/Elcock_chmber_v1_TOCC0506.htm

Jean-Yves Duperron ("Musique pour tous", April 2020)

"Not many composers still write beautiful slow movements like this one, or unleash as much kinetic energy as in this symphony's final movement. If you seek compelling 21st century orchestral music, look no further than Steve Elcock"
Full review on : facebook page

Celeste Stokely

"This (…) is a Fifth Symphony to be reckoned with, and I could envision that 50 years from now will be regularly heard along with the Fifths of Beethoven, Mahler, Shostakovich, Pettersson, and Nielsen"
Full review on : https://www.amazon.com/Orchestral-Music-Siberian-Symphony-Orchestra/dp/B085RV52TB

Chris Rice (Records International, May 2020)

"For the first fifty seconds we seem set for an epic battle scene depicted in a violent symphonic allegro. But, more shockingly, the conflagration blows itself out and what follows is revealed to be a huge slow movement; a hushed, withdrawn, shell-shocked adagio of unrelenting tension and unease"
Full review on : https://recordsinternational.com/cd.php?cd=05V001

Geoffrey Atkinson (BMS review, June 2018)

"Wow! As Schumann was prone to say, ‘Hats off, gentlemen, a genius!"

Colin Anderson (Classical Source, September 20, 2017)

"This is music of elemental force and eerie atmosphere (…) and proves to be a gripping narrative, very potent and, one suspects, generated from entirely personal and deep feelings, an unstoppable juggernaut if an organised one."
Full review on : https://www.classicalsource.com/cd/steve-elcock-orchestral-music-volume-one-royal-liverpool-philharmonic-paul-mann-toccata-classics/

Prof. Lawrence Solum (September 17, 2017)

"Because of the Guardian review, I found your Symphony #3 and other works on Spotify. I am about half way through the symphony and I am stunned. (...)

I believe that your work is truly magnificent, by contemporary standards and in comparison with the great composers of the western classical tradition. I am eager to hear more, but it is already apparent to me that I will return to your work again and again. Thank you for sticking with it."

Stephen Pritchard (The Guardian, September 16, 2017)

"Steve Elcock (born 1957) is a phenomenon."
Full review on : https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/sep/17/steve-elcock-orchestral-music-volume-1-review-rlpo-paul-mann

Sean Hickey (Naxos of America, September 14, 2017)

"My god, you crazy mofo! You’ve done it again. The Elcock recording is astounding. What a symphony. Pure fascination, rigorous and thorough, vital and tough. I absolutely love it. I so wish I could be there to celebrate. Loads and loads of great music you have coming, but this one is simply astounding. I must meet the composer at some point."

Chris Rice (Records International, September 2017)

"Elcock has labored for decades in complete obscurity, with no professional performances (...), precious few amateur ones, and zero contact with the music business. Somehow he forged a completely original style and an exceptional level of craftsmanship in all aspects of the compositional art (…) producing a sizeable body of powerful, emotionally gripping symphonic music."

Full review on : https://www.recordsinternational.com/cd.php?cd=09T001

Robin Walker (August 21, 2017)

"I have just heard Symphony no.3. What a great musical achievement. Totally riveting emotionally, and utterly professional in its mode of address - where what you have to say and the means of saying it make an impassioned match. A truly human document.

Congratulations, Steve - we stand in your debt."

Chris Rice to Martin Anderson (August 12, 2017)

"Just had to write to congratulate you on the Elcock recording. Even by the standards of what you've been bringing out lately, this is outstanding! Terrific music - my reaction on listening to it was similar to that when I first encountered Havergal Brian, 37 years ago, an experience that hasn't often been repeated since. I think this may be your most spectacular find yet (...) The symphony is an absolute ripsnorter. I've probably listened to it six times already, and let me tell you, that doesn't often happen to jaded, cynical old me these days. "Things buggered up by Time or Destruction" pretty much does everything I want a piece of contemporary music to do, too. By all means pass my congratulations on to the composer."

Vincent Budd (August 4, 2017)

"This premiere recording of the music of Steve Elcock is an absolute delight. It is thoroughly recommended to anyone interested in hearing a 'new', exciting, utterly enthralling voice in contemporary classical music. I would also urge you to check out the extracts of his music on his website: http://steveelcock.fr/works.html. (I can't stop playing the stupendous, breathtakingly brilliant 'Manic Dancing', inter alia.)"

Full review on : https://toccataclassics.com/coming-in-from-the-unknown/

Seth Blacklock (August 4, 2017)

"Elcock's masterful orchestrations are wonderfully imaginative, not a note (or a timbre, or compositional device) is wasted; the music is fresh, bracing, exciting, cinematic, intriguingly designed (...); there is an immediacy to it which is enchanting and the listening experience leaves you wanting more"

Full review on : https://toccataclassics.com/product/steve-elcock-orchestral-music-volume-one/

Steve Elcock

COMPOSER