Vernon Handley
One of England's busiest and most recorded conductors of the late 20th century, Vernon Handley emerged in the 1970s as the successor to Sir Adrian Boult and Sir John Barbirolli as the leading exponent of English music. Like Boult before him, he made a career specialty out of performing and recording symphonic music from England, some of it well-known and much of it overlooked by previous generations of conductors and audiences.
Vernon George Handley was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and the Guildhall School of Music. His earliest engagements as conductor were with the Oxford University Musical Club and Union, the Tonbridge Philharmonic Society, and the orchestra of the Hatfield School of Music and Drama. He became a professor of orchestra and conducting at the Royal College of Music during 1966, a post he held for six years. During the 1960s and 1970s, Handley was a frequent guest conductor with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, the BBC Welsh Orchestra and the BBC Northern Symphony, the London Philharmonic, and the Philharmonia Orchestra. He was also frequently seen as a guest conductor on tour in various European countries, including Germany, Holland, Sweden, and France. Handley was also seen as a conductor at the London Proms concerts, and was the chief guest conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra from 1989 to 1994, in addition to holding posts with several Australian orchestras. In 1998 he became principal guest conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra, and was, as well, associate conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Handley's major impact as a conductor was through his recordings for EMI and Chandos, where he performed a large body of important English music. For EMI, his recordings of the music of Delius and Elgar, and, especially, the nine Vaughan Williams symphonies have proved perennially popular, the latter good successors to the earlier recordings by Sir Adrian Boult. For Chandos, he recorded a more unusual and specialized body of work, including the six symphonies of Sir Charles Villier Stanford -- which had largely been forgotten since the first decade of the 20th century -- and the works of E.J. Moeran, Sir Arnold Bax, Sir Arthur Bliss, Peter Warlock, and Gerald Finzi, among many others. Handley also occasionally did work with more mainstream European composers, including conducting Jill Gomez's highly effective performance of the Joseph Canteloube's Songs of the Auvergne.
When he wasn't conducting, Handley spent much of his time studying and photographing birds in their natural habitats.
© TiVo
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Symphonie n°4...
Ulster Orchestra, Lydia Mordkovitch, Vernon Handley
Symphonic Music - Released by Chandos on Nov 1, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bantock: Thalaba the Destroyer & Other Orchestral Works
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley
Classical - Released by Hyperion on Nov 1, 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Simpson: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 8
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley
Classical - Released by Hyperion on Nov 1, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 2 "A London Symphony", Symphony No. 6 & Prelude and Fugue in C Minor
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Mar 3, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonie n° 1 - Rhapsodie irlandaise n° 2
Ulster Orchestra, Vernon Handley
Symphonic Music - Released by Chandos on May 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Ride Of The Valkyries (2021 Digitally Remastered)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley
Classical - Released by Fat Classics on Oct 16, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Orchestral Works from Rienzi, Tannhauser, Lohengrin & Die Walkure
Classical - Released by Allegria on Mar 1, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bliss: Suites from Checkmate & Adam Zero
Vernon Handley, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Oct 29, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Finzi & Leighton: Cello Concertos
Raphael Wallfisch, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Vernon Handley, Bryden Thomson
Classical - Released by Chandos on Aug 1, 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Delius: Florida & North Country Sketches
Vernon Handley, Ulster Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Apr 1, 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Busch: Cello Concerto & Piano Concerto
Raphael Wallfisch, Piers Lane, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley
Classical - Released by Lyrita on Oct 1, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
AN IRISH RHAPSODY
Pan Hon Lee, Ulster Orchestra, Vernon Handley, Bryden Thomson
Classical - Released by Chandos on Feb 1, 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bantock: Pagan Symphony; Fifine at the Fair etc.
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley
Classical - Released by Hyperion on Nov 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Russian Spectacular
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Mar 3, 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Simpson: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 5
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley
Classical - Released by Hyperion on Nov 1, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bantock: The Song of Songs & Other Works
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Classical - Released by Hyperion on Oct 1, 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonie n° 2 - Concerto pour clarinette en la mineur
Classical - Released by Chandos on Sep 1, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BEETHOVEN: Egmont Overture / SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 8 / MOZART: Symphony No. 40
Ulster Orchestra, Vernon Handley
Symphonic Music - Released by Chandos on Mar 1, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Clifford : Symphonie 1940 - Bainton : Symphonie n° 2
Symphonic Music - Released by Chandos on Sep 1, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Song of the Birds
Raphael Wallfisch, Vernon Handley, The BBC Concert Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on Jan 1, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bantock: Omar Khayyam
Theatre Music - Released by Chandos on Sep 1, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo