Thanks for the comments about this intriguing composer.

Bernard Chasan is keen on the brilliance...

>...of Gerhard's Piano Concerto.

bTW, is it just me, or did you notice the similarity between the opening
of its 2nd movement and the 2nd movement of Grazyna Bacewicz's Sonata #4
for Violin and Piano (1949)? Though he also repeats the figure near the
end, I don't see the rest of her glorious sonata alluded to any further.
It's a very suspenseful roll of notes up the keyboard (which no doubt goes
by some fancy Italian name I don't know), pregnant with some ineffable
meaning, followed by a brief punctuating silence.  It very effectively
infuses an ominous air into this slow movement.

Deryk Barker mentioned being moved by a live performance of Gerhard's Third
Symphony, and by a subsequent recording of it, while Bernard Chasan finds
the Fourth...

>...a formidable, elusive, yet fascinating work.  There is indeed a strong
>element of Spanish traditional music in it, yet that element is as elusive
>and transitory as everything else in this work.  I find it very hard to get
>a sense of a continuous melodic line in this music.

I feel this way with the First Symphony and his Violin Concerto
...though there are enough enticing 'hooks' all over the place to dispel
any thought of simply giving up.  Even if the penny never fully drops for
me, I'd still recognize him as a master of orchestration along the lines
of a Ravel.  As you say:

>...it is music of great expressive power and it is worth repeated listening.

This is my hope regarding all the music from his serialist stage -- except
the Harpsichord Concerto, which took no time to charm me, and, to a lesser
extent, Gerhard's Nonet.  Even so, it seems that little of it's ever likely
to 'connect' as fully as that Piano Concerto.

>The Chandos cd also contains The Pandora Suite, taken from a 1942 ballet
>score, is a strong, attractive, and completely accessible work.

I have this on the double Audivis/Montaigne of his ballets.  There's a
lot to like on this album, including the "Don Quijote" that Karl Miller
mentioned.  Mind you, he found "them less convincing than his mature
works." I'll confine myself to saying that, like so much ballet music, I
find Gerhard's lacks the kind of *weight* that makes one turn to symphonies
and concertos.

BTW, anyone who's interested, there are some brief but enticing soundclips
at:

   http://www.chandos-records.com/RamFiles/CHAN9694.ram?

Anyway, I appreciate your input, gents.

I confess to still feeling a bit beyond my depth: many of your comments
were about music I'm still finding opaque.  But, as Karl M observed:
this music poses "a significant challenge for even the most sophisticated
listener, but I have found it worth the effort.  I find great power,
nobility and a rhythmic intensity in his music that speaks of a great
talent."

Bert B, in Ottawa