William Henry Fry
Work: Niagara symphony (1854)
Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Conductor: Tony Rowe
Fry wrote the Niagara Symphony for an 1854 P.T., Barnum 'Monster Concert', but there was no record that it was actually performed, perhaps because Fry finished it only five days before the concert, Niagara is extravagantly panoramic in scope as befits all good travelogue pieces, He held back nothing in his striving for a sensational impact. The gorge thunders with eleven timpani, and giddy scale passages depict the roaring waters. In its midst is a quiet, hymn-like contemplation before the cascade returns.
