Two Songs: My Grief on the Sea (1937) & Green Rain (1938)
Phantasy Trio (1940)
Buttermilk Point (1938)
Suite for Strings (1951 or 1953)
To be contiuned...
‘Smart, well-written and knowledgeable’ – Saga Magazine
Two Songs: My Grief on the Sea (1937) & Green Rain (1938)
Phantasy Trio (1940)
Suite for Strings (1951 or 1953)
The longest work in this selection from the Husum Festival is Franz Liszt’s Grosses Konzertsolo (1849-50). This is better known in its revision as the Concerto pathètique for two pianos. The liner notes explain that the lyrical episodes “plunge us into a turbulent realm shared by Wagner’s early operas.” It also exhibits much virtuosic pianism and involved chromatic harmonies. Formally, it is neither a Sonata nor a character study, although Stephen Hough has suggested that it may be good preparation for the soloist who wishes to tackle Liszt’s B minor sonata!
I had not heard of Sophie Menter. She was a pianist primarily, playing duos with Liszt throughout Germany and Russia. Sadly, there are only a few surviving compositions. The Romance, op.5 (1907) was outmoded by the time it was published, yet it remains a good example of a well-wrought and attractive lullaby or nocturne. The liner notes are correct in stating that it deserves a place in the “encore repertoire of many pianists.” This final offering by Daniel Grimwood is played with true affection.
There is little information about Juliette Dillon. She was a “prodigy” who acceded to the post of organist at Meaux Cathedral whilst still a teenager. Sadly, she died from cholera, aged only 31 years. Jean-Frédéric Neuburger gave the “belated German premiere” of her 10 Contes fantastiques de Hoffmann completed in 1847. We hear Le Violon de Crémone, which is the first number of the set. The progress of the piece does not try to reproduce the sound of the violin, or singing, but gives an impression of the mood of Hoffmann’s strange tale. Stylistically, she nods toward Chopin and Liszt. It is to be hoped that Mr Neuberger will release an album of the full set.
Alfonso Soldano, for his recital, made a remarkable transcription of Sergei Rachmaninov’s song, Night is Sorrowful, op.26, no.12. The original majors on the traveller walking a lonely path across the vast steppe, seeing a distant light, but the singers dream, like the night is sad.
Composer and pianist, Sergei Bortkiewicz was very much not a child of his time. He left a legacy of richly Romantic music, often reminiscent of Chopin and Liszt with influences from Rachmaninov, Scriabin, and Tchaikovsky. This included symphonic works, three wonderfully extravagant piano concertos and many solos. Soldano plays here the Nocturne, from Trois Morceaux, op.24 no.1, subtitled Diana. This is an evocation of the hunter-goddess in her incarnation as the divinity of the moon. The harmonies are luxurious, and shimmering. The other two numbers of the set, (not given here) evoke the Satyre and Eros.
Alexander von Zemlinsky is recalled for his massive Lyric Symphony (1922-23) and his orchestral symphonic poem Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid) (1902-03) based on Hans Christian Andersen’s timeless story. His Fantasien über Gedichte von Richard Dehmel, op.9 (1898-1900) belongs to a small collection of piano music. These were inspired by the eponymous fin-de-siecle poet. They are a little bit of a stylistic pot-pourri. The first, Evening Voice has echoes of Brahms, whilst the following Woodland Rapture was inspired by a lieder written by Richard Strauss. Equally romantic is Liebe, dedicated to love. The finale is the Song of the May Beetle, which looks back to Felix Mendelssohn. Andrey Gugnin gives an imaginative and absorbing account.
Edvard Grieg’s Lyric Pieces Book
7, Bächlein, op.60, no.4 is always a delight to hear. As the title
suggests, this is a charming evocation of a little brook on a hillside in
Norway.
Leopold Godowsky was a legendary Russian-born American virtuoso pianist and composer. His “fantastical keyboard imagination” seems to have been forgotten in our day. Yet, his exceptional piano technique once dazzled audiences. His legacy resonates through his transcriptions and major influence on pianistic technique. During the festival, Vadym Kholodenko played four extracts from Godowsky’s “outrageous elaborations” of Chopin’s Studies. Two are presented here. First up is No.4 on op.10, No.2 “Ignis Fatuus” which, for a long time, was regarded as unplayable. “Ignis Fatuus” means “will-o-the-wisp.” The left-hand plays Chopin’s original Etude, whilst the right hand indulges in a sequence of “light, staccato, double note triplets.” The second was No.13 (liner notes say No.6) on op.10, No.6, for the left hand only. Chopin’s original for two hands looks difficult enough! Both are given stunning performances.
Tanya Gabrielian begins her contribution to this CD with another work by Godowsky: his Meditation dating from 1930. This lacks the overblown virtuosity of the Chopin Studies, providing instead a quietly reflective piece that is bittersweet, but lives up to its title.
Her second offering, Christoph
Willibald Gluck’s Melody from Orfeo and Euridice as arranged by
Alexander Siloti is one of my Desert Island Discs. Not only does the
opera set one of my treasured Greek myths, but the present tune is a timeless
reminder of the human condition of love, loss, and lack of faith. It brings
this remarkable recital to a poignant close.
Once again, Danacord have issued a superb selection from last year’s (2023) Husum Festival. It is full of rarities - as it says on the CD cover. The performances are excellent, and the liner notes are helpful without being prolix. The recording is complimentary to the playing. The listener is left wishing for more. Further exploration of these composers is called for. And there is next year’s disc to look forward to...
Track Listing:My introduction to Holst was not The Planets. Back in 1973, when I was first getting to grips with British Music, a friend lent me an LP of his music. It was issued on the Lyrita label (SRCS.34).
The Gramophone (March 1967, p.511) featured a letter from Richard Itter, the founder and owner of the Lyrita Recorded Editon, which stated that “…Miss Imogen Holst has recently completed a recording of her father’s music with the English Chamber Orchestra....It is scheduled for early release.” Works to be included were the Fugal Concerto, and the premiere recordings of the Lyric Movement for viola and orchestra and the Brook Green Suite. He did not mention St Paul’s Suite and the Nocturne, both for string orchestra.
I remember listening to the Brook Green Suite first. It had been composed in 1933 for the junior orchestra of St Paul’s Girl’ School in Hammersmith. Written while Holst was in hospital, the suite features three movements: Prelude, Air, and Dance. It blends pastoral themes with folk influences, highlighting Holst’s ability to create accessible yet richly textured music. It was the arcadian aspect the impressed me, especially in the Air. Equally appealing to my imagination was the St Paul’s Suite. Written some 20 years previously for the same school ensemble, this four-movement suite for string orchestra incorporates English folk tunes and shows Holst’s skill in blending traditional melodies with classical forms. The four movements are, Jig, Ostinato, Intermezzo and Finale. This last movement includes The Dargason, which is a traditional English folk tune dating back to the 16th century. It was originally used for country dances and ballads. Holst cleverly combined this with the well-known Greensleeves.
Looking back over half a century I cannot now recall what I felt about the Nocturne for strings. The sleeve notes explain that Imogen Holst had found this unfinished piece in her late father’s manuscripts. It was in fact part of his “almost completed” arrangement of his Moorside Suite for string orchestra. This work had originally been written for brass band. Listening once again to this evocative and melancholic, I feel that it nods to RVW’s Tallis Fantasia and Elgar.
In 1952, the composer Gordon
Jacob arranged the entire suite for strings. It can be heard on Lyrita SRCD.210.
In a contemporary review (Musical Times, July 1967, p.621f), Diana McVeagh sums up the Lyric Movement for viola and small orchestra: “[This is] a bigger, stronger, darker conception than the title suggests. It was composed during Holst's last year and is economical but not self-denying. There is more than a hint of passion and vehemence, perfectly scaled within its 10 minutes.”
At the time I did not “get it”
but many years on think that it is one of Holst’s most perfectly conceived
miniatures. This late work, written in the year before his death, was dedicated
to the great violist Lionel Tertis. It is conceived in a single movement that
covers a lot of emotional ground, with the pastoral feel being kept in check by
its austere beauty.
Until hearing Holst’s Fugal Concerto for flute, oboe, and strings, I had associated the fugue form solely with J.S. Bach, especially, his organ music and the ‘48.’ Once again, Diana McVeagh (op.cit.) explains, “It used to be thought 'desiccated'; even Miss Holst in 1951 talked of the “dry and brittle ingenuity in its counterpoint;” but in this performance themes with good sharp profiles run easily, almost wittily, in the frank open texture of the first movement. The Adagio opens with Bach like meaningful arabesques and then moves surely, poignantly, through progressions of a wholly 20th century sensibility. But the last movement exposes one of the problems of Holst's period: English tunes acted as a liberation, but not always as good props; and If all the world were paper, worked in to make a double fugue, sounds rather tricksy after the independence of the first two movements.” It is a piece that I have grown into over the past half century: it did not appeal to me in 1974.
As for The Planets, I had to wait until the following year, to hear a performance at the Glasgow Proms held then at the Kelvin Hall.
All the pieces on this vinyl LP have been reissued on CD, Lyrita SRCD.223. Other works included on this great disc are English Chamber Orchestra under Imogen Holst, Two Songs without Words, op.22 (1906), Ballet Music from The Golden Goose, op.45, no.1 (1926,1969), the Double Concerto for two violins and orchestra, op.49, and the Capriccio of orchestra, (1933) edited by Imogen Holst (1968).
This is a good, possibly apocryphal, story of Josef Haydn’s time in London sometime between 1791 and 1795.
“When in London, Haydn once visited the studio of that celebrated portrait painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds. He there saw a picture of Mrs. Billington, one of the best-known singers of her day. Reynolds had represented her listening to the song of the angels. On being asked for his opinion of the painting, Haydn remarked:
"Yes, it is a beautiful
picture; it is just like her; but there is one strange mistake."
"A mistake! How is
that?" exclaimed Reynolds, who could hardly believe his ears.
Notes
Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792)
was a prominent English painter, renowned for his portraiture. Born in
Plympton, Devon, he was a founder and the first president of the Royal Academy
of Arts. Reynolds promoted the “Grand Style” in painting, emphasizing idealization
over mere representation. His works often depicted prominent figures of his
time, blending classical influences with contemporary subjects. Reynolds’
contributions to art theory, particularly through his Discourses on Art,
significantly influenced British art. Knighted by King George III in 1769,
Reynolds remains a key figure in the history of Western art.
Elizabeth Billington (1765-1818) was a renowned British opera singer, celebrated for her extraordinary vocal talent and stage presence. Born Elizabeth Weichsel in London, she was the daughter of Carl Weichsel, a principal oboist, and Frederika Weichsel, a successful vocalist. Billington made her stage debut in Dublin and quickly gained fame across Europe. Known for her powerful and sweet voice, she performed at prestigious venues like Covent Garden and Drury Lane. Despite personal challenges, including a tumultuous marriage, Billington’s career flourished, making her one of the most acclaimed sopranos of her time.
First up on this disc are the Six Moments Musicaux, D 780. It is impossible to know if these were meant as a cycle or if they were a collection of individual pieces. Certainly, Nos. 3 and 6 were published separately in 1823 and 1824, respectively. The complete set was issued in 1828, the year of Schubert’s death. It has been suggested that some of these Moments reflect nature. The liner notes explain that Schubert put “anything he experienced into music – water flowing, hunting scenes, galloping horses, thunder…and walking.” One of his most significant compositions was the Wanderer Fantasy D 760 (1822) for piano. So, “wandering” was one of his greatest pleasures, especially in the Austrian Alps. The first of these Moments Musicaux opens with a “hunting horn” and the second is a kind of lullaby. The third, which is the best-known, is a vibrant dance, which contrasts major and minor keys, whilst No. 4 seems to nod to the Baroque era. No.5, the most complex, moves from a fiendish opening to a cheery conclusion. Finally, No.6 has all the appeal and refinement of a Viennese drawing room soiree.
The Two Scherzos, D 593 were composed during 1817. The liner notes explain that at this time Schubert was working with “sonata form” and suggests that these two “charming movements” could well have originally designed for a Sonata. The first, in B flat major is a waltz/landler and progresses in a disarming manner. The second, in D flat major is much more extrovert. It opens with a peasant’s dance. Both Scherzos have contrasting, quieter trio sections. They are played here with seductiveness and stylishness.
Schubert’s Three Piano Pieces, D 946 date from 1828, the final year of his life. Once again, it is not known exactly what the context is. It can be construed as three individual numbers, or as a group, designed to be played in sequence, in its entirety. Another suggestion is that they may have been intended as another set of Impromptus. John Damgaard takes the opinion that they are nowadays viewed as a unit, “a sonata…and not a sonata.” They are long, altogether lasting just shy of half an hour.
The opening Allegro assai
is dynamic, but with a thoughtful middle section. The Allegretto used a
tune from Schubert’s opera Fierrabras D 796 (1823). There are two
contrasting episodes, one of which is lively, the other more restrained. The
last, in C major, is the briefest of the set, but has the most virtuosity, with
a bracing pace and off-beat rhythms in the outer sections and a quiet trio.
Danish pianist John Damgaard studied at the Eastman School of Music in New York and at the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen. His teachers included Georg Vásárhelyi, Ilona Kabos, and Wilhelm Kempff. He has held several teaching positions in Denmark, including, from 1984-2007, as Professor of Music at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. Dangaard has performed throughout the world. His repertoire is oriented towards the classical and romantic periods. He is also an enthusiastic promoter of Danish music. Recordings include the complete piano works of Maurice Ravel, and all the finished sonatas by Schubert.
I enjoyed this CD. To be sure there are dozens of competitors for this repertoire. I would not know where to begin in any further exploration of this music. From my point of view, I enjoyed John Damgaard’s performance of all these works. I found them both absorbing and moving. It has been a fascinating learning curve for me, both in listening and in researching each piece.
Track Listing
Since first learning that Ignaz Moscheles spent much of his career in the United Kingdom, I have regarded him as an ‘honorary’ British composer. Other contenders for this title are Felix Mendelssohn, J.C. Bach, Muzio Clementi, Johann Baptist Cramer and George Frideric Handel. This is not to deny their respective nationalities: only to point out the major contribution these men made to the musical life of this nation.
Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870) was a Bohemian pianist and composer, renowned as one of the leading virtuosos of his time. Moscheles was a close associate of Beethoven, who entrusted him with the piano arrangement of his opera Fidelio. He gained international acclaim for his virtuosic performances and compositions, including eight piano concertos and numerous studies and chamber works. In 1821, Moscheles settled in London, where he later became a prominent figure in the musical scene. He later joined the Leipzig Conservatory as a professor of piano, working alongside his friend and former pupil, Felix Mendelssohn. Moscheles’ influence extended to composers like Chopin and Schumann, and his innovative approach to piano technique and pedagogy left a lasting impact on the music world.
Brief Biography
Twelve Selected Works
Moscheles catalogues includes 142
works with opus number and several dozen without. He typically concentrated on
writing music for the piano, with or without the orchestra. There are, however,
several pieces for chamber ensemble, including a cello sonata, and music for
the flute and several songs.
All the pieces listed below are available on CD, download or streaming.
Further Reading
Aside from these early volumes, listeners had to rely on articles in Grove’s Dictionary of Music, the standard histories of the period and contemporary biographies and memoires of some of the key players in his story. To be sure, copious reviews of Moscheles’ concerts are found in contemporary newspapers and journals.
In 1989 Emil F. Smidak issued Isaak-Ignaz Moscheles: The Life of the Composer and His Encounters with Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin, and Mendelssohn. This important volume consisted of extracts from the diaries and letters and included a catalogue of works.
Twenty-five years later, the Boydell Press published Ignaz Moscheles and the Changing World of Musical Europe by Mark Kroll (2014). It was and remains the first full-length examination of the composer. It is essential reading for all enthusiasts of Moscheles music.
There are also a few theses such
as John Michael Beck’s Moscheles Re-examined (1986) and
Carolyn Denton Gresham’s Ignaz Moscheles: An Illustrious Musician in
the Nineteenth Century (1980).
One extremely important website is ‘Ignaz Moscheles Concert Life.’ This is a spin off from Dr Sevastiana Nourou thesis, Ignaz Moscheles’ reception in the nineteenth century and his influence on concert life, published in 2022. She writes: “In each section [of the webpage] you will find the advertisements and reviews of each concert I was able to locate. All of these have been typed down by myself and thus, I am not using any original images from letters, playbills, and newspapers that I do not have the right to.”
If you can only hear one CD…
Finally, if you can only listen to one work…
This composition is notable for
its stunning orchestration and the seamless integration of traditional Irish
tunes with classical forms. Moscheles’ ability to evoke the spirit and
atmosphere of Ireland through music is evident in the lively and expressive
passages that characterize the work. Recollections of Ireland not only highlights
Moscheles’ technical prowess but also his sensitivity to cultural influences
and his talent for creating evocative musical narratives.
I asked Frikki Walker, current Director
of Music at St Mary’s for some information about Cameron’s tenure at the
Cathedral. He kindly passed on my request to the Choir Historian, Pam
Barrowman.
In June 1952, St Mary’s Vestry received Gordon Cameron’s resignation, on personal and health grounds. Three months later he left to take up the post of organist at Town Kirk (Holy Trinity), in St Andrews. Between 1946 and 1969, Cameron was lecturer of Harmony, Counterpoint and Composition at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland).
There is no ‘formal’ biography of [John] Gordon Cameron (1900-89) except for a few fugitive references here and there. Despite his Scottish-sounding name, Cameron was born in Cardiff in 1900. He studied at Ellesmere College, Christ’s College Cambridge and Edinburgh University. Whilst at Cambridge, he was one of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford’s last pupils. Before his appointment to St Mary’s, he was organist at St John’s Episcopal Church in Dumfries (1937-44). Gordon Cameron died in 1989.
Gordon Cameron published two sets of hymn-tune preludes. The first was Six Preludes on hymn-tunes for organ (Novello, 1942) including ‘Rockingham’, ‘Tune by Orlando Gibbons’ [Song 13], ‘Windsor’, ‘Martyrdom’, ‘Cape Town’ and ‘Bristol’, followed by Four Preludes on Hymn Tunes (Novello, 1948): ‘St Columba’, ‘Strathcaro’, ‘Franconia’ and ‘Quam dilecta.’
Ian Hare has performed Gordon Cameron’s Fantasia on St Denis (‘Immortal, Invisible’) which was published by Novello in 1945. The CD liner notes point out that this Fantasia was dedicated to Lieut. Colonel George Dixon (1870-1950) – possibly of the Border Regiment (1914) - who had considerable influence on the design of the organ at St Bees Priory and several other Cumberland instruments.
The Fantasia is an accomplished
work that explores the tune of ‘St Deniol’, with considerable subtlety. The
tune, somewhat varied, is usually heard on a reed stop although it is often
subsumed by the complex figuration of the accompaniment. This is a piece that
would make an ideal recessional at a wedding or ‘big service.’
The Fantasia is played on
the fine three-manual organ in St Peter’s (Roman Catholic) Cathedral in
Lancaster. This instrument, commissioned in 1889, was originally by Henry
Ainscough of Preston. After additional work by Ainscough in 1956 and some
modernisation and a new console by Pendelbury of Cleveleys in 1976, it was rebuilt by Willis during 2008-9.
Other instruments used on this CD include St. Patrick’s Patterdale, Crosthwaite Church, Keswick and St. Oswald's Church, Grasmere as well as Lancaster Cathedral. Music includes works by Handel, J H Reginald Dixon, Dr F W Wadely, Adrian Self, Arthur Somervell, Ian Hare and the complete Six Sketches by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs.
With grateful thanks to Frikki Walker and Pam Barrowman at St Mary’s Cathedral and Stuart A. Harris-Logan, Archives Officer at the The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland for their valuable assistance.
With thanks to the Glasgow Society of Organists Journal where this essay was first published in 2017.
The “plot” involves a love
triangle between the three main characters: Pelléas, Mélisande, and a certain
Golaud, who is Mélisande’s husband and Pelléas’s half-brother. The backdrop to
the action is an imaginary country, during medieval times. Reviewers of the
play have explained that Maeterlinck emphasises atmosphere over plot, by
creating a “dreamlike fairy tale about the terrifying power of love.”
Over the years, composers have been inspired by the play, including incidental music by Jean Sibelius and the operatic masterpiece by Claude Debussy.
The two works on this disc are
hugely different. Gabriel Fauré’s op.80 was originally incidental music for a
London performance of the play in 1898 whilst Schoeneberg’s op.5 was a
tone-poem written in a full-blown late-Romantic style.
Originally, there were twenty separate numbers of stage music, which Fauré had devised in under a month. His pupil Charles Koechlin produced the orchestral score in time for the play’s London premiere. Three years later, Fauré gathered up various fragments to create the Suite. There were originally three movements: Prélude, Fileuse, and La mort de Mélisande, with the famous Sicilienne being added some years later. This latter piece was originally part of an “uncompleted stage music project.”
The Prélude sets a serious
tone, while Fileuse portrays Mélisande’s spinning wheel, creating a filigree
of movement. The Sicilienne depicts the lovers’ short-lived happiness:
it has a charming melody which is justifiably popular. Finally, La mort de
Mélisande leaves the listener in a sad, but thoughtful mood. Overall, Fauré
has captured the story’s “mysterious, enchanted, cryptic” tempers. This is
aided by sophisticated orchestration and a rich harmonic palette.
I discovered Arnold Schoenberg’s Pelleas und Melisande, op.5 (1902) several years after having been introduced to his atonal and dodecaphonic music. And it came as a major surprise. Here was a strong, romantic sounding tone poem that sounded more Wagnerian or Straussian than the expressionist sound world of Pierrot Lunaire, the string quartets, or piano pieces with which I was familiar.
Richard Strauss had suggested to
the 27-year-old Schoenberg that he should write a work based on Maeterlinck’s
play. This was to have been an opera, but finally he decided to craft a tone
poem.
The critic Harry Neville summed
up the creative process (Sleeve Note Angel 36509): “Unlike the incidental music
of Fauré and Sibelius, Schoenberg’s Pelleas is no mere delineation of
character and atmosphere; in it the composer attempts not only to narrate
musically the action of the drama, but to depict the psychological implications
as well – all within the confines of a vast sonata form.”
Pelleas und Melisande is long, lasting for more than forty minutes. It is conceived as a single movement divided up into eleven interrelated sections. Schoenberg wrote that “Aside from a few omissions and minor alterations in the sequence of scenes…I tried to reflect every detail…” In fact, it is customary to analyse it as a “symphony” rather than a “symphonic poem.” Alban Berg has suggested that “in the four principal sections of this work we can even identify clearly the four movements of a symphony.” The initial sonata form is followed by a scherzo, a slow movement, and a rondo-like finale, that recaps much that has gone before.
The progress of the tone poem is
constructed from leitmotifs and themes associated with the individual
characters in the play. Also represented by musical tropes are the various
external forces at play: jealousy, fate, death, and love. These are often
superimposed on each other, with deft contrapuntal skill. Berg categorized
twenty themes. Also, instrumental colouring is used to identify the characters
– Pelleas, trumpet; Golaud, horn; and Melisande, cor anglais.
The work was completed in 1903 and was premiered at the Musikverein in Vienna on 26 January 1905. This caused great consternation amongst the audience and the critics.
For the listener unacquainted with Schoenberg’s Pelleas und Melisande, the stylistic markers are Wagner and Strauss, with hints of Mahler and Brahms. Yet, this is not a pastiche, but a glorious synthesis of the received musical language of the late nineteenth century.
The playing by the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Järvi is faultless, the recording is ideal. The booklet with notes by Adam Gellen is essential reading: it is printed in German, English and French.
Leonard Rees (The Sunday Times, 1 October 1916, p.4) noted “that [there] was a quasi-novelty on Tuesday night when Mr Frank Bridge’s skilful and genial arrangement of Sally in our alley and Cherry Ripe for string orchestra was given for the first time under the composer’s direction.”
Sadly, the critic of the
Westminster Gazette, (27 September 1916, p.9) was unimpressed – “If, therefore,
there was not an overflowing audience last night, it was really not very
surprising—for it is to be feared that the "first performance "of Mr.
Frank Bridge's perversions of Sally in Our Alley and Cherry Ripe were hardly compensation, in the opinion of
most, for the absence of works more famous.”
For me, Cherry Ripe remains a good example of early 20th-century English music, highlighting Bridge’s talent for crafting beautiful and evocative arrangements.
Listen to the orchestral version of Frank Bridge’s Cherry Ripe on YouTube, here. The English Northern Philharmonia is conducted by David Lloyd-Jones.
Bibliography
Hindmarsh, Paul, Frank Bridge
(1879-1941) The Complete Works, PHM Publishing, 2016. eBook.
Select Discography
With thanks to Paul Hindmarsh for permission to use the musical example.
The four movement Divertimento, for oboe and string trio was dedicated to Leon Goossens who celebrated his 70th birthday during 1967. Pitfield headed the score with a few poetic lines, beginning, “He pipes his pastoral way...” These five words sum up the impression of this delightful tribute. After a brief, airy Toccatina, the Pastorale unsurprisingly presents a folksong-like melody. This is followed by a well-crafted, introspective Intermezzo, before concluding with a rondo featuring a “chattering” tune with several reflective byways. It is a long work, lasting for eighteen minutes. It delights the listener with its evocation of the North Country landscape.
John Joubert’s Remember: Scena for soprano, recorder and string quartet, op. 184 (2018) was one of his final compositions. It was dedicated to the recorderist, John Turner. The text is taken from Christina Rossetti’s heart-breaking sonnet, Remember, which explores themes of love, death, and memory. This intense setting emphasizes the poet’s desire that the beloved should remember her without sadness.
The highlight (for me) of this first CD is E.J. Moeran’s Fantasy Quartet, for oboe and string trio. The liner notes explain that Pitfield knew Moeran well. The Fantasy was devised for Leon Goossens, who gave the premiere performance on 8 December 1946. It should be recalled that at this time, Moeran was struggling with alcoholism as well as marriage problems with Peers Coetmore. Yet, these issues barely trouble the progress of this mature and deeply felt piece. It was summed up by the reviewer of the premiere (The Times, 10 December 1946, p.6) who noted that it was “almost inevitably pastoral in its general character” and “somehow conveyed the feeling of sunshine over rural England.”
The final work on CD 1 is the charming Three Nautical Sketches (1982) for recorder and string quartet. Originally devised for recorder and piano, the present arrangement was made in 2003 by Pitfield’s onetime pupil, the late John McCabe. The three movements explore a “quodlibet” (often a light-hearted combination of tunes) on the sea shanties The Three Mariners and Donkey Riding. The slow movement is a moving reflection on Tom Bowling, whilst the finale majors on a rumbustious take on The Keel Row. There is also a version for recorder and string orchestra. (Naxos 8.572503). Any of these incarnations would make a great piece for the concert hall or recital room.
The second CD opens with Robin Walker’s Parrottry for recorder and string quartet, completed in 2006. The title is a play on words between the dictionary definition of Parrotry (one ‘t’) as being “servile imitation and repetition” and the composer Ian Parrott (1916-2012) whose ninetieth birthday was celebrated in this commission. Certainly, the progress of the music calls for repetition, but never “servile.” Walker asks “How much repetition is too much? Literal repetition rapidly wears thin (vide Minimalism), but varied repetition is the essence of extended symphonic composition. The instruments play out a mixture of the two until - to avoid things getting out of hand, and the likely onset of parrotry – it is time, as it were, to place a cloth over the parrot's cage.” It is fun, and I am sure Ian Parrott must have appreciated it, with no imputation concerning his musical achievement!
The liner notes explain that Jeremy Pike’s Spring for recorder and quartet was written to celebrate the eightieth birthday of John Turner during 2023. Pike explains that “the letters contained in John’s name are used to create a theme that reflects the various sounds of the season. The music alludes to the conflicting emotions stirred in the months of March and April.” The only musical note in JT’s name is ‘E,’ but perhaps there was a scheme…? Altogether a dark offering, rather than an explosion of vernal fecundity.
My comments on the songs for soprano solo and recorder are given together. Firstly, the Three Short Songs by friends of Pitfield, for soprano and recorder. First up, is a lively Yeats setting, by Nicolas Marshall, To a Child Dancing in the Wind. This is followed by Anthony Gilbert’s lugubrious realisation of his own text, A breath for Life. Finally, John Turner has contributed a song to words by William Blake, Spring. Stuart Scott’s Three Blake Songs for recorder and soprano include: Ah, Sunflower, The Lilly, and Infant Joy. For me, the tessitura of the two soloists tends to be too piercing and overbearing in most of these songs.
Richard Pantcheff’s Spring Suite, for recorder and string quartet was written in 2022 for John Turner. It is an attractive collection of baroque dances reimagined in a contemporary, but not unapproachable, musical language. The four contrasting movements include, a Bourrée, a Siciliano, an Air, a Minuet, and a concluding Gigue.
Two more songs follow. The Carol Lullaby for soprano recorder and harp is gentle and sentimentally religious. Both text and music are by Pitfield. The second number Lullaby (TBP [Thomas Baron Pitfield] his goodnight) is by Gordon Crosse and uses the same forces. The liner notes explain that this piece began life as part of the incidental music for Michael Elliott’s Manchester Royal Exchange production of the Greek tragedy Philoctetes, by Sophocles. It was revised as a contribution to Thomas Pitfield’s eightieth birthday album, published by Forsyth’s of Manchester. It is an astringent, rather than soothing, berceuse.
This two-disc set is a rewarding exploration of music by Thomas Pitfield, his contemporaries, and friends.
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