Recently I wrote
about Alan Richardson’s piano miniature Dreaming
Spires. In that post I mentioned that perhaps one of his best known pieces
was the Roundelay for
oboe and piano. Just the other day, I discovered the score for this work in
Travis and Emery’s music bookshop in London.
There is an
immediate mystery to be solved with this piece. The Guardian obituary (16
August 2003) for the clarinettist Jack Brymer suggests that the Roundelay was
written specifically for him. However the score carries a dedication to Helen
Gaskell. The Times obituary (14 October 2002) for her states that “Richardson
dedicated his oboe and piano work Roundelay to Gaskell, even though he was
married to the oboist Janet Craxton.” As an aside, The Sphere commented in
August 1927 that “If not the first woman musician engaged in the woodwind of an
English symphony orchestra in London, Miss Helen Gaskell is certainly the first
to hold the position of second oboe in Sir Henry Wood’s orchestra at the
Promenade Concerts”. She was to become one of the great ‘characters’ of the
musical world.
So what was the
truth? And does it really matter? I would stick with Helen Gaskell as the
dedicatee – simply because that is what is printed on the score.
Roundelay was
completed in October 1935 and was duly published in 1936 by Oxford University
Press. The piece appears to have been originally conceived for oboe and piano.
However, it is likely that the composer realised that it would work equally
well for clarinet. The front cover states ‘Roundelay for Oboe (or Clarinet) and
Piano.’ It is interesting to note that the oboe and clarinet parts were
published separately, priced 8d (3p) each.
The basic form
of the work is largely derived from the ‘rondolet' form. In its original
literary guise this would have consisted of one stanza made up of seven lines.
Although Richardson is not strict in his interpretation of this scheme, the
opening refrain is certainly repeated a number of times throughout the work.
However the poetic form did allow for a degree of variation or even elaboration
in the repetition of the refrain -and this is a feature of Richardson’s work.
Yet the contrasting sections are never that far removed from the opening theme.
Much use is made of flowing semiquavers in both the solo part and the
accompaniment. There is a change of mood, however at the halfway mark when the
music is signed 'poco pui mosso' (a little more movement) allows for a piano
pedal point. This gives a more serious feel to the music.
This work is
hardly noticed in the musical press, with virtually no reviews. There is one
notice in The Times for 13 May 1981 when the work was performed at the Wigmore
Hall. Gervase de Payer and Gwenneth Pryor were the performers. Max Harrison
notes that [Roundelay]
“was a pastoral affair with soft melodic curves and an air of peacefulness.”
The programme notes, by the same writer, of the Chandos recording suggests that
is work in a ‘pastoral’ vein’ and is characteristic of the composer’s music.
Harrison notes that “it is well organised and effectively varied in detail.”
Finally, and a little condescendingly he suggests that Richardson’s piece “has
more substance that its title might suggest.”
I think that
‘pastoral’ is not the right description of this work. Although it is perhaps
easy going, I would probably suggest that there is a touch of the neo-classical
in these pages. Perhaps Poulenc would be nearer the mark than Vaughan Williams
at his rustic best!
1 comment:
Oh the late Gervase de Peyer! What a talent! (He is dead, isn't he?)
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