A Plethora of Tarns – Descriptive British Music

I recently posted about Arthur Butterworth’s fine impressionistic tone-poem A Quiet Tarn which was inspired by Malham Tarn in the West Riding. Idle fingers typed the word ‘tarn’ into the catalogue and discovered a number of other pieces of music that are ‘descriptive’ of this natural feature. I list them below. Three of them are recorded and one of them, a suite by Arthur Wood has a very well known finale which is recorded on YouTube.

Arthur Butterworth (1923- ) A Quiet Tarn for orchestra, Op.21 (1960)

Eugene Goossens (1893-1962): Two Sketches for String Quartet Op.15 No. 1 By the Tarn, No. 2 Jack O’ Lantern (1915) and also arranged string orchestra with clarinet (ad lib)

Edward Cowie (1943- ): Les gorges du Tarn for horn, violin and piano (2007) But this is descriptive of a French Landscape so only scrapes into a listing on The Land of Lost Content as the composer was born in Birmingham.

Hilda M Cooper: Tarn Hows for piano (1928)

Maurice Johnstone (1900-1976): Tarn Hows –A Cumbrian Rhapsody for orchestra (1950)

Brian H. J. Reaks: At Easdale Tarn for piano (1945)

Arthur Wood (1875-1953): Suite –My Native Heath for small orchestra (1922) No.1 Knaresbro; Status or Hiring Fair No.2 Ilkley Tarn or The Dance of the Sprites No.3 Bolton Abbey and No.4 Barwick Green- a maypole dance

Edgar Barratt (1877-1928): Scottish Tone Pictures for Pianoforte (1911) No.1 A Moorland Tarn No.2 In a Woodland Glen No.3 Cloud Shadows No.4 Dawn No.5 The Western Isles & No.6 The Sea-Mew’s Flight.

John Wilson (1940- ): Three Westmorland Sketches for oboe and piano No.1 Sunbiggin TarnNo.2 Cote Flat Mull and No.3 Raisbeck (1971)

Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889-1960): Three Pieces for String Quartet (c.1928) No.1 Above Blea Tarn, No.2 Winster Valley & No.3 Loweswater: Calm after storm