English Recorder Concertos: Harvey, Arnold and Jacob

Let’s deal with top and bottom lines first. This is one of the best CDs of recorder music that I have ever heard. Full stop. However, four things need to be said. Firstly, that this particular instrument is not my favourite: it comes a long way down my personal batting list which is crowned by piano and cello. I guess that I associate it with my own excruciating attempts to play Greensleeves as a nine year old scholar. And my contemporaries were not much better either.  Secondly, I think that the tone of the ‘English flute’ is something that needs to be heard in relatively small doses. To this end, I advise taking each of these works one by one – with small refreshment breaks in-between. Thirdly, I have never heard of Michala Petri – I ought to have. She is utterly brilliant. And finally, notwithstanding ‘point one’ above, I have long regarded the legendary John Turner as being the master of recorder music. It is rare for me to listen to any work for this instrument that is not played or recorded by him. So this is, for me at any rate, new territory.

The Richard Harvey Concerto Incantato is officially billed as a World Premiere Recording. However I have not heard the Arnold or the Jacob before.  I have discovered that Michala Petri did record the Jacob in 1984 on Phillips Digital.

If I am honest, I never heard of Richard Harvey either.  Once again, I should have. For one thing he contributed to Hans Zimmer’s score to the Da Vinci Code.  Born in 1953, he graduated from the Royal College of Music in 1972.  He has involved himself with many genres of music – from medieval to rock – he had a progressive rock and folk band called Gryphon. One point of note: his ‘modest’ web-site (Richard Harvey: Renowned Composer, Arranger Conductor and Multi-Instrumentalist)) is very difficult to read – white text on black!

Harvey’s Concerto is interesting, if not totally satisfying. When I read that he was a film-music composer, I did wonder if it would suffer from sounding like a compilation from his film scores and to a certain extent I believe this is true. However, the Concerto is a valid work in its own right. The listener needs to remember that Harvey is an accomplished recorder player – and other instruments too. His website notes that he can play some 700 different instruments from around the world!! I would be delighted to manage just one well.

The Concerto Incantato was written specifically for Michala Petri and was commissioned by Leanne Nicholls for the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong’s tenth anniversary concert.

The sleeve notes suggest an eclectic stylistic background to the work and this is exactly what we hear. The composer quite clearly draws extensively on his television and film score background, although this is supplemented by his interest in medieval music.

The concerto is written in five movements and makes use of the full set of recorders.  The first movement is entitled ‘Sorcery’ and I must admit does have a distinct ‘Harry Potter’ mood to it. The orchestration fairly shimmers.  The second is entitled ‘Natura Morta’ - Still Life. Here the composer has used the tenor recorder and has had recourse to ethnic music derived from China and the native North-American flute. It is a thoughtful, almost static piece of music that lulls the listener into a dream-like world. The following ‘Danza Spiriti’ (Dance of the Sprits) destroys the reverie. This is exciting music that chases itself around in circles. The next movement is the meditative ‘Sacra Canzone’ featuring what the composer has called the ‘English Theme’. This leads to the finale which once again nods to Harry Potter – ‘Incantesimi’ – Spells. This, for me, is the least impressive part of the work. The minimalist recorder figurations become tedious. However the music builds up to a hectic dance, before the ‘English Theme’ is reprised. I am not sure I like the ‘medieval’ mood in parts of this movement.

In the round this is a reasonably impressive and virtuosic work – however I hold it to be a little unbalanced between the parts. If this is music for the ‘Harry Potter’ generation, as billed in the liner notes then I am not quite convinced.

Malcolm Arnold’s 1988 Concerto was composed specifically for Michala Petri. I know that there are mixed views about the quality of this work.  It is not one of my favourites from the composer’s pen. Yet there is plenty of interest and one or two touches of the ‘old’ Arnold.  I guess that I am a little concerned that the balance of work is faulty.  There is such a difference stylistically between the complex passacaglia of the second movement and the ‘St Trinian’ mood of the finale. And I cannot quite weigh up the opening movement.  Yet the concerto has some interesting things. It probably[?] deserves its place in the repertoire.

Gordon Jacob needs no introduction to readers of these pages. However, I think it fair to say that his music is largely underrepresented in the catalogues with only nine CDs containing his music. This compares to 159 for Malcolm Arnold. The present Suite was commissioned by Arnold Dolmetsch in 1957. The work has been rightly regarded as a ‘divertissement’ rather than anything more serious. It is presented in seven well-balanced movements. The Suite opens with a delightfully ‘pastoral’ prelude. This is followed by a lively English dance which is just way too short. Then there is a ‘Lament’. However, this is not too depressing and has a ‘smoochy’ feel to it rather than one of heartbreak. The string writing here is particularly beautiful. It is the longest movement in the suite. I love the exiting ‘Burlesca alla Rumba’ which is all sunshine. This is followed by an epitome of English pastoral – the ‘Pavane’. Here are impressions of fields and rivers and up-and-down dales. The penultimate movement, an ‘Introduction and Cadenza’ is also illustrative of the landscape although this time in valedictory mood.  For me it is the heart of the work. The finale ‘Tarantella’ is fun all the way. Jacob calls for the soprano recorder to give brightness and sparkle to the last moments of this Suite.

Michala Petri has some sixty CDs listed in the Arkiv catalogue. The range of music covered is phenomenal. From Bach to Ole Bull and from Fauré to Frederick the Great she has recorded a huge variety of works. Noted as a child prodigy, she began playing recorder aged three, took serious lessons at five and by 11 years she made her concerto debut. She often played together with her mother Hanne, a harpsichordist and her brother David, cellist as part of the Petri Trio. Nowadays, she often gives concerts with her husband, the lutenist and guitarist, Lars Hannibal.  Both Petri and her husband run their own record label – OUR recordings. The present disc is one of more than a dozen released in the past eight years.  

However, it is not just Michala Petri who has given a superb performance.  Jean Thorel at the helm of the City Chamber Orchestra has contributed a sympathetic accompaniment to these three concertos. 

This is an enjoyable CD that is well played and features a diverse programme. In spite of my reservations about the Malcolm Arnold Concerto and the stylistic balance of the Richard Harvey I feel that it will be essential listening for enthusiasts of recorder music. The presentation of the disc is impressive: it looks and feels good.  The sound quality is excellent. I enjoyed the liner notes – they are both informative and entertaining.

My favourite work, by a long shot, is Gordon Jacob’s Suite and I will turn to this recording to enjoy this piece on many occasions.

Track Listing:

Richard HARVEY (b.1953) Concerto Incantato (2009) 

Malcolm ARNOLD (1921-2006) Concerto for Recorder and Strings, Op.133 (1988) 

Gordon JACOB (1895-1984) Suite for Recorder and Strings (1957) Michala Petri (recorder) City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong/Jean Thorel

OUR Recordings 6.220606