I must confess that I write this
review as something less than the greatest fan of Elizabeth Lutyens. However, over the past few years I have begun to ‘review’ my opinions of her works.
I guess it goes back a number of
years (40 actually) to a piece of her music called O Saisons, O chateau. I still remember feeling that this was some
of the most appalling music I had heard up to that date. I realise that the work had been applauded
and encored at its 1947 performance and historically it received mixed reviews.
But I loathed it. Many years
passed before I heard my next piece of Lutyens. And it was quite ironic. One of
her dislikes was what she called ‘cow-pat’ music. By this I guess she meant the
folksong inspired works of RVW, Butterworth et al. Now it does seem surprising
that with this strong view she composed music for a British Transport Film
production called The Heart of England.
Both screenplay and music contrive to present a country-scape that reveals
‘gentle hills, shut in valleys, picturesque villages.’ But it is not only scenery that is portrayed:
we have blossoming orchards, harrowing of the rich fields, cricket on the
village green and traditional fairs. All full of potential for ‘cowpats.’ But somehow she manages to provide an
attractive score without falling into the ‘pastoral’ trap. It closer to
her hated genre than it is to serialism!
The next piece that has
contributed to my re-appraisement was ‘Driving
out the Death’ for Oboe and String Trio, Op.81. It was part of a programme
of English works for oboe and strings performed by Janet Craxton. I wrote in
the review that “this work appears to me to eschew some of the more rigorous excesses of
this style of music. There appears to be a greater freedom and flexibility in
her use of material.” I was further taken aback by the fact I found it “a
moving and interesting work exploiting the qualities of the oboe and the string
trio to the full. Certainly this strikes me as being much less hidebound by
musical dogma than previous works I have heard.” So it was with some interest and perhaps a
little trepidation that I spun this present disc on the metaphorical turntable.
Perhaps the greatest work on this present CD is the
first – Présages for Oboe, Op.53. This piece was composed for Janet
Craxton. Lutyens subtitles the work a ‘recit. and variations for solo oboe on
Cassandra’s lament from the Oresteia.’
Apparently this desolate piece was written at a time of personal
distress – just after the death of her husband.
What impressed me was the sense of classical
balance that this work exhibits: there does not seem to be a note or a phrase
out of place. Lutyens makes use of the twelve note series but does not allow it
dominate the work. Présages certainly has a depth and passion that one
would perhaps not normally apply to a piece of music written by and large
mathematically. Yet Lutyens claimed that the series only really helped her to
work out what note came next! Seven
variations and a coda follow the initial recitative. Quite definitely the heart
of the work is the desolate 4th variation - ‘adagio.’
I imagine that not every composer would
choose to set a passage from Plato, Aristotle or St. Thomas Aquinas. Yet
somehow it seems hardly surprising that she decided to set an excerpt from Wittgenstein’s
‘Tracatus Logico-Philosophicus’. The programme notes rightly describe this
Germanic prose as being ‘severe.’
Consider some of the texts – ‘The world is the totality of facts;’ ‘The
picture is a model of reality;’ 'Logic fills the world' and perhaps 'The riddle
does not exist.' These are all thoughts that require deep meditation and cannot
really be understood at a single reading.
Yet perhaps it is a work that should be allowed to wash over the
listener. I actually think it is one of the loveliest a cappella works I have
heard in a long time. Not really suited for church or concert hall, it is the
ideal chamber choir piece. Exceptionally difficult and having been given a bad
premiere in 1954, this work deserves to be heard on a much more frequent
basis. It is a fine example of balancing
and shaping serial ‘lines’ and applying derived atonal chordal sequences, yet
never loosing ‘a purity of style and luminosity of sound.’
It is fair to say that the 1963 Wind
Trio for flute, clarinet and bassoon Op.52 is nearer to the style of
Lutyens’ music that I find hard to enjoy. I did listen to this work three times
– more that I would normally allow for most other works that I review. And it
is amazing that patterns begin to impose themselves onto what at first hearing
is a little anarchic.
The work was commissioned by the BBC for one
of the Third Programme Invitation Concerts in 1963. It has seldom been revived
since then. This is certainly less than it deserves, being a good example of
the genre.
Elisabeth Lutyens did not have much time for
organised religion. She had bad experiences as a child with her mother’s
Theosophist predilection. So it is interesting and useful to have her only
‘liturgical’ setting on this disc. The Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis was
commissioned by Coventry Cathedral Choir in 1965. This great edifice
had been a showcase for post-war artistic endeavour. As a matter of interest just look at this
litany of names: - Jacob Epstein, John Piper, Graham Sutherland, Benjamin
Britten and Sir Basil Spence himself. Love or loathe this cathedral, one has to
accept that it has been inspirational across the board.
Lutyens’ contribution was the present piece –
a fine example of modern choral music – with great simplicity being revealed in
a complexity of rhythms and moods.
The String Trio Op.57 (1964) is
perhaps the most difficult work on this present CD. The sleeve notes acknowledge that Lutyens puts
excessive demands on her players and her audience. This five movement work is in many ways
analogous to Webern’s Op.20: both pieces were composed at a time of deep
personal emotion. There is much in this present
work to explore. At first hearing perhaps it can seem like ‘just another serial
work,’ yet it is not long before the music begins to reveal hidden depth and
passion. This is never going to be a crowd puller, but certainly must be
regarded as one of the more effective serial works written in this medium. And I must confess that I prefer it to the
original Webern model!
Considering that only six years separate the String
Trio from the Verses of Love, two more different works are hard to
imagine – even allowing for difference of media! It is hard to be worried by
tone rows or serialism in this choral work. In fact one could almost imagine it
being sung by the erstwhile King Singers. It is effectively a three section
part song setting of well known texts by Ben Johnson. A truly gorgeous work – and that is not an
epithet I would loosely apply to Elisabeth Lutyens’ music in general.
Interesting, involved, deep, passionate, yes - but gorgeous rarely.
The Fantasie Trio for Flute Clarinet and
piano Op.55 was composed in 1963. It was commissioned by the Charity Trio
for a performance in Dublin .
This three movement work is perhaps less introverted that than String Trio.
In fact much of this music could be regarded as being quite ‘airy.’ Once again the added value that Lutyens brings
to this serial work is the well contrived balance of the parts.
The first movement, although lively to begin
with, comes to a quiet end. This leads into the slow movement proper, where the
solo clarinet has a prominent part. There is timelessness about this music that
defies description – the programme notes refer to ‘mesmeric stillness.’ However
the last movement opens things up again with more virile patterns of
sound. After a brief outburst the work
ends enigmatically.
The last work on this disc is a setting of
words by the great and undervalued Roman philosopher Boethius. The translation
which is often truly beautiful is by Geoffrey Chaucer. It is yet another work
from that most productive year, 1963.
The programme notes state that although the work was actually published
then it may have been composed in 1957 – at the time she was working on another
Chaucer work, De Amore. The text
is basically a meditation on ‘the regulation of the starry heavens and the
courses of the earthly seasons by Divine Love…’ This is another excellent choral work that
certainly does not deserve to be ignored by choirs and audiences.
The recording is excellent and shows Exaudi
as a fine ensemble capable to tackling difficult choral music and producing an
impressive result. Endymion are well
able to give equally fine results in the chamber works. But perhaps special mention must go to
Melinda Maxwell for her stunning performance of Présages.
The programme notes are excellent and of
course the texts of the motets are provided.
This is not easy music. No one of these works
can be approached without considerable effort by both players and listeners.
But I must say that typically this effort has been worthwhile. There is no way
that I will claim that Elisabeth Lutyens is one of my ‘Desert Island
An attractive, interesting and often quite
moving CD. I must admit that typically I
do prefer Lutyens’ choral works on this disc to the chamber ones. The one
exception to this is the wonderful Présages.
Track Listing:
Elizabeth LUTYENS (1906-1983):
Présages for solo oboe Op.53 (1963) [10:35 ]
Motet (Excerpta Tracati Logico-Philosophico) Op.27 (1963) [9:46 ]
Wind Trio for flute, clarinet & bassoon Op.52 (1963)
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis (1965) [7:41 ]
String Trio Op.57 (1964) [12:24 ]
Verses of Love (1970) [6:07 ]
Fantasie Trio for flute, clarinet & piano Op.55 (1963) [11:50 ]
The Country of the Stars (1963) [8:23 ]
Exaudi with James Weeks, director and Endymion
NMC Recordings NMC - D124
With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.
With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.
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