It is great news that Malcolm Lipkin’s (b.1932) Symphonies
have been released on Lyrita
Records. Until I see the liner notes of the new CD I cannot be sure of the
exact chronology and dates of these three works. Seemingly, they were composed and revised
over a thirty year period with the Sinfoni
di Roma having been begin in 1958 appearing in 1965, the second, subtitled The Pursuit dating from 1975-79 and the final symphony ‘Sun’ being written
between 1979-86. Based on some
recordings of performances of the 2nd and 3rd Symphonies
uploaded to YouTube it promises to be an exciting release.
In 1998 Lipkin produced his Suite: From Across La Manche. It was
commissioned by the Primavera Chamber Orchestra. This ensemble was formed in 1986 by their founder
and artistic director Paul Manley. There was a definite intention of bringing ‘joie
de vivre’ associated with the Italian word for ‘spring’ into their performances. Their repertoire is wide-ranging and includes
Moeran, Debussy, Mendelssohn and Ibert. New works have included commissions
from Paul Patterson, Patrick Gowers, Gavin Bryars, Philip Glass as well as
Malcolm Lipkin.
From
Across La Manche has three contrasting movements: Overture, Ballade
and Dance-finale. It lasts for just over quarter of an hour.
The Overture is a powerful and vibrant piece of
music that is not really ‘light’ or ‘miniature’ in character, but has considerable
rhythmical diversity. The sound world of this music is possibly Shostakovich,
however one reviewer has suggested the feel of a Hitchcock movie. The Ballade
is written in an arch form and is less frenetic and disturbing than the preceding
movement. This is reflective and often introverted music with a certain degree
of intensity in the middle section. I wondered if there is not a touch of
Mahler here. The liner notes for the
Naxos recording of this work point out that the Dance-Finale contains a bar of
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (spring) and uses the rhythm of the Polish Mazurka to provide
the basic material for this movement. Bartok’s string quartets also seem to
have a place in this finale. Perhaps the composer opted to use different
strands of European musical history to define this ‘celebration of Europe?’ From Across La Manche was seemingly first
heard ‘across the channel’ in the north of France. It is an excellent example
of English string writing and should be in the ‘popular’ repertoire
This exciting and technically challenging work is available
on English String Miniatures Volume 6: NAXOS 8.8557753.
Gavin Sutherland conducts the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.
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