Messages of Hope op.87 is a setting of a composite text derived
from Christopher Wordsworth (1807-85). The ‘Wordsworth’ we are talking about
was the nephew of the poet William. For several years he was Vicar of Stanford-in-the-Vale
in Oxfordshire and latterly Bishop of Lincoln (not Salisbury as stated in the
liner notes), as well as being a respected man of letters. In theology, his big
achievement are the editions of the Greek New Testament texts and commentaries
on the entire Bible. These latter are still important sources for High Church
Anglicans. The local Stanford poet Colin Pedley (d.1990) produced a short
compendium of Wordsworth’s poems and included some of his own lines. I would be interested in the exact sources of
Wordsworth’s texts and the later interpolations.
Gary Higginson suggests that the raison d’être of the cycle
is to present ‘all the joys and sorrows that harsh country life had to offer.’
The seven songs are set for soprano, tenor, baritone and piano. The various
parts of this cycle are called ‘Scenes.’
Scene 1, ‘Entry into Stanford’ is all about village life and
has allusions to Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem on an ass. This is followed
by ‘Homes’, which highlights the disparity between rich and poor folks’ living
conditions in Victorian times. It is a pastiche music hall ballad featuring a
middle section that is violent in effect. ‘Scene 3’, for soprano only,
considers the diseases that are caused by extreme poverty. It concludes with a short,
powerful piano postlude. I am not sure what that rationale is for the fourth
song. The liner notes suggest that it reflects on the effects of the arrival of
the ‘expensive’ railways. Would poet, literary arranger and composer have
wished the rail network had not been developed, at least in Oxfordshire? It is
a dramatic song, with a vibrant accompaniment exploiting dissonance and
rhythmic vitality and a commanding vocal declamation. The ‘Scene 5’ ‘Death at
Scutari’ is a ‘desolate’ anti-Crimean war song.
This is the most challenging song in this cycle. The penultimate song,
again by soprano solo, mourns the tragic death of a husband and five children
in the village of Stanford. I am not
sure that the ‘Epilogue’ is not tongue-in-cheek. Although the final line is
‘Come blessed Jesu come’ the entire cycle could well suggest God’s indifference
to his creation. ‘Messages of Despair’ could be a better title.
A clue to the interpretation is given in the final paragraph of the liner notes for this song-cycle: ‘There is a socio-political message which also applied at the time of [Mrs. Margaret] Thatcher’s Britain…’ The work was premiered in 1987. Blame for all the sadness and trouble in the village and the world at large, is put at the feet of the wicked land-owner, the greedy industrialist, the unthinking general and the spiteful politician. In 1987 I was not aware of the grinding poverty and lack of general medical care in town or country that features in these poems. The Falklands War was the only military ‘adventure’ of the Thatcher years (and the ongoing ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland).
A clue to the interpretation is given in the final paragraph of the liner notes for this song-cycle: ‘There is a socio-political message which also applied at the time of [Mrs. Margaret] Thatcher’s Britain…’ The work was premiered in 1987. Blame for all the sadness and trouble in the village and the world at large, is put at the feet of the wicked land-owner, the greedy industrialist, the unthinking general and the spiteful politician. In 1987 I was not aware of the grinding poverty and lack of general medical care in town or country that features in these poems. The Falklands War was the only military ‘adventure’ of the Thatcher years (and the ongoing ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland).
Messages of Hope is not an easy work to come to terms
with but repays the effort. Reviewers have noted the influence of Benjamin Britten
(Winter Words?) but this is to
minimise the original impact of Higginson’s music.
Gary Higginson, Messages
of Hope op.87 can be heard on the SHEVA
Label (SH209).
No comments:
Post a Comment