To my shame, I tend to slowly lose
interest in Michael Tippett’s catalogue as his career developed. For example, I
am a great enthusiast of the Concerto for Double String Orchestra written in
1938-9: I do not enjoy (but can admire) the opera The Knot Garden or The Songs
of Dov. Naturally, there are exceptions to this rule. I love The Blue Guitar written in 1982-3 and
the late The Rose Lake for orchestra
(1991-3). One genre that I have always been (more or less) comfortable with are
the four symphonies. From the largely neo-classical First Symphony, through the
exciting and imaginative Second, to the adventurous fusion of Beethoven and
Blues in the Third and to the complex Symphony No.4, I have appreciated the diversity
and musical exploration of these works. I
do not know them as well as I should.
The music of Tippett has slipped
into the doldrums. I was surprised to be reminded that there are only two
complete cycles of the Symphonies – the present Martyn Brabbins edition and
part of the ground-breaking survey of Tippett’s orchestral music made by
Richard Hickox in the mid-nineteen-nineties. There are also the Colin Davis/London
Symphony Orchestra Philips recordings of the first three dating back to the
1960s and 70s. The Symphony No.4 was recorded by George Solti with the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra in 1979, also on the Philips label. In 1993, the composer
conducted the Second and the Fourth for the NMC label. So, the current project
is important: it is first complete cycle of Tippett’s Symphonies in quarter of
a century.
I first heard a performance of
the Third Symphony during a Glasgow Promenade Concert in early 1970s. I was
bowled over by this very unbalanced but ultimately succesful work. I bought the
Philips LP with Sir Colin Davis conducting London Symphony Orchestra and the
soprano Heather Harper as soon as it was released in 1975.
It is not necessary to give a
detailed account of the Third Symphony: this is provided in the liner notes. The
putative listener is advised to view it as a work in two disparate parts. The first
is purely orchestral with an exposition evolving into a slow ‘movement’. The
main philosophical argument in this section is the concept of ‘Arrest and
Movement; - which could be paraphrased as ‘stop/start’ or maybe even
‘go/no-go’. Tippett has used ‘blocks’ of sound to create his structures with
huge contrasts of mood, orchestration and musical style. The second ‘part’ begins
with a Scherzo that famously quotes Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. This
is followed by four songs, with texts devised by the Tippett. The first three are
blues-influenced and the last is a ‘dramatic scena’ more at home in an opera. There
are some other ‘Beethovian’ allusions in this symphony too.
At first glance there seems to be
no unity of purpose in such a work. Edward Greenfield said that it is ‘two
quite separate works that somehow had got put together and didn’t quite fit.’
This is how I felt about the Symphony in the early days. I recall only
listening to the first ‘half’ of the Davis LP before doing something else. I
did not relate to the songs: only now am I beginning to see a connection. For
some reason it does result in a satisfying symphonic structure. Don’t ask me
why? I have not worked that out yet.
The vibrant playing by the BBC
Scottish Symphony Orchestra is superb. I
enjoyed the gutsy performance by singer Rachel Nichols. She seems a touch more
up front than in the Chandos recording sung by Faye Robinson. As for the Colin
Davis recording with Heather Harper, I can see little to choose between them. In
preparation for this review I listened to extracts from all three versions of
the Symphony No.3. If I am honest, all are superb, all masterclasses…
Tippett’s Symphony No.4 was
premiered in Chicago in 1977 by George Solti and the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra. It is written in a single movement but subdivided into seven
sections which enclose a slow movement and a scherzo as part of the work’s
development. It is correct to suggest that the symphony cannot quite decide
whether it is written in ‘sonata form’, as a ‘free fantasia’ or a tone-poem.
The composer wrote that the metaphysical idea behind the music was the journey
from birth to death. I don’t go for the story that he was inspired by watching
a highly speeded up film of the development of the embryo of a rabbit. And I am
not enthusiastic about the breathing noises created by a wind machine or tape. That
said, the music is striking. It may be that some of the stimulus has come from
Sibelius (7th Symphony) or Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben. Certainly, Tippett’s intention was to create a
work that followed a human life from birth to death. It had to include elements
of ‘self-doubt’ and ‘exhilaration’. In fact, all that is the ‘Condition of
Man.’
The Fourth Symphony is written
for a huge orchestra, which is divided up into several instrumental ‘choirs’
which tend react with each other, rather than to be united. I was awe-struck by the brass chorus with
their powerful and technically demanding sounds. There are some magical moments
too, especially with the tuned percussion. Lyricism (despite some claims to the
contrary) seems to predominate rather than sheer rhythmic activity. I was
impressed by the contrast of ‘walls of sound’ and beguiling passages for solo
instruments. Stylistically, the music
seems to me to a little bit of everything. I hear nods to the early Concerto
for Double String Orchestra, a backward glance to Orlando Gibbons and the more
acerbic and complex sounds of his post-King
Priam music.
On 4 September 1978 I heard the
Prom Performance of the Symphony No.4 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
conducted by George Solti. It was not until the remarkable cycle of Tippett’s
Symphonies issued by Chandos in 1994 (Richard Hickox and the Bournemouth
Symphony Orchestra that I heard it again. The present recording is totally satisfying:
Brabbins has emphasised the expressive nature of much of this work. He has
convinced me that this Symphony demands my attention.
A major point of interest for me
on this new CD is the early Symphony in B flat. As it was originally written in
1933, when Tippett was 28 years old, it cannot be regarded as ‘juvenilia.’ It
was premiered by the South London Orchestra in 1933. Following some amendment,
the first movement was played on 12 July 1935 by the London Symphony Orchestra
at the Royal College of Music, conducted by the composer. Despite being the
subject of some further revision, it was subsequently withdrawn.
I accept that this music is
largely unrecognizable as being by Michael Tippett. The exemplars would appear
to be Sibelius and, on occasion someone as unexpected as Gerald Finzi. There
are even hints of Wagner and Brahms. I
can understand (stylistically) why Tippett supressed this work, but I am
grateful to his estate for allowing it to be revived.
Nicholas Kenyon in The Observer (25 February 2018) has made
an ideal call on the work’s value. He suggests that it all ‘sound[s] like a
passionate reinvention of the English pastoral tradition that was part of
Tippett’s background.’ It is an opinion which sums up my feelings entirely. It
may be a bit of a ramble in places, and some of the material is certainly a
little old fashioned. At no time is it at the cutting-edge of 1930s musical
endeavour in England or the Continent. But neither is it a pastiche of Vaughan
Williams or the other ‘greats’ of the day. It may not foreshadow Tippett’s
achievement over the following 50-60 years, but it does present music that is convincing
and above all thoroughly enjoyable. Reading
some of the reviews of the 2018 concert performance, I was expecting to be
impressed. And I was, in spadesful!
The CD liner notes are excellent.
There is a long, detailed essay about all three Symphonies by Tippett expert Oliver
Soden which demands and deserves to be read. This is especially useful in its
study of the Symphony in B flat, as there is nothing much else to base one’s
opinions on. The essay is also printed in French and German. The text from the
‘blues’ section of the Third Symphony is included. Unusually, there is a
complete listing of the orchestral personnel.
I enjoyed this double-CD. It was
good to re-engage with the Symphonies No.3 and No.4: it has been several years
since I listened to them with attention. But for me the ‘prize pippin of the
lot’ was the Symphony in B flat. It may not be a masterpiece, and there could
be structural and aesthetic drop-offs. Nevertheless, it is good to have an approachable
and rather traditional ‘English’ work from Tippett’s pen that acts as a remarkable
‘companion piece’ to my favourite of his works, the Concerto for Double String
Orchestra.
Track Listing:
Michael TIPPETT (1905-98)
Disc 1
Symphony No. 3 (1970-2)
Disc 2
Symphony No.4 (1976-7)
Symphony in B flat (1932-3, revised 1934,1938)
Rachel Nicholls (soprano, Symphony No.3), BBC Scottish
Symphony Orchestra/Martyn Brabbins
Rec. City Halls, Candleriggs, Glasgow, 3-5 February 2018
HYPERION
CDA68231/2
With thanks to
MusicWeb International where this review was first published.
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