John Ireland: Summer Evening arranged for string orchestra (Graham Parlett)

One of my belated ‘discoveries’ of 2019 is the beautiful arrangement of John Ireland’s piano piece Summer Evening. This was made for string orchestra by the musicologist (amongst many other things) Graham Parlett.  He tells me that the score is dated 2013 but was finally completed and parts made during May 2015. Its original incarnation is largely beyond my piano playing skills, but I do manage to make a bold attempt at parts of it. Years ago, I discovered a recording of this work on the Lyrita label, played by John Rowlands.  I was captivated by this idyllic evocation of an English summer. Since then I have enjoyed recorded performances by Eric Parkin, Mark Bebbington and Alan Rowlands.

Summer Evening is a delightful example of ‘South Downs’ pastoral music. Its 1919 date suggests that the composer was harking back to the Edwardian pre-Great War era. It was composed whilst the composer was living at Gunter Grove in Chelsea and was published by Ascherberg, Hopwood and Crew Ltd in the following year. It was subsequently republished in Volume 2 of The Collected Piano Works of John Ireland by Stainer and Bell (1976).

Stewart R Craggs in his John Ireland: A Catalogue, Discography and Bibliography (Oxford, Ashgate, 2007) is unaware of Summer Evening’s premiere. He notes the (probable) first broadcast performance on the BBC Home Service on 18 June 1941. A search of the Radio Times found no earlier recital.

Fiona Richards (Meanings in the Music of John Ireland, 2000) writes that the music ‘juxtaposes the lyrical ballad side of Ireland with brief Dorian excursions into a more ecstatic world, once again ending with the una corda [soft pedal] and lontano [from a distance; distantly. as from far away] indications.’ This wistful magic is replicated in Parlett’ arrangement, which creates an ideal mood of music to be heard lying on one’s back on a grassy hillside in Surrey, Sussex or even Yorkshire. It makes a perfect companion to the piano piece.

Enjoy John Ireland’s Summer Evening in the Parlett arrangement for string orchestra on Naxos 8.571372. The Orchestra of the Swan is conducted by David Curtis. But do not forget to listen to the piano original. This can be heard in several versions. A good example is played by John Lenehan on Naxos 8.553889.