Percy & Friends: The Music of Grainger and his Circle

The composers (apart from Delius) on this CD are usually known as the Frankfurt Group.  Roger Quilter, Henry Balfour Gardiner, Cyril Scott, Percy Grainger, and Norman O'Neill all studied during the late 1890s at the Hoch Conservatoire in Frankfurt with German composer Iwan Knorr (1853-1916). All of them became important, if neglected, composers. The best remembered is Percy Grainger.

This remarkable recital opens with Roger Quilter’s Summer Evening. Best known for his many songs, this piece is a perfect evocation of a misty twilight, gentle birdsong and the English landscape. It was dedicated to Quilter’s friend Charlotte Emelia Bellot, who at that time was dying.

Glancing at the catalogue in Stephen Lloyd’s 1984 study of Henry Balfour Gardiner reveals the sad fact that much of his music remains in manuscript and many holographs have been lost. There are a few published piano pieces which include Shenandoah and other pieces and an album of Five Pieces. The first number on this CD is the Graingeresque ‘Con Brio’ which fairly galumphs along. The ‘Adagio’ is a deeply felt elegy full of sadness and regret. The last of Balfour Gardiner’s pieces also inhabits Percy Grainger’s world: the ‘Gavotte’ has all the bounce and rhythmic vitality of Mock Morris and Shepherd’s Hey.  

Richard Masters has chosen a diverse set of pieces from Cyril Scott’s considerable opus of piano music.  I have always loved the Commedia dell'arte characters of Pierrot and Pierrette.  Whether it is art, ballet, music or literature, I have enjoyed their love affairs and escapades. The two piano pieces chosen reflect Pierrot’s sadness and introspection, with Pierrette’s coquetry and vivacity. And remember that Pierrette rivalled Columbine in seeking Pierrot’s affections.

I love the description given in the liner notes for Scott’s take on the C.E. Horn’s well-known tune ‘Cherry Ripe’. It is described as a ‘decadent harmonisation’. I think that it is just quite simply delicious.  ‘Rainbow Trout’ is one of Scott’s best loved pieces.  With nods to Scriabin and Debussy, this is a perfect impressionistic number.  Pianist and Cyril Scott expert, Leslie de’Ath, notes that the composer ‘bestows upon this particular trout “arcane dignity – perhaps even wisdom” that may be related to Scott’s belief in the transmigration of souls.’ A precious thought.

Norman O’Neill is recalled (where at all) for his incidental music for the West End Theatre. The best remembered example is his score for J.M. Barrie’s play Mary Rose. There were other compositions, including orchestral pieces and chamber music. A few piano works have clung on, including the charming piano suite ‘In the Branches’ and the Four Songs without Words. Both are in the gift of amateur pianists.  I had not heard the Deux Petites Pieces, op.27 before. The first is an introspective ‘romance’ that sounds surprisingly profound followed by a ‘gigue’ that should really have been a ‘bourrée.’ No matter, these two pieces show that technically ‘straightforward’ pieces can be enjoyable, satisfying and effective. It is how they are played that counts, not their virtuosity. Perhaps, Richard Masters may turn his considerable talent towards the ‘easy’ pieces by Alex Rowley, Felix Swinstead and Thomas Dunhill. This is a seam of British piano music waiting to be mined.

Frederick Delius’s In a Summer Garden is one of my favourite pieces of orchestral music. And for the record, in the Anthony Collins and London Symphony Orchestra version. Although (probably) inspired by the composer’s garden in Grez-sur-Loing, for me it is always an English garden somewhere just to the north of York… I accept that Peter Warlock/Philip Heseltine’s piano transcription of this work is effective: I just don’t get it. It does not cast it is magical spell. No doubt others will disagree. Nevertheless, it is good to have this transcription on CD.

Percy Grainger’s ‘Bridal Lullaby’ is a delight. Written for Karen Kellerman as a wedding gift, it reflects ‘what might have been.’ Percy and Karen had a love affair for many years, typically carried out by letter and stymied by his mother. ‘Shepherd’s Hey’ is one of the best known of Grainger’s works. The material for this piece was culled from a Morris Dance with ‘variations’ collected by Cecil Sharp in Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. The tune is very much like ‘The Keel Row’ from Tyneside. Like many Grainger works it was ‘dished up’ in several versions. ‘Shepherd’s Hey’ is probably most often heard in its orchestral or wind band incarnation.  The beautiful ‘Colonial Song’ movingly recalls the scenery and the people of Grainger’s native Australia.  The jaunty melody of ‘Spoon River’ has a convoluted pedigree. It was jotted down by a certain Captain Charles H. Robinson at Bradford, Illinois back in 1857. This was later sent to Edgar Lee Masters, the author of the Spoon River Anthology published in 1915. Masters introduced Percy Grainger to this short melody. Basically, it conforms to Constant Lambert’s definition of folksong – play it once, then play it again louder. Grainger’s ‘take’ on this is a well contrived effort at presenting the same tune with many subtle changes of harmony and mood. The thoughtful ‘The Nightingale and the Two Sisters’ is a concatenation of two rather disparate tunes and musical idea. The ‘Nightingale’ is a princess who has been ‘freed of a spell by a gallant young knight’ whilst the ‘Two Sisters’ is a rather gruesome murder plot. This is a profound piece that belies its fairy-tale origins.  The final Grainger number is a romp. ‘Scotch Strathspey and Reel’ uses a collection of Celtic fiddle tunes, underlain by the sea-chanty ‘What shall we do with the Drunken Sailor’. It brings this imaginative programme to a dramatic and boisterous end.

This is a splendid CD. The playing is superb from end to end. The recording of the piano is a touch heavy on the bass, but this does not give too many problems. The liner notes are perfect and give all the information needed to enjoy this creative recital. I hope to hear many more CDs from the American pianist Richard Masters. It is great that he has caught enthusiasm for British and Commonwealth piano music.

Track Listing:

Roger QUILTER (1877-1953) ‘Summer Evening’, from Three Piano Pieces, op.16 (pub.1916)

Henry BALFOUR GARDINER (1877-1950) ‘Con Brio’ from Shenandoah and other pieces (1922); ‘Adagio’ [non troppo] from Five Pieces (1911); ‘Gavotte’ from Five Pieces (1911)

Cyril SCOTT (1879-1970) ‘Lento’, (Pierrot triste) from Two Pierrot Pieces, op.35 (1904); ‘Pierrette’ (1912); ‘Cherry Ripe’ (1915); ‘Rainbow Trout’ (1916)

Norman O’NEILL (1875-1934) Deux Petites Pieces, op.27 (1908): ‘Romance’ & ‘Gigue’

Frederick DELIUS (1862-1934) In a Summer Garden (transcribed Philip HESELTINE (1894-1930)) (1908/1921)

Percy GRAINGER (1882-1961) ‘Bridal Lullaby’ (1916); ‘Shepherd’s Hey’ (1913); ‘Colonial Song’ (1911); ‘Spoon River’ (1922); ‘The Nightingale and the Two Sisters’ (1931); ‘Scotch Strathspey and Reel’ (1924)

Richard Masters (piano)

Rec. 4-6 June 2019 at Squires Recital Salon, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA

HERITAGE HTGCD 179