Amongst works celebrating their
centenary in 2020, Moeran’s Theme and Variations may seem like a
relatively light-weight, unimportant anniversary. Yet this short piano piece
marks a significant mile post in the composer’s career. Here we have a subtle
fusion of Moeran’s English and Irish sensibilities as well as his growing
technical command of formal and technical procedures. It is a work that is
worthy of study as well as giving considerable pleasure and enjoyment.
In January 1919, Ernest John
(E.J. Moeran) was demobilised from the Army. After a possible interlude as a
teacher at Uppingham School and time spent in Ireland, he returned to the Royal
College of Music. There he studied composition with John Ireland. The works
that Moeran composed around this period included his extensive Piano Trio
(1920), the song cycle Ludlow Town (1920) and his first recognised
orchestral work, In the Mountain Country: [A] Symphonic Impression
(1921). Geoffrey Self (1986) has written that from this point ‘the main
influences to be heard in his music were now in place: his teacher, his Irish
and East Anglian heritages, and his love of rural England.’
Virtually every commentator on the
Theme and Variations for piano implies that the theme ‘seems instantly
recognisable’ yet hard to pin down. Eric Parkin (CD Liner Notes, 1994) suggests
‘A Norfolk folksong, surely?’ Self (1986) states that the ‘theme could pass
muster as one of the Norfolk folk-tunes he was shortly to collect and arrange’
and publish in 1923. The short answer is that this theme is one of Moeran’s own
devising.
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| Fig.1 |
This is the longest of Moeran’s
piano works, lasting for nearly 14 minutes. The formal structure of the piece
consists of the ‘Andante’ theme (Fig.1) followed by six variations and
concluding with a long finale. The ‘theme’,
echoing English (possibly Norfolk) folksong, is written with a largely Dorian
mode melody centred on F. This means the Db in a F melodic minor scale is
typically played as D natural. This theme has a ‘diatonic, full chordal
accompaniment’ emphasising the folk-like simplicity of the tune. The melody is
played in octaves between left and right hands.
The first variation is marked ‘Poco
piu moto’ implying a little more movement. McNeil (1982) suggests that it is a
‘moto perpetuo’ but it also features some delicate arabesques shared between
hands. This leads into an ‘Allegro scherzando’ which introduces parallel fourth
and fifth chords and jagged harmonies. Rapidly changing time signatures and
‘chattering semiquavers’ add to this variation’s vibrancy. The mood changes with
an ‘energetic march’ which builds to a climax before dying away into the
distance. This is characterised by filled octaves in the right hand supported
by bare octave running quavers in the left hand. Variation 4 is much calmer and
reflective: it should be played ‘Allegretto sostenuto’. Moeran has introduced a
flexible metrical system that juxtaposes 9/8 and 6/8 bars. The fifth variation,
a ‘Vivace’, is intricate. Partly presented as a ‘gigue’ with triplets
superimposed on 4/4 time it is balanced by minim chords played with ‘una corda’
(soft pedal).
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| Fig.2 |
The last variation (Fig.2) moves
the focus of the music from Norfolk to Ireland. This is the emotional heart of
the work and shows considerable depth of feeling. After a series of powerful
and assertive chords this heartbreakingly beautiful music enters the finale.
This complex ‘allargando ma mon troppo lento’ is a ternary (three-part) song
movement with an extended coda which is truly dramatic and virtuosic in effect.
It presents a thesaurus of pianistic devices with some recollection of phrases
from the foregoing variations.
To be concluded
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