Richard Rodney Bennett: Country Dances Book 1 (2001)

Richard Rodney Bennet’s delightfully approachable Country Dances (2001) are included in Volume 4 of the ongoing (hopefully) Chandos survey of his orchestral music (CHSA 5244). This new album features a wide cross section from the composer’s stylistic palette. From the atonal Piano Concerto to the powerful and often dissonant Aubade, and from the subtle instrumentation of the de facto ‘concerto for orchestra’, Anniversaries to the fanfare-like Troubadour Music, this is an entertaining and rewarding selection of RRB’s music. However, the most immediately appealing work is the Country Dances Book 1 (2000-1). 

The context of the composition of Rodney Bennet’s Country Dances was simply that he had giving up smoking. This obviously healthy life choice had the unfortunate effect of ‘blocking’ his musical creativity. He found a way out of this ‘impasse’, by re-examining ‘an enthusiasm of his youth - the music of the English baroque and mediaeval eras.’ The liner notes explain that the present work took its melodic material from John Playford’s The English Dancing Master, an anthology of folk dances published between 1651 and 1728. He was introduced to this volume by his friend Charles Hart and was immediately inspired by this engaging music. Interestingly, this collection was also used by Ernest Tomlinson in his equally delightful First and Second Suites of English Folk Dances.  

Richard Rodney Bennett then proceeded to arrange them in a varied and subtly contrived orchestration.  It is reported that RRB told the conductor Nicholas Cleobury that ‘I can’t leave them alone; I’m so fascinated by them’. They were completed in New York in February 2001. 

The five dances are:
1. ‘Buskin’ - Vivo e ritmico;
2. ‘New Dance’. Con moto - Poco più sostenuto;
3. ‘Enfield Common’ - Vivo e leggero;
4. ‘Chelsea Reach’ - Dolce espressivo and finally
5. ‘Nobody’s Jig’ - Molto vivo

Each dance is reimagined for a Mozart-size orchestra, but including piano, harp, and a battery of percussion. The result is a flawless fusion of past and present with remarkably innovative orchestrations that combine RRB’s mature style and the sophistication of the original tunes. The melodies are heard clearly in their new orchestral reimagining. Formally, what Rodney Bennett has done is to add introductions, linking passages and other interesting little episodes.

Edward Seckerson (The Gramophone July 2020, p.32) cites the ‘New Dance’ which he suggests ‘is wonderfully verdant, straight out of Thomas Hardy country, where it evokes a mood Bennett captured so gloriously in his movie score for Far From the Madding Crowd.’ It is my favourite number too.  

Reviewing the Chandos CD for MusicWeb International (July 2020) William Hedley remarks that ‘this set of five [Dances]…might be thought of as arrangements, but they are rather more than that.’ Hedley continues, ‘the composer reframes each dance in his own mature musical language…he does so very gently: the music is resolutely tonal and immediately enjoyable, a dazzlingly inventive rethinking of old tunes.’

Finally, I wonder if there is a Country Dances Book 2 in the catalogue. I was unable to find any reference to these Dances in the standard biography, Richard Rodney Bennett: The Complete Musician by Anthony Meredith. That said, in 2000 RRB composed Seven Country Dances for oboe (or flute) and orchestra. And then there are Six Country Dances for viola (or cello) and piano finally another Four Country Dances for oboe (or soprano saxophone or piano).  All (I understand) with tunes derived from John Playford. So, there is plenty to have a listen to.