Herbert Chappell (1934-2019): Overture Panache (1970)

It is always astonishing how a great piece of music can disappear into the mists of time. To be sure, Herbert Chappell’s Overture: Panache is hardly a major masterpiece: it does not storm the heavens nor plumb the deeps. What is does do is entertain. Every bar of this vivacious work is thoroughly enjoyable, well-written and replete with a good sense of humour and fun.

Herbert Chappell (1934-2019) was a British conductor, composer, and filmmaker. He is now best known for his television scores. As a conductor and composer, he had a strong association with the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO). Their repertoire included his Overture Panache along with two other works: Dead in Tune and George and the Dragonfly both for narrators and symphony orchestra.

The composer declares (LP sleeve notes): ‘Writing a piece of music is comparatively easy: the difficult bit is finding a title. This overture, composed on the spring of 1970, started out jokingly – but not without some justification – as a Scherzo- a sort of Scherzo. Anxious for improvement I sought other suggestions – Prima Donna, Festival 70, The Comedian, Groucho (there’s a fortissimo section with his characteristic ‘Liszt’…) and so on. My wife, as usual, had the last word: with a flash of inspiration she suggested a common factor which was absolutely right: Panache. After all, the original commission from Eric Pinkett and the orchestra (to whom the overture is dedicated) had been for something ‘tuneful, cheerful, exuberant and short, and that is just the way it turned out.’

As an aside, what is the Liszt connection here? In an exchange between Groucho Marx and the American radio and TV presenter George Fenneman on the You Bet Your Life show, confusion arises over the word ‘agenda’. Fenneman explains that it means a ‘list’. Referring to W S Gilbert’s Mikado, Groucho thinks that the Lord High Executioner ‘Having a little agenda’ does not quite fit the bill. He concludes, ‘You know when Franz Liszt was born that’s what his mother sang – “I’ve got a little Liszt…”’ Another connection with the Hungarian composer is in the 1937 film The Day at the Races. Chico ‘plays’ the Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 (soon transformed into ‘On the Beach at Bali-Bali’) and the ‘band’ is conducted by Harpo.  

I think that the clue to enjoying this delightful Overture is indeed regarding it as ‘a sort of scherzo’. The opening section presents a couple of interesting ideas. It is not quite structured as a classical ‘minuet and trio’, but more as a series of loosely interrelated episodes. The general mood of the music is vivacious and boisterous. Just occasionally, the excitement ebbs a little, to allow the listener to relax. There is a nod to Gershwin in the middle of the piece, with echoes of ‘I got Rhythm’. The Overture concludes with a massive coda. The quality of the orchestration is bright and well defined with good brass and percussion writing.

In April 1971, The Gramophone carried an advert for the second Argo recording by the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO) (ZRG 685). This LP included Arthur Bliss’s Introduction and Allegro (1926, rev.1937), Andre Previn’s Overture to a Comedy (1963), the ‘Elegy’ from John Ireland’s A Downland Suite (1932),  Bryan Kelly’s Cuban Suite (1956) and Michael Tippett’s ‘Interlude’ and ‘Non Nobis Domine’ from A Shires Suite (1970), along with the present overture by Chappell. The Tippet and Chappell pieces had been specially written for this Orchestra. The LSSO on this occasion was conducted by Bliss, Previn and Tippett (in their own works) and Eric Pinkett (in balance).

Trevor Harvey writing in The Gramophone (April 1971) considered that overall ‘the playing really is remarkable’ and despite some minor intonation problems with the strings he could ‘find little to fault and much to admire’ in the orchestra’s performance.’  Harvey notes that despite the album’s title of ‘Contemporary Orchestral Works’ most of these pieces were written a while ago. This seems a little unfair. Tippett’s Shires Suites was first heard at that year’s Cheltenham Festival (8 July 1970) played by the LSSO, and Previn’s Overture was only seven years old at the time of recording.

Turning to Chappell’s Overture, Harvey simply states that it is a ‘virtuoso piece and not much more.’ Along with the Previn Comedy Overture, he thinks that they are ‘skilfully done’ and both are ‘exhilarating.’

Strangely, Chappell’s Overture was given its premiere concert performance after the recording had been made. It was first heard at the De Montfort Hall in September 1970 (I was unable to find the exact date). The LSSO played Francis Poulenc’s Organ Concerto with the soloist Nigel Allcoat, who was a former member of the orchestra. Other works included of Kelly’s Cuban Suite, Arthur Bliss’s Introduction and Allegro, Ireland’s ‘Elegy’ from A Downland Suite, Morton Gould’s Spirituals. The oldest work played was Dvorak’s Romance for violin and orchestral. The soloist was Eleanor Cooke, a pupil at Melton Upper School. The Leicester Mercury noted that Chappell’s Overture opened the concert ‘with wit and glitter.’

Herbert Chappell’s Overture: Panache (1970) can be heard on YouTube. This has been uploaded from the Argo ZRG 685. It is the only recording of Chappell’s Overture.