Dedication: The Clarinet Chamber Music of Ruth Gipps

This wonderful new SOMM CD celebrates the centenary of the birth of the English composer, Ruth Gipps.  It presents five premiere recordings of chamber music written for her clarinettist-husband, Robert Baker. Interestingly, most of these were broadcast on Radio 3 when Gipps was “Composer of the Week,” during March 2021. For an interesting biography, see Pam Blevins essay in these pages. 

I listened to these five works in chronological order. I am indebted to the liner notes for information and ideas about this novel repertoire.

First up was The Kelpie of Corrievreckan for piano and clarinet composed in 1939, when Gipps was still at the Royal College of Music. She had just started to “court” Robert Baker who was a clarinet student with Frederick Thurston. This is a miniature tone poem, based on a text by the Scottish poet, journalist, author, anthologist, novelist, and songwriter, Charles Mackay (1814-89), from his 1851 collection, Legends of the Isles and Other Poems. The long and short of the tale is about a Kelpie, or water-horse, who falls in love with Jessie at a country fair. She reciprocates, elopes with the Kelpie but discovers that mortals and water horses are incompatible. She cannot breathe under sea and is found dead by a local fisherman.  Corrievreckan (or Corryvreckan) is a notorious whirlpool between the Scottish isles of Jura and Scarba. The piece, despite its brevity, follows the story in some detail. However, it can be listened to as an absolute work, with the turmoil of the sea as its overriding emotion. It would serve as a splendid encore at any clarinet and piano recital.

The Quintet for oboe, clarinet, and string trio, op.16 was composed in 1941. It was written as the completion exercise for her Durham University Bachelor of Music Degree. I accept the liner notes proposal that it could be cited as an “instrumentally pared-down chamber symphony.” Ruth Gipps was an oboist, and her fiancé, as noted, was a clarinettist. This relationship is mirrored in an imaginative “intertwining” of the woodwind instruments.  The Quintet is conceived in four movements, with the opening Allegro being the longest by far. There is some sadness in the slow Adagio. It is quite beautiful. The energetic scherzo is a touch “countrified,” whilst the finale is a laid back Allegro moderato.

The overall impact could be described as “Uneasy Pastoral.” The use of the oboe does lend the score a bucolic atmosphere from time to time. Yet there are deeper moments here. On the other hand, there is no trauma: nothing to suggest that the Second World War was into its third year. I listened to this Quintet twice through. It is the kind of composition I always enjoy hearing: idyllic yes, but not oblivious to more profound emotions. Gipps pushes the boundaries of the pastoral genre but certainly never produces “cow and gate” music.

The following year saw Robert Baker (now her husband) called up for military service. The lovely Rhapsody in E flat, for clarinet and string quartet, op.23 (1942) surely reflects this separation. Nevertheless, this is no tragic work but is often introspective. Once again, it evokes the muse of English Pastoralism. This is especially apparent in the opening section. The liner notes explain that the Rhapsody is not a set of variations on a theme, but an opportunity for the ensemble to present “a series of continuous contemplations on the opening material.”  It succeeds extraordinarily well.

The superb Clarinet Sonata (1955) is written in four movements. The powerful opening Maestoso: Allegro ma non troppo is compelling in its forward impetus. There is more of a neo-classical feel here. The slow movement, an Andante con moto, is beguiling. The solo clarinettist is wrapped up in a bewitching piano part. This is followed by a sprightly Scherzando that moves along at breakneck speed. Only the subtler trio section ends the momentum and allows the soloist to gain breath. The finale opens with another strong Maestoso section before developing into a lively Allegro molto dance, which seems to parody the rustic mood of music from an earlier generation. The Sonata ends reflectively, before a final, boisterous coda. It is hard to imagine why this work is not in the repertoire along with the clarinet sonatas by Bax, Bliss, Howells, Ireland, and Stanford.

The Prelude for bass clarinet, op.51 completed in 1958 is the latest piece on this disc. It is surely one of precious few solo works for this instrument. Gipps’s Prelude is a little masterpiece. The CD booklet is correct in placing it on the same level as Debussy’s Syrinx for flute, Britten’s Six Metamorphoses after Ovid for oboe, and Berio’s Sequenza XII for bassoon. Gipps has written a soliloquy which allows composer and performer to explore a wide range of emotions, technical challenge and instrumental colour. There is little here of Gipps’s earlier tranquil musing, but something that is timeless and beholden to no “school.” And I for one had no idea how stunning and downright interesting a bass clarinet can sound, soli.

The liner notes are by Robert Matthew-Walker. They give good contextual information about, and a succinct analysis of, each work. It would have been helpful to have included the dates of each piece in the track listing: they are not always given in the notes. The Sonata for clarinet and piano does not have the opus number indicated in the track listing: it is op.45. There are the usual bios of the artists. The cover feature is a photo of Ruth Gipps, with her clarinettist husband, Robert Baker.

All the performances are ideal. Clearly, the artists have a strong sympathy for Gipps’s musical aesthetic. I can find no fault in the quality of the recording.

This is a fascinating conspectus of Ruth Gipps’s chamber music for clarinet. It has introduced me to five remarkable works, each displaying interest, imagination and technical integrity. Sadly, her achievement has been ignored by record companies and concert promoters in recent years, with around only half a dozen discs devoted to her catalogue. Let us hope that as we pass her centenary, that other artists will turn their skills to her catalogue. There is still plenty to interest the listener and performer in virtually every genre, but especially her chamber music.

Track Listing:
Ruth Gipps (1921-99)
Rhapsody in E flat, op.23 (1942)
The Kelpie of Corrievreckan (1939)
Quintet for oboe, clarinet, and string trio, op.16 (1941)
Prelude for bass clarinet, op.51 (1958)
Sonata for clarinet and piano, op.45 (1955)
Peter Cigleris (clarinet); Gareth Hulse (oboe); Duncan Honeybourne (piano); Tippett Quartet (John Mills (violin); Jeremy Isaac (violin); Lydia Lowndes-Northcott (viola); Bozidar Vukotic (cello).
rec. 1-2 November 2020, The Menuhin Hall, Stoke d’Abernon, Surrey.
SOMM RECORDINGS SOMMCD 0641