Malcolm Lipkin: Piano Music on Lyrita

I am beholden to Paul Conway’s fascinating CD liner notes in my preparation of this review. 

Malcolm Lipkin’s Eight Nocturnes were written between 1987 and 2006. They were “collected” towards the end of his creative life. Conway has suggested that they present “a lifetime’s creativity distilled into five-minute statements…” As the titles imply, this is night music. The booklet explains that Lipkin “deftly probes elements of the subconscious…playing with appearance and reality, light and dark, tranquillity and menace.” Humour is also mentioned, but I am not sure about this quality. There is little here that is extrovert or bombastic. In fact, the listener may despair of their “predominately hushed and inward looking” nature.

Introspection is a characteristic of Nocturne No.1. It is slow and lugubrious, but full of colour. Nods to Beethoven’s Fur Elise and Grieg’s Piano Concerto are explained by the dedication of the piece – “To Philip Fowke in honour of Eileen Joyce.” The latter, the distinguished Australian pianist, had these two works firmly in her repertoire. Equally doleful is the Nocturne No.2, completed in 1995. The liner notes are certainly correct in labelling it “dreamlike.”  Nocturne No.3 has its meditative mood blown away by a very brief, fiery outburst. This technique is also used in No.4 where the “insistent, rapidly repeated notes introduce an element of assertiveness” typically absent in this piece. Nocturne No.5…interrupted melody was dedicated to Stephen Hough. It balances straight forward pianism with “ornaments and flourishes.” The structural basis of Nocturne No.6…glint and shadows, seems to be pearls on a string – lots of contrasting figures and phrases, somehow managing to cohere. Dancing Figures is a strange title for Nocturne No.7. Marked to be played Capriccioso, it barely stops being yet another meditation. The sequence is rounded off by Nocturne No.8…recollections. I guess that this may include references to the previous numbers. They are all played with skill and concentration by Nathan Williamson. Yet, at a first hearing, and without a score, there is a feeling of sameness about these Nocturnes.

Turning now to the Piano Sonatas. Apart from noting a performance of the Piano Sonata No.3 in the Netherlands in 1951, nothing is mentioned about the first three sonatas. Even Lipkin’s website does not list the first two. It was in 1986 that he finalized the Sonata No.5, and it was premiered three years later by Jeremy Carter. There are two movements: Extremely slow and Quite fast. The music of the first movement is often aggressive, contains sequences of repeated chords and “blatant” tremolos. This is balanced by slow bell-like chords. Despite the tempo marking there seems to be quite a lot of rapid music here. Rob Barnett in his recent assessment of this CD (here) is correct in discerning a similarity to the piano music of American composers George Antheil and Leo Ornstein. The second movement is Toccata-like in its deployment of a breath-taking moto perpetuo. Here and there, Lipkin indulges in “jazzy, syncopated accents.” It is clearly a complex, technically demanding work that strikes a satisfying equilibrium between ferocity and reflection.

Another 16 years passed before the Sonata No.6 appeared during 2002. It carries the subtitle Fantasy Sonata, which gives some clue as to its impact. It is hugely different to the preceding example. The liner notes describe it as “urbane and poised, unfolding spontaneously and fluently in a single movement.” True, much of this music exhibits a “cool, classical elegance” and a convincing formal structure. Where Sonata No.5 was typically ferocious, this one is warm and temperate. There are moments of strength and even hardness in the work’s progress, but this is countered by much\ that is fragile and tender. It is a remarkable piece that both entertains and moves.

As noted above, the liner notes, by Paul Conway, give a detailed assessment of all the music on this CD. There is also a helpful overview of Malcolm Lipkin and his music. A resume of the pianist Nathan Williamson is included. Rob Barnett has noted that the sleeve design (of a butterfly wing) looks back to the heady early days of Lyrita recordings when Keith Hensby designed the covers.

This well-balanced recital provides the listener with a splendid introduction to Malcolm Lipkin’s piano music. As far as I can tell, these are all premiere recordings, so there is nothing to compare them to.

Track Listing:
Malcolm Lipkin (1932-2017)
Nocturne No.1 (1987, rev. 2000)
Nocturne No.2 (1995)
Nocturne No.3 (1999)
Piano Sonata No.5 (1986)
Nocturne No.4…heard in the stillness (2000)
Nocturne No.5…interrupted melody (2001)
Piano Sonata No.6 Fantasy Sonata (2002)
Nocturne No.6…glint and shadow (2002)
Nocturne No.7…dancing figures (2004)
Nocturne No.8…recollections (2006)
Nathan Williamson (piano)
rec. 13-15 October 2021, Wyastone Leys Concert Hall, Monmouth, UK
Lyrita SRCD.414