Random Jottings about Montague Phillips’ Dance Revels (1928)

I have written elsewhere in these pages about the dichotomy at the heart of Montague Phillips’ musical compositions. His most famous work is The Rebel Maid, an operetta that had a great vogue in the middle of the twentieth century. Some songs were popular and remained in the ‘soirée recital’ for many years. Yet Phillips wrote a wide variety of music. For example, there is a fine Phantasy for Violin and Orchestra in the spirit of the Cobbett Chamber Music Competition. Dutton Epoch have issued a wide conspectus of his music on three CDs, ranging from the two piano concertos, the Sinfonietta, op.70, two surviving movements of his Symphony in C minor and the Four Dances from The Rebel Maid. In these discs we also encounter some fine overtures, marches, and tone poems. Nevertheless, Phillips is regarded as a ‘light’ music composer. And to many people this is thought of in a pejorative sense. It is true that after his marriage to the soprano Clara Butterworth in 1909, he tended to concentrate on songs for her to sing - he wrote over a hundred. However, there were still some serious works to come from his pen..

Philip Scowcroft notes that Phillips’ orchestral music shows an ambivalence between light and serious music. He eschewed the use of jazz idioms or even syncopation to any extent. In this he did not follow the path of his near contemporary Eric Coates. Montague Phillips was of the view that there "was a place for light music for the great majority of people who lie between the ‘ultra highbrows’ and the ‘irredeemable lowbrows’ and can appreciate music which is melodious and well written but not too advanced." It is into this category that the Dance Revels falls. This work is quite simply attractive, ‘end of the pier’ music that captivates but does not necessarily climb Parnassus.

A Mazurka can be defined as a Polish Folk Dance from the Warsaw region: it is usually presented in triple time. However, the form itself is a later definition of an ancient dance. In the nineteenth century Chopin developed the Mazurka into an art form, which is often ‘seductive and sultry.’ It is in this incarnation that most people relate to this dance. Montague Phillips’ contribution is what might be described as an ‘English Mazurka.’ It owes more to Edward German than to Frederic Chopin. This dance opens with a lively classic theme that, typically of Phillips, has no syncopation. The second ‘subject’ certainly has something of Arthur Sullivan about it. Each section of this Mazurka is well balanced: this is quite definitely a unified composition. Soon the movement develops with an attractive woodwind cadenza before continuing with a slightly less frenetic version of the principal melody. After a short episode there is a final statement of the ‘mazurka’ theme with the brass well to the fore. Interestingly mazurkas can express many different emotions and shades of mood. And this is despite their predictable musical structure. Montague Phillips manages to bring a of ‘Home Counties’ feel to this music that belies the dance form’s Polish origins.

The second movement is a Minuet. This opens with a delicate tune on the strings. This is not the four-square music that we may associate with this dance. Yet the next theme is heavier and gives greater stability. There is a magical reprise of the opening music before an enchanting flute solo followed by a delicious figure for French horn prepares us for the closing pages. Phillips cleverly integrates the lighter opening theme with the stately music before bringing the dance to a muted close. The Minuet reflects a classic balance between nobility of purpose and grace of orchestration.

The last movement, the Valse, is by the far the most successful. The opening bars consist of a little woodwind cadenza quickly leading into the main waltz theme initially played on the woodwind. Soon the strings join in. There is a little swirling string figure before the pace becomes more relaxed. The violins take up the main tune and progressively become more romantic in its tone. There is a delightful counter melody that throws snippets of the main theme around the orchestra. Chirruping oboes and flutes lead to a glorious romantic presentation of the main tune on low strings. This is pure ‘happy days’ type of music. Yet suddenly there is a change. The music becomes a little bit hard edged. The tension builds up, brass takes the lead and then as expected we hear the last reprise of the waltz theme in all its splendour. This is a professionally written waltz with incisive instrumentation that especially exploits the woodwind section. Whether it could be classified as an ‘English Waltz’ is a matter of debate.

Montague’s Phillips’s Dance Revels can be heard on Naxos 8.570332.

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this essay was first published.