Alan Rawsthorne: A Musical Tidbit

"Composer Alan Rawsthorne, who has left the distractions of London for the comparative calm of a country cottage, tells me that he is working on a new work, this time a string quartet. “I am not hurrying it,” he says. “It will come right of its own accord.”

Rawsthorne, whose wide brimmed hat, black cloak and long silver-tipped walking stick were among the sights of St James’s district in London not so long ago, says that the country life is less distracting for a composer. In London he had rooms in the house where Chopin had stayed during his last few days in London before returning to Paris to die. Now the lower part of the house is a club restaurant where people of the theatre and literary world would congregate for late dinners. Rawsthorne prefers the quiet of Essex. “There’s a lot to be done on the cottage yet,” he told me, “But I can work there.”

Music Mans’s Diary, Music and Musicians, December 1953, p.14.

In 1953, Alan Rawsthorne and his partner, Isabel Lambert moved to Sudbury Cottage, Little Sampford, near Thaxted. The divorce from his first wife, Jessie, did not come through until 1954. During December 1953, he suffered a severe haemorrhage and was admitted to the University College Hospital for a month. A Blue Plaque was unveiled at the cottage by the composer, pianist and scholar, John McCabe in 1998.

The String Quartet No.2 was completed during December 1953, shortly after his conversation with the author. It was premiered at the Cheltenham Festival on 12 July 1954, by the Griller Quartet. The year had been a lean one for Rawsthorne, at least composition wise. There were the Four Romantic Pieces for piano and the Coronation Overture. Two film scores were also completed: The Drawings of Leonardo, a documentary, and the feature film West of Zanzibar.

The Quartet received mixed reviews at its premiers. Scott Goddard (Musical Times, September 1954, p.492) suggested that it was “extraordinarily impressive, tense and taut, concise...[and] kept one perpetually on the stretch and filled [the] imagination with exciting visions.” On the other hand, Gerald Abraham (Music Review August 1955, p.261) conceded that it was “a light-weight work, beautifully written but leaving one wondering why it was written…”

The London house where Chopin had stayed during his final days in the capital was No.4 St James’ Place. There is a Blue Plaque commemorating this historic residence. Sadly, the restaurant is gone, and the building is now commercial premises.