This essay will explore all the
published chamber music by E.J. Moeran. This is an introduction to these works,
not a detailed analysis. It is presented in roughly chronological order (beginning
with the early String Quartet, composed (possibly) just after the end of the
First World War, although there is some contention on this dating. The final chamber
work is the heartfelt Cello Sonata, written in 1947 for his wife, the cellist
Peers Coetmore. Much of this Sonata is a musical reflection on his love (or was
it an infatuation?) for Peers. It was a relationship that was slowly coming to
an inevitable end. I have grouped the pieces
written for Coetmore together.
Moeran’s chamber music provides
a snapshot of his life, musical aesthetic, and passions. Taken overall, it is
an enviable achievement, which cries out to be more prominent in the
repertoire, both in the recital room and on CD.
Each work is given a brief introduction in non-technical language. I have tried to set them within the context of Moeran’s life and to give a few ‘helpful’ verbal impressions of the music. Additionally, I have referred to some contemporary reviews and subsequent critical comment. The essay concludes with a bibliography and a select discography.
Biographical Notes
The English composer Ernest John Smeed Moeran (E.J. or ‘Jack’) was born on 31 December 1894, in the village of Heston, near Hounslow in Middlesex. His father, who was a clergyman, had been born in Ireland, and his mother hailed from East Anglia. After prep school in Cromer, the young Moeran attended public school at Uppingham in Rutland. Then, as now, this school was particularly noted for its musical achievements. Moeran’s teacher there was Robert Sterndale Bennett, the grandson of the well-known Victorian composer, William. In 1912, Moeran enrolled at the Royal College of Music, however, he left here shortly after the declaration of war in 1914. He immediately enlisted in the army in the 6th (Cyclist) Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment, where he was a motorcycle despatch rider. After service on the Western Front, he was invalided out with a serious head wound. Before he was demobbed, he spent time in Ireland which was inspirational for him.
After
the war, Moeran studied privately with John Ireland, but this arrangement did
not last long. Unfortunately, for the composer’s health and wellbeing, he did much
of his musical ‘training’ with Peter Warlock (Philip Heseltine) and the
enigmatic Bernard van Dieren. Their social influence led to Moeran’s heavy
drinking. It was a problem that he would
never entirely overcome.
In the
post First World War years, Moeran collected folksongs from Ireland, Norfolk,
and Suffolk. This influenced his not inconsiderable catalogue of original songs
and choral music. He continued to write several important works, but it was not
until the premiere of his Symphony in G minor in 1938, that he finally
established his reputation as a leading British composer. Other major compositions
followed, including the Violin Concerto (1942), the Rhapsody No. 3 in F-sharp
major for piano and orchestra (1943) and the Cello Concerto (1945).
An
important element of Moeran’s aesthetic was the influence of the country of Ireland.
As noted, his father had been born there, and the composer came to love that nation,
its people and culture, and spent much time there.
E.J.
Moeran died on the banks of the River Kenmare in County Kerry on 1 December
1950. It was believed that he had a cerebral haemorrhage. He is buried in Killowen
Old Parish Churchyard.
Stylistically, Moeran’s music changed from the ‘John Ireland-esque’ piano music of the early twenties, through the ‘folksy’ works and then the ‘high’ romanticism of the Symphony in G minor, to a new, personal, even neo-classical style forged during and after the Second World War. Yet, underlying all these ‘periods’ is a concern for structure, and a warm, lyrical tone is nearly always a prominent feature of Moeran’s music.
The Published Chamber Music CatalogueI have used the titles given in Geoffrey Self’s ‘Classified List of Works’ (Self, 1986, p.257f).
- String Quartet No.2 in E flat (posthumous) (possibly 1918-20) Novello & Co. Ltd, 1956
- Trio in D for violin, cello and piano (1920, revised 1925) Oxford University Press, 1925
- String Quartet No.1 in A minor (1921) J & W Chester Ltd., 1923
- Sonata in E minor for violin and piano, (1923) J & W Chester Ltd., 1923
- Sonata for two violins (1930) Hawkes and Son, 1937
- Trio for violin, viola, and cello (1931) Augener., 1936
- Prelude for cello and piano (1943) Novello & Co. Ltd, 1944
- Irish Lament for cello and piano (1944) Novello & Co. Ltd, 1952
- Fantasy Quartet for oboe and strings (1946) J & W Chester Ltd., 1947
- Sonata for cello and piano (1947) Novello & Co. Ltd, 1948
The immediate post-First World War years were particularly busy for E.J. Moeran. In February 1920, he had returned to the Royal College of Music to study composition with John Ireland. Several important works were written in that year, including the Theme and Variations for piano, the A.E. Housman settings in the song-cycle In Ludlow Town, and the first version of the Trio in D. Moeran’s first orchestral piece, In the Mountain Country was completed in the following year. For relaxation, he toured France and Spain on a motorcycle with the Irish artist and writer Robert Gibbings.
It is understood that Moeran wrote four string quartets. The earliest was composed whilst he was still at Uppingham School. The score is missing. Three more followed. Only the final one, in A minor was published in his lifetime.
The String Quartet No.2 in E
flat was found by the composer’s wife, Peers Coetmore in her late husband’s
papers: it was not published until 1956. There is a debate about the work’s
dating. Geoffrey Self (1986, 253 ff.) has argued that it is a late composition:
the composer’s valediction. On the other hand, there is also an opinion that
what we know as String Quartet No.2 may consist of two fugitive movements from
these above-mentioned ‘lost’ early quartets. Certainly, Ian Maxwell (2014,
p.133 ff.) considers that they were written at different times. This is based
on hand-writing analysis. Furthermore, the second ‘movement’ can be seen emulating
the formal characteristics of the English Phantasy promulgated by Walter Willson
Cobbett and his Competitions between 1905 and 1919.
After considerable analysis,
Maxwell declares that the most likely date for the first movement is the spring
of 1918, and the score was possibly completed whilst Moeran was stationed at
Boyle, County Roscommon. The second movement may have been composed for
submission to the Cobbett competition of 1917.
Whatever the historical precedent for this attractive quartet, it is well-written, both formally and instrumentally. The two movements operate well together. It may not be the composer’s greatest chamber work, but it is certainly full of good things, that are often quite inspired.
Trio in D for violin, cello and piano (1920, revised 1925)The reception of the original (1920)
version was mixed. The Observer, (13 November 1921, p.16) considered
that '...[the work] proved to be rather
too dependent on rhythmical considerations, so that the lengthy slow movement
loses interest, and the whole trio, which is in modern vein, and couched in the
language with which John Ireland’s chamber music has made us familiar, does not
grip very well. But the composer has ideas not without originality, and if he
can develop them into more closely knit movements, with a power in them other
than that of rhythm alone, he will produce some strong work one day.’ It was a
prophetic critique.
Between 1920 and 1925, Moeran
revised the Trio, including several excisions and modifications. The manuscript
for the original version is lost.
The opening movement uses several
themes, which, it could be argued are overdeveloped. It has been suggested that
Delius may be a model for the beautiful slow movement. The following scherzo is
characterised by a much ‘harder edge’, that implies he was trying to get away
from the ‘Delian’ tag. It is possible that the Ravel Piano Trio (1914) could
have been at the back of Moeran’s mind here. The final movement, a rondo, is
infused by folk music, with the principal subject being characterised by a
pentatonic mood (black notes on the piano). Whatever the formal shortcomings of
the Trio, it has a deep lyrical flow. This is what makes it a success and
deserving of more performances.
Cobbett, Walter Willson, ed., Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music Volume 2 (Oxford University Press, 1963)
Maxwell, Ian, The Importance of Being Ernest John: Challenging the Misconceptions about the Life and Works of E. J. Moeran, Doctoral Thesis, Durham University, 2014
McNeill, R. J. (1982). A critical study of the life and works of E. J. Moeran. PhD thesis, Faculty of Music, The University of Melbourne.
Self, Geoffrey, The Music of E.J. Moeran, Toccata Press, 1986
Wild, Stephen, E.J. Moeran, Triad Press, Rickmansworth, 1974
The Moeran Database (website seems to be defunct, July 2024).
The files of The Times, The Observer, The Daily Telegraph, The Chesterian, Music Review, Monthly Musical Record etc.
With thanks to Spirited, the Journal of the English Music Festival where this essay was first published.
To be continued…
No comments:
Post a Comment