Thomas Pitfield: His Friends and Contemporaries

The advertising brief for this new CD from Divine Art states that this album “pays homage to the multifaceted talent of Thomas Baron Pitfield (1903-1999). Pitfield was not just a composer; he embodied the essence of a Renaissance man, excelling in various fields including teaching, visual arts, poetry, writing, furniture making, and ornithology.” Of huge importance was his impact on his musical colleagues. Here is a wide selection of works by Pitfield and his peers, friends, and students.

The four movement Divertimento, for oboe and string trio was dedicated to Leon Goossens who celebrated his 70^th birthday during 1967. Pitfield headed the score with a few poetic lines, beginning, “He pipes his pastoral way...” These five words sum up the impression of this delightful tribute. After a brief, airy Toccatina, the Pastorale unsurprisingly presents a folksong-like melody. This is followed by a well-crafted, introspective Intermezzo, before concluding with a rondo featuring a “chattering” tune with several reflective byways. It is a long work, lasting for eighteen minutes. It delights the listener with its evocation of the North Country landscape.

John Joubert’s Remember: Scena for soprano, recorder and string quartet, op. 184 (2018) was one of his final compositions. It was dedicated to the recorderist, John Turner. The text is taken from Christina Rossetti’s heart-breaking sonnet, Remember, which explores themes of love, death, and memory. This intense setting emphasizes the poet’s desire that the beloved should remember her without sadness.

The highlight (for me) of this first CD is E.J. Moeran’s Fantasy Quartet, for oboe and string trio. The liner notes explain that Pitfield knew Moeran well. The Fantasy was devised for Leon Goossens, who gave the premiere performance on 8 December 1946. It should be recalled that at this time, Moeran was struggling with alcoholism as well as marriage problems with Peers Coetmore. Yet, these issues barely trouble the progress of this mature and deeply felt piece. It was summed up by the reviewer of the premiere (The Times, 10 December 1946, p.6) who noted that it was “almost inevitably pastoral in its general character” and “somehow conveyed the feeling of sunshine over rural England.”

Ernst Hermann Meyer’s Now, Voyager: Ode for voice and string quartet was completed in 1946. It is a haunting exploration of Walt Whitmans’ poem Now finalè to the shore. This text encourages the reader to embark on new adventures, suggesting that there is much still to be discovered and experienced. The words can be seen as being a metaphor for the transition between life and death. Although contemporaries, Meyer and Pitfield never actually met. Both men were Socialists, although Meyer was a card-carrying communist who would find fulfilment after the Second World War in East Germany.

The final work on CD 1 is the charming Three Nautical Sketches (1982) for recorder and string quartet. Originally devised for recorder and piano, the present arrangement was made in 2003 by Pitfield’s onetime pupil, the late John McCabe. The three movements explore a “quodlibet” (often a light-hearted combination of tunes) on the sea shanties The Three Mariners and Donkey Riding. The slow movement is a moving reflection on Tom Bowling, whilst the finale majors on a rumbustious take on The Keel Row. There is also a version for recorder and string orchestra. (Naxos 8.572503). Any of these incarnations would make a great piece for the concert hall or recital room.

The second CD opens with Robin Walker’s Parrottry for recorder and string quartet, completed in 2006. The title is a play on words between the dictionary definition of Parrotry (one ‘t’) as being “servile imitation and repetition” and the composer Ian Parrott (1916-2012) whose ninetieth birthday was celebrated in this commission. Certainly, the progress of the music calls for repetition, but never “servile.” Walker asks “How much repetition is too much? Literal repetition rapidly wears thin (vide Minimalism), but varied repetition is the essence of extended symphonic composition. The instruments play out a mixture of the two until - to avoid things getting out of hand, and the likely onset of parrotry – it is time, as it were, to place a cloth over the parrot's cage.” It is fun, and I am sure Ian Parrott must have appreciated it, with no imputation concerning his musical achievement!

The liner notes explain that Jeremy Pike’s Spring for recorder and quartet was written to celebrate the eightieth birthday of John Turner during 2023. Pike explains that “the letters contained in John’s name are used to create a theme that reflects the various sounds of the season. The music alludes to the conflicting emotions stirred in the months of March and April.” The only musical note in JT’s name is ‘E,’ but perhaps there was a scheme…? Altogether a dark offering, rather than an explosion of vernal fecundity.

My comments on the songs for soprano solo and recorder are given together. Firstly, the Three Short Songs by friends of Pitfield, for soprano and recorder. First up, is a lively Yeats setting, by Nicolas Marshall, To a Child Dancing in the Wind. This is followed by Anthony Gilbert’s lugubrious realisation of his own text, A breath for Life. Finally, John Turner has contributed a song to words by William Blake, Spring. Stuart Scott’s Three Blake Songs for recorder and soprano include: Ah, Sunflower, The Lilly, and Infant Joy. For me, the tessitura of the two soloists tends to be too piercing and overbearing in most of these songs.

Richard Pantcheff’s Spring Suite, for recorder and string quartet was written in 2022 for John Turner. It is an attractive collection of baroque dances reimagined in a contemporary, but not unapproachable, musical language. The four contrasting movements include, a Bourrée, a Siciliano, an Air, a Minuet, and a concluding Gigue.

Seasons of Mist for recorder and string quintet (2021) by Geoffrey Poole’s was conceived during the Covid pandemic. It was designed to reflect “poets from Basho to Keats [who] have dwelt on the peculiar beauties of Autumn.” There are three contrasting movements. November Dawn is restrained and impressionistic, and the Bonfire Night is a vibrant scherzo, complete with musical onomatopoeia, of bursting rockets and Catherine wheel. The work concludes with a meditation on Autumn Leaves, echoing the transience of life, rather than portraying a blustery day.

Two more songs follow. The Carol Lullaby for soprano recorder and harp is gentle and sentimentally religious. Both text and music are by Pitfield. The second number Lullaby (TBP [Thomas Baron Pitfield] his goodnight) is by Gordon Crosse and uses the same forces. The liner notes explain that this piece began life as part of the incidental music for Michael Elliott’s Manchester Royal Exchange production of the Greek tragedy Philoctetes, by Sophocles. It was revised as a contribution to Thomas Pitfield’s eightieth birthday album, published by Forsyth’s of Manchester. It is an astringent, rather than soothing, berceuse.

Christopher Cotton’s Overture for St. Paul’s, (possibly 2018), for recorder, oboe and string quartet was composed for the launch of the Stockport Heatons concert series ‘Music on the Moor.’ The liner notes are shy on explaining which St Paul’s is referenced in the title: it is in fact St Paul’s Church, in Heaton Mersey, Stockport. This is a wistful little work that seems timeless in its evocation of baroque mannerisms and more up-to-date echoes. It is perfectly scored with the two wind instruments in equilibrium.

This CD features magnificent performances from all the artists, a splendid recording, and an informative booklet. The cover features the evocative water colour "Weaver Bridge at Church Minshull, Cheshire, from the garden of Weaver Cottage.” It is a remarkable sample of Pitfield’s accomplishment as a visual artist.

This two-disc set is a rewarding exploration of music by Thomas Pitfield, his contemporaries, and friends.

Track Listing:
CD1
Thomas Pitfield (1903-1999)
Divertimento, for oboe and string trio (1966/67)

Richard Simpson (oboe), Benedict Holland (violin), Heather Wallington (viola), Jennifer

Langridge (cello)

John Joubert (1927-2019)
Remember: Scena for soprano, recorder and string quartet, op. 184 (2018)
Lesley-Jane Rogers (soprano), John Turner (recorder), Victoria String Quartet
E. J. Moeran (1894-1950)
Fantasy Quartet, for oboe and string trio (1946)
Richard Simpson (oboe), Benedict Holland (violin), Heather Wallington (viola), Jennifer
Langridge (cello)
Ernst Hermann Meyer (1905-1988)
Now, Voyager: Ode for voice and string quartet (1946)
Lesley-Jane Rogers (soprano), Victoria String Quartet
Thomas Pitfield, arr. John McCabe (1939-2015)
Three Nautical Sketches, for recorder and string quartet (1982, arr. 2003)
John Turner (recorder), Victoria String Quartet
CD2
Robin Walker (b.1953)
Parrottry, for recorder and string quartet (2006)
John Turner (recorder), Victoria String Quartet
Jeremy Pike (b. 1955)
Spring, for recorder, harp, and string quartet (2023)
John Turner (recorder), Lauren Scott (harp), Victoria String Quartet
Nicholas Marshall (b.1942)
To a Child Dancing in the Wind (words by W. B. Yeats) (2023)
Anthony Gilbert (1934-2023)
A Breath for Life (words by “Anthonymus 2023”) (2023)
John Turner (b.1943)
Spring (words by William Blake) (1968, rev.2023)
Lesley-Jane Rogers (soprano), John Turner (recorder)
Richard Pantcheff (b.1959)
Spring Suite, for recorder and string quartet (2022)
John Turner (recorder), Victoria String Quartet
Stuart Scott (b.1949)
Three Blake Songs (?)
Lesley-Jane Rogers (soprano), John Turner (recorder)
Geoffrey Poole (b.1949)
Seasons of Mist, for recorder and string quintet (2021)
John Turner (recorder), Victoria String Quartet, Alex Jones (double bass)
Thomas Pitfield
Carol Lullaby, for soprano, recorder, and harp (undated)
Lesley-Jane Rogers (soprano), John Turner (recorder), Lauren Scott (harp)
Gordon Crosse (1937-2021)
Lullaby (TBP his goodnight), for soprano, recorder, and violin (c.1982)
Lesley-Jane Rogers (soprano), John Turner (recorder), Benedict Holland (violin)
Christopher Cotton (b.1947)
Overture for St. Paul’s, for recorder, oboe, and string quartet (?2018)
John Turner (recorder), Richard Simpson (oboe), Victoria String Quartet
rec. 22/23 June and 11 October 2023, St. Paul's Church, Heaton Moor, Stockport. 

Divine Art DDX 21246