John McCabe: Pastorale Sostenuto for organ (1965)

Whilst recently revisiting Alun Hoddinott’s Intrada for organ, I discovered John McCabe’s short Pastorale Sostenuto in the same volume. It was written in 1965 as a commission from Oxford University Press for the first of two volumes of Easy Modern Organ Music, which was duly published in 1967. Other works in this album included Kenneth Leighton’s Fanfare, William Mathias’s Chorale, Christopher Brown’s Nocturne, and Arnold Cooke’s Impromptu.

John McCabe (1939-2015) was a distinguished British composer and concert pianist. Born in Huyton, Liverpool, he was inspired by the music-filled environment of his childhood. He wrote over 150 works, including symphonies, ballets, and solo piano pieces. Notable compositions include the orchestral song cycle Notturni ed Alba and the Concerto for Orchestra, which brought him international recognition. McCabe also served as the director of the London College of Music from 1983 to 1990.

Apart from the Pastorale, McCabe also wrote a Nocturne for the companion series, Modern Organ Music Book 1, (1965). Important works for Novello include the Sinfonia (1961), Dies Resurrectionis (1963), Le Poisson Magique (1964), Johannis Partita (1964), Prelude (in Music before Service) (1964), and Elegy (1965). McCabe's organ music often features intricate counterpoint and rich harmonic language, demonstrating his profound understanding of the instrument's capabilities.

The Pastorale Sostenuto is a miniature, lasting for about three minutes. It is written in binary form. A solo flute-like figure is heard in the opening bars, which then dominates the piece:

Played initially by the right hand only, it is joined by soft, dissonant chords on the swell. Repeated over and over again it is soon accompanied with a counterpoint of the above figure in inversion. There are several changes of time signature, between 6/8 and 9/8. The ‘trio’ section is based on an eight-note figure:

This is reiterated eight times supported by triads in root position or first inversion. The final part of the work reprises the opening theme, this time in the tenor register. It is complemented by chords of the seventh, before the Pastorale concludes with a long, sustained chord and a final allusion to the main theme in the upper register.

The impact of this piece is well summed up by the word “hypnotic” or even “minimalist.” It is not hard to imagine a classical background revelling in Theocritean shepherds or even Pan himself.

The John McCabe Bio-Bibliography (Stewart R. Craggs, Greenwood Press, 1991) gives little information about this work. Apart from the publication data, the author was unable to trace the premiere performance. To my knowledge, it has not been recorded for LP or CD.

Listen to John McCabe’s Pastorale Sostenuto on YouTube, here. It is played by Rhys Arvidson on the William Anderson Pipe Organ located in the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Williamstown, Melbourne Australia.

Alexander Mackenzie’s A Musician’s Narrative Reviewed by Punch

Alexander Campbell Mackenzie (b Edinburgh, 22 Aug 1847; d London, 28 April 1935) was a Scottish composer, who was educated at the Royal Academy of Music, (of which he was later to become the Principal) He had further studies in Germany, where he made the acquaintance of Franz Liszt. (Unlike most of his English contemporaries he was brought up to music as a fiddler and an orchestral player rather than as an organist.) He was an indefatigable organiser both in London and in Scotland and an adventurous conductor. As a composer he endeavoured to blend Scottish nationalism, with advanced German romantic expression. Examples of this fusion are The Cotter's Saturday Night, to a text by Robert Burns, set for chorus and orchestra, his Scottish Rhapsodies and his Pibroch suite for violin). He wrote oratorios which were perhaps less successful, musically, and technically than his orchestral pieces, good deal of effective theatre music. He also composed two operas: The Cricket on the Hearth (1902) and The Eve of St. John (1924) and much chamber music.

A Musician's Narrative by Alexander Campbell Mackenzie is a fascinating account of his life and career. Published by Cassells and Co. London in 1927, it offers insights into his experiences as a violinist, organist, conductor, composer, and educator. The narrative provides a detailed look at his efforts to establish a National Opera in Britain, his interactions with notable figures like Carl Rosa, Franz Liszt and Anton Rubenstein as well as his reflections on the challenges and triumphs of his career. It is an essential read for anyone interested in the history of Victorian and Edwardian British music and Mackenzie's contributions to it.

The British weekly magazine Punch, or The London Charivari, established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and Ebenezer Landells. Its special brand of satire and humour soon made it popular. Topic covered included social, political, and cultural matters. It was the earliest journal to uses the term “cartoon” in its modern sense.

On 7 December 1927 (p.27) it published this humorous poem as a “review” of Mackenzie’s new volume. It also notes the composer passing his eightieth year.

Mackenzie, good Sir Alexander,

For many years, the wise commander

Of the historic Music school,

Which greatly prospered by his rule,

Has happily been moved to give,

In A Musician's Narrative,

The record of the strenuous part

He played in furthering native art,

As teacher and administrator,

Player, conductor and creator;

Wielding a pen—although he's eighty -

Witty and gay as well as weighty.

Of all the greatest in the muster

That lent the old regime its lustre

He has some first-hand tale to tell,

And tells it excellently well –

Of Liszt and Rubinstein and "Joe,"

And all the stars of long ago.

For, to be frank, our dear Mackenzie

Finds little more than sound and frenzy,

In short, what younger folk call" tripe,"

In music of the latest type.

Here, otherwise benign, and mellow,

He's prone to seeing red and yellow,

And finds a gloomy satisfaction

In noting symptoms of reaction.

With this small cavil,

I commend His genial book (which Cassell's send)

As worthy of an honoured friend,

Known and admired since '84,

Old " Mac," four-square, though now four-score.

“Joe” could be one of a number of characters. Most likely it refers to the great Joseph Joachim (1831-1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer, and teacher, and known to Mackenzie.