Quiet Summer Evening: British Light Classics

The opening paragraph of the liner notes gives a succinct definition of light music. Nearly six decades ago, Andrew Gold - who led the BBC Light Music Unit between 1965 and 1969 - summed up his role as programming “music where the tune is more important than what the composer does with it”. That crisp description of what we now tend to call light classical still holds. Its defining strength remains what Gold called its “immediacy of appeal,” the quality that continues to secure the loyalty of many listeners. I would add approachability, quality of orchestration and a deft handling of mood and atmosphere to this description.

One niggle to get out of the way: The liner notes could have been more fulsome, especially on their discussion of each work. All dates of composers, the pieces, and the arrangements should have been given. I have provided these where possible.

The concert opens with Geoffrey Bush’s Rhapsody for Clarinet & Strings dating from 1940. While he is noted for music across a wide range of genres, including two symphonies, several concertos and six operas, he remained at heart a miniaturist with a particular flair for chamber and vocal writing. His aesthetic is often (but not always) characterized as “a blend of English pastoral warmth and crisp neoclassical poise.” The Rhapsody is lyrical, with just a little angst here and there, that suggests the turbulent date it was written. Yet, overall, it engages the mind in reminiscing about happier times gone by and looks forward to peaceful days to come.

The notes do not tell what forces Ulster composer Terence Higgins originally wrote his Vers le Sud for. It has been arranged here by David Stowe for violin and orchestra. I find the overall impact a little out of kilter – true, there is mood music that reflects languid days in the South of France, but the jazzed-up violin passages do seem a little out of place in this supposedly atmospheric evocation. What is it about Messrs Higgins and Stowe that their D.O.B.s are hidden from view?

Clive Jenkins’s Fantasy for Horn & Strings (2002/2009) gently evokes an English landscape at dusk, with just a hint of shadow in the background. It blends melodic poise and fine craftsmanship with a touch of mischievous charm, giving the soloist music that sings as naturally as it speaks.

Nigel Brooks’s Sunday Afternoon for bassoon and orchestra gently potters along, giving the listener an impression of a peaceful ramble through a suburban landscape - summoning images of playing children or strolling lovers. It is beautifully scored and presents a memorable solo part superbly played by Sarah Watts. The piece was written specially for this release.

Sarah Watts is also represented by her enigmatically titled Everything Is Somewhere Else, also for bassoon and orchestra. If I had been the record producer, I would have separated this and the last number by another work. Whilst reviewing this I suddenly discovered that I had changed composer and track, fooling me into thinking it was the same piece! Yet this ever so short intermezzo is delightful at every twist and turn.

The Five Pieces for Clarinet & String Orchestra by Clive Jenkins are given picturesque titles, of places in and around his native Plymouth which may or may not help the listener. The set opens with the brisk Richmond Walk, a reference to a promenade by “the tranquil waters of Stonehouse Creek," though the music presents a bit of a contradiction. Jenkins explains that “Plym Valley has woods and a boulder-strewn river with weirs”; appropriately, this is introverted, and not particularly “light” in character. Equally reflective is the tone poem, Tamarside, named from the broad estuary between Devon and Cornwall. The “bustling” fourth movement imagines The Barbican in Plymouth, an area of historic quays, narrow cobbled streets, lively pubs, and a gin distiller! The finale is Drake Circus, which according to Google Earth is a modern-ish shopping mall. The area looks as if it had been knocked about a lot – either by German bombs during WW2 or by over-zealous town planners. Overall, this is a charming suite.

The liner notes explain that Andy Meyers “studied conducting, piano and horn at Trinity College of Music, winning the Ricordi Prize for conducting and, as a collaborative pianist, the Elisabeth Schumann Prize for Lieder and the Dorothy Hawes Prize for French Song.” His scores include Encore une fois, Cantilena, Midsummer Night’s Dream Suite, and a Sinfonietta Concertante alongside various concertos. The Serenade for Horn and Strings (no date given) is another piece that is too short: it just gets going when it concludes. It is lyrical throughout, with a definite touch of melancholy.

Gordon Jacob can always be relied on to deliver the goods. The brief and pleasant A Little Waltz is the second number in his Four Sketches dating from 1976. This little movement has a lyrical, dance-like mood with gracefully turned phrasing. As a digression, the third movement (not heard here) is a desideratum: the lumbering L'Après-midi d'un Dinosaur is a humorous play on Debussy’s Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune.

One of the loveliest tracks on this disc is Luke Whitlock’s Lullaby. Whitlock was invited in 2022 by Clive Jenkins to contribute a horn‑and‑orchestra piece for this present album. The result is an expressive, mood‑shifting miniature in which soloist and orchestra both share the focus, conjuring something gently nostalgic and half‑remembered. Quite beautiful.

I love Edward Elgar’s Canto Popolare in its original context as part of the sweeping overture, In the South. It was originally heard at the tranquil turning point in this otherwise imposing work.  The melody is anecdotally based on a "found" tune Elgar had heard a shepherd singing while visiting Alassio, Italy - though, in fact, it was his own invention. I can just about enjoy it in the composer’s violin and piano version. However, this present arrangement for violin and orchestra by Clive Jenkins takes it entirely out of context. I am sorry - I just don’t dig it!

Lennox Berkeley’s short Andantino has a tangled provenance. Originally written in 1945 as part of A Festival Anthem, op. 21 no. 2 (for SATB choir and organ to mark the end of the Second World War), the present music was associated with the words ‘The Lord is my Shepherd.’ He later recast this section as an independent work, arranging it for cello and piano. Unusually for Berkeley, the mood here is entirely pastoral, contrasting with his more prevailing neo-classicism. The liner notes suggest that it is as English as a day in summer. The present arrangement for cello and strings was made by Clive Jenkins.

The penultimate piece is an arrangement of Frederick Delius’s Romance for cello and piano. This delicious work dates from around 1896 when the composer was resident in Paris. It was “lost” until rediscovered in 1976 and given its first modern (possibly even premiere) performance by Julian Lloyd Webber. The only criticism would be the overblown intensity for such a short piece.

Finally, the listener is treated to Don Shearman’s eponymous Quiet Summer Evening. The notes explain that this British musician who died at the age of 92 enjoyed a distinguished career as a pianist, collaborating with leading entertainers such as Norman Wisdom and Russ Conway. This contemplative miniature crosses multiple stylistic boundaries, nevertheless, it is quite lovely.

Taken as a whole, Quiet Summer Evening offers a generous survey of near-contemporary British light‑classical idioms, performed with evident affection and sympathy by Peter Fisher and his Chamber Ensemble of London. It is aided by a great recording. Not every arrangement convinces, and a few pieces feel more like sketches than fully realised statements, but the prevailing impression is one of craftsmanship, tuneful ease, and lyricism. The soloists play with character and sensitivity throughout. The programme’s mixture of the familiar, the rediscovered and the newly minted gives it a pleasing sense of variety. As the title track gently closes the disc, it leaves behind exactly what light music at its best can still provide: moments of calm, colour, and charm.

Track Listing:

Geoffrey Bush (1920-1998)
Rhapsody for Clarinet & Strings (1940)
Terence Higgins (?) (Arr. David Stowe (?))
Vers Le Sud
Clive Jenkins (b.1938)
Fantasy for Horn & Strings (2002/2009)
Nigel Brooks (1926-2024)
Sunday Afternoon
Sarah Watts (?)
Everything Is Somewhere Else
Clive Jenkins
5 Pieces for Clarinet & String Orchestra (2003/2013-14)
Andy Meyers (?)
Serenade for Horn & Strings
Gordon Jacob (1895-1984)
A Little Waltz (1976)
Luke Whitlock (b.1978)
Lullaby (2022)
Edward Elgar (1857-1934) (arr. Clive Jenkins)
Canto Popolare (1904/?)
Lennox Berkeley (1903-89) (arr. Clive Jenkins)
Andantino (1945/?)
Frederick Delius (1862-1934) (arr. Clive Jenkins)
Romance (1896/?)
Don Shearman (1932-2024)
Quiet Summer Evening
Peter Cigleris (clarinet), Sarah Watts (bassoon), Alexei Watkins (horn), Michael Mace (cello)
Chamber Ensemble of London/Peter Fisher (violin, director)
rec. August 2023, St George’s Church, Pinner View, Harrow
SOMM Recordings SOMMCD0727

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