Edgar L Bainton on Sir Charles Villiers Stanford

I recently came across a tribute to the great Charles Villiers Stanford in a copy of Music & Letters. These included words by Vaughan Williams, George Dyson, Ivor Gurney and Herbert Howells. However the one that caught my eye was by the relatively unknown composer Edgar L Bainton.

AT a meeting of the Council of the R.C.M. in the early days, the late Archbishop of Canterbury proposed that a chapel should be added to the College buildings. Stanford immediately rose and said that if the proposal was carried, the council would have to erect one altar for the Roman Catholics, another for the High Churchmen, a third for the Low Churchmen, a shrine for the Buddhists and a bath for the Baptists, and that within half-an-hour of the opening there would be bleeding noses all round.

This incident, related to me by Sir Charles himself, is typical of the man. His broadmindedness in religious matters, his keen sense of humour, and perhaps a latent fear that the zeal of the students might outrun their discretion, were three dominant qualities in his character. The last, in particular, is an important factor in considering Stanford's work as a teacher. He always feared lest his pupils might " lose their heads."

In a recent conversation with the writer, Sir Charles indeed expressed the opinion that most of them had " gone too far," that they had carried their modernity beyond the limits of good sense. When it was pointed out to him that almost every one of his pupils differed entirely from every other, both in musical outlook and in manner of expression, and that this fact was surely the greatest possible tribute to his teaching, he merely shook his head and replied that [William]Hurlstone was almost the only one who had kept sane.

Stanford's teaching seemed to be without method or plan. His criticism consisted for the most part of " I like it, my boy," or " It's damned ugly, my boy " (the latter in most cases). In this, perhaps, lay its value. For in spite of his conservatism, and he was intensely and passionately conservative in music as in politics, his amazingly comprehensive knowledge of musical literature of all nations and ages made one feel that his opinions, however irritating, had weight. He expressed his judgments upon the work of his contemporaries with an almost naive candour, and in consequence made many enemies. Referring to Strauss's use of the tam-tam in the death-bed section of Tod und Verkldrung, he said: " I shouldn't like to go out to the sound of a tam-tam."

On the occasion of my last visit to him he showed me some parodies which he had written upon several modern composers. It is to be hoped that eventually his executors will permit their publication. Whatever opinions may be held upon Stanford's music, and they are many and various, it is, I think, always recognised that he was a master of means. Everything he turned his hand to always " comes off."

Whenever English musicians meet together, the conversation sooner or later centres upon Stanford. Only a big personality has this power of diverting the current.
EDGAR L. BAINTON
Music & Letters Volume 5 No. 3 July 1924 Pages 200/201

William Blezard: Second Sonatina for Piano

The Second Sonatina (1970s) was written for Donald Swann – one half of Flanders and Swann. Of course he was a composer in his own right and is perhaps best remembered today for the Hippopotamus Song. But let it not be forgotten that he composed many musicals and operas and contributions to Hoffnung’s Musical Festivals. As an aside, the one work that deserves to be recorded and made available is the Song Cycle ‘A Collection of Songs’ on poems by John Betjeman. Blezard knew Swann well in his capacity as a musical director in fact he had met Swann through his wife-to-be, Joan Kemp Potter. And it was through him that Blezard was introduced to Joyce Grenfell with whom he was to have a successful working relationship as her accompanists. So it is fitting that this jazz-influenced work should be dedicated to his friend and colleague. 

The Second Sonatina opens with a lively first movement. This not jazz pastiche – but is actually a rather good fusion of styles. Nods in the direction of Billy Mayerl and Bartok are plentiful. The second movement is marked lirico and is actually extremely lyrical. It has an attractive melody supported by conventional but sometimes slightly acerbic chords. This is very much in the world of the cocktail lounge although perhaps the taste would be a little too bitter for the Ritz? There are touches of Ireland in some of the figuration and a little syncopation is never far away: it is a very beautiful movement. The ‘vigoroso’ is a nod in the direction of Billy Mayerl and is almost pure ‘novelty’ piano writing. In fact Blezard had to use conventional jazz notation in the score to get his point across.

For the life of me I cannot see why this Sonatina is not in the repertoire. It would be a hit on classic FM and even Radio 3 listeners would be impressed at the subtle use of styles and moods. As an encore the last movement would be very popular.

William Blezard’s Second Sonatina can be heard on Eric Parkin’s recording on the Priory Label.

Paul Carr: Air for Strings

It is often not easy to evaluate whether a piece of music should be classified as ‘light’ or otherwise. In fact, it can quite difficult to define exactly what we mean by ‘otherwise’. For example, are Mozart’s Divertimentos or Schubert’s Ländler ‘light’ or are they ‘art’ music? I guess that most critics would be appalled at attaching such a ‘demeaning’ label to Wolfgang or Franz. Yet I believe that much of their music is not designed to be anything other than entertaining. These are not works that are storming the gates of heaven! However, the man or woman on the Clapham Routemaster would probably say - if they knew about such things - that Eric Coates wrote ‘light’ music. And so did Robert Farnon, Sidney Torch and Trevor Duncan. They would almost certainly deny the honour to Elgar or to Vaughan Williams, who they would imagine were perpetually serious. However, the cognoscenti know that both of those composers wrote a deal of music that does not challenge the listeners understanding –Mina, Salut d’Amour, the English Folk Song Suite and so forth. But they are enjoyable and minor masterpieces in their own right.

Now where does his leave Paul Carr’s fine Air for Strings? It has been recently released on an album entitled ‘Light Music Premieres – Volume 5’ by Dutton Epoch – so a definition seems to have already been established – at least in Dutton’s mind. I contend otherwise. Even on the least attentive hearing of this work, it reveals a mood and a style that approaches the depth of Samuel Barber’s ubiquitous Adagio for Strings. And I am not exaggerating to make a point. Paul Carr’s work is profound music that is quite capable of deeply moving the listener and bringing a genuine tear to the eye. It is ‘art’ music at its best – and serious to boot. The listener experiences the sense of deep loss and perhaps even of tragedy. And for the record, let us just say that the emotional and historical background of the piece was a separation, a splitting up from, a beloved partner…

Please read the full article at MusicWeb International

York Bowen: Fantasia in G minor for Organ Op.136

The organ works of York Bowen are few and far between. Apart from the present piece I know that there is a Melody in G minor and a transcription of the Somerset Suite (a desideratum for me in its orchestral incarnation).
The Fantasia was composed in 1949 and was duly published by Novello in 1952. It is quite clear to even the casual listener that this work would have been regarded as being somewhat retro when given its first performance at All Souls Langham Place in June 1951. It was a part of an impressive organ recital delivered by Arnold Richardson, the borough organist of Wolverhampton. It was the fourth in a series of recitals for the Festival of Britain celebrations.
Bowen’s Fantasia was played back to back with Elisabeth Lutyens’s 1948 Suite. The Times reviewer felt that although these two works are “only separated in date by a year, [the two works] are poles apart in spirit, the one proving as fleshy in its romanticism as the other was like bare (but not dry) bones in its austerity”. The Times Monday, June 18, 1951 p.2.

The Musical Times critic considered that “Arnold Richardson gallantly tackled a programme containing three first performances.” He considered that Bowen’s Fantasia in G minor “proved [to be] a rich and satisfying work…it is perhaps a little too right-handed for the organ (though did not Wagner make the same complaint of Chopin's piano writing?), but it is a specimen that one would like to have in print”. The Musical Times October 1951, p.460

A year or so later, when the score was published, the Musical Times noted: “When a well-known piano professor and composer embarks upon a full-length Fantasia for organ he should be assured of an attentive hearing". He wrote that “it came in a programme where its full-blooded romanticism made a pleasing contrast to the neo-baroque of Arnell and the tortured trickle of Elisabeth Lutyens. It has indeed a faintly dated air, less from its style than from its thought, though much of the writing is frankly chordal and tends to sound dull on the organ. The subject-matter is not strong, and there is far too much of it, so that the work as a whole seems diffuse. The Musical Times October 1952 p. 453.

Apparently York Bowen responded to this review by saying "How disgusting! Not because they don't like my piece but because they can take that Lutyens thing seriously! It is just dreadful to find this and I refuse to take any notice of ordinary newspaper critics -and no wonder! “ I don’t think my organ piece is ‘romantic’ at all…it is quite severe in parts! Silly asses!”

Listening to this work more than half a century later, it is certainly possible to see both points of view. There is definitely much about this music that is ‘romantic’ and certainly even the briefest of glances at the score show that it is perhaps more ‘pianistic’ than specifically devised for the organ. Certainly Bowen makes considerable use of octaves in the right hand, arpeggios and chromatic scale figurations. But it does work. And there are many passages where the added- note harmony and slippery tonality give lie to any suggestion that this is souped-up Chopin or Liszt.

For the record, the other works in Arnold Richardson's impressive programme were Richard Arnell’s Second Sonata, Josef Holbrooke’s ‘outsize’ Bayreuthian G minor Prelude and Ralph Vaughan Williams ‘gentle ‘Rhosymedre’ Prelude.

York Bowen's Fantasia can be heard on: Langham Place Fantasia Priory PRCD817 Gerald Brooks on the organ of All Soul’s Langham Place. [with works by Ives, Hollins, Martin, Bliss, Tredinnick, Coates etc.]

Frank Bridge: Violin Sonata

Frank Bridge's Violin Sonata (H183) is not particularly familiar. It was composed in 1922 and duly dedicated to Mrs Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, the wealthy American arts patron.

This is a great Sonata and it is surprising that it is so little known and even less often recorded. It is a work that is part of the cluster of post-Great War compositions that were to mark a sea-change in Bridge's style. Gone is the pastoralism and naked romanticism. Instead the composer work in a complex musical language complete with nods to atonality, polytonality and bitonality. Yet somehow there is still a reflection of the old composer underlying this 'modernism.'

The Sonata is constructed in one movement - lasting just under 20 minutes. It is composed in four sections or episodes. The first is a complex and involved but never academic 'Allegro molto moderato'. This is followed by troubled 'Andante' that explores the depths of despair. It is almost scary in places. The 'Vivo e capriccioso' is Scherzo-like but with some dark passages. The work ends as it begins, Allegro molto moderato'. There is certainly no consummation here. It is still shot through with pain and grief and a sense of futility.

I include transcriptions of two reviews from the contemporary pages of the Musical Times:
I have read Frank Bridge's new Sonata for pianoforte and violin with considerable pleasure. It is pleasant to consider music such as this, noting the easy mastery of modern idiom, the sure instinct for shapeliness of phrase and period. But the pleasure was not unalloyed. At times I had the uneasy feeling that Bridge is giving up his birthright as a gifted melodist for a mess of modern harmonies not native to his style. His technique is allowed to get the upper hand of his inspiration, and the most modern tricks suggest expediency rather than profound conviction. Such at any rate are the impressions of a reader. A perfect performance may possibly cast out our fears and solve our doubts.
Musical Times (January 1934 p.43)

Frank Bridge's Sonata, completed in 1932, proved a vigorous example of its composer's mature style -very individual, very masterful in its treatment of the material, and very effectively written for the instruments. Structurally it is close-packed, containing the essential four movements of cyclic form compressed into one, which, far from sounding rigid, gives an impression of energetic order and freedom. It was extremely well played by Antonio Brosa and Harold Samuel, and the composer was called to the platform at the close. Not one of the least pleasures of the evening was to watch how delicately perceptive these players were to the different tone-values and styles of the music. Heroic in the Bridge Sonata, nothing could have exceeded their loving refinement and small-but perfect-scale of tone-values in the Mozart Trio. In Faure's Quartet the playing was as refined, but several degrees larger, lit up by French chic. The crisp phrases for pianoforte, against the softly rounded pizzicato accompaniment of the strings in the Scherzo, were really enchanting. M. M. S.
Musical Times (February 1934 p.174)

The Frank Bridge Violin Sonata is currently available on two CDs – English Impressions with Lydia Jardon and Mireille Jardon and a disc that includes the Maurice Ravel Violin Sonatas performed by Charles Libove and Nina Lugovoy
It can also be appreciated on You Tube Part 1; Part 2; Part 3 & Part 4

Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Cappella Music from All Hallows, Gospel Oak

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing this fine album of a cappella music by Ralph Vaughan Williams. I began by stating that “I cannot rate this CD too highly. From every possible angle it is an essential purchase for anyone who claims an interest in British music. Firstly, the singing is superb. Even allowing for my preference for an all-male choir such as Kings’ College Cambridge, in any performance of the Mass in G minor, I cannot fault this version in any way. Secondly the repertoire is brilliantly chosen. Laudibus have selected some exceptionally well known pieces – Ca’ the Yowes, Greensleeves and the Mass and have complemented them with works that are virtually discoveries – at least to me.

I was concerned to point out that this CD explores a number of trajectories within the composer’s output – “It is easy to fall into the trap of regarding Vaughan Williams as a ‘pastoral’ composer or perhaps someone whose music is derived solely from folk-song. These generalisations do however have some grounding in fact. One only needs to think of the interminable repetitions of the Lark Ascending, Greensleeves and the Folksong Suite on Classic FM. Yet this is not the whole truth. Even a cursory hearing of a cross-section of RVW’s music reveals a wide range of influences – folksong, yes, but also Tudor music, the impressionism of Wenlock Edge, the neo-classicism of the Concerto Accademico and perhaps the biting, almost Stravinskian, dissonances of the Fourth Symphony. The present CD explores a few of these trajectories, in a well-balanced programme.
Please read my full review at MusicWeb International

Montague Phillips: Surrey Suite Op.59

This is one of my favourite Montague Phillips's pieces. This is not because it is necessarily the most musical or because it has any great profound statements to make about life and existence. It is simply that this is a musical portrayal of one of my best loved places – Surrey and the Royal Park at Richmond. To my mind this landscape epitomises much that for me is England; the generally wooded aspect of this landscape gives point to this opinion, in spite of the massive incursion of urban sprawl.

Over the last thirty five or so years I have many happy memories of exploring the park and the Surrey countryside. This music brings to mind glorious days of wandering through a sun-dappled landscape, the long views towards Windsor Castle and the secret vision of St Paul’s Cathedral through the long ride in the woods. The Market at Kingston presents to me the bustle of a half dozen market towns along the banks of the Thames – including Richmond, Twickenham, Teddington and Hampton Court; evenings of drinking Fullers ‘Chiswick’ beer by the river with good friends.

Montague Phillips lived in the Surrey town of Esher for many years, and no doubt spent much time exploring the surrounding countryside. The nineteen-thirties was a time of rapid expansion of the boundaries of Greater London. It was the time of Greenline Country Buses. Esher, along with many other places, was developing from sleepy market town to dormitory town for the sleep of commuters to the city. This was the age of hiking and rambling at weekends. Tudor style roadhouses and pubs were the order of the day. Ploughman’s lunches were devised by the Milk Marketing Board to sell more cheese.

The music of the Surrey Suite is presented in three movements: Richmond Park; The Shadowy Pines and Kingston Market. It is perhaps wrong of Lewis Foreman to suggest in his programme notes that ‘the Surrey that Phillips knew was not choked with cars and over-development as it is now...’ As noted above, by the time this Suite was composed, much of what we regard as urban sprawl was well on the way; there were some three million cars on the road and bypasses and dual carriage-ways were becoming common. What Phillips is doing is what we all do from time to time. He was re-creating musically an image or a picture of what he felt Surrey used to be like – or more appositely what he would like it to be like. Nearly seventy years on, the Surrey I think of or walk hand in hand down a country lane at Shere, is much the same as depicted here by Phillips. It is as much a creation of the mind as a description of an actual landscape.

The first movement opens with a walk or perhaps a canter through the park. This is fine music that is lightly and subtly scored. The main tune is sequential in an almost Handelian manner. Who could not be happy listening to this music? Who would not want to be tramping across the grass looking at the herd of deer and at St Paul’s on the horizon? There follows a slightly more melancholic tune – almost Sullivan-esque in its demeanour. This leads to an intense passage before returning to the canter and close.

The Shadowy Pines is a beautiful reflective piece. It has an interesting and inspiring tune for the main thematic material. The composer quite obviously wears his heart on his sleeve – but so what? This is the loveliest moment on this CD. There is a big climax which the composer closes down into a gorgeous meditation for solo violin. The movement finishes pianissimo.
The opening to the third and last movement reminds me of Benjamin Frankel’s well known Carriage and Pair. This is a jaunt through the town centre – probably in an open top tourer rather than a chaise! There is all the bustle we would expect of a vibrant market town – although the music makes room for a quiet pint in a pub by the riverside. The brass scoring is first-rate and the work finishes with a good downward woodwind swirl.

The Surrey Suite is included on Montague Phillips Volume 1 on Dutton Epoch CDLX 7140.

Dorothy Howell: The Moorings for Violin & Piano

It is sad that Dorothy Howell’s music is so little known to the general musical public. And the lack of recordings and performances do not help to increase her standing. At present there is only one disc devoted to her music – the Chamber Music CD from Dutton Epoch. Even the Dorothy Howell Trust which is presumably charged with the preservation and promotion of her music does not appear to have a web site or an email address.
Yet Howell was quite a prolific composer and went considerably beyond the chamber works so well explored on the CD. In fact there is a Piano Concerto, an orchestral tone poem Lamia, championed by Sir Henry Wood, a symphonic piece called Three Divertissements and a ballet Koong Shee (1923) I first came across her music many years ago when I found a copy of her piano Pieces For the Bairns. Strangely this is not easy or simple music and requires a sympathetic and mature technique to bring them off. The title is misleading.

I was recently listening to The Moorings, which surely must be one of Howell’s most attractive miniatures. The work was originally published by Augener in 1925 for ‘cello and piano although it was soon issued as an arrangement for violin and piano.
Celia Patterson, writing in the sleeve notes of the CD, suggests that much of the composer’s music was “inspired by nature and landscape” and felt that The Moorings was a good example of this art.

The piece is some five minutes long and has a sound-world not far removed from Cyril Scott or perhaps even Debussy. For all its ‘waterscape painting’ and musical description of the “gentle ebb and flow of the shallows” in the melodic and rhythmic devices she uses, this work is hardly a piece of salon music. The language is sophisticated, lyrical and surprisingly modern without nodding to any particular school of composition. It is a fine, short introduction to the music of this largely forgotten composer.

Jill Hopkins writing in the Worcestershire News states that “The Moorings, [is] the most beautiful composition [on this CD]. It is quiet and thoughtful, the violin pensive in its lower registers, and piano offering short rippling phrases.” The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music suggests that although “no strong personality emerges, she is a composer of distinct culture…” They consider that her Violin Sonata, the Phantasy and the Piano Studies are “well worth saving from virtual oblivion.”
I would suggest that if we could hear more of her music, her personality may well assert itself.
Listen to Lorraine McAslan and Sophia Rahman playing this work on Dutton Epoch CDLX 7144.

Adam Pounds: Notes and News

I recently posted about Adam Pounds’s attractive Christmas carol ‘Cradle Song’ and his excellent Festival Overture. I was delighted to hear that in last few weeks he has been very busy. The Carol was performed again on the 16th December in Ely Cathedral. During the Christmas period a new work, ‘To an Evening Star’ was performed at the University Church at the ‘Carols by Candlelight’ service with over 1,000 in the congregation. Who says that no-one attends Church nowadays! And there was another performance of the ‘Festival Overture’ at the same venue.

Recently Pounds has been commissioned to write a new orchestral piece by the Ely Sinfonia. This is to celebrate their 10th anniversary. It will be performed in the Cathedral in October together with Beethoven's Fifth and the Mozart Requiem. The Composer told me that he was “really pleased to have been asked and [that] they have asked me to consider the acoustics of the cathedral in perhaps employing some off-stage performers as well.” It will be an event to look forward to, if his other orchestral works are anything to go by.

The composer is also hoping to produce a CD of his chamber music and naturally I am looking forward to receiving a review copy!

Herbert Howells: On Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry

The original biographer of Sir Charles Hastings Hubert Parry quotes the young Herbert Howells anecdote about his teacher. The words speak for themselves.

“It was Sir Hubert's way with many of us, when we were students at the R.C.M., to give as much attention to our physical as to our mental condition. He was keen to observe signs of fatigue: so keen, that on one occasion - it was on a Saturday morning at the R.C.M.-he pounced on me with a demand to know why my eyes looked so tired and strained. I told him the simple truth-that I had smashed the only pair of eye-glasses I had in the world. With many a 'God's truth!' and gold coin (which last he stuffed into my hand with a helpful sort of bluster), he ordered me off to Bateman's shop in Kensington High Street to get a new pair. 'No prescription here', I confessed. 'Where is it?' 'Somewhere in a shop in Gloucester " I told him.
And he dismissed me with an apparently irrelevant invitation to come and see him on Monday afternoon. It was only when Monday came and I obeyed the invitation that I discovered what reference it had to my dilemma. For he promptly produced a brand-new pair of spectacles and bubbled over with pleasure as he put them on my nose with a 'There now! go and finish that blessed piano concerto!' Later from another source I learned of his extraordinary kindness. He had changed his plans for the week-end, had gone down to Gloucester, had called on the optician who possessed the prescription, and by threat or entreaty had prevailed on the good man to have the new glasses ready by Monday morning. He had collected them and brought them up to London. All this to save time and to spare an obscure student a few extra hours' discomfort."

Charles L. Graves: Hubert Parry: His Life and Works Macmillan & Co. Limited London 1926. Volume 1 p 383. This anecdote originally appeared in the memorial number of the RCM Magazine.

Benjamin Britten: String Quartets on EMI - Belcea Quartet

Over the Christmas period I had the pleasure of reviewing this excellent re-release of the Belcea Quartet’s account of the great cycle of Benjamin Britten’s String Quartets.

For enthusiasts of Britten’s music in particular and English music in general this is an important and exciting event and I was privileged “to have this spectacular release in my collection.”

Michael Cookson has written an extensive essay and comparison of these quartets for MusicWeb International and my review did not attempt to compete with this essential reading! I agreed with Michael’s statement that there are “so many excellent accounts of his [Britten’s] String Quartets available…” that it could be a hard choice for the a person approaching these works for the first time.

I considered the disparity between numbers of recordings- “The Arkiv CD database notes some eleven or twelve recordings of the Second and Third Quartets, whereas the First has only five”.

Furthermore, I agreed with him that few listeners would be disappointed with the three main contenders for attention –the Maggini, the Sorrel or the Belcea versions. Naturally, I was forced to come down on one side and state my preference – I suggested that “I would not like to be forced to choose one single version for my library – I believe that all three bring important insights. I guess that if the chips were down it would be the Belcea CDs for the overall interpretation. However, the Sorrel version (on Chandos would be my choice for ‘value for money’ –as they had the two un-numbered Quartets from 1928 and 1931 and the Alla Marcia as additional material.

Please read my full review at MusicWeb International

William Lloyd Webber: Viola Sonatina

The first performance of this quite gorgeous work was not until February 1995. The programme notes relate that the reviewer in the Strad Magazine insisted that all violists “seize on it with delight.” I am not convinced that his has altogether happened. In fact there is only one recording of this work currently available - that by Philip Dukes and Sophia Rahman which was made in the August of that year.
Like with virtually all William Lloyd Webber’s music I find it hard to understand why it does not seem to have captured the public imagination. I do recall Classic FM having a little fad for his music a few years ago – with his Invocation and Serenade for Strings appearing quite regularly.
The Viola Sonatina was composed in 1952 and was especially written for John Yewe Dyer who was the viola player in, and founder member of, the once famous Menges Quartet.

In the post-war years William Lloyd Webber composed a small number of important works. From this period were the oratorio ‘St. Francis of Assisi’, the orchestral tone poem Aurora, the Three Spring Miniatures for piano, a Sonata for flute and piano and the present work. There were also a number of songs, organ pieces and ecclesiastical works.

The two things that define the opening ‘allegro comodo’ are the long melodic phrases on the viola and the often complex and abrupt harmonic changes. This is music that can barely contain itself within the limitations of its notional form. However the balance of the parts is near perfect and the listener is carried to the enigmatic close without losing interest or more to the point comprehension.
The slow movement, a ‘larghetto e molto sostenuto’ is the heart of the work. Lloyd Webber has taken what at first sight appears to have possibilities as a folk-tune and proceeds to develop this into a profound meditation that is full of darkness and foreboding. There is little to ease the heart here – except perhaps for passages in the beautiful piano accompaniment towards the end of the movement.
However the mood changes dramatically for the ‘vivo’ finale. All care, or at least nearly all care is cast aside. However, some of this music is quite acerbic for listeners who are only aware of Lloyd Webber’s Serenade for Strings. It is surely a prime example which shows that in spite of criticism to the contrary, the composer had not totally disengaged from ‘modern trends’. However the big tune given by the soloist just before the coda is of Elgarian breadth and gives this finale considerable stature.

In spite of the fact that it would be easy to try to categorise this music in terms of being 'retro’ when it was composed, or that it is easy to see the influence of Rachmaninov, Franck, Delius Elgar or anyone else for that matter, this is a fine work that is full of meaning, depth and expression.
It could easily be argues that this is hardly a Sonatina but more of a short Sonata. It is a great work that deserves its place in the viola and piano repertoire.
Listen to Paul Dukes and Sophia Rahman play this work on ASV CD DCA 961.

Cyril Scott: Intermezzo for Piano Op 67 No.3

It is strange that Cyril Scott’s Intermezzo appears to be a piece of music that no-one wants to talk about. For example I searched through the programme notes for the Fourth Volume of Leslie De’ath’s fine cycle of Scott's Piano music on Dutton Epoch. I can find no mention of this work here – except for the track listing. And then I looked at his learned article on the Internet (blind link 2018) and again no mention except for the catalogue reference. Ian Parrott in his booklet, Cyril Scott and his Piano Music also fails to give any criticism of this short piece. The same is true of Thomas Darson's dissertation, The Solo Piano Works of Cyril Scott – he does not choose to discuss this work. And finally there is no reference to this piece in Eaglefield Hull’s 1918 study of the composer. And finally, even the composer’s own autobiographical Bone of Contention does not consider this piece, however it is fair to say that this book is a little light on musical discussion

The facts of the music are relatively straightforward. In 1909 Cyril Scott had signed a contract with Elkin publishers which required him pt produce a considerable amount of ‘salon’ music. A similar agreement was made with Schott for his larger-scale works. Scott had the Intermezzo published in 1910 by Elkin – it is therefore assumed that it was written in either the same year or perhaps 19019. It was the third number of his Op.67. The Intermezzo was dedicated to Adine O’Neill who was the wife of his fellow composer and friend Norman O’Neill.
The other pieces in Scott's Opus 67 are: No.1 Mazurka (1909) No.2 Serenata (1909) No.4 Soirée japonaise (1910)
Apart form Leslie De’ath’s recent performance, the composer produced a piano roll in his lifetime. (Triphonola 50838). There appear to be no other commercial recordings. 

The form of the work is really very straight forward. The piece is written in E major and is marked to be played ‘gently flowing.’ The music is some 52 bars long and consists of a sixteen bar melody which is effectively presented in varied form three times. The work ends with a soft codetta. As a piece of music it is probably about Grade 7 so is just about in the gift of an amateur. However, it requires considerable nuancing to display the subtle contrast between the repetitions of the melody, else interest may be lost. The general effect of the piece is dreamlike and has a feel to it that the listener has always known the tune.

Leslie De’ath plays this work on the Volume Four of the Dutton Cyril Scott Piano Music Cycle

Hear Philip Sear play this work on YouTube

Paul Carr: A Very English Music

It is perhaps unfortunate that only three pieces of Paul Carr’s music are listed on the Arkiv CD database. For the record, as it were, these are the present suite, and two pieces for flute and piano, Summer was in August and Three Blue Pieces. I came across his A Very English Music the other days whilst exploring some of the fine, but largely ignored music on the Naxos English String Miniature series. Volume 6 of this collection has some superb works by Gustav Holst, Henry Purcell, Adam Carse and Paul Lewis. But it was Carr’s piece that caught my eye as it were.
Paul Carr has composed a variety of works – including a number of concertos for violin, viola, piano, flute and guitar. In 2003 he had a ‘hit’ with a wind quintet Diverting Sundays which was premièred at the Brighton Festival. Another side of his career is the writing of film and television music –this includes the scores for Lady Audley’s Secret and Being Considered.

A Very English Music is a short work lasting less than eight minutes, and consisting of three contrasting (sort of) movements that epitomise the English scene. Philip Lane writing in the sleeve notes declares that this work is a ‘paean to the English countryside and way of life’. The listener can hardly hear this Suite without feeling the urgent desire to pack their Ordnance Survey maps and thermos flask into the Morris Minor and head for the ‘Open Road’ in search of the landscapes that inspired this music.
The first movement is entitled Cuckmere Haven (looking towards Beachy Head). Those who have visited this interesting part of the Sussex landscape will know how well the music seems to mirror the image of the river and the Seven Sisters. It is a beautifully written piece that manages to convey the impressions of the traveller as they survey the landscape, perhaps from South Hill, Cliff End or even the Goldon Galleon public house at Exceat Bridge!
The Cornish Air is a celebration of the composer’s birthplace. This is surely summer’s day music. Sad and reflective maybe – but rejoicing in the sounds and smells of the English Riviera. Rob Barnett on MusicWeb points out that there are none of the notorious Cornish winds buffeting the calm and serene landscape! It is a beautiful and moving piece –recalling William Lloyd Webber’s Serenade for Strings and also Edward Elgar in places. A minor masterpiece.
Finally the last movement is to do with hunting-The Hunt Gathering. The programme notes suggest that the composer paints a picture of a meet at the Wiltshire village of Laycock. A number of characters gather here –the huntsmen, the horses, the dogs, the saboteurs and even the occasional fox! It is a fine example of composition that is totally at home in the great English tradition of writing for string orchestra.

Paul Carr’s A Very English Music can be heard on Naxos 8.557753

Organ Music: Sounds of St. Asaph

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing this excellent CD or organ music from the small but perfectly proportioned Cathedral of St Asaph in North Wales. Perhaps the thing that impressed me most on this recital was the Vaughan Williams pieces –with a little extra:-
"One of the little treasures on this CD is the hymn tune Rhosymedre. Probably better known in its incarnation as Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Prelude, it is nice to hear the original tune that was written within the bounds of the Diocese of St. Asaph. The Parish of Rhosymedre was established in 1844 and is situated in the River Dee valley. The first vicar of the parish, a certain Rev. John David Edwards wrote this tune during his time at the parish.
RVW wrote comparatively few works for the organ - or piano for that matter. Most impressive is the Prelude and Fugue in C minor. However his Prelude on Rhosymedre is probably the most popular and best known: it was the second of his Three Preludes founded on Welsh Hymns. This is surely one of the loveliest pieces of organ music in the repertoire. It sounds surprisingly easy to play, but the simplicity belies a subtlety and poise that is near perfect".

Another interesting part of this recital are the three pieces by the great Welsh composer William Mathias, He was:-
“...the founder of the North Wales International Music Festival in St. Asaph is well represented on this disc with three fine pieces. I have always been a great fan of his Processional, which was written in 1964. I can recall just about getting my fingers round this work when I used to play the church organ. Unlike Alan McGuinness I was hardly note perfect and the pedal part was largely ‘faked’. It is well performed here, even if a little restrained. The Choral which was written at Easter 1966 is introverted and quite mysterious: I guess it has more to do with a misty Welsh landscape than anything Anglican or churchy. Perhaps the most impressive of Mathias’s ‘warhorses’ is the colourful Recessional. This work, as its title implies, would be played at the end of a service as the congregation leaves the Cathedral. I would probably hang on until the organist finished! After an impressive tuba solo, the piece develops contrasting moods of ‘dark brooding’ material with a much brighter tune that nods back to the Processional. The tuba solo at the conclusion banishes all care”.

Please read my full review at MusicWeb International

W.G Whittaker: Lancashire Sketches

I was perusing the Musical Times the other day when I came across a reference to a piece of music called “Lancashire Sketches” by the redoubtable William Gillies Whittaker (1876-1944)

Now, just for the record this Newcastle-born musician was very much a polymath: he was a composer, choral conductor, scholar and a teacher. Amongst his compositions are the large-scale Lyke-Wake Dirge and a piano quintet – Among the Northumbrian Hills which was composed in 1918.

However, it was the Lancashire Sketches that caught my eye. It was given a performance by the Catterall Quartet in the Picton Hall Liverpool on 8th December 1925. The other works in the programme were the Quartet in D by Cesar Franck and the Quartet in Bb by Johannes Brahms. No other details are available on the ‘net.

Does anyone known anything about this work by Whittaker? Was it published?

Please let me know…

E.J. Moeran: Cherry Ripe- a two-part song.

I have often wondered what a copy of the E.J. Moeran’s two part song Cherry Ripe was doing in a second-hand bookshop in Wales. Especially as it used to belong to the Pontefract Music Festival up in the West Riding. It is not clear from the Festival’s Webpage if it is still extant: the latest update appears to be for 2004!

However the aims of this worthy society were/are quite simple. They provide a “competitive week of music, speech and drama for enthusiastic amateurs of all ages and levels of competence. Original and established works of poetry, speech and acting are performed as well as vocal solos, duets and choral pieces. Instrumental classes provide for solo performances, small groups, bands and orchestras and all participants benefit from help and guidance from very experienced adjudicators”

And perhaps most important of all, the “local people in the audiences enjoy the high standards of competitive performances at a very reasonable cost, the whole festival concluding with a superbly relaxed concert of the week's winners.”

But back to my copy of Moeran’s music. It cost me a princely sum of 25p (or five shillings in real money). Scribbled on the back of the music is the date 1982. I guess that this must have been the last time the work was sung – at least from this particular copy.

THERE is a garden in her face

Where roses and white lilies blow;

A heavenly paradise is that place,

Wherein all pleasant fruits do flow:

There cherries grow which none may buy

Till 'Cherry-ripe' themselves do cry.

fffffffff

Those cherries fairly do enclose

Of orient pearl a double row,

Which when her lovely laughter shows,

They look like rose-buds fill'd with snow;

Yet them nor peer nor prince can buy

Till 'Cherry-ripe' themselves do cry.

vvvvv

Her eyes like angels watch them still;

Her brows like bended bows do stand,

Threat'ning with piercing frowns to kill

All that attempt with eye or hand

Those sacred cherries to come nigh,

Till 'Cherry-ripe' themselves do cry.

Cherry Ripe is one of Four English Lyrics that Jack Moeran composed in 1934. This was a providential time, for the composer, as he had also restarted work on his great G minor Symphony. Recently, in 1929, he had produced the excellent setting of James’ Joyce’s poems and the choral Songs of Springtime.
The Four Songs were Cherry Ripe by Thomas Campion, Willow Song by John Fletcher, The Constant Lover by William Brown and The Passionate Shepherd by Thomas Marlowe.

Geoffrey Self has noted that Moeran had little time for singers and he suggested that these songs were in fact ‘dumbed down’ so as to appeal to singers who typically ignored his music. This version of Cherry Ripe is not the same tune as that used by Eric Coates in his Tarantella from the London Suite or even that used by Cyril Scott in his eponymous piano piece nor Frank Bridge in his exquisite miniature for string orchestra.

These pieces of music was based on other words and another tune:-

Cherry ripe, cherry ripe,

Ripe I cry,

Full and fair ones

Come and buy.

Moeran sets the three verses of Campion’s song more or less strophically with only the second voice, the alto, and the accompaniment showing signs of variation. However, the effect is pleasing as it is one of those arrangements that are actually quite catchy and linger in the brain after hearing. Of course there is no current recording of this piece currently available, although I believe that it was issued on an old Hyperion vinyl LP.

One last thought. If this music ended up in the recycle bin at the Pontefract Music Festival offices, I wonder what else has been deemed to be old-fashioned, irrelevant and no longer required. Imagine, Ernest John Moeran being chucked out to make space for Andrew Lloyd Webber or Einaudi!

Phantasy & Fact: Mr Cobbett’s Unique Services to Chamber Music.

I recently found this excellent appreciation of the great 'promoter' of chamber music in the United Kingdom, Walter Willson Cobbett. This article is taken from the pages of The Music Student published on 17 January 1917.

IT IS difficult for various reasons to write on the subject of one so intimately connected with the work of The Music Student as is W.W. Cobbett. Even without this intimate connection, there are difficulties of superabundance of material and of the enthusiasm aroused by his personality and his work. Though rapidly approaching the close of his seventieth year (he was born on July 11th 1847, Mr Cobbett is still in spirit and in mind a young man. His great passion in life – Chamber Music - he approaches with all the ardour of a novice, though with the discretion and balance of a veteran. Of the various competitions he has inaugurated and conducted, providing both the money and the work from his own resources, it is necessary to speak only in passing.
In this direction he has not only established for himself a world-wide reputation; he has done a far greater and more useful work, for he has restored and developed a characteristic British Art form and has proved to the world and to England herself, that our country is not behind others in the highest and most subtle creative faculty. The art-form and the name of “Phantasy” was obtained form the Elizabethan composers, who however, spelt the name ‘Fantasie,’ and treated it in a somewhat free and easy way. Mr Cobbett modernised the spelling, and at his instigation many young composers encouraged by the competitions, have modernised the form. His methods have stirred and directed the powers of many of our young composers, who have found in Chamber Music a medium of expression congenial to the British nature.

Catholic Mind and EducationBy nature as well as by education Mr. Cobbett is broad-minded and very catholic in his tastes. Most of his education was acquired in England but in his ‘teens he had the advantage of a long stay at Caen in Normandy, where he studied along with some young Frenchmen, attending lectures at the Faculté and getting a thorough insight into French literature. This gave him a taste for French life and letters which has never left him. From Caen he went to Frankfort-on-the-Main, where he spent six months receiving instruction from a German pastor, whom he describes as a typical Teuton. This worthy was so thorough that he committed the whole of his Greek and Latin dictionaries to memory; but he never in Mr. Cobbett’s recollection, made any reference to Greek or Latin literature.

The Soul of Chamber Music
Mr. Cobbett’s musical interest up to this time had been slight, although he played the violin to some extent. On his return home, however, his interest in Chamber Music (an interest that has gathered strength with the flight of the years) was aroused through attending Dando’s Quartet Concerts at Crosby Hall and Ella’s Musical Union Concerts at St. James’ Hall. From that time forward his solace from the cares of business has been the playing of Chamber Music, his ambition being to make practical acquaintance with every work of capital importance in the literature of the art, whilst his hobby since his retirement from these cares, has been the exhaustive study of the possibilities of Chamber Music, and its propaganda as part of the essential scheme of life. By word and his example, by his lectures (particularly to the Music Association) and by his own practice, he has constantly urged that the essential soul of Chamber Music is to be found in the home rather than the public performances, however beautiful these may be;; for the mere hearing of it cannot give the permanent satisfaction which arises from the actual participation in the work.
He is only a degree less interested in orchestral music, and was for nine years leader of the Strolling Players Amateur Orchestral Society.

Literary Propaganda
Literary work of various kinds in connection with his main subject has come in Mr. Cobbett’s way, and he has dealt with it in the same thorough and public spirited manner as his more purely musical work. To the later edition of Grove’s Dictionary he has contributed no less than sixty articles, including the one written on the Joachim Quartet. He has also written for the Musical Times (on Bohemian music) and for T.P.s Weekly, but his chief journalistic interest (apart, of course from The Music Student) has been to the Musical News. To this journal he has contributed many scores of articles, reviews, concert critiques and miscellaneous paragraphs. For an amateur to write so largely for a professional journal is quite unusual and note worthy, but it is the quality rather than the quantity which has been most striking. From the earliest days of the paper, Mr. Cobbett’s contributions were invariably marked by a real conception of the position and thoughts of the professional man.

A Favourite Theme
A favourite theme of Mr. Cobbett’s is that of the necessity to study literary culture alongside of musical culture, and he has offered prizes for essays on the subject. Another favourite theme is that of Cremona violins, the craftsmanship of which he finds very attractive. Thought not a collector, he has acquired four instruments of the first class, selected for their tonal qualities, and made by Stradivari, Guarneri, Montagnana and Stainer (viola).
As an organiser, Mr. Cobbett has won wide recognition, and is on the Councils of Trinity College of Music, the Musical Association, the International Musical Society, Society of British Composers, King Cole Chamber Music Club, the Professional Classes War Relief Council and the Committee for Music in War-time. The last of these he was to some extent instrumental in forming, and acted as Secretary during the first year of the war, the meetings being held at his house. Can it be wondered that all who are concerned in the production of the Music Student are pleased and proud to be associated with so active and enthusiastic a musician.?

Colleagues Appreciation.
At the last meeting held on December 9th 1916, the Directors of The Music Student, Ltd., passed the following resolution:-
“That a very heart vote of thanks be tendered on behalf of The Music Student, Ltd., to Mr. W.W. Cobbett, for his valuable contribution to its activities, as shewn in the Chamber Music Supplement, which publication for the past three-and-a-half years has been rendered possible solely by his generosity and literary ability.

The Music Student January 1917 p.190

Malcolm Arnold: Blue Tune – a study in rhythms and colour

A few weeks ago, I was searching in the Oxfam Shop in Chester. Now over the last few years I have found a fair few gems of sheet music in this shop. However, that day I only managed to find one thing that interested me – a copy of the Grade 4 Guildhall School Pianoforte Examination Syllabus for a year unknown and un-stated on the publication. Amongst the pieces by Handel, Hook, Mozart and Walter Carroll was one called Blue Tune by a certain M. Arnold? Now even travelling home on the train and perusing the score I was able to divine that this small 16 bar ‘study’ was by Sir Malcolm – although the syllabus did not give the composer’s dates, the date of composition or even the work’s source.

I must admit to forgetting about this piece until a couple of days ago when I was tidying up my piano and organ music. Now that is always a big problem – for I usually find that every piece of music I pick up and try to sort into some kind of order has to be ‘played through’ – so either I get very little done, or else I am tidying up for a very long time!

I came across the above mentioned Blue Tune-a study in rhythms and colour by Arnold. So it had to be played. Immediately, I was struck that this work, in spite of its small scale, had a number of Arnoldian fingerprints.

However, the first problem was to find out what it was. My reference books on Sir Malcolm did not mention a ‘Blue Tune’ in any of the indices. However, the Internet soon solved the problem. It is part of a little known work called a Children’s Suite. Now I had all the information I required. The Bio-bibliography by Stewart R. Craggs told me that this Suite was composed in 1947, and was Arnold’s Op. 16. There are some six ‘movements' to this work:-Prelude, Carol, Shepherd’s Lament, Trumpet Tune, my Blue Tune and lastly a Folk Song. Stewart Craggs pointed out that, at least in 1998, the work had not been published and that the first performance details were untraceable. However a search on COPAC reveals that the work was indeed published by Alfred Lengnick & Co. in 1948.

Further good-news was that the work had been recorded by Benjamin Frith on Koch International Classics and even better news was that I had this CD in my collection!
The excellent programme notes by Martyn Williams brought the piece into perspective. The Children’s Suite was conceived as a short set of teaching pieces that addressed “areas in an accessible manner.” For example the Prelude is a study in fourth and fifths over which a gentle melody is floated. Other musical techniques are explored including; legato thirds for the left hand, triplets, trills and phrasing. Maurice Hinson in his excellent guide to the Pianist's Repertoire believes that these six pieces are “short, attractive and clever.”

So my lessons for the New Year are three-fold. Firstly is to try to remember what I have in my CD collection! Secondly to try to find the sheet music for the Children’s Suite and lastly to listen to a bit more of Malcolm Arnold's music –especially his largely ignored piano works.

A Happy New Year to all the Readers of The Land of Lost Content 'Blog'.

The New Year is a time for looking back and for looking forward…I guess that I will be posting about some of these composers and their anniversary works over the coming weeks and months.

Composer Anniversaries

Births
Henry Purcell (1659-1695) 350

Charles Avison (1709 -1770) 300 years

Basil Harwood (1859-1949) 150 years

Robin Orr (1909-2006) 100 years

James Macmillan (1959- ) 50 years

Deaths
Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759) 250 years

Haydn Wood (1882-1959) 50 years

Felix Swinstead (1880-1959) 50 years

Stanley Bate (1911-1959) 50 years

Robin Milford (1903-1959) 50 years

In 1909 (Centenary) the following works were composed (largely composed) or received their first performance:-

Arnold BAX: In Faery Hills for orchestra

George BUTTERWORTH: ‘I Fear Thy Kisses’, song

Edward ELGAR: Elegy, for string orchestra

Edward GERMAN: Fallen Fairies, comic opera

Hamilton HARTY: Violin Concerto

Josef HOLBROOKE: Pierrot and Pierrette, opera

Gustav HOLST: First Suite for Military Band (composed); A Vision of Dame Christian, incidental music;

John IRELAND: Violin Sonata No 1

Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: A Sea Symphony (completed) The Wasps, incidental music; On Wenlock Edge, song cycle

Roger QUILTER: Seven Elizabethan Lyrics

In 1959 (50th Anniversary) the following were composed (largely composed) or received their first performance:-

William ALWYN: Symphony No 4

Malcolm ARNOLD: Guitar Concerto; Five Songs of William Blake, for voices and strings

Arthur BENJAMIN: String Quartet No 2;

Lennox BERKELEY: Overture for light orchestra; Sonatina for two pianos;

Harrison BIRTWISTLE: Monody for Corpus Christi, for soprano, flute, horn and violin;

Havergal BRIAN: Symphony No.13

Benjamin BRITTEN: Cantata Academica; Carmen Basiliense, for solo voices, chorus and orchestra; Missa Brevis

Alan BUSH: Dorian Passacaglia and Fugue; Symphony No 3, Byron, for baritone, chorus and orchestra (1959-60)

Geoffrey BUSH: Songs of Wonder

Arnold COOKE: Ballet Suite: Jabez and the Devil; Five Part-songs for unaccompanied chorus

Peter Maxwell DAVIES: Ricercare and doubles on 'To many a well'; (revised 1976)

Peter DICKINSON: Three Juillard Dances, for instrumental ensemble; Variations, ballet; Vitalitas, ballet; Monologue for strings

Benjamin FRANKEL: Bagatelles for eleven instruments; Eight Songs for medium voice and piano

Peter Racine FRICKER: Serenade No 1 for flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, viola, cello and harp; Serenade No 2 for flute, oboe and piano

Roberto GERHARD: Symphony No 2

Iain HAMILTON: Sinfonia for two orchestras

Alan HODDINOTT: Nocturne and Dance, for harp and orchestra; Piano Sonata No 1

Wilfred JOSEPHS: Concerto a Dodici, for wind ensemble

Elisabeth LUTYENS: Quincunx, for solo voices and orchestra (1959-60)

John McCABE: Violin Concerto No 1

Thea MUSGRAVE: Triptych, for tenor and orchestra

Priaulx RAINIER: Trio-suite for violin, cello and piano (composed) Pastoral Triptych (1958-59)

Alan RAWSTHORNE: Symphony No 2, A Pastoral Symphony

Edmund RUBBRA: Violin Concerto

Robert SIMPSON: Variations and Fugue for recorder and string quartet

With thanks to The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music: A Listener's Companion by Eric Gilder on MusicWeb International