David Dubery: Music for woodwinds and piano

All readers of Homer’s Iliad will recall the monstrous, fire-breathing hybrid: part lion, part goat, and part serpent - slain by the hero Bellerophon riding Pegasus. Dubery recollects that he visited the Archaeological Museum in Florence to see the Etruscan bronze, Chimera de Arezzo (400BC). But the noun ‘chimera has another meaning: “wildly illusory, a fanciful dazzling conception.” The composer told me that Chimera is “about the unpredictability of the scheming beast- weighing up situations and being deceptive.” He has united all these meanings in his eponymous musical picture of the beastie devised for clarinet and piano. Written in 1984, it has been heavily revised in recent years. Lasting for six minutes, there is a stuttering opening section, followed by a lugubrious slow passage, then a dance and closing with a reprise of the opening. Nothing very fearsome here. There is lovely piano writing as well as vivid woodwind passages.

I think that “Sonatina” can be a disparaging word, which reminds the listener of interminable grade studies. But then think of the so-called Sonatinas by John Ireland and Maurice Ravel – hardly studies for the tyro. The Sonatina for clarinet and piano originated as a piece for recorder and piano dating from 1989. The composer explains that he was attracted to the “bolder colour palette, character and dynamics of the clarinet,” so he revised the original in 2016. The Sonatina is in four easy going movements, beginning with a lively syncopated Moderato poco Scherzoso with two barely contrasting themes. The Lento has two elements: firstly, a kind of Theocritean pastoral, and secondly, animated interjections, which sound like “startled birds.”  Movements three and four are combined on one track and are played without pause. The instruction “affrettando” is not one I have come across often; my vade mecum tells me that it means “pressing forward,” or “with increasing urgency,” which perfectly describes this music. It concludes with a “rustic dance.” It is a splendid Sonatina, which sounds anything by easy, that would make a wonderful contribution to their programme for any recitalist.

My favourite number on this disc is Music for an Untold Story, scored for flute and piano. Dubery has suggested that it reflects his love of the cinema, theatre, and crime fiction. I am not sure about the latter. Everything tells me that this is a romance in the spirit of a “Brief Encounter.” Or is it an intrigue set during WW2? Certainly, there are lovely Rachmaninovian piano passages here, accompanying some delightful flute passages. It was written in 1981 and edited in 2016 and 2024.

Remembering Satie, again for flute and piano, needs a little explaining. The composer recalls that he had developed a piano miniature inspired by “an alfresco lunch in my garden on a hot summer day.” Suddenly there was a “mini dust devil” or small, short‑lived whirlwind that “upended the plates and napkins as well as raising soil, grass, and dead leaves.” Then there was a moment of stillness… Dubery was reminded at the time of a Satie Gymnopédie. In 2024, the original piano version was rescored for flute and piano. It is a lovely, relaxed work that truly pays homage to the eccentric Frenchman from Honfleur. Yet, there is little impression of the Dust Devil himself in the detail.

Hommage – In Olden Days is a relatively straightforward work in three-part form, with an introduction and coda. It was written during the Covid pandemic in 2021 but was based on an earlier sketch. The liner notes are correct in suggesting the influence of Francis Poulenc. It is an attractive piece that becomes increasingly enthusiastic as it progresses.

The important Sonata for oboe and piano dates from 1982. It is subtitled Since Dawn is Breaking. The programme notes explain that it was inspired by Paul Verlaine’s poem, Puisque l’aube grandit. The poem is not printed in the booklet; however a helpful summary would be that at daybreak, the speaker feels hope rising again after a long absence, as though morning itself restores the possibility of happiness. They imagine moving forward through life guided by the beloved’s eyes lighting the way, their hand steadying his own - no matter whether the path is soft and mossy or rough and stony. To ease the journey, he pictures himself singing simple tunes, comforted by the thought that the beloved will listen without displeasure. For him, that gentle acceptance is enough; he desires no paradise beyond being heard and accompanied by them. Each movement focuses on a different emotion based on the three verses of the poem. The first presents a pastoral image which is introspective, before exploring a much more optimistic mood. The second movement is a love song, where the “piano and oboe lovingly entwine.” And the finale is a triumphant paean of “joy and happiness” infused by jazzy rhythms, a quieter interlude, and an exultant coda. To be sure, the Sonata makes for easy listening even divorced from the poem and programme. The language is at times Poulenc-ian with some interesting touches of neo-classicism and English pastoral.

The final piece is a travelogue. Written for piano, violin and cello, between 2013 and 2016, the Piano Trio Tre Giorni (Three Days) was inspired by a holiday to Lake Como in Italy, and the surrounding landscape. Dubery gives an incredibly detailed synopsis of the historical and visual background for each movement. The first day, Giorno 1 explores Corenno Plinio, a timeless medieval hamlet that clings to the eastern shore of the lake, crowned by its castle, stone stairways, and ancient walls… Here the movement opens with “lake waters lapping the pebbled shore,” and is succeeded by a scherzo which depicts the “sun dancing” on the lake. A brazen passage suggests the numerous battles fought here by the Lombards, then some windsurfers drift by; finally, quiet is restored in the late afternoon. The long Giorno 2 meditates on the Abbazia di Santa Maria di Piona. It opens with a “Lark Ascending” violin solo, based on a setting of the Agnus Dei. Prayerful music follows, but suddenly it is a question of “Ring out, wild Bells.” What a change of mood. The monks’ prayer is then resumed. The final Giorno is a fantasy about the Villa de Vecchi. This abandoned Lombard mansion is steeped in legend - eclectic 19th‑century architecture, vanished grandeur, graffiti-covered walls, whispered tragedies, occult rumours and ghost‑lore - its crumbling halls drawing seekers of mystery and decay. Dubery’s “take” on all this is almost indescribable- there are shrieks, dripping water, and recollections of children at play in happier days, all expounded in a sometimes-minimalistic, at times dissonant, style. Highly charged and melodramatic is the best description of this movement which brings this remarkable piano trio to a satisfying conclusion. Irrespective of whether the listener observes this “programme,” this is attractive, impressive music that can easily stand on its own feet.

David Dubery (b.1948) is a South‑African‑born British composer, pianist, and vocal coach whose works fuse lyrical clarity with a strong feel for landscape and narrative. Based in Lancashire since 1961, he studied at the Northern School of Music in Manchester between 1964 and 1972, including a post-graduate year. He then built a career as performer, teacher, and collaborator. His output spans songs, chamber music, and characterful scores for woodwind, often inspired by poetry and shaped by his experience working with singers and instrumentalists.

All the performances are sympathetic and technically assured, providing a worthy account of this remarkable chamber music.

The liner notes are produced by David Dubery. They provide an entertaining and informative discussion of all the pieces. Included are biographical notes on the composer and the performers.

This is an attractive disc that features lovely, lyrical, and interesting music, which clearly comes from the heart. Each of these works should be championed in the recital room.

Track Listing:
David Dubery (b.1948)
Chimera: for clarinet and piano (1984, rev.2016, 2021, 2024)
Sonatina: for clarinet and piano (1989/2016)
Music for an untold story: for flute and piano (1981)
Remembering Satie: for flute and piano (2024)
Hommage- in an olden style: for oboe and piano (2021)
Sonata for oboe and piano- Since dawn is breaking (1981-82)
Piano Trio Tre Giorni: for piano, violin and cello (2013-16)
Paul Janes (piano), Sergio Castelló López (clarinet), Stephane Rancourt (oboe), Amy Yule (flute), Zoe Beyers (violin), Simon Turner (cello)
rec. December 2024, Carole Nash Hall, Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester
Prima Facie PFCD256
With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.

Norman Gilbert: Pastorale on Rockingham “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”

Last Wednesday, was Ash Wednesday, which was the first day of Lent. It set the tone for all Lenten services for the coming weeks. The keynote of this season is penitence, with its notion of fasting and the Christian’s desire for reconciliation with God. Often the Commination Service is read with its call to repentance, and the Seven Penitential Psalms may be sung. The Collect of the Day prayed for “new and contrite hearts” – it is used throughout Lent. Bible readings for the day may have included Joel 2:12-17, which records the prophet’s call to fasting and repentance and the Gospel (Matt. 6:16-21) which gives our Lord's rules about fasting.

Written by Isaac Watts in 1707, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" revolutionised English worship by introducing personal, emotive "hymns of human composure." Based on Galatians 6:14, the text explores the paradox of the "wondrous" cross, transforming a symbol of execution into one of divine love. This hymn declares that all earthly pride pales before Christ’s sacrifice, concluding that such "love so amazing" claims the worshipper’s entire soul, life, and devotion.

In the United Kingdom, the hymn is usually linked to the tune "Rockingham." Adapted in 1790 by Edward Miller - a former flautist for Handel and organist at Doncaster Parish Church -the tune was named after his patron, the Marquis of Rockingham. Its noble "Long Metre" structure provides a foundation for Watts’ poetry, creating a meditation on sacrificial love that fits perfectly with the call to repentance on Ash Wednesday.

Norman Gilbert (1912–1975) was a British composer and educator whose work is characterised by craftsmanship, melodic appeal, and approachability. Born in Halifax and raised in Yorkshire, Gilbert developed his musicianship as a student of Sir Edward Bairstow at York Minster. His early career saw him serving as an organist in St. John's Church, Halifax and St. Paul's Church, Llandudno before his life was interrupted by military service during World War II. Following demob, he began a long and influential career in music education, most notably serving as the Music Master at Headlands Grammar School in Swindon for some 25 years.

His compositional style was rooted in a clear, English pastoral sensibility that favoured rhythmic vitality and singable lines over the complex abstractions of the mid-20th-century avant-garde. Gilbert possessed a particular gift for choral writing, frequently arranging traditional folk songs and religious texts with sophisticated yet approachable harmonies. This "common touch" made his music a staple for school choirs, amateur ensembles, and community festivals, ensuring that high-quality repertoire remained inclusive for musicians of all skill levels.

Gilbert was a respected contributor to the organ and piano repertoire. Among the earliest is Postlude in A (1938, J.B. Cramer), followed by the expansive Psalm Rhapsody (1953, Novello). He contributed an Epilogue for An Album of Praise (1958, OUP), and in 1960 issued Pieces for Four Seasons - a cycle embracing Fantasia for Christmas, Interlude for Lent, Paean for Easter, and Veni Creator for Whitsun (1959, Novello). His affinity with hymn tunes is evident in Sortie on “Laus Deo,” (1956, Novello). Later he returned to pastoral idiom with the Pastoral Prelude (1972, J.B. Cramer). Norman Gilbert died in Swindon in 1975.

The Pastorale on Rockingham is a meditation on this powerful, well-loved tune. It was published in 1956, included in Novello’s Festal Voluntaries series volume for Lent, Passiontide, and Palm Sunday.

Norman Gilbert’s pastoral style is ideal for the introspective mood of the Lent season. By evoking quiet reflection or landscape, the composition captures the themes of penitence, reliance on God, and the enduring faith inherent in the original hymn. The tune is presented with restrained clarity, adhering strictly to an unchanged triple‑meter framework in 3/4 time. The melody is sometimes hidden in the accompanying figurations, which are subject to subtle modulations. The score designates the tempo as Andante which reinforces its measured, flowing character. Registration on both manuals calls for 8' and 4' stops, using strings on the Swell and soft diapasons on the Great, all supported by a soft pedal. It is a pity that it has not gained a strong foothold in the standard organ repertoire,

Listen to Norman Gilbert’s Pastorale on Rockingham on YouTube, here. It was recorded by Dan Werning on his Hereford Cathedral (England) Father Willis Hauptwerk virtual organ.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Orchestral Music

My introduction to Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was one of the Dream Dances which I found in a now forgotten (and lost) album of salon music. Then there was the sheet music of his Demande et Réponse, a piano transcription of a movement from the Petite Suite de Concert. The first disc I bought was the S.C.T. volume published by Marco Polo in their British Light Music series (8.223516, 1995). And herein lay a problem. Was he to be condemned as simply a composer of so-called “light music.” To be sure, the repertoire on this CD included the above-mentioned Petite Suite, the Othello Suite, the Gipsy Suite, the Four Characteristic Waltzes and the ‘Overture’ to his undoubted magnum opus, Hiawatha. But there was nothing here to confirm Charles Villiers Stanford’s opinion that Coleridge‑Taylor was one of his most gifted pupils and championed him with genuine admiration.

It was not until I heard the Violin Concerto on Lyrita (SRCD.317) and the Symphony in A minor on Classico (CLASSCD 684) that I saw a different side to the composer. Here was a man could be compared to Brahms, Dvořák, and even Mahler, placing him fairly and squarely in the symphonic/serious tradition. I read that his works were performed in major concert halls on both sides of the Atlantic, he was invited to the White House by Theodore Roosevelt – hardly the lot of a light music specialist.

Whether Ethiopia Saluting the Colours (March), op.51 (1902) is on a par with Elgar’s P&C Marches is a matter of taste. Perhaps it is as “good” as the less well-known ones, i.e. No.3 and No.5. Geoffrey Self (The Hiawatha Man: The Life and Work of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Scolar Press 1995, p.130f) explains that it was dedicated to The Treble Clef Club which was a musical society specifically for Black women. The score is headed by a quotation from Walt Whitman referencing his poem of the same name about an enslaved woman during the American Civil War. Self (op. cit.) remarks that “Competent though it is, the tunes simply do not have Elgar’s panache and exuberance.”

The Solemn Prelude, op.40 for orchestra was produced for the 1899 Worcester Festival and was dedicated to a certain N. Kilburn esq. who also had the fortune of being the dedicatee of Elgar’s The Music Makers. The liner notes explain that The Solemn Prelude unfolds in a broad, imposing sonata design, carrying the same “nobilmente” character found in the expansive slow movements of Parry, Stanford, and Elgar. Its themes are strong and elegiac and the whole work is assured. It should be given more than an occasional airing in the concert hall.

Zara’s Earrings, op.7 (1894), subtitled A Moorish Ballad for soprano and orchestra, sets a text by the Scottish author and editor John Gibson Lockhart who wrote the multi-volume Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart. The poem follows a young woman in Granada who drops the pearl earrings that her Moorish lover gave her as a pledge of fidelity, and she is consumed by the fear that he will see their loss as evidence of flirtation or betrayal. Imagining every doubt he might harbour, she despairs of justifying herself, yet resolves to tell him truthfully that she was thinking of him so deeply, her mind wandering to him across the sea, that the earrings slipped from her hand  - and that his love lies in her heart as surely as the pearls lie in the well. It is an enjoyable scena that displays the young composer’s “ease of technique, flow of ideas and richness of harmonic palette…” (Self, 1995, p.37)

The Idyll, op.44, is an expansion and rescoring of the second movement Lament from Coleridge-Taylor’s impressive Symphony in A minor. He has added trombones, tuba, and harp to the orchestral forces. It was produced for the 1901 Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester. The Times (12 September 1901, p.10) reviewer summed it up as “A single, very beautiful movement ... giving ample room for the composer’s love of original rhythm and rich and individual orchestral colouring...the little work is sure of popularity and is a worthy example of the clever young author’s work.”

Whenever I read of the musical title “Ballade,” I wonder what the tale or narrative behind it is. The definition suggests lyrical, dramatic qualities, as if telling a story without words. Often the piece unfolds like a tale, with contrasting episodes and a sense of emotional progress. In this way it is often the opposite of a Sonata or Rondo form. The liner notes do not suggest that there is any “programme” behind the Ballade for Violin and Orchestra in D minor, op.4 (1894), and indeed proposes that the work is written in an “abridged sonata structure in which the soloist and orchestra continually interact.” That said, after the “exposition” there are three “distinctive thematic departures” that certainly suggests a narrative or at the very least a conversation. The overall tenor of the Ballade is one of gloom, with only an occasional flash of light. The listener will be captivated by the deep introspection of the violin part. It is wonderfully played here by Ioana Petcu-Colan. Jonathan Woolf (review here) has noted that the competing version on the Avie label (AV2763) played by Curtis Stewart, is two minutes quicker. I have not heard this offering, but for me the pace of the present account seems perfect.

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus has never been my favourite character from the Classical era; he is often remembered as capricious, theatrical, tyrannical, and self-indulgent. While popular legend suggests he "fiddled while Rome burned," this is unlikely; he was thirty-five miles away in Antium (according to Tacitus) when the fire began and he returned to the capital specifically to supervise relief efforts. Nevertheless, rumours persisted that he engineered the disaster to clear land for his "Golden House," a suspicion that led him to use the Christians as a convenient scapegoat for the fire.

Stephen Phillips’s 1906 episodic verse drama, Nero, softened some of this historical wickedness. Coleridge-Taylor’s Entr’acte 1, part of the incidental music for the play, is a full-blooded romance. Possibly portraying Nero’s formidable mother, Agrippina, or his stoic wife, Octavia, it opens with a glowing violin solo before shifting into a more dramatic tone. Throughout these pages, there is little sense of the ruthlessness or cruelty usually associated with Nero’s reign.

The final track on this new disc is the profoundly moving Romance in B major for string orchestra. The liner notes explain that this is a reworking of the “introspective second movement, a Largo affettuoso” from the Clarinet Quintet in F‑sharp minor, op.10, dating from 1895.The listener must echo the words of an unnamed critic in the Musical Times (August 1895, p.528), who rates the original (Largo Affettuoso) “as poetic and suggestive a movement as is to be found in English music.” It demands its place in the string orchestra repertoire.

The liner notes by musicologist Jeremy Dibble are most helpful giving a good introduction to the six pieces. Bolding of the works’ titles would have made it easier to locate and refer to whilst listening. There are resumes of the two soloists and the conductor Charles Peebles. The recording is excellent and complements the splendid playing of the Ulster Orchestra.

While not every rarity here matches Elgar’s distinctive élan, this collection successfully reinforces Coleridge-Taylor as a serious composer. The Ulster Orchestra provides a capable survey of this music, offering a useful perspective on an artist who has long outgrown the salon.

Track Listing:
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)
Ethiopia Saluting the Colours (March), op.51 (1902)
Solemn Prelude, op.40 for orchestra (1899)
Zara’s Earrings op.7 for soprano and orchestra (1894)
Idyll, op.44 for orchestra (1901)
Ballade for Violin and Orchestra in D minor, op.4 (1894)
Entr’acte 1 from the incidental music to Nero, op.62 (1906)
Romance in B for string orchestra after the Clarinet Quintet, op.10: II Larghetto affettuoso (1895)
Rebecca Murphy (soprano), Ioana Petcu-Colan (violin)
Ulster Orchestra/Charles Peebles
rec. 16-17 June 2025, Foyle Foundation Hall, Belfast, UK
Text included.
SOMM Recordings SOMMCD0713

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

Frank Bridge in America, 1923: An Important Interview Part II

In Musical America (17 November 1923), the Irish-born critic P.J. Nolan who worked in America between 1921 and1924 recorded a remarkable interview with the English composer Frank Bridge (1879-1941), who was on a three month visit to the United States. This is the second part of that interview.

“But any work, as I have said, must conform in its first principles to the canons of art. Unless it does, it cannot exist. No mere playing around in the colours and embroideries of some fashionable caprice will keep it alive. Some people talk of contemporary music as if it were the beginning of things—as if the music of the past could be ignored altogether. This is a wrong view. That which has nothing in common with the past is lifeless.”

He emphasized his conviction that the true artist does not compose to please the public: “The man invites failure who, when he sets out to originate a work, says to himself, ‘I am now going to write something which will be a great popular success.’ Any effort of that kind carries with it the mark of its own failure. The composer must shut out from his view all but his own inspiration. If he follows that inspiration, that is sufficient to justify him, even though the work he produces under its influence pleases only two persons in the world.”

Interest in chamber music has been stimulated immensely of recent years in England - a result clearly due to the activities of Mr. Bridge and his fellow composers in this field. Replying to a query upon this point, he said the revival was particularly keen among amateurs, who were carrying this music into their homes to an extent unknown for many years.

In other directions, too, a growing appreciation of artistic values was manifest. “When I tell you,” He said, “that the Fifth Symphony of Beethoven has replaced the Fifth Symphony of Tchaikovsky at the popular concerts in London, you will realize what a change there has been in public taste.” But as for the decline of music in London - that’s another story! Mr. Bridge assigns this, as others have done, to higher taxes and financial difficulties which have affected private expenditure.

The Fantasy competitions, instituted in 1905 by W. W. Cobbett, [1] an enthusiastic London amateur, have played an important part in fostering chamber music. These competitions were originated with the object of inducing the production of shorter pieces of this type, the idea being that a better concert program could be compiled by including only two long works instead of three, the place of the third being taken by one of these shorter works. Mr. Bridge had written three pieces in shorter form in 1904, under the title of “Noveletten,” and in the following year was a prize-winner in these competitions. He again won a prize in 1908 for his Fantasy Trio in C Minor for piano, violin and ’cello. Among the prize-winners have also been John Ireland, James Friskin, H. Waldo Warner, and [William] Hurlstone, a gifted composer who died in 1906. It was in 1908 that Frank Bridge took an Irish folk-tune and set it to music which, under the title of “The Londonderry Air,” has travelled around the world. His arrangements of “Cherry Ripe” and “Sally in Our Alley,” two old English songs, are almost equally well known as examples of his gifts in chamber quartet-writing. [2]

“They are simple, and not in the least bit pretentious,” he says of these three works, “and they fulfil a purpose in fostering an interest in chamber music among those who cannot yet appreciate more serious music.” Of his larger works, “The Sea” has been heard this season in America in various cities under his baton. He had intended to conduct a performance of this Suite in New York, but when he learned, a week or two ago, that Josef Stransky had included it in the program of the State Symphony, he changed his intention, and substituted for it, for his appearance with the New York Symphony on Nov. 11, his Two Poems for Orchestra. The Two Poems, produced in 1917 at Queen’s Hall, London, are based on quotations from Richard Jefferies. The first is, “Those thoughts and feelings which are not sharply defined but have a haze of distance and beauty about them, are always dearest,” and the second, “How beautiful a delight to make the world joyous! The song should never be silent, the dance never still, the laugh should sound like water which runs forever.” [3]

Mr. Bridge was greatly interested to hear that his Quintet in D Minor was performed at Worcester, Mass., in June 1921. He wrote this work in 1904, then put it away, and, when he looked at it again, decided to revise it. This revision was completed in 1912, and it was not published for some time later - indeed, it had been in print only about a year when it was performed at Worcester. [4]

He was very much impressed by his recent visit to Boston and says he can imagine nothing more ideal than the orchestral conditions which exist there. “I think,” he said, “that enormous credit is due to Mr. Monteux, [5] conductor of the Boston Symphony, for what he has done for that orchestra, and through it for Boston. He is a man of sensitive understanding, a real artist, and his forces produce as fine a body of tone as one could have. The Symphony plays with wonderful efficiency.” Mr. Bridge led the orchestra in the performance of his “Sea” Suite, and earlier in Cleveland conducted the Cleveland Orchestra in the same work. He was also warm in praise of Mr. Sokoloff’s [6] forces for their interpretation of the Suite. “Mr. Sokoloff has certainly built up a fine orchestra,” he said. “It is in excellent order, and the men are very interested and very keen. We had only two rehearsals, and they showed a fine grasp of the points of the work.” Mr. Bridge and his wife, who is an Australian, will leave New York by the Majestic [actually the RMS Olympic] this month on their return to England. Mrs. Bridge was formerly Miss Sinclair, a Melbourne violinist. [7]

Musical America (17 November 1923 p.3 & 32).

Notes

[1] Walter Willson Cobbett (1847–1937) was an English businessman whose passion for chamber music was critical for Britain’s musical landscape. An amateur violinist inspired by hearing Joachim perform Beethoven, he became a tireless patron, using his business success to commission new works and encourage young composers. Cobbett championed the phantasy form, sponsoring influential competitions that helped define early twentieth‑century British chamber music. His most enduring legacy is Cobbett’s Cyclopaedic Survey of Chamber Music (1929), a monumental reference work that reflects his lifelong devotion to “music of the nobler kind.”

[2] Examples of Frank Bridge’s use of “found” folk tunes.

[3] Richard Jefferies (1848–1887) was an English nature writer celebrated for his vivid depictions of rural life. Raised on a Wiltshire farm, he blended observation with mysticism, producing works from The Amateur Poacher to The Story of My Heart, shaping later writers, and influencing modern nature conservation thinking.

[4] Paul Hindmarsh in  his Frank Bridge: The Complete Works (2016) states that the Quintet in D minor “was premiered on 28 May 1907, at the home of Miss M. C. Hall, 79 Emperor’s Gate, London; played by Thomas Morris and Ethel Sinclair (violins), Frank Bridge (viola), Ivor James (cello) and Harold Samuel (piano). This was a private performance at a Royal College of Music Students’ Union ‘At Home.’ The first public performance of this version took place during one of Thomas Dunhill’s concerts, 14 June 1907, played by the Erinson Quartet and Thomas Dunhill piano). Hindmarsh continues, “Bridge withdrew the Quintet after its initial performances. In 1912 he radically revised it, shortening the outer movements, altering, and smoothing out the thematic material and piano texture, and compressing the central movements into one. The present score contains some pencil comments and suggestions for improvements to the piano part, probably added by Harold Samuel or Thomas Dunhill.”  The revised version was “was launched at a Royal College of Music Union ‘At Home’ Concert. On this occasion the musical evening was held at the home of Mrs. Capel, Queen’s Gate on 29 May 1912. The English String Quartet, was joined by Harold Samuel (piano).” (op.cit.).

[5] Pierre Monteux (1875–1964), the French-born maestro, conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1919 to 1924, revitalising its sound and reputation. Renowned for his premieres of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and other modern works, Monteux balanced French elegance with German concentration.

[6] Nikolai Sokoloff (1886–1965) was a Russian‑Ukrainian‑American conductor, violinist, and pioneering educator. He became the first music director of the Cleveland Orchestra (1918–1932), expanding its size, repertoire, and national tours. Sokoloff championed equality by hiring women musicians with equal pay, later directing the Federal Music Project and Seattle Symphony

[7] Frank Bridge’s wife, Ethel Sinclair, was born in Melbourne, Australia. The two were fellow students at the Royal College of Music. Ethel returned home in 1903, before coming back to London in 1907. Frank and Ethel were married at St Mary’s Church, Fulham. Shortly afterwards, Bridge moved from 50 

Elm Park Mansions, Chelsea, to establish their home at 23 Foster Road, Chiswick.

Concluded.

Frank Bridge in America, 1923: An Important Interview Part I

In the Musical America (17 November 1923), the Irish-born critic P.J. Nolan who worked in America between 1921 and1924 recorded a remarkable interview with the English composer Frank Bridge (1879-1941), who was on a three month visit to the United States. The article opens with a brief overview of the composer at this time. I have included a few brief notes.

In overview, the essay presented under the striking headline “Frank Bridge, Distinguished English Composer, Describes Our Educational Movements as Wonderful - Is Greatly Impressed by Leading Orchestras Discusses Work of British Contemporaries Must Wait Ten Years for Accurate Appraisal.”

FRANK BRIDGE, now on his first visit to America, [1] disavows any narrow ambitions of nationalism on the part of contemporary British composers, among whom he occupies a leading place. This activity in British music, he says, is not collective. Each man is engaged independently of the others in developing his own lines of thought. The trouble in regard to the modernists is not with the leaders, who know what they want to say, but with their imitators. The self-criticism to which the true artist subjects himself will prevent him from foisting an ill-prepared work upon the public. Mr. Bridge, who is widely known not only as composer but as conductor, was born in Brighton, England, forty-four years ago, and studied with Stanford at the Royal College of Music. He was a viola player in the Joachim Quartet. His first important orchestral composition, “Isabella,” was produced at the Queen’s Hall Promenade Concerts in London in 1907.

Animated by high ideals, the music of Frank Bridge, the distinguished British composer now visiting the United States, is, in its refinement and cultured taste, no less than in its broad outlook, a reflection of the nature of the man himself. Talking to Mr. Bridge, one derives a conviction that the interests of music are invulnerably safe in his keeping, and that he is actuated above all by the desire to maintain the traditions of art secure from unworthy influences. “The true artist,” he says, “writes to express his own honest views, not to please the public.” In this spirit, then, he gazes out over the whole field of musical endeavour, and finds good in every phase of activity, however varied, whether conservative or radical, if it be sincere.

Occupying a foremost position in the chamber music developments of late years, Mr. Bridge, famous for many picturesque and graceful scores in this form, is one of the composers who have brought Great Britain again into prominence as a musical nation. Yet he is prompt to disavow any narrow ambitions of nationalism in this movement, for art, he agrees, cannot be limited by territorial boundaries. He will not even speak of the new British activity in composition as a Renaissance. [2] “It is not a collective effort,” he reminds us. “The half dozen or more composers who are engaged in it are working independently of each other, looking down separate roads, so to speak, and recording their impressions of what they see. It so happens that these men have begun to work at about the same time. It is only within the past ten years that their work has definitely attracted attention, and another ten years must elapse before we shall be able properly to appraise its value.”

This is Mr. Bridge’s first visit to America, and he is tremendously impressed by what he has seen of the widespread zeal in the cause of music in the United States. “You are wonderful here!” he exclaimed, “with your large orchestras in all the important cities, [3] and, above all, in the organizations connected with them for the education of young people. Children’s concerts are the rule, I am told, and I believe that you actually have leaders of the various sections of the orchestras lecturing in the schools, explaining the instruments, and the music in which they are used. Wonderful!” he repeated, when assured that this is the case. “All this must tell immensely for the benefit of music. It must make for ideal audiences in a few years.”

Reverting to the British composers, he extolled their achievements - but his praise was all for others. He is too modest to speak of his own work, but the world has done that for him, anyway, in the enthusiasm with which it has acclaimed his music. “They are doing fine work - Vaughan Williams, [Gustav] Holst, John Ireland, Arnold Bax, Eugene Goossens, and the others, and they have created a keen interest, until the general music public of Great Britain has come to understand and appreciate the fact that a few men in their country are able to produce music, and are, in fact, producing music. “I do not mean to say that the British people were unmusical, but the fact was that the creative faculty was dormant. [4] These men have been working for a long time, but it is only within the past ten years that their achievements have become generally known, and in another ten years, when a great deal of the music which is being written in our day will have disappeared, and the best will have remained, it will be possible to realize more accurately the value of what they have done.”

Mr. Bridge dissents from the proposition that folk songs will prove the basis of a national music. [5] “Many people, it is true, think they will; but on the other hand, there are a great many other people, of whom I am one,” he affirmed, ‘‘who do not think so. “You really cannot speak of nationality in music since art is world-wide. If there is to be any expression of national spirit, it must be the expression of the composer’s own thoughts and feelings, and must come from the promptings of his own inspiration; he cannot seek it, and any effort on his part to aim at it as a national expression must end in failure. This is precisely where, to my mind, those who are interested in folk-music are making a mistake in seeking to force that which should be spontaneous.” “All activity is healthy, if it is sincere; but any new work must retain its solid foundation in art, if it is to live,” was his dictum, when asked for his views on the revolutionary tendencies in modern music.

And this summing-up is particularly interesting from the fact that, while Mr. Bridge is fully prepared to listen to all that the modern writers have to say, he has consistently allied this conciliatory attitude with an unwavering respect for established standards. Therefore, he does not by any means agree with the revolutionaries who contend that we ought to break completely with the past.

“After all,” said he, “our store of music of the present day has been built up steadily through the centuries, just as our great fabric of law has been, and our store of medical knowledge - by patient experiment after experiment, not in public, but in the work shop. That is the place where new theories must be subjected to rigid and complete tests before they are given to the world. Just as the chemist conducts his research in his laboratory, the composer makes his experiments, but he must make them in his workshop, too, not in the concert-room. And remember, the chemist, searching for some new fact in medical science, absolutely refuses to publish his research to the world until his discovery has been established beyond question. “Debussy made his experiments and proved to be really a first-rate artist in these experiments. The trouble is not with Debussy, or Stravinsky, or Scriabin, who knew what they wanted to say, and had a clear plan in mind before they began to compose any work. The trouble is with their imitators, who do not know what they want to say. A new work is the reflection of the composer’s outlook upon life. He seeks truth, and when he presents his finished work to the public, he presents the solution of a problem.”

“The self-criticism to which the artist subjects himself will prevent him from foisting an ill-prepared work upon the public. The true artist may be trusted to take that care, and the greater the artist he is, the greater the care he takes. After that, the truth of his message must make itself known. If he is sincere, then all is well. It is the sincerity of his work which is the real test.”

Musical America (17 November 1923 p.3 & 32).

Notes:

[1] On 8 December 1923, Frank and Ethel Bridge returned to Southampton aboard the White Star liner RMS Olympic. Earlier that year, on 22 August, Bridge had departed for the United States on the company’s majestic flagship, the RMS Majestic.

[2] The British or English Musical Renaissance is a fraught topic. Often seen as beginning in the 1880s it alludes to the surge of creative activity, and stylistic endeavours of composers such as Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Charles Villiers Stanford, and Alexander Mackenzie who were regarded by some as being in the vanguard of a newly revitalised national tradition, one that sought to “rival the Germans.” British music re‑emerged on the European stage with symphonies, choral works, and operas that asserted a distinctive cultural voice. This Renaissance continued well into to the 20^th century, especially as composers began incorporating English folk song and Tudor church music influences. It certainly includes Frank Bridge as one of the participants.

[3] In 1923, the leading American orchestras were the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Cleveland Orchestra, the five ensembles that would later be recognised collectively as the nation’s “Big Five”. Alongside them stood several other significant forces in the country’s musical life: the San Francisco Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra,        the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (later the Minnesota Orchestra), and the young but ambitious Los Angeles Philharmonic. Together, these orchestras formed the backbone of America’s symphonic culture in the early twentieth century.

[4] As scholarship has explored further back into the Victorian era, before Parry, Stanford and Mackenzie, other gems have been discovered. These include William Sterndale Bennett, Arthur Sullivan, George Macfarren and Alice Mary Smith.

[5] Frank Bridge himself relied on folk tunes for a few works, such as Sally in Our Alley, Sir Roger de Coverley, the Londonerry Ait and Cherry Ripe.

With thanks to Paul Hindmarsh for permission to use the photograph of Frank and Ethel Bridge (centre of picture) about the RMS Majestic. 

To be concluded…

Minor Masterpieces of Organ Music No.4: Alec Rowley’s Benedictus

Few piano students of a certain generation will have escaped encountering the music of Alec Rowley. Whether through his “progressive” studies or one of his distinctive suites, Rowley’s “graceful and expertly crafted” writing remains a delight to play. Yet his contributions beyond the classroom - particularly to the recital room and concert hall - are less widely appreciated. His organ music, too, has long languished in obscurity. Important works include The Four Winds, Five Improvisations and two Organ Symphonies. A notable exception to this neglect is Herman Jordaan’s recent two-disc recording at Albion Church, Ashton-under-Lyne - a splendid introduction to this overlooked repertoire.

Alec Rowley (1892-1958) was a prolific English composer, organist, pianist, and educator whose achievement bridged the realms of pedagogy and performance. Born in Ealing, London, he studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Frederick Corder and others, winning multiple prizes. His career was deeply rooted in musical education: he taught at Trinity College of Music from 1920 and became a respected lecturer and broadcaster. For several years he was organist at St Alban’s Cathedral. Rowley died suddenly while playing tennis in 1958.

His compositional output was vast and varied, with a particular emphasis on the piano for students and amateur performers. These, often lyrical and accessible, became staples of mid-century British piano teaching. Yet Rowley also ventured into larger forms, producing three piano concertos, an oboe concerto, and orchestral music such as the Three English Idyls, and a Sinfonietta. His catalogue also includes a wealth of songs and piano solos. Stylistically, he leaned toward Romanticism, occasionally tinged with French impressionist influences.

Within “quires and places where they sing” Benedictus has a twofold meaning. Fundamentally, the word translates “Blessing or Blessed.” In some major denominations the Benedictus is part of Matins or Morning Prayer and is often sung by the choir. Drawn from Luke 1:68-79, the text offers praise to God for His promise of redemption - fulfilled through a mighty Saviour, the enduring covenant with Abraham, and the prophetic mission of John the Baptist to prepare the way for Christ.

However, Rowley’s Benedictus is not a straightforward meditation on the liturgical use of the words. The score is prefaced by a quotation from Christina Rossetti’s (1830-94) poem, All thy works praise Thee, O Lord. This devotional poem imagines a grand cosmic procession in praise of God. Each stanza gives voice to a different element of creation - from angels and heavenly bodies to seasons, weather, and natural forces - all proclaiming their purpose and beauty as reflections of divine will. The tone is reverent and celebratory, blending theological imagery with poetic dignity. The ‘Medicinal Herbs’ section includes the words “I bring refreshment/I bring ease and calm,” which can be construed as bringing spiritual consolation through reflection on creation, more particularly its pastoral or natural elements.

Benedictus for organ was written in 1931. The previous year, he had married Mary Evelyn Shaw. Sadly, the union did not work out, and they were divorced in 1932. This was to be the end of his career as an organist at St Albans: in those days, divorce was frowned on by the church authorities. Yet, this contemplative voluntary indicates happier times.

Stylistically, Benedictus sits comfortably within the English pastoral tradition. Its lyrical lines and warm harmonic palette evoke the reflective charm of Harold Darke or Herbert Sumsion, with subtle modal tones lending a touch of antiquity. It unfolds with quiet dignity; its phrases shaped with a natural vocal sensibility - a nod to Rowley’s experience as a church organist and his affinity for liturgical forms. The central climax is powerful and exhilarating.

There is no detailed registration provided: the score suggests that the opening and closing sections are played on the Swell, with the middle development using the Great. There is a call for a Clarinet stop on the Choir organ shortly before the final recapitulation.

Benedictus was published by Novello in 1931 as part of their Original Compositions (New Series) No.130. It was reissued in the 1970s with a new cover.

Though modest in scale, Benedictus displays Rowley’s craftsmanship: the textures are clear, the voice leading elegant, and the emotional mood is gently uplifting. It is a piece that invites reflection, suitable for liturgical use or recital programming where intimacy and repose are desired.

With thanks to the Glasgow Society of Organists Journal where this essay was first published.

Prayer for Piece: Music for Strings, Recorder, Voice and Piano

In the advertising for this new disc, Julian Bryan explains its genesis: “The idea of putting together a compilation of unrecorded works and original arrangements for strings and flute or recorder first came about in mid-2023, when I realised, together with my already close friend and associate John Turner - a highly renowned recorder player - that there is a wealth of such music waiting to be recorded and released." he disc features eleven pieces, presented in (roughly) chronological order, all of which had not previously been recorded.

The recital opens with Breton composer Louis Bourgault-Ducoudray’s Abergavenny: Suite de Thèmes Populaire Gallois (1900s) scored for treble recorder and string quartet. They were dedicated to Lady Herbert of Llanover (Augusta Hall), a patron of Welsh culture regarded as the inventor of the Welsh National Costume. While the seven ‘popular’ tunes may not be quite so well-known nowadays, The Ash Grove and David of the White Rock retain their place in the canon of Welsh folk music. The Suite opens with the evocative The Blackbird and concludes with the rousing War Song of the Men of Glamorgan. I imagine these arrangements could be popular with school or college ensembles.

Claude Debussy’s Chansons de Charles d'Orléans, (1908) were arranged for mezzo soprano solo, violin (or contralto) and piano by Julian Bryan. They were originally devised for a cappella four/six-part mixed chorus. The first song, Dieu! qu'il la fait bon regarder, is a lyrical celebration of a lady’s incomparable beauty, grace, and virtue, admired as beyond all others. Quant j'ai ouy le tabourin is a light-hearted song about preferring the comfort of sleep over joining May Day festivities. Finally, Yver, vous n’estes qu'un villain is a spirited song contrasting winter’s harshness with the joyful beauty and renewal of summer. Despite my preference for the original choral version, these arrangements sit comfortably with these forces.

Randall Thompson’s Scherzino shows the lighter side of his more serious nature. It is a witty miniature that contrasts the recorder’s brightness with the warm sonorities of violin and viola. The date of the Scherzino is unknown.

It is good to have two works by Lancashire composer Thomas Pitfield, a polymath who also excelled as an artist, craftsman, poet, and educator. His Minuet and Trio (1940) for string quartet is a short, but magical little bit of English Pastoral, which may date from earlier. The liner notes explain that the Pastorale for piano, violin and cello (1939) was arranged from a discarded ballet score, The Elm Spirit.

Morten Lauridsen arranged his Les chansons des roses: No. 2, Contre qui, rose (1993) for string quartet. This was originally a wonderfully atmospheric setting of a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke for unaccompanied choir. The rose is a symbol of beauty and fragility, yet also of resistance and pain. The transcription has preserved the mood of the original, sometimes seeming to nod towards Samuel Barber’s Adagio. 

American composer, pianist, educator, mentor, Jon Jeffrey Grier provides two works on this disc. The first is an arrangement of Three Polish folk Songs for recorder and string quartet. The tunes are Hey Falcons, A Little Spark and The Nightingale and the Willow Leaf. The set originally comprised four songs, but the final one has been omitted. There is no indication of the date of composition, but a sheet music website suggests 2009. His second offering is the undated A Mystery Unsolved which seems to have no “mystery:” it is simply a well-wrought, but oh-so-short a piece for string quintet.

There are no details about Dublin born Rhona Clarke’s Pas de Quatre String Quartet No.2 (2009, rev. 2023) in the booklet. A programme note on the Internet explains that the “…title (A Dance for Four) is inspired by the movement between the players as they direct and interact with each other.” I am not sure what this means, as the basic concept of a String Quartet (or any chamber music) is of an interaction between players. Further ‘surfing’ revealed that this Quartet is devised as a single movement, lasting for about ten minutes. Technically, the main subject matter is based on a “gapped scale played with an irregular pulse.” Part of its structure are a series of aleatoric sections, where “three other instruments share short, repeated phrases, but use their own discretion as to where to come in and how many times to repeat.” After more written out development, there is another free-for- all before it concludes with a cello solo. The entire Quartet is an effective synthesis between incipient minimalism, extended techniques and “Renaissance inspire clarity.”

Adam Gorb has explained that his String Quartet No.1 (2001) was a substantial, half‑hour work that sought to probe the depths of human emotion. By contrast, the present String Quartet No.2 (2009) is a much lighter, serenade‑like piece in four short movements, lasting around eleven minutes. Written to celebrate the 85th birthday of Thilde Fraenkel, the mother of an old schoolmate, it was first performed privately at her home by the Tippett Quartet in December 2009. Stylistically, this remarkable Quartet is eclectic in sound. One moment we have Haydn-esque classicism, and another a kind of gritty urban dynamism: at times lyrical and at others propulsive. This was my major discovery on this CD.

The final number on this delightful potpourri is Sasha Johnson Manning’s elegiac Prayer for Peace. This short meditation, scored for tenor recorder, string quartet and double bass was written at the request of John Turner, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The booklet provides limited information about the music, certainly little in the way of analysis or description. Texts and translations of the Debussy songs are not given. There are biographical notes about the composers and resumes of all the performers. Photographs of the composers are printed on the rear cover of the booklet.

There is no doubt that the performances are all first rate, and the recorded sound is ideal.

In sum, this disc offers a richly varied and imaginative excursion through little-known repertoire and inventive arrangements, brought to life with skill and conviction.

Track Listing:
Louis Bourgault-Ducoudray (1840-1910)
Abergavenny: Suite de Thèmes Populaire Gallois (1900s)
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Chansons de Charles d'Orléans, L. 92 (completed 1908) (arr. for Voice, Violin & Piano by Julian Bryan)
Randall Thompson (1899-1984)
Scherzino (arr. for Descant Recorder, Violin & Viola by Anonymous) (?)
Thomas Pitifield (1903-99)
Minuet and Trio (1940)
Pastorale (1939)
Morten Lauridsen (b.1943)
Les chansons des roses: No. 2, Contre qui, rose (arr. for String Quartet) (1993)
Jon Jeffrey Grier (b.1953)
Four Polish Folk Songs for recorder and string quartet (2009)
Rhona Clarke (b.1958)
Pas de Quatre String Quartet No.2 (2009, rev.2023)
Adam Gorb (b.1958)
String Quartet No. 2 (2009)
John Jeffrey Grier
A Mystery Unsolved (?)
Sasha Johnson Manning (b.1963)
Prayer for Peace (2022)
John Turner (recorders), Sophie Clarke (mezzo soprano), David Jones (piano) James Manson (double bass), Victoria String Quartet.
rec. 2023; 2025 St Elizabeth’s Church, Ashley, Altringham.
Prima Facie PFCD 258
With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.

Ron Goodwin: Jet Journey (1952)

My early flights were all on turboprops, and it was not until my first transatlantic crossing that I finally experienced a large jet. Jets themselves are not new. The first commercial jet flight took off on 2 May 1952, when the de Havilland Comet entered BOAC service and flew from London Heathrow to Johannesburg. From that moment on, they have shaped the story of modern aviation.

Ron Goodwin’s Jet Journey was composed that time, so it reflects the excitement of the “early days” when the globe was shrinking. Suddenly the far-flung corners of the world were no longer long sea voyages but were a few hours in a pressurised cabin.

Listeners will know composer and conductor Ron Goodwin (1925-2003) for several important film scores, including Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, 633 Squadron, Where Eagles Dare and the published version of The Battle of Britain. (William Walton wrote the original music, but most of this was not used). And then there was the 'Miss Marple Theme' used in the films made by the redoubtable Margaret Rutherford. Besides his work for the film industry, he has written many orchestral miniatures. These include one-time favourites such as the Puppet Serenade, The Venus Waltz, and the Headless Horseman. His style blends melodic clarity, rhythmic drive, and brilliant orchestration into a distinctive voice.

Jet Journey is quintessential light music. It is professionally written, exciting, and optimistic. At that time people believed the future was bright, fast, and incredibly glamorous. Goodwin has used his skill to create a piece of music that creates an image of “height” and “airiness.” Even the sound of the jet engine starting up is mimicked in the opening bars. The final result is a miniature tone‑poem of flight - stylish, forward‑looking, and unmistakably Goodwin.

While Jet Journey captures the spirit of the mid-50s, it was actually recorded in September 1952, just months after the first commercial jet took flight. It was originally released in the UK in early 1953 on the Parlophone label (R 3612), paired with The Last Rhapsody. The version many collectors recognize - the 1955 release on the Coral label (9-61504) - was the American debut that helped bring Goodwin to a global audience. On that US pressing, the ‘flip’ side featured Summertime in Venice, the lush theme from the Katharine Hepburn film Summertime (1955). Both tracks have since been remastered and remain staples of light music anthologies today.

Listen to Jet Journey on YouTube, here.

‘Impressions’ by C.B. Rees: Alan Rawsthorne

When this “Impression” was published in the May 1952 edition of London Musical Events, Alan Rawsthorne would have been 47 years old. Behind him was his major triumph, the Symphonic Variations heard at the Warsaw I.S.C.M. Festival in 1939. Becoming well known as a writer of film music, Rawsthorne had recently provided the score for The Cruel Sea, starring Jack Hawkins and Donald Sinden. His Piano Concerto No.2 had been a considerable success at the Festival of Britain. His catalogue included a remarkable Concerto for Orchestra, his Symphony No.1, and a Violin Concerto. He would continue to compose music until his early death on 24 July 1971

C. B. Rees emerged as a distinctive British voice in mid‑20th‑century musical criticism, combining scholarly insight with an accessible, unpretentious style. Active from the mid‑1940s, he wrote for Penguin Music Magazine and became widely known for his elegant, informative sleeve notes that accompanied many major classical LP releases throughout the 1950s and 1960s. His work helped shape how post‑war British listeners encountered composers from Franck and Schumann to Tchaikovsky and Rimsky‑Korsakov. Though not as publicly prominent as some contemporaries, Rees played a quiet but influential role in Britain’s classical music environment, bridging musicology and journalism with clarity, curiosity, and a deep respect for performers and repertoire. The following essay is easy going and warm hearted:

"Yes, I think you would say, a certain elegance. There is a sense of easy, natural immaculateness. Your eye notices the bowtie, the brushed, broad-brimmed hat, the smart, tasteful waistcoat, the gold-topped cane that belonged to "Bumps" Greenbaum, the slow, friendly, slightly amused quizzing of the company. Then there is the smiling inquiry as to the possible whereabouts of a friend who is an hour, or possibly a day, late for the appointment. A quick offer of hospitality, a sly comment on some topical stupidity or a bizarre twist in the comedy of living, and you will have met, although you will not yet know, Alan Rawsthorne.

Even a short conversation gives you an atmosphere of intelligence, the intimation of a mind shrewdly observing, quietly thinking, running smoothly with no distracting noises of gear changing. He does not throw his opinions at you; he has plenty. They slide quickly from his brain, interrupted only by an infectious chuckle that, agitating his shoulders, goes twinkling away through his candid blue eyes. He joins the company on rubber soled unobtrusiveness. He leaves it without disturbance of the congenial atmosphere.

You may be surprised to know that he was born in Lancashire and, therefore, expect him to bang on the table or the counter. It is not thus he reveals his origins. His independence as man and artist has a Lancashire tang. The gritty strength of his mind is in interesting contradiction of the softness of his accents and the unhurried urbanity of his talk. He has surprises up his sleeve. He was trained as a dentist before, in his early twenties, he began to study music. He was thirty-three when he first gained international recognition with his Theme and Variations for two violins, at the London Festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music. Warsaw heard his Symphonic Studies, in 1939; since then, although the war interrupted his creative activities, he has greatly increased his reputation through his Symphony, Concertos, Overtures - all of a most distinguished and arresting individuality. His music no more slaps you on the back and hails you as a good fellow than he himself does. He assumes your intelligence, in his music, and in his conversation. Otherwise, well, pity: a bland farewell, without heat or regret, and it and he are gone.

He has been placed among the "Big Four" of British composers, but he appears to be indifferent to categories and classifications. He follows his thought and is content to catch up. You meet no trace of conceit or pose; nor does he pretend to be a haberdasher doing music on the sly. He is a composer pur sang [pure blood]. I have mentioned the interruption of his work by the war. He joined the Army in 1941, and I happily saw him now and then (not often enough) during those times. It was difficult. to imagine him in uniform: even to recognise the physical fact. He is not for uniforms: not any kind. He might for fun devise one of his own. I hesitate to think it would have the approval of the Army Council. But he never ceases to be able to laugh; never? - well, scarcely ever. The death of his closest friend, Constant Lambert, was the kind of blow to him that only he can know.

"Reserved," some people may think. He can be, and indeed, about the deeper things of life and work, he is. For not only is he warmly liked, he is respected. His contribution to argument, to genial talk, to party fun and games is generous and idiosyncratic. His wit can be both subtle and devastating. No rancour. I have had some happy evenings with him on Brains Trusts and Critics' Forums, and I know. When, on occasion, an excess of Celtic ‘hwyl’ [a deep, emotional joy or enthusiasm, often from being fully immersed in the moment], has got me in the blush-making toils of self-bamboozlement, Alan, sitting on my left, has, with the scientific tenderness of a skilled surgeon, cut the knots, distributed them prettily on the Forum table, and left me roaring with an enjoyment almost equal - almost, I said to that of the delighted auditors. He is much too clever for you, and so nicely so, that you want to ask him for the bill and pay it.

He has humour in rich proportions, too. (As I have indicated, he is not Lancashire for nothing.) Some of his stories, not least against himself, have an irresistible appeal. And it is seldom one encounters him without having tears of laughter in at least two pairs of eyes.

At 47, much lies ahead of a composer of such rare gifts, of SO civilised a spirit, of such fastidious craftsmanship. The pursuit of popularity is not even his hobby. "This is the sort of music I write," and if you happen not to be on the wavelength, there is other music.

To meet his neat, trim figure, with the wide, high forehead and the expressive eyes and mouth, among his friends when the day's work is done, is to enjoy the best kind of companionship, in which friendliness is unforced and undemanding, and humour and humanity play about the scene like an expected, but all the more treasured, benediction.

London Musical Events, May 1952, p.14ff

Notes
[1] Hyam “Bumps” Greenbaum (1901–1942) was an English violinist, conductor, and early BBC television pioneer. A gifted orchestral leader and member of Peter Warlock’s bohemian circle, he influenced many composers and became the first conductor of a television orchestra before his early death.

Three Pieces Arranged by Humphrey Searle by Thomas Roseingrave Part III

In 2006, Naxos Records released the fifth volume of their survey of English String Miniatures  (8.557752). It featured a number of delightful rarities from seven composers. The main event on this disc was a performance of the complete Downland Suite by John Ireland. Originally written for the 1932 National Brass Band Championship of Great Britain, it was arranged for string orchestra by Ireland’s one-time pupil Geoffrey Bush. Many listeners will know the ubiquitous “Minuet” often heard on Classic FM, however the entire suite is a worthy composition. Other pieces on this disc included Pamela Harrison’s Suite for Timothy, Francis Chagrin’s Renaissance Suite, and Paul Lewis’s Suite Navarraise. The Royal Ballet Sinfonia was conducted by Gavin Sutherland. Included in the programme were what I believe to be the premiere recording of Humphrey Searle’s Roseingrave transcriptions.

The liner notes remind the listener that Searle’s own modernist leanings made him receptive to Roseingrave’s nonconformity, and in 1966 he marked the composer’s bicentenary by orchestrating three of his voluntaries and fugues for strings. The gesture may echo Webern’s Bach transcriptions, though Searle’s handling of eighteenth‑century material is notably more conventional.

Although reviews of the CD were generally positive, opinions differed over the worth of Searle’s transcription. Interestingly the album was ignored by The Gramophone magazine.

Jonathan Woolf, writing on MusicWeb International (6 August 2006) argued that Searle largely “sleepwalks” through Roseingrave’s pieces, conceding only a touch of harmonic deftness in the first Fugue. A month later, (6 September 2006), Michael Cookson questioned “where Searle found the energy to make arrangements of these works, that are meagre in content and lacking in memorability and inspiration.”

The most positive review was in the American Record Guide (December 2006) where a certain “Trotter” wrote: Also memorable is the suite made from Humphrey Searle's transcription of three organ pieces by Thomas Roseingrave (don't you love the name?)…In 1966, the bicentenary of Roseingrave's untimely death, Mr Searle chose to honour him with this trio of transcriptions, fashioned in a style reminiscent of Anton Webern's Bach orchestrations (Searle had been a pupil of Webern's and made no secret of the ways Webern influenced his mature compositions). The result is a fascinating musical hybrid that seems as though it shouldn't work but does, quite fetchingly.

Personally, I find these arrangements for string orchestra enjoyable. To be sure, they are not a critical part of Searle’s catalogue, yet they are well wrought, pleasant to listen to and reflect Thomas Roseingrave’s legacy in a good light.

 

In Search of Youkali: The Songs of Kurt Weill

I first came to Kurt Weill’s music through a Radio Three broadcast (April 1975) of The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny starring his wife Lotte Lenya, and I was hooked. A second-hand shop in Glasgow had a copy of The Lotte Lenya Album (Columbia Masterworks – MG 30087, 1970), which I invested in. Consequently, I have associated Kurt Weill’s songs with her for more than half a century. That album was conveniently divided into two records: Lotte Lenya Sings Berlin Theater Songs of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya Sings American Theater Songs of Kurt Weill. To my mind, whether justified or not, these accounts remain unsurpassed. Yet, time moves forward, and new generations of performers assume the task of singing and re‑imagining Weill’s music.

All the numbers on this new Chandos disc are performed in arrangements for various combinations of instrumentation, created by the players themselves.

Mezzo-soprano Katie Bray has also decided to structure her recital by pre-and-post Weill’s escape to the United States, which he did in September 1935 (after a sojourn in Paris). The two halves are interlaced with a series of improvisations based on Youkali, subtitled a “Tango‑habanera.” This was originally conceived as an instrumental tango for his ill‑fated French musical Marie Galante, which opened in Paris on 22 December 1934. The liner notes describe Youkali as Weill’s own Somewhere Over the Rainbow - a piece filled with wistful echoes and sad reminiscences of times past.

The three instrumentalists (accordion, piano and double bass) come together to play the Overture to Die Dreigroschenoper. This was completed in 1928, as a play, written by Bertolt Brecht, with Weill’s music. Katie Bray sings the Barbarasong from this work, which I understand was “borrowed” from Eduard Kunneke’s 1921 hit Der Vetter aus Dingsda. Here, the character Polly rejects several “decent guys” and settles for a wastrel.

Kurt Weill composed Berlin im Licht (Berlin Lit Up) for the 1928 Festival of Light. It celebrates the city’s “Golden Twenties” with jazzy foxtrot rhythms and Brecht’s witty lyrics. It revels in the electric brilliance of the city emerging from the deprivations of the First World War.

Surabaya Johnny, from the three-act musical comedy, Happy End (1929) is one of Weill’s best loved numbers. It depicts a female narrator trapped in uncertainty, unable to sever ties with her criminal lover despite his destructive lifestyle.

It is good that Katie Bray has included three songs in French. The first, a dark, introspective Complainte de la Seine (Lament of the Seine) which captures the paradox of the river as both a graveyard of suffering and a vessel carrying remnants of beauty, wealth, and human fragility. The second, Je ne t'aime pas (1934) beautifully expresses the tension between repeated protestations of “I do not love you” and the undercurrent of sorrow and yearning that contradicts them. The lyricist was Maurice Magre, and they were written for the French cabaret singer and actor Lys Gauty.

The final French song is taken from the above-mentioned Marie Galante. J'attends un navire (1934) majors on lost innocence of a courtesan and a dream of a ship carrying away her heart and tears toward a remembered purity.

Turning to the American repertoire. In 1942, Weill contributed to a “touring half-hour program of comedy, song and dance” which visited defence manufacturers’ factories to provide entertainment to the workers. They were known as Lunchtime Follies. The jaunty Buddy on the Nightshift was a collaboration with Oscar Hammerstein. It encourages their mate to “push those planes along” and tells him that soon he will take over “all wide awake and strong.”

Nanna’s Lied, sung in German, is a setting of a lyric by Bertolt Brecht. It is a brittle, sometimes bitter, song that tells of a woman looking back on love, aging, and passing desire, blending tender melody with sharp social insight.

No disc of Weill’s vocal music would be complete without the “bittersweet elegy of autumnal romance,” September Song. Here it is heard in a lovely arrangement for piano solo. It was originally part of the fusion of American pop and “old world operetta, Knickerbocker Holiday produced in 1938.

Shortly before his death, Weill wrote five numbers for a musical based on the life of Mark Twain’s legendary Huckelberry Finn. Two are heard here. Apple Jack is a comical song about the dangers of drink! The beautiful This Time Next Year always brings a tear to the eye.

Speak Low is deservedly popular. Originally included in the Broadway musical One Touch of Venus (1943) which satirised contemporary American suburban values, artistic fads, and romantic and sexual mores. It is a well-wrought nocturne of whispered desire.

The musical play Lady in the Dark (1941) is about a fashion editor undergoing psychoanalysis, exploring dreams, indecision, love, trauma, and self-discovery. The lyrics were by Ira Gershwin. My Ship, where the singer is awaiting a vessel, becomes a metaphor for unrequited love and finally inner reconciliation.

Katie Bray won the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World in 2019, a milestone that brought her international attention. She has appeared with leading UK companies including English National Opera, Opera North, and Scottish Opera, in roles ranging from Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) to Hansel (Hansel and Gretel). Equally at home in the recital room, she is acknowledged for her interpretations of baroque repertoire and Kurt Weill’s music. Joining her are Murray Grainger (accordion), Marianne Schofield (double bass), and William Vann (piano), whose artistry brings a thoughtful magic to the programme. The booklet contains a major essay rather than brief notes on each song. It is illustrated with photos of all the performers and the composer. The texts and translations are included.

Katie Bray’s recital reveals a voice leaning more toward operatic richness than Lotte Lenya’s husky contralto, famed for its blend of tenderness and biting irony. Nor does she echo Ute Lemper’s theatrical cabaret style. Instead, Bray offers a warmly engaging balance of classical refinement and cabaret mix of sensuality, satire, and sparkle, in her interpretation of these songs. This recital is wonderfully fresh, yet respectful of tradition, confirming Kurt Weill’s genius as a crossover composer.

Track Listing:
Kurt Weill (1900-50)
A Glimpse of Youkali - An Improvisation (2025)
Die Dreigroschenoper: Barbarasong (1928)
Berlin im Licht (1928)
Overture to Die Dreigroschenoper (1928)
Happy End: Surabaya Johnny (1929)
A Vision of Youkali - An Improvisation (2025)
Complainte de la Seine (1934)
Je ne t'aime pas (1934)
Marie Galante: J'attends un navire (1934)
A Dream of Youkali - An Improvisation (2025)
Lunchtime Follies: Buddy on the Nightshift (1942)
Nanna's Lied (1939)
Knickerbocker Holiday: September Song (1938)
Huckleberry Finn: Apple Jack (1950)
A Premonition of Youkali - An Improvisation (2025)
One Touch of Venus: Speak Low (1943)
Lady in the Dark: My Ship (1940)
Huckleberry Finn: This Time Next Year (1950)
Youkali: Mouvement de Tango-habanera (1935).
Katie Bray (mezzo-soprano), Murray Grainger (accordian), Marianne Schofield (double bass), William Vann (piano)
rec. 3-5 February 2025, St George’s, Headstone, Harrow, Middlesex
Texts and translations included
Chandos Digital CHAN20359

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

Three Pieces Arranged by Humphrey Searle by Thomas Roseingrave Concert Reviews: Part II

In his unpublished autobiography Quadrille with a Raven, Searle recalled that “the concert, which took place on [17 April 1939], also included Liszt's Malediction, a movement from a van Dieren quartet [Adagio cantando, Quartet No.5] to which I had added a double bass part (with the permission of the composer's widow) and the first public performance in England of Webern's Five Movements, op.5 in his own [Webern’s] arrangement for string orchestra. I wrote a short piece [Scherzo Malinconico] for the concert which was a curious mixture of Webern and Liszt, and I have since withdrawn it.”

The programme also included two well-known works: Bach's F-minor clavier concerto [BWV 1056] and the Elegy and Waltz from Tchaikovsky's Serenade, which was not performed as frequently then as it is today. Robert Irving was the soloist in both the Bach and the Liszt. Artistically, the concert was a success, but the reviews were a bit mixed. 

I will quote these critiques in full, as they cast also cast a light on the important Webern premiere and on Searle’s withdrawn Scherzo Malinconico.

 

R.H. (possibly Robert Hull) writing for the Daily Mail (18 April 1939, p.11) headed his critique MUSIC ELUDES THE EAR. He continues:

"At the Aeolian Hall last night Mr. Humphrey Searle conducted the London String Orchestra in a programme of old and new music. Of the former, two fugues and a voluntary by the 18th-century English composer Thomas Roseingrave proved very beautiful and worthy of frequent performance. Of the latter, the first concert performance in England of Anton von Webern's Five movements for string orchestra showed a concentration of style that left everything to the imagination and very little to the ear.”

The Daily Telegraph (18 April 1939, p12) gave an extensive review of the concert. Ferruccio Bonavia began by recalling that:

“Humphrey Searle conducted the London String Orchestra at Aeolian Hall last night in a programme that consisted largely of novelties and unfamiliar compositions. Thomas Roseingrave, represented by two fugues and a Voluntary arranged by Mr. Searle, is not one of the best-known musicians of the 18th century. Then a Scherzo malinconico by Mr. Searle, Five movements for string orchestra by Anton von Webern, and an orchestral setting of Bernard van Dieren's "Adagio cantando" were performed for the first time. Such a programme would be a severe test of the skill of an experienced conductor, and Mr. Searle is not yet that. His beat, lacking clearness and decision, imperilled the ensemble of some very straightforward music.

In the Webern pieces - which possess more tension and meaning in one bar, so the programme said, than many full-sized works of other composers - the conductor's ingenuity could not be definitely proved or disproved; but there were moments in the first movement when the playing sounded extremely haphazard. There was better playing in the acceptable rearrangement of the movement van Dieren’s quartet. But much the best performance of the evening was that of Bach’s piano concerto in F minor with Robert Irving as a sensitive interpreter.

The Scherzo malinconico did not give a clear idea of its composer’s trend. Mr. Searle has studied at the Royal College of Music, and also at Vienna with Anton von Webern. His scherzo is a pale reflection of two styles not usually identified with either the London or the Vienna school. The opening had a flavour of uncompromising intellectuality; but when the mood changed the style became bluff and fussy. It looked as if the composer meant to call forth spirits from the vasty deep and. when they failed to answer, rejoiced at his escape.”

The most extensive analysis of the Aeolian Hall concert was given in The Queen (3 May 1939, p.41):

“A young English conductor, Mr. Humphrey Searle, gave a concert with the London String Orchestra at [the] Aeolian Hall on April 17th. On paper his scheme looked intriguing: some rarely performed works by Roseingrave (1690-1766) and Liszt, and some novelties by Webern, van Dieren, and Mr. Searle himself.

In practice, however, the results were disappointing. The Roseingrave items (two fugues and a voluntary) sounded rather like inferior Bach, and although van Dieren’s “Adagio Cantando” was far more readily comprehensible than most of his other works, one looked in vain for the “serenity and beauty almost without rival in our time” which was claimed for him by the overoptimistic programme annotator. We were also informed that Webern is “one of the few living composers who have achieved real greatness,” that “the omission of a single note would destroy the effect of the whole,” and that “there is more tension and meaning (apart from the sheer beauty of the sound) in one bar of his music than in many full-sized works of other composers.” These claims seemed, to one listener at least, to be rather farfetched.

To most concert-goers, Webern is probably little more than a name, and if a connoisseur of music were told that a bar of Webern’s music had more meaning than, say, a symphony by Sibelius he would either wonder whether he had heard aright or else collapse in convulsions.

Apart from the saving grace of extreme brevity, Webern's Five movements for String Orchestra, op. 5 contained little to interest anyone outside of the composer’s limited circle of friends and pupils, or perhaps some historian of the future. It was received with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm by the audience. Most of the “twelve tone’ composers seem to suffer from acute anaemia and their appeal is mainly confined to those in a similar condition.

A new pianist, Robert Irving, gave a brilliant account of Liszt’s Malediction without, however, convincing us that the work is of any especial merit save to the out-and-out Lisztian.

By far the best music of this concert was Bach’s Piano Concerto in F minor, which Mr. Irving played with commendable clarity and control. Mr. Searle’s own Scherzo malinconico was a brief and ingenious essay much in the manner of his master, Webern; it did not reveal any genuine individuality, nor did it arouse the slightest desire to hear it again.

As a conductor, Mr. Searle has, at the moment, an extremely inflexible and inexpressive beat, and most of his readings were under-vitalised. But he is a sincere and conscientious musician and he will surely improve.”

Notes

Robert Irving (1913-91) was a British pianist and conductor known mainly for his work in ballet. He spent much of his career shaping performances for companies like the Royal Ballet and New York City Ballet.

To be concluded...