Charles Williams has written a delightful
miniature tone-poem describing one of the most romantic places in the South of
England. Seaford Head is located between Brighton and Eastbourne. From the Head
there is a great view of the South Downs, the famous Seven Sisters and
unsurpassed vistas of the English Channel. Tennyson stayed here and revised his
‘Ode to Wellington’. The house has gone, but the garden is (I believe) still
there, with cedar trees that the poet would have known. Smugglers were rife about
here many years ago and the nearby Seaford College was built on the site of the
old Corsica Hall, which belonged to a smuggler.
The musical image opens with a
nautical flourish supported by a musical representation of waves gently washing
onto the beach. There is a big tune introduced which is quickly built up into a
climax, before dying down. The woodwind takes over and slowly brings this piece
to an end.
The raison d’être of this piece
was not as concert piece: it was designed to be used as an accompaniment to a
documentary film. It was a library piece probably filed under ‘seascapes’ which
would be used by film directors to underscore their scenes. It is just a pity
that this beautiful music was not developed beyond the 1 minute 47 second
duration. Yet there is enough to convince me that Charles Williams had captured
the mood and view of this most exciting part of the South Coast. It is easy to
imagine yachts or even a cross-channel ferry heading out mid-channel as the
visitor stares out to sea. Perhaps he has his arm wrapped round a girl’s waist?
There is all the romance of the sea wrapped up in these few precious bars.
Seaford Head is available on
Guild The
Golden Age of Light Music GLCD5107 played by the Queen’s Hall Light
Orchestra conducted by the composer. The recording was made in 1942 and was
catalogued as Chappell Music Library No. C189.
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