Alun Hoddinott was one of the
most significant Welsh/British composers of the second half of the twentieth
century. His musical output was considerable and covered virtually every form
and genre from opera to his ten symphonies. He was born in Bargoed,
Glamorganshire on 11 August 1929. After an education at Gowerton Grammar School
he went up to University College in Cardiff.
He was a founder member of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales. After
university he studied with the composer Arthur Benjamin. Apart from composing,
Hoddinott held a number of academic posts including lecturer in music at the
Welsh College of Music and Drama, and then as Lecturer, Reader and Professor of
Music at University College, Cardiff. In 1967 he co-founded the Cardiff
Festival of Music with the pianist John Ogdon. Alun Hoddinott died on 11
March 2008
Hoddinott’s musical style was
eclectic. He embraced serialism and aleatory music, jazz and popular idioms
through to his ‘nocturnal’ moods characterised by dense chromaticism and
‘brooding’ Celtic intensity.
The ‘Toccata alla Giga’ Op.37 No.1
was composed in 1964. It was commissioned by Oxford University Press for the
first album of Modern Organ Music
which was duly published in 1965.
The first performance of the piece was given in the Santa Maria la Real de La Almudena Cathedral,
Madrid in the same month as the manuscript was completed –July 1964. The
organist was Bryan Hesford, who was also the editor of the published score. The
same performer gave the UK premiere at the Parish Church of St. Mary, Little
Walsingham on 12 August 1964. The work
has received only a single recording by Huw Tregelles Williams (BRAN B1202) on
the Brangwn Hall organ issued in 1980. This has not been re-released on CD or
download. There was a proposed recording
by Robert Munns; however I can find no trace of this having been published.
The ‘Toccata alla Giga’ was Hoddinott’s first major essay
for the organ. He was to contribute a small number of fine works for the
instrument over the following years including the Concerto for Organ and
Orchestra, Op.51 (1967) and the Symphony No.7 for Organ and Orchestra, Op.137
(1989). The important Sonata for Organ, Op.96/2 appeared in 1978: it is the
only organ work by the composer to be currently available on CD. [Great European Organs Volume 44 Jane
Watts, Priory Records 1993 PRCD389]
The same year as the ‘Toccata alla Giga’ was composed saw Hoddinott’s
‘Intrada’ for organ, Op.37 No.2 and the ‘Sarum Fanfare’ Op.37 No.3 which were
also commissions for Oxford University Press.
The key to ‘Toccata alla Giga’ work lies in its title. A ‘toccata’ is typically a piece of music
designed to create the impression of an improvisation and to display the
technical skill of the performer. It is often characterised by elaborate runs,
complex and/or repetitive figurations, full chords and sometimes sections of
imitation. It is not unusual for the tempo to be relatively free and at the
discretion of the player. The ‘alla
giga’ part of the title means ‘played like a ‘jig’ or ‘gigue.’ Interestingly this ‘baroque’ form derived
from the Irish or English ‘Jig’. The ‘giga’ is the Italian version, and is
often styled as being non-fugal with running passages over a harmonic basis.
The ‘giga’ is invariably written in 3/8, 6/8, 12/8 or sometimes 6/4 time.
Hoddinott has chosen 6/8 throughout. Organists will be reminded of Bach’s
(spurious) ‘Fugue alla giga’, BWV577. Although this is clearly not the exemplar
for the present work both pieces are based on the characteristic ‘jig’ rhythm.
Formally, the ‘Toccata alla Giga’ work has an ABA structure.
There is a short three-chord introduction which is answered by the main ‘giga’
figuration. The basic cell from which
much of the music is derived is two dissonant, staccato chords followed by a
unison ‘chord’ on C#. This phrase is repeated a number of times with various
harmonies throughout the piece.
The middle section of the Toccata is an elaboration of the
second part of the introductory phrase. This is presented in a number of guises
and rhythmical variations which build up to a crescendo preceded by a running
passage in unison on the ‘great’ organ. The opening cell is presented at ‘double-forte’
before the ‘jig’ figuration is presented again. After a number of unison scales
the work ends loudly with a reiteration of the opening chord sequence. The
pedal part is active for less than half of piece’s duration. The melodic
pattern is typically based on two falling semitones.
There are a number of possible registrations for this Toccata.
The composer has asked for full organ on both Great and Swell with an added
‘mixture’ on the Choir organ. The chordal pattern requires ‘full reeds’ which
are then put ‘off’ for the ‘giga’ figures. Hoddinott has called for flutes in
the middle section, which sounds particularly effective with the mordents and
trills. Although this piece requires a 16´ pedal, the composer explicitly
states that a 16´ stop must not be used on the manuals ‘throughout.’ It would be possible to play this Toccata
relatively quietly on wood stops.
The ‘Toccata alla Giga’ is difficult and requires an excellent
sense of rhythm to bring off the intricate variations and permutations on the
6/8 time signature that the composer has devised. Accuracy is required in the
unison passages and the playing of the ornaments. Registration need to be
carefully handled to reflect the use of the reed stops.
Corliss Richard Arnold in his Organ Literature: Historical Survey (Scarecrow Press: 1995) has
written that this Toccata has a ‘…powerful sense of snap and drive’. P.F.W.
(Music & Letters, October 1965) has declared that this Toccata is ‘a real
piece of music –a quick 6/8 jig, more or less atonal, un-halting, quick, fresh,
scherzo-like.’
There is certainly a need for a new version of Alun
Hoddinott’s ‘Toccata alla Giga’ on CD. This could well be coupled with the
other works for organ solo.
John
France February 2014 ©
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