I have always had a soft spot for the antics of Mr Punch and
his ‘friends’ since first seeing a performance of this classic seaside
entertainment at the great Lancashire seaside of Fleetwood in 1969. (In fact,
walking along the seafront there the other day, I noticed that he is still
going strong-on Fridays during the summer). It is fortunate that the ‘plot’ of
this burlesque has not been watered-down by the politically correct elite.
Punchinello was an earlier incarnation of Punch: it appears that he was a clown
from Italian puppet show. I wrote two years ago about a piece with the same
title by a certain John Cottam Holliday. So it is nice to discover this equally good example
by the once popular light music composer Frederic Curzon.
Frederic Curzon is now best recalled for his attractive, if
slightly melancholic, piece The Dance of
the Ostracised Imp. Cognoscenti of the genre will also enjoy his Iberian
suite In Malaga as well as the more
solidly British themes Robin Hood Suite in
three movements.
The Miniature Overture: Punchinello was composed around 1948
and was dedicated to the Welsh-born conductor Rae Jenkins (1903-1985). Jenkins
had performed many of Curzon’s short pieces on the Radio during the 1940s and
50s and led to the composer becoming (for a space) a household name.
It is hardly surprising that there is little critical
commentary on this present piece, but it deserves listening to carefully.
Curzon’s description of some of Punchinello’s adventures are neatly presented. Like
so much of his music the orchestration is second to none.
It opens with a few sharp chords before a scurrying string theme
begins the adventure. These chords to interrupt the proceedings every so often.
The woodwind introduces another little tune that leads on from the scampering
tune. After a little Coatesian ‘development’ the work concludes with a short
sharp coda. There is no real contrasting tune to suggest a more romantic side
to Punchinello’s nature. It is really just about mischief.
To my knowledge, there are three versions of this
delightful work currently available in the Record Catalogues. As long ago as
1991, Marco Polo brought out a retrospective of Curzon’s music on 8.223425. This presented most of the composer’s pot-boiler’s including
the titles mentioned above. There is the February 1962 recording made by George Weldon with the Pro Arte Orchestra on the EMI sampler of light music 0887962. The final version is
part of Guild’s The Golden Age of Light Music –Great British Composers Volume 2
GUILD
GLCD 5203. No recording
has reached YouTube yet.
1 comment:
And don't forget his wonderful The Boulevardier...
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