Peter Dickinson is
an all-round musician. Probably best-known as a composer of many impressive
works covering a wide range of styles, he is also an accomplished pianist and
organist with a number of recordings to his credit. However, an essential part
of his career has been his musicological studies. This has included major books
on Lennox Berkeley, Lord Berners and Billy Mayerl. He is also an academic with a number of senior
appointments over the years to music colleges and university departments. In 2014, Peter Dickinson celebrated his 80th
birthday. Although a little late, this present literary retrospective of his
life and work is a most welcome gift to all who value his achievement.
A
few biographical notes on the composer and the ‘librettist’ will be useful.
Peter Dickinson was born in the lovely Lancashire seaside town of Lytham St.
Annes on 15 November 1934. After studying at Cambridge where he was Organ
Scholar at Queen’s College he began to compose. He showed his early works to
Lennox Berkeley who gave him considerable encouragement. In 1958 Dickinson began
study at the Juilliard School in New York. At this time he explored music by
composers such as Henry Cowell, John Cage and Edgard Varèse. After returning to
the United Kingdom, he spent most of the ‘day’ job as a lecturer at the College
of St. Mark and St. John, Chelsea and later in Birmingham. He was the first
professor of music at Keele University in 1974 and there established a centre
for the study of American music. Further academic distinction included chairman
of music at Goldsmiths College, University of London and Fellow and Head of Music
at the Institute of United States Studies in London.
Interspersed
with this academic accomplishment was a parallel career of composition. His
style is eclectic, with a number of pieces exploring the techniques of the so-called
avant-garde. Critics have noted that some of his music has been compared to
Igor. Stravinsky, Charles Ives and Erik Satie. Latterly, his works have moved
into a more approachable, if not populist style, which fuses “a mix of ragtime,
jazz, serial music, and even electronic playback to more traditional types of
instrumental musical forms.”
Peter Dickinson: Words and
Music is divided into nine sections, each majoring on an
important aspect of his career.
I
would recommend beginning an exploration of this book by reading ‘Some
Autobiography: Three Musical Careers.’ This is a major expansion of any short
biographical note about the composer. As the chapter title implies, it
considers the interaction of pianist/organist, teacher/musicologist/author and
composer, set in roughly chronological order. I think he got the title wrong
–it should be at least ‘Six’ musical careers. One of several things that
emerges from this chapter is just how many famous (and not so famous)
characters from the entire world of 20th century musical and
literary culture Peter Dickinson knows or has met.
Stephen
Banfield presents an 80th birthday tribute, which, after an examination
of his career, concludes by declaring that for him, ‘Peter Dickinson the
composer’ matters the most.
The
third chapter takes its material from articles and reviews written between 1958
and 1961 when Dickinson was a graduate student at the Julliard School of
Music. Fellow students included Philip
Glass and Peter Schickele (the legendary genius P.D.Q. Bach). One review caught my eye: ‘Szell gives
Walton’s Second Symphony: The Cleveland Orchestra 5 February 1961. He notes the ‘lyricism’ and ‘polished
craftsmanship’ of the work, but argues it lacks ‘the vitality of his earlier
work.’ The Symphony was received ‘with
enthusiasm and the composer was present to witness a most sympathetic
performance.’ Fifty-five years later, this review still holds water: it is a
definitive and succinct summing up in a hundred words of this much underrated
Symphony.
The
major part of Words and Music (122
pages) is devoted to Peter Dickinson’s ‘Writings abut Music.’ These varied
essays, articles and reviews have been assembled from a wide range
publications. The reader will notice
that not a few have are concerned with American musical subjects, such as
‘Charles Ives and Aaron Copland’, ‘The American Concerto’, and ‘Putting on John
Cage’s Musicircus.’ British and European subjects have not been ignored. A study
of ‘Lord Berners: A British Avant-gardist’ appeared in the Musical Times in 1983. It is a precursor of Dickinson’s major study
of Berners published by Boydell Press in 2008. He concludes this essay by
suggesting that ‘No other Englishman could have come to terms so swiftly and
easily with the avant-garde developments of the World War 1 period, and then
used this experience towards music of a quite different type in ballet and films.’
Clearly, this eccentric, but astute peer, is someone that needs to be ‘revisited’
by British music enthusiasts. Another
key essay is Dickinson’s study of African-American Influences on British
Composers.’ This is presented as a continuum from Fred. Delius whose work Appalachia and Koanga ‘forms a first chapter in [this] influence…’ through
William Walton, Arthur Bliss and Constant Lambert. Subsequent references
include Michael Tippett’s use of ‘spirituals’ in A Child of Our Time and the foxtrot episodes in Peter Maxwell
Davies’ St Thomas Wake.
Another
critical essay is the study of ‘Style Modulation as a Compositional Technique.’
Basically, this is where a composer uses ‘serious’ and ‘popular’ and ‘past’ and
‘present’ musical styles mixed together in a subtle and satisfying manner. This
may be used sequentially or simultaneously. There is more to it than this, but
it give the general idea. Interestingly, it has become one of the techniques
used by Dickinson himself. Composers deemed to employ this method to a greater
or lesser extent include Charles Ives, Billy Mayerl, Peter Maxwell Davies and
Richard Rodney Bennett.
Other
articles include a tribute to the early music player and musicologist David
Munrow, an appreciation of the composer ‘Wilfred Mellors at Ninety’ and an
overview evaluation of a number of CD recordings of Lennox Berkeley’s ‘1940s’
compositions.
If
Peter Dickinson’s writings about music were not enough, Section V of this book
presents a number of significant essays on literary ‘connections’. These
include ‘Emily Dickinson and Composers’, the impact of T.S. Eliot on Stravinsky,
Britten and Rawsthorne and a centenary tribute to the British poet Ruth Pitter
(1897-1992). Two other papers make
compulsive reading: Dickinson’s meetings with W.H. Auden and with Philip
Larkin. Dickinson was to set a number of the Hull poet’s poems as ‘Larkin’s
Jazz’ for baritone/speaker and five players, piano and percussion.
I
do wish that I had known about the three essays (Part VI) included here by Peter
Dickinson about his own music. Writing my reviews of his many CDs would have
been made considerably easier. The first
article examines compositions written between about 1975 and 1987. This period was dominated by his attempt
(highly successful) to use a popular musical idiom within a larger context and
also to ‘determine a means of notating different kinds of music simultaneously.’ He discusses how this has been achieved in his
Organ and Piano Concertos as well as Surrealist
Landscapes and the Satie Transformations. The second paper examines why ‘Nationalism is
not Enough’. And finally there is an analysis of Dickinson’s organ music ‘From
Organ Loft to Rags and Blues.’ This
discussion ranges from the ‘English cathedral tradition’ of ‘A Cambridge
Prelude’ albeit with a bluesy pedal part in places, to the transformation of MacDowell’s
‘To a Wild Rose’ by way of ‘blues and rags’.
All of Peter Dickinson’s organ works have been recorded on Naxos
8.572169.
Part
VII and VIII of Words and Music
include various interviews, travelogues and a memoir by Meriel Dickinson. Peter Dickinson has always appreciated Erik
Satie, so the present imaginary colloquy between ‘Dickinson and Satie’ makes
interesting reading. It was written for the Centenary on 17 May 1966, but was
never broadcast or published at that time. He makes use of ‘genuine’ Satie
comments and thoughts: it is the interviewer’s questions which are tailored to
the answers. Also included is a discussion
between Peter and Meriel Dickinson with the broadcaster Richard Baker (11
October 1994) and a debate between the editor of the Gramophone magazine, James Jolly and Dickinson, made in 2014.
The
final section of the book includes a chronological catalogue of Dickinson’s
music. This begins with the early, above-mentioned ‘A Cambridge Postlude’ for
organ and concludes with the orchestral version of the delightful Suite for the
Centenary of Lord Berners completed in 2015. There are literally dozens of
works composed in the intervening years. Many of these have been commercially
recorded, and these are conveniently noted by an asterisk. This amounts to
close on half of his compositions, which is an excellent state of affairs. I
guess that we will have to wait for the definitive catalogue of works,
including the apparatus of instrumentation, first performances, location of
manuscripts, publication, reviews, etc. Coupled to the works list is a ‘Peter and
Meriel Dickinson Discography’. This is usefully divided into two sections:
works by Dickinson, and works by other composers. I was amazed at just how
extensive these listings are. If I were
to pick one example, it would be An Erik
Satie Entertainment (1976) featuring both Peter and Meriel. This is their
most successful and best-selling album: it did much to raise awareness of
Satie’s music to the late twentieth century audience.
Finally,
there is an extensive index, ranging from Zez Confrey to Elizabeth Sprague
Coolidge and from Walter Damrosch to Johnny Dankworth by way of Darmstadt. It
reflects Peter Dickinson’s wide-ranging interests and attainments.
It
would have been useful to have included a bibliography in this book detailing
essays, books and reviews by and about the composer.
As
expected of Boydell Press, Words and
Music is well-presented. It is printed on good quality paper, with a clear
font. There are a number of musical examples illustrating the argument of the
text. Included, are a number colour plates illustrating handbills for Peter
Dickinson’s concerts and recitals as well as a remarkable collage of concert
tickets made by the composer.
Normally,
in a book review I try to detail who the book will be of particular value to.
In the case of Peter Dickinson’s Words
and Music, this is not an easy task. I guess that just about everyone who
is involved with 20th century music and literature will find a large
amount of interest in these pages. Musicians, historians and listeners will discover
that Dickinson’s writings on Ives, Satie, Barber, Copland, and Cage are of considerable
importance. Essays on Lord Berners, Wilfred Mellers, Lennox Berkeley and David
Munrow will be of use to British music aficionados. Of wider appeal are the
articles on W.H. Auden, Philip Larkin and Emily Dickinson. Of significance to fans of the composer are the
discussions of his own music, and on ‘Style Modulation.’ Finally, the biographical chapters on
Dickinson which open the book will be of great help to writers and critics of
his music, as well as containing fascinating insights into many decades of
musical achievement.
All
in all, this is one of the most essential retrospectives featuring any
composer, his life and works and interests to have been issued in many years.
It will retain its impact through the coming decades for scholars, critics,
listeners, poetry readers and performers.
Words
and Music: Peter Dickinson
The Boydell Press, hardback, 336
pages
IBSN 978 1 78327 106 1
£30.00
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