Recently, I reviewed Volume 1 of Sir
Alexander Campbell Mackenzie Complete Music for Solo Piano. I refer the reader
to that review for details of the composer’s life and general housekeeping for
the CD production. Volume 2 is equally rewarding as a recital and as a product.
Once again, I am beholden to the excellent liner notes for much of the
information I have presented in this review.
Volume 2 opens with the Rustic
Scenes, op.9. It appears that these were written in 1876, although the published
edition is dated 1897. No matter, these four Scenes are charming if not
essential. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a score of them. As the liner
notes suggest they are typical of the kind of character pieces that were
popular in the late Victorian era. The titles are poetic rather than
descriptive. The inevitable ‘Rustic Dance’ comes first. It seems that composers
were obsessed with outwardly unsophisticated country folk in those days. It is
a merry little number with just an occasional hint of melancholy. Mackenzie
travels north for the ‘Forester’s Song’. This echoes the shielings of Argyll
rather than the huts of Sherwood Forest. Here and there a little echo of
Scottish music creeps into this happy tune. The undisputed masterwork here is
the ‘Curfew Song’. This is heartfelt music that explores deeper waters than the
ethos of the Suite implies. Once again, the listener can picture the Highlands.
Finally, ‘Harvest Home’. I wonder how many compositions have been give this or
a similar title over the years. Mackenzie’s ticks all the boxes with a good
balance between riotous and prayerful thanksgiving.
The Five Pieces, op.13 (not op.15
as in the liner notes) were published in 1877. Once again, they would appear to
be designed to satisfy the ‘salon music’ market. And there is nothing wrong
with that! If only composers had always considered their listeners and
performers rather than their egos… Howell notes that these are more technically
competent that the earlier Rustic Scenes. I was only able to study the score
for the opening ‘Impromptu’ and the ‘Saga’. The former is written in a
well-constructed ternary (three part) form that is wistful in mood. The right-hand
part is quite delicious in its pensive explorations. This is followed by a
bouncy little gigue that has just a hint of the baroque about it. It is a
perfect precursor for the most significant piece in this collection, the ‘Saga’.
Here, Mackenzie alludes to Celtic sensibilities as well as presenting a ‘bleak
Nordic tone that anticipates Sibelius.’ The middle section is way beyond the paygrade
of the amateur pianist. Saga has an ascription from Longfellow’s The Saga of
King Olaf which sets the tone. A reflective ‘La Coquette’ follows which is
in complete contrast. This young lady is only just a little flirtatious, but
clearly quite lovely. The concluding ‘Evening in the Fields’ is back to an
imagined rustic simplicity. It seems to balance a lively dance with a
meditation on the setting of the sun. Perhaps, the weakest of this set of Five
Pieces?
Two early works are included
which date back to the time when Alexander Mackenzie was studying in Germany. Neither
have been published and are played here from the manuscript. The first is a sad
and reflective little tone poem, Sehnsucht (Loneliness) whilst the
second, Ungarisch. is a fair attempt at writing a Hungarian ‘Czardas’. Howell
reminds the listener that the composer’s father died shortly after beginning
his studies in Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Sehnsucht naturally seems to
reflect his loss.
Odds and Ends is by and
large a good title for Mackenzie’s op.83. It is subtitled ‘Par ci, par là’ (Here and there). They
were published during the Great War in 1916. The opening ‘Refrain’ curiously
nods towards John Ireland with its ‘obsessive melancholy’ whilst the second, ‘High
Spirits’ is wayward, without being reckless. The second ‘book’ opens with ‘Telling
a Story’ that pushes its harmonic language into the 20th century,
however this tale could be about anything. The final ‘Odds and Ends’ is a ‘Pavane
and Musette’. The liner notes suggest Cyril Scott as an exemplar. I am not so
sure: I found it a little monotonous.
The final work on this CD is
Mackenzie’s ‘most ambitious single piece’ the Fantasia, op.70. It was published
in 1909 and dedicated to Philip L Agnew. Agnew was chairman of the Royal
Academy of Music as well as being one of the proprietors of the long-running
satirical magazine, Punch. Moreover, he had created an annual prize for
pianoforte awarded at the RAM. Howell mentions that ‘notable recipients’
included Leo Livens, Michael Head and Clifford Curzon.
An argument could be made that
the Fantasia is a ‘one-movement sonata.’ The structure would seem to suggest a
sonata. Howell points out the powerful first theme that is both confident and
optimistic. This is followed by a much more reticent ‘second subject’ which
could be a ‘slow movement.’ Equally, the development section has all the
effervescence of a ‘scherzo.’ The inevitable recapitulation of the two main
themes may well suggest that it is cyclic. Listening to this music is both rewarding
and inspiring. This must rate as one of the Mackenzie’s finest excursions for
piano (or any instruments).
The liner notes conclude with an interesting conceit: ‘those
in search of the major piano work Elgar never wrote, may well find much of what
they are seeking in this free-flowing, eloquently romantic chef-d'oeuvre by
Mackenzie.’ It is a sentiment that I could well come to agree with. I note that
the Fantasia was completed in the lovely West Riding town of Ilkley.
The final instalment of this
survey promises to be equally good in every way. It will feature the Scenes
in the Scottish Highlands, op.23 (1880) which has been regarded as
Alexander Mackenzie’s ‘Scottish’ Piano Sonata. Equally promising are the early Variations
in E minor (c.1861).
Track Listing:
Alexander Campbell MACKENZIE (1847-1935)
Rustic Scenes, op.9 (1876)
Five Pieces, op.13 (1877)
Sehnsucht (1862)
Ungarisch (1862)
Odds and Ends – Par ci, par là, op.83 Books 1 & 2
(1916)
Fantasia, op.70 (1909)
Christopher Howell (piano)
rec. Studios of Griffa & Figli s.r.l., Milan, Italy, 14
February 2017, 21 June 2018.
Sheva Collection SH229
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