A few notes about Peter Jacobs may be of interest. Born in 1945, he graduated from the Royal Academy of Music some twenty-two years later. His teachers included Alexander Kelly and Eric Fenby. After a short spell as Director of Music at Taunton School, he returned to London to begin his career as a concert pianist, an examiner and an adjudicator. Beginning in the 1980s Jacobs began to explore, learn, perform and record a wide range of then-neglected British composers including John Foulds, Alan Bush, Harold Truscott and Billy Mayerl. Of huge interest to me was the complete piano works of Frank Bridge. These have remained my favourite exposition of these pieces, despite rival releases by Ashley Wass (Naxos) and Mark Bebbington (Somm). The liner notes of this current CD point out the sad fact that many of these definitive recordings have “fallen into obscurity” and have been deleted from the catalogue. Several of these were originally released on the Continuum and Olympia labels, now long defunct. It is fantastic news, then, that Heritage Records are currently in the process of re-releasing several of these important CDs.
Volume 1 of this project covers Parry, Stanford and Vaughan Williams. My introduction to Parry’s piano music was the evocative Shulbrede Tunes (1914), conceived when the composer was staying with his eldest daughter, Dorothea, at Shulbrede Priory in West Sussex. I had found a score of this music in a second-hand bookshop. Most of these pieces were beyond me, but I could just about manage the second, Elizabeth. The concept behind Shulbrede Tunes was the creation of sketches of the folk who lived there, as well as the numinous aspects of the Priory itself. Hence the mysterious Prior’s Chamber by Firelight and In the Garden with Dew on the Grass. People depicted include Parry’s son-in-law Arthur Ponsonby in Father Playmate. Matthew and Elizabeth were the composer’s grandchildren, whilst Dolly No.1 and Dolly No.2 were different characterisations of his daughter, Dorothea (Dolly). The reader will note that these charming pieces were composed in 1914: just before the optimistic Edwardian Era vanished during the cataclysmic Great War.
The earliest piece here is Parry’s Theme and Nineteen Variations in D minor (c.1878-85). This is a rewarding work that was ignored during the composer’s lifetime. Once described as being “a most inartistic and depressing arrangement” it seems to have come of age. It is wide-ranging and offers a challenging and idiomatic pianism.
The attractive Hands across the Centuries: Suite for Piano was written towards the end of the First World War in 1918. This work reflects Parry’s interest in J.S. Bach. The entire progress of Hands across the Centuries relies on Baroque dance forms, brought up to date, at least to Parry’s musical aesthetic. Its retro mood falls into the same category as his Lady Radnor and English Suites, both composed for strings.
If this piano music echoes Mendelssohn and Schumann, this is no problem. Often, Parry’s own individual voice shines through to great and moving effect.
Peter Jacobs brings this music to life. His rendition is always full of charm, warmth and a total lack of condescension.
The next two CDs in this boxed set explore the music of Charles Villiers Stanford. Peter Jacobs presents the massive Twenty-Four Preludes Set I, op.163 (1918) and Twenty-Four Preludes Set II, op.179 (1920) as well as the Six Characteristic Pieces, op.132 (1912) and the Three Rhapsodies op.92 (1904). In recent years Christopher Howell has issued the ‘Complete Piano Works’ in three volumes. (Reviewed here Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3). These latter are essential purchases for all Stanford enthusiasts.
The reader will excuse me for not musing on each of the 48 Preludes. Three things need to be said to aid appreciation. Firstly, they follow the key scheme of J.S. Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846–893. Secondly, they are not academic or pedantic. John F. Porte has suggested that they “cover almost every mood, from that of the funeral procession to the jovial, and from the weighty Hibernian march to fairy-like charm and grace.” Here are waltzes and Irish melodies as well as a Study and an In Memoriam. Thirdly, they are deemed to be highly pianistic and do not introduce technical difficulties for the sake of it. One last thought: are these two sets of Preludes meant to be heard as two cycles or can they be excerpted? I guess that either approach can be made.
The Three Rhapsodies were inspired by Dante Alighieri. These powerful pieces were composed in 1904. J.A. Fuller-Maitland defines them as “the most ambitious of Stanford’s pianoforte compositions” but also “strangely lacking in inspiration.” Charles Porte considers that despite the Dante theme “they are rather dull as musical works.” I disagree with these negative comments: I find these explorations of ‘Francesca’, ‘Beatrice’, and ‘Capaneo’ moving, inspiring and beautiful. They are “gorgeous expressions of love and loss.”
Stanford wrote his Six Characteristic Pieces, op.132 in 1912 for the Polish pianist and composers, Moritz Rosenthal. There is considerable variety in this music, ranging from the sometimes-fervent, but always lovely, Romance to the Schumannesque Roundel, and from a Study that echoes Felix Mendelssohn to the final Toccata that appears to forth-tell George Gershwin’s big hit I got Rhythm composed some 18 years later. It is a splendid set of pieces, brilliantly played here.
The Vaughan Williams CD divides into two parts: those pieces
which are slight and those that are deeper in intent. I recall (c.1971) finding
the sheet music for The Lake in the Mountains in the Coatbridge
Town Library. I couldn’t play it, but more pertinently, it did not sound like
the Vaughan Williams I had been discovering, such as the Greensleeves
Fantasia, The Lark Ascending and Hugh the Drover. The present
piano piece, which has its origins in the film score 49th
Parallel (1941) was written for the pianist Phyllis Sellick. Although the
music is quiet and reflective, it hardly ticks the boxes of ‘pastoral’. RVW has
injected more than a hint of acerbity, as befits the plot of the film. The
Lake in the Mountains was to be Vaughan Williams final work for the piano.
The Hymn Tune Prelude on ‘Song
13’ (Orlando Gibbons) (1930) is a perfect fusion of styles. The music seems
to emerge from the Tudor past and is imbued with RVWs personal musical
fingerprint. It was written for, and dedicated to, Harriet Cohen. Peter Jacob
captures the timeless magic of this music.
The other important work here is
the Chorale and Chorale Prelude 'Ach, bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ'.
It was included in the Harriet Cohen Bach Book (1930). This is a
collection of pieces by several front-ranking British composers including Arnold
Bax, Arthur Bliss, Frank Bridge, Herbert Howells, John Ireland, Constant Lambert,
William Walton and Vaughan Williams. RVWs
contribution is a ‘re-imagining’ Bach’s Chorale Prelude ‘Ach bleib bei uns,
Herr Jesu Christ’, BWV 649 (the fifth of the six Schübler Chorale Preludes).
This in turn was Bach’s own transcription of the of the third movement of his Cantata
‘Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend warden’ BWV6. Vaughan Williams’s take is a little
masterpiece.
The Six Little Pieces (Teaching Pieces) (1934) and the Suite in G Major (Suite of Six Short Pieces) (1921) are both minor works that are nevertheless enjoyable and satisfying if not vital.
All this music by Stanford, Parry and RVW is played with conviction and perception. Jacobs is not a flamboyant pianist. He uses his considerable technique to better reveal the musical content of each piece. That said, he is well able to introduce passion, vivacity and intimacy when appropriate. The liner notes would appear to be from the original CDs and records: Jeremy Dibble for the Parry and Stanford, and Robert Matthew-Walker for RVW.
The only thing I could not find in the liner notes were details of the original releases. I think that they are as shown here:
1. Charles Hubert Hastings Parry: Priory PRCD 451 (c.1995)
2. Charles Villiers Stanford Volume 1: Priory PRCD 449 (c.1996)
3. Charles Villiers Stanford Volume 2: Olympia OCD 638 (c.1997)
4. Ralph Vaughan Williams: Phoenix Records DGS1019 (c.1982)
This is an excellent
re-presentation of old[ish] but essential recordings of piano music by three
great composers from the British Isles. Those of us who are long in the tooth
will probably have some, or all, of these albums in our collection. On the
other hand, there must surely be a new generation of listeners who will enjoy
exploring this music, so ably performed by Peter Jacobs.
CD1
Charles Hubert Hastings PARRY (1848-1918)
Shulbrede Tunes (1914)
Theme and Nineteen Variations in D minor (1878)
Hands across the Centuries: Suite for Piano (pub.1918)
CD 2
Charles Villiers STANFORD (1852-1924)
Twenty-Four Preludes Set I, op.163 (1918)
Six Characteristic Pieces, op.132 (1912)
CD 3
Charles Villiers STANFORD
Twenty-Four Preludes Set II, op.179 (1920
Three Rhapsodies op.92 (1904)
CD 4
Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958)
The Lake in the Mountains (1947)
Six Little Pieces (Teaching Pieces) (1934)
Hymn Tune Prelude on ‘Song 13’ (Orlando Gibbons) (1928)
Suite in G Major (Suite of Six Short Pieces) (1920
Choral and Choral Prelude (Ach, bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ – Lord Jesus Christ with us abide) (1930)
Peter Jacobs (piano)
Rec. Roslyn Hill Chapel, London, 17 December 1992 (Parry); 14-17 December 1992; RVW [?]
HERITAGE RECORDS HTGCD 405
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