Cyril Scott Twilight-Tide: for piano solo (1918)

An advert in the Musical Times (October 1918, p.440) noted that four new piano pieces by Cyril Scott (!879-1970) were available from Elkin & Co., Ltd. These were Consolation, Requiescat, Rondeau de Concert and Twilight-Tide. Both the Consolation and the Rondeau were noted as being in the current repertoire of the Russian-born pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch (1890-1963). There were also four new songs listed. The advert included a short quote from a recent copy of the Musical America journal: “Cyril Scott is one of the biggest men in English music, in fact in the music of today.” How the mighty have fallen.

The enigmatic piano piece Twilight-Tide was composed in 1918 and was published in the same year by Elkin. The War years had been strange for Cyril Scott. In 1914 he had been exempted from war service. He was subsequently employed as a clerical assistant in a typing pool. However, Lloyd George declared that Scott’s musical talents were of greater value to the nation than his office skills. During the latter years of the War, he played concerts for the War Charities efforts.  At the end of the conflict, Scott returned to Germany and Austria to assist in the reconstruction of the nation.  Clearly, the War had profoundly saddened the composer: so many of his friends had been German, and he had a great respect for the culture of that country.

Twilight-Tide neatly slots into the classification of “Nature Pieces” as proposed by Thomas Darson (1979, p.142f). Darson writes that “Nature, one of Romanticism’s primary sources of inspiration, is abundantly represented in Scott’s works. Not only does he evoke the expressive moods of nature, but also its sounds, motions and picturesqueness.” Aspects of nature that appealed to the composer included woods, mountains, water, the animal kingdom, flowers and the times of the day or year. These encompassed character pieces such as Impromptu (A Mountain Brook), Two Alpine Sketches, Water-Wagtail, Autumn Idyll, Rainbow Trout, A Lonely Dell and Twilight-Tide.  Most of these are salon pieces, however, Rainbow Trout is certainly a considerable work of art. 

The overall mood of Twilight-Tide is one of restraint and reflection. This is supplemented by a musical onomatopoeia of water gently lapping on the shore; the tide being on the turn. The work is paced at Andante (not too slowly). This is typical for the entire piece. There are further dynamics of Poco animato for the middle section, a return to Andante, with the work concluding Tranquillo. The time signature is 6/8 with the occasional bar in 3/8 or 9/8. This adds a little rhythmic flexibility, without upsetting the general flow of the piece. A relatively simple left had accompaniment supports various chords of different density.

There is no key signature for Twilight-Tide, however, there is a loose reference to D flat major throughout the piece, which finds rest in the final chord.  The first three chords presents a transition from D flat major to D major, which is a characteristic of this piece.

The structure of Twilight-Tide is interesting. The overall form is basically ternary. However, the opening section is more episodic than may be expected. There are three phrases here that are largely unrelated. The first phrase is simply a sequence of parallel thirds, with considerable harmonic ambiguity. When this is repeated, the left-hand plays arpeggios supporting these thirds:

The second episode is predicated on several augmented triads in first inversion, with a double pedal point in an unrelated key:

The third event  is really a bridge passage leading into the Trio section of the piece. When the first part is reprised at the end of the work, only the first two of these episodes are used:

The middle section of Twilight-Tide musically represents the flowing water:

 

This features a chain of first inversion chords that are more or less related key wise. The chords are supported by rising or falling 5^ths and 4^ths in the left hand. 

Allusions in this piece abound. There are certainly echoes of Claude Debussy, especially the Voiles and La fille aux cheveux de lin from Book 1 of his Preludes.

I was unable to find any details of a premiere performance for Twilight-Tides. As noted above, the piece is classified as salon music. So, it is likely to have been first heard in someone’s music room or a local concert. 

Fortunately, in 2005, Leslie De’Ath began a major project encompassing much of Cyril Scott’s piano music. Twilight-Tide duly appeared on the first volume of this edition. The CD was well received by critics, though none seemed willing to give a detailed comment on this present piece. There is no reference to it in the liner notes.

The score of Cyril Scott’s Twilight-Tide for piano solo (1918) is available on IMSLP.

Bibliography:

Darson, Thomas H., The Solo Piano Works of Cyril Scott, City of New York University, 1979)

Discography:

Scott, Cyril, Complete Piano Works Volume 1 Suites and Miniatures, Leslie De’ath, Dutton Epoch CDLX7150, 2005.