The Whistling Book: English Music for Recorder and Piano

I think that this CD will be of more interest to performers rather than listeners. Let me explain. The ethos behind this double album, featuring some 18 pieces by 16 composers is a “tidying up” exercise. The advertising blurb clarifies that most of the works featured here are included in the Manchester music shop/publisher Forsyth Brother Ltd.’s catalogue of recorder and piano sheet music. Some seem to be more appropriate for teaching purposes, or for younger players beginning to build a repertoire. Most will be unfamiliar territory to many listeners, and perhaps even to recorderists as well. Stylistically, they range from the naïve to the pretentiously avant-garde, with most fitting into the tonal, approachable, fun and enjoyable category. So, I think that its greatest use will be as a thesaurus for instrumentalists seeking to extend and enhance their repertoire. 

Many of the works are dated between 1968 and 1998, except for the two valuable pieces by Alan Rawsthorne and Walter Leigh, extending the range back to the 1930s and 1940s.

One should add that the album was originally released in 1998, as John and Peter’s Whistling Book. This new edition includes three added items, namely Robin Walker’s Her Rapture for solo recorder, John Addison’s Spring Dances for solo descant recorder and finally the eccentric Kokopelli by Richard Whalley.

This smorgasbord of recorder and piano music gets off to a brilliant start with Geoffrey Poole’s varied Skally Skarekrow's Whistling Book (c.1978). These four short movements were originally devised for the composer’s son, James, however the final movement, Hailstones, has been souped up to reflect John Turner’s virtuosity. The other movements suggest drifting Clouds (with silver linings), Spring Breezes and Sunshine.

The Tempest has always been one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. Michael Ball has majored on Prospero’s Music (1984) in this ten minute offering. It captures the image of Caliban’s contention that the island is “full of noises and sweet airs, that delight and hurt not…” This is enchanting music that explores various aspects of the play, including the love of Ferdinand and Miranda and, more seriously, Ariel’s taunting of Caliban. The liner notes explain that the original inspiration was hearing the ringing of a mist-shrouded sea-buoy whilst Ball was on holiday on the Scilly Isles.

Turning to Alan Bullard’s Recipes (1989) I cannot write better than Rob Barnett did in his 1999 review of the first release of this CD: “These are high quality musical postcards: Continental serenade, hurdy-gurdy sentimentality, purring and bubbling jazziness, a Carmen fantasy, Chinoiserie with a dash of the puys of the Auvergne and a final knotted hanky knees-up.” The movement titles that provoked this marvellous prose are Coffee and Croissants, Barbecue Blues (when the fire goes out), Prawn Paella, Special Chop-Suey, and Fish and Chips. This articulate suite would make an entertaining offering at any recital.

 Alan Rasthorne’s little Suite was first performed by Arnold Dolmetsch on 17 July 1939 at a meeting of the London Contemporary Music Society. Seemingly, Rawsthorne withdrew it after the concert, though it was later arranged for viola d’amore and piano. The four movements include a short, deeply felt Sarabande, a lively Fantasia on an old English country dance, a sad Air and a sprightly Jig. The score was presumed lost but turned up in 1992. It did not deserve to be forgotten.

Nicholas Marshall’s short Caprice (undated) is a spry little number that fairly bounces along, while Douglas Steele’s Song (also undated) for recorder is touching with its long breathed melody. It is quite charming.

A big discovery is John Addison’s Spring Dances. These were written for John Turner in 1994, following a visit to the composer’s residence in Old Bennington, Vermont. The three dances, for solo recorder, explore a variety of moods: a cosy Allegretto, an expressive Andante con moto and a vivacious Allegro moderato, the progress of which covers a wide variety of time signatures. John Addison was born in 1920, not 1929, as stated in the booklet.

Robin Walker’s A Book of Song and Dance was completed in 1994. Eleven short sections make up this album of folk-like tunes. On occasion, there is barely time to get to know the melody. For example, Dance 1 is only 20 seconds long. Nods to well-known tunes include My Luve is like a Red Rose, Shenandoah and Clark Saunders. Four of them are for recorder alone: the others have piano accompaniment. Although these are discrete pieces, somehow, they seem to make a valid and consistent whole. I would suggest that they always be played through in the order presented in the score.

Her Rapture was written as recently as 2021, in memory of Robin Walker’s teacher, the composer Dorothy Pilling, who died in 1998. It is not a piece I warm to; the tessitura of the descant recorder is just a little too high and piercing in its imitation of our feathered friends.

I understand that Walter Leigh’s Air (1942) was his very last composition, before he was killed in action near Tobruk, Libya. This miniature is quite lovely in its apparent simplicity. Yet, there are deeper moments and more intricate harmonies to add to its success. It is good that it has been recorded here for posterity. Equally satisfying is Arnold Cooke’s Capriccio. It dates from 1985 and celebrates William Alwyn’s eightieth birthday.

I am not convinced by Anthony Gilbert’s Farings (1986?). The opening number, Mr Pitfield’s Pibroch, is a wild screechy piece. Equally headache-making is Eighty for Willam Alwyn with its clattering high notes on the piano. Five more movements follow including the Arbor Avium Canentium with its birdsong, the jig-like Batterfeet, dedicated to the composer Howard Ferguson and a take on plainsong in Chant-au-Clair. Other musicians referred to include John Turner (Slow Down after Fifty), Ida Carroll (Miss Carroll, her Lullabye) which would wake the dead, and composer Ian Parrott MidWales (Lightwhistle Automatic) with its repetitive (never ending!) melody. Perhaps it is the small recorder used that makes this listener reach for the paracetamol. I cannot resist the temptation to quote Rob Barnett’s review once more: “This is a much harder work with stop-start, strangulation occasional, Shostakovich-like intensity, flitters and shards of music, sparks and shrapnel…”

It is appropriate that one of John Turner’s compositions is included in this album. Four Diversions date from 1968/9 and, as the liner note state, have become one of the best known works in the recorder repertoire. The four movements are written in what would then have been an approachable contemporary style. The Intrada is bold in effect. This is followed by a vibrant, but too short, Waltz. The third Diversion, Aubade, has a touch of the Celt in it: it is followed by a dashing Hornpipe, once again looking north of the Border. The Four Diversions is deservedly popular.

Shadows in Blue, op.61 (1998) by David Ellis uses a variety of recorders to achieve its impact – sopranino, bass and tenor instruments along with the piano. Does this work nod more to Schoenberg than to jazz? There are some lovely sounds here, that would certainly enhance a smoke filled bar in downtown New York.

John Gollard’s Divertissement, op.52 (1988) is a satisfying backward glance to the baroque era with its modern take on an Entrée, a Gavotte, an Air and a Gigue. Equally rewarding, is his pastiche New World Dances op.62 (1980) which give a decent account of Ragtime, Blues and the Bossa Nova.

Richard Whalley’s Kokopelli (2013) is gruelling. It may represent a native American fertility rite, but it just does nothing for me, prepared piano and all.

Finally, the last track is dreadful. Kevin Malone’s Saturday Soundtrack (1998) is meant to evoke “background music” to an imaginary cartoon. Its concatenation of vocalised coughs, splutters, mutters, monkey chants and growls are a pathetic attempt at being relevant. Fortunately it only lasts for just over two minutes.

The liner notes, compiled by John Turner are most helpful. They include information about the composers and brief, but helpful, notes about all the works. These details could well be mined by performers for their programme notes (with permission, of course). Unfortunately, some of the dates of composition/premieres have been omitted from the text, and the track listings. Resumés of the instrumentalists have been included.

Both the performance and the recording of this music is beyond reproach. John Turner and Peter Lawson make a hugely talented team.

I enjoyed most of the works on this double CD. That said, I think that this repertoire should be investigated slowly. Two hours of unremitting recorder/piano sound could be an endurance test for some folk. And it would be a pity to miss some of the gems presented here. The music ranges from grade pieces for tyros to major recital works. Any one (nearly) of them would enhance a recorderist’s concert.

Track Listing:
CD1
Geoffrey Poole (b.1949)
Skally Skarekrow's Whistling Book – 1. Clouds (with Silver Linings), 2. Spring Breezes, 3. Sunshine, 4. Hailstones (c.1978)
Michael Ball (b.1946)
Prospero's Music (1984)
Alan Bullard (b.1947)
Recipes: 1. Coffee and Croissants, 2. Barbecue Blues, 3. Prawn Paella 4. Special Chop-suey, 5. Fish and Chips (1989)
Alan Rawsthorne (1905-1971)
Suite: 1. Sarabande, 2. Fantasia, 3. Air, 4. Jig (1939)
Nicholas Marshall (b.1942):
Caprice (?)
Douglas Steele (1910-1999)
Song (?)
John Addison (1920-1998)
Spring Dances: 1. Allegretto, 2. Andante con moto, 3. Allegro moderato (1994)
Robin Walker (b.1953)
A Book of Song and Dance: 1. Song 1, 2. My Luve, 3. Idyll, 4. Song 2, 5. Rite, 6. Dance 1, 7. Canon, 8. Shenandoah, 9. Dance 2, 10. Clark Sanders, 11. Tired Boy (1994)
Her Rapture (2021)
CD2
Walter Leigh (1905-1942)
Air (1942)
Arnold Cooke (1906-2005)
Capriccio (1985)
Anthony Gilbert (b.1934)
Farings: 1. Mr. Pitfield's Pibroch, 2. Eighty for William Alwyn, 3. Arbor Avium Canentium, 4. Batterfeet, 5. Slow Down after Fifty, 6. Miss Carroll Her Lullabye, 7. MidWales Lightwhistle Automatic, 8. Chant-au-Clair (1986?)
John Turner (b.1943)
Four Diversions: 1. Intrada, 2. Waltz, 3. Aubade, 4. Hornpipe (1968/69)
David Ellis (b.1933)
Shadows in Blue, op. 61 (1998)
John Golland (1942-1993)
Divertissement, op. 52: 1. Entrée, 2. Gavotte, 3. Air, 4. Gigue (1988)
New World Dances, op. 62: 1. Ragtime, 2. Blues, 3. Bossa Nova (1980)
Richard Whalley (b.1974)
Kokopelli (2013)
Kevin Malone (b.1958)
Saturday Soundtrack (1998)
John Turner (recorder), Peter Lawson (piano). Richard Whalley (prepared piano)
rec. 1988, 2017, 2021
DIVINE ART dda21241