Philip Lane: Light Music on Naxos

The advertising blurb reminds the listener that “Philip Lane has long been a stalwart of British light music” and goes on to state that this current CD “provides an excellent survey of his concert works.” The disc was previously issued on Marco Polo 8.225185 in 2001. (Reviewed here)  It is the fifteenth instalment of Naxos’s ongoing reissue of their British Light Music series.  Details of Philip Lane’s life and achievement can be found on Wikipedia. 

I like the booklet’s description of London Salute (1982) which, it says, is an “evocation of the capital, very much as an outsider would see it, all hustle and bustle, with ceremonial and tradition around every corner.” It is full of musical tropes that nod to Eric Coates and William Walton. The only thing missing here, is any notion of the city’s quieter spaces, such as the parks, the squares and the churchyards. It was written to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the BBC.

What is it about Paganini’s twenty-fourth Caprice for solo violin that it has inspired so many sets of variations: think Rachmaninov, Brahms, Lutosławski, Philip Wilby and Andrew Lloyd Webber, to name but a few. Lane’s take is more a series of impressions on the theme rather than a formal set of variations. Gavin Sutherland calls them “musings” that reflect the titles of each variation. There is, amongst others, a forceful Toccata, a wistful Chaconne, a Popular Song (which is certainly not ‘pop’), a cheeky Five-a-Side and a brisk, Epilogue. The Diversions on a Theme of Paganini were originally composed in 1989 for brass quintet and was rescored for small orchestra in 2000. 

Don’t get confused by the Cotswold Dances recorded here. Classic fM regularly plays Constant Billy, which is the second movement of the Cotswold Folk Dances, written in 1978 for the Stroud Festival. These are based on genuine Morris Dances. The present set dates from five years earlier. It is Lane’s earliest orchestral work that he acknowledges. I think the ethos here is more akin to Malcolm Arnolds sequence of national dances or Alun Hoddinott’s two sets of Welsh Dances: they do not rely on “found” material. The opening Dance, Seven Springs, evokes the source of Father Thames. It is a pleasantly scored piece of water music. The second number, Badminton House not surprisingly, clip-clops its cheerful way. It recalls the famous horse trials there. I loved the wistful Pittville Promenade, which the booklet suggests captures Lane’s boyhood explorations of Pittville Park in Cheltenham, and his attempts at catching newts in the lakes. Equally evocative is Cleeve Hill, which suggests the highest ‘peak’ in the Cotswolds. Despite the benign landscape, the hill can be subject to considerable extremes of weather. Lane has mirrored this feature in what is really a miniature tone poem. Other landmarks here include the ancient burial site, Belas Knap and, less historically, a plethora of radio and telephone masts. The final dance, Wassail Song, fairly bounces along. It weaves together several wassail songs from Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Yorkshire, bringing this pleasing set of dances to a rumbustious conclusion.

The Divertissement for clarinet, strings and harp was formerly scored for clarinet and piano in 1994 and was rescored in 2000. Sutherland explains that Lane has included “liberal quotations…from earlier compositions.” It opens with a witty Prelude, that twists and turns along. This is followed by a Canzonetta full of romance and recollection. I am not sure what a Valse americaine is, but I am guessing that it is a waltz with jazzy overtones. It certainly progresses with a gentle swing. The finale, Tarantelle-rondeau, brings the Divertissement to a vibrant conclusion. References to the opening movement make this concerto-light into a cyclical work! The clarinet playing by Verity Butler is a delight.

Philip Lane’s most performed piece is the Sleighbell Serenade (1981). It needs little comment save that it portrays a journey we would all like to make, through the highways and byways on a horse drawn sleigh, when the snow is deep and crisp and even. Lane’s take on this Yuletide conceit surely takes its place alongside Fred. Delius’s Sleigh Ride, Prokofiev’s Troika and Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride. The second piece, the Starlight Lullaby (c.1990) is a perfect miniature. It may suggest the baby Jesus at the Nativity, or possibly today’s children trying to sleep before Santa Claus stops by to deliver the presents. Look out for a gentle “nod” to Henry Mancini’s evergreen Moon River. The third Picture is a Christmas Eve Waltz (1989). Perhaps the listener is looking through Fezziwig’s (A Christmas Carol) sitting room window, watching the festivities and the benevolent old businessman dancing with his staff. The music sounds like a pastiche of 1950s light music and is good for that. All three were “collected” as Three Christmas Pictures.

The Maritime Overture (1982) is billed as “portraying various aspects of the sea, from the gentle lapping of the waves at the start to the storms and battles later on.” It is Lane’s longest work on this CD and one that seems to me to crossover from so-called “light music” to something a little more dissonant in mood.

The penultimate suite, Three Nautical Miniatures (1980-2000) majors on folksongs. The first is the well-known When the Boat comes in. Up next is a beautifully controlled exposition of Spanish Ladies. Here the singer reflected on a journey from Spain to the English Channel. The ladies have been bidden farewell. The finale is Portsmouth, which is really a hornpipe. It brings these three miniatures to a jaunty conclusion. This melody has been used by Ralph Vaughan Williams in his Sea Songs, as well as being the signature tune to the no doubt politically incorrect BBC TV series, Billy Bunter.

The final number, Prestbury Park is a corker. It began life as a brass band work completed in 1975 and was rescored for orchestra three years later. Ostensibly, it majors on a race day at Cheltenham, but could easily pass muster as an redolent description of a summer’s day jaunt, in the 1950s Hillman Minx, aboard a steam train or a countryside ramble – except for the very last bars, which has the musical onomatopoeia of a filly neighing. And then there are the whip cracks...

Everything about this CD is superb: the dedicated performances, the resonant recording, and the helpful liner notes by Gavin Sutherland. The front cover, which is a stock photograph, is particularly appropriate for the Three Christmas Pieces.

Finally, the listener will surely agree with the American Record Review critic Philip Haldeman, who has written that “[This] music can stand alongside almost anything of its type: it has lovely melodies, incessant charm, and moments of incidental but sincere beauty...” Every work here displays craftsmanship, orchestral finesse and an obvious love of the genre. Each is satisfying and thoroughly enjoyable.

Track Listing:
Philip LANE (b. 1950)
London Salute (1982)
Diversions on a Theme of Paganini (1989/2000)
Cotswold Dances (1973)
Divertissement for clarinet, strings, and harp (1994/2000)
Three Christmas Pictures (1980s)
A Maritime Overture (1982)
Three Nautical Miniatures (1980-2000)
Prestbury Park (1975/1978)
Verity Butler (clarinet) (Divertissement)
Royal Ballet Sinfonia/Gavin Sutherland
rec. 19-21 February 2001, Henry Wood Hall, London,
Naxos 8.555880
With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.