Gordon Thornett is a new name to me. A Mancunian, he studied at Manchester University, before developing his career as a teacher and music therapist. His A Child’s Christmas Suite (2016) is a delight. This child, sixty-something, enjoyed every moment. It reprises favourite carols and a few discoveries. These include Jingle Bells in the opening pages, Little Jesus, sweetly sleep, The Birds Carol, Away in a manger (British version!) and the Huron Indian Carol. The piece concludes with a rumbustious rendition of We wish you a merry Christmas. The scoring is outstanding and displays much variety.
Adam Saunders’ compositional career has embraced the concert hall and silver screen/television. He is represented by two pieces on this CD. First up, is A Magical Kingdom (2003) which is a fusion of both genres. It is difficult to pin down the location of this Kingdom. To me, it seems more Disneyland than “a wood near Athens or Prospero’s Island.” There are lots of good tunes with sweeping strings and harp arpeggios. Saunder’s second offering is Journey to Lapland (2020). This is cinematic in mood, allowing the listener to imagine a visit to the homeland of Santa’s reindeer. Once again, the orchestration is sumptuous.
I was a bit disappointed with Thomas Hewitt Jones’s Christmas Party (2016) It is a lot of fun, but somehow the music seems a little disjointed, and lacking development. Conceived as a “showcase” for violin and orchestra, it explores well-known seasonal songs: Christmas is Coming, the goose is getting fat, Yorkshire Wassail, Little Jesus, sweetly sleep, Jingle Bells and O Tannenbaum. The big finish presents Tomorrow shall be my dancing day. The scoring includes a solo piano and a champagne cork popping: I thought this latter was a fault on the CD. Hewitt Jones’s second work on this disc is the Overture: The Age of Optimism (2023). Surely this is concerned only tangentially to Christmas. Nevertheless, it is a well-wrought piece, which is typically happy, exuberant, and upbeat. It was written at the conclusion of the Covid-19 pandemic.
I always enjoy virtual sleigh rides at Christmas time. Think of Leroy Anderson, Fred. Delius and Sergei Prokofiev’s Troika. Roy Moore’s Santa’s Sleigh Ride (2019) ticks all the boxes. Lots of sweeping tunes, rushing through the snow, delivering the presents and the reindeers having fun. Remember their names? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph.
Bryan Kelly has written a fair bit of Seasonal music, including his Nativity Scenes and his Christmas Dance (Sir Roger de Coverley). He has also provided choirs with a few attractive carols. Sing a Song of Sixpence (2020) is not particularly related to Xmas. However, it is fun and fairly bounces along. Like Roger Quilter’s Children’s Overture, Kelly has woven several children’s songs into a formally satisfying fantasia.
More than half a century ago, Frederick Ashton choreographed The Tales of Beatrix Potter (1971) for a film release. The score was assembled by John Lanchbery from largely forgotten Victorian melodies by (amongst others) Arthur Sullivan, Jacques Offenbach, and Michael Balfe. It results in an attractive sequence of waltzes, polkas, tarantellas, marches, and a cakewalk. This 90-minute ballet brought to life many of Potter’s favourite characters including Peter Rabbit, Squirrel Nutkin, Mrs Tittlemouse and Johnny Town-Mouse. On this CD we hear four extracts: the Introduction, the Tale of Jemima Puddleduck, two episodes from The Picnic (with the country and the town mice) and the Finale. In the film, the part of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle was played by Ashton himself.
The final work is a cooperation between Philip Lane and Ian Nichols for the 1999 TV animation, The Adventures of Captain Pugwash. Readers of a certain age will recall the original series that ran from 1957-66. The theme tune, which is heard in the opening pages of the score, is an early nineteenth century Trumpet Hornpipe. Formerly, it was played on the accordion. Here it is in an orchestral arrangement. The remainder of the Suite consists of various sea shanties, some of which are well known, others less so.
This piece is a great finish to a remarkable cornucopia of
delights.
The performances are always enthusiastic and nuanced, complimented by an excellent recording. The liner notes, authored by Philip Lane, give brief, but sufficient details on each composer and the music in question. The CD cover illustration could have been a bit more evocative of the Season.
Altogether, this is a delightful CD, full of splendid things. I guess that most, if not all this repertoire will be new to the listener. Each piece is enjoyable, approachable, and full of interest. It will make an ideal stocking filler for all lovers of British Light Music.
Track Listing:Victor Hely-Hutchinson (1901-47)
Overture to a Pantomime (1946)
Gordon Thornett (b.1942)
A Child's Christmas (2016)
Adam Saunders (b.1968)
A Magical Kingdom (2003)
Thomas Hewitt Jones (b.1984)
Christmas Party (2016)
Roy Moore (b.1948)
Santa's Sleigh Ride (2019)
Bryan Kelly (b.1934)
Sing a Song of Sixpence (2020)
Adam Saunders
Journey to Lapland (2020)
John Lanchbery (1923-2003)
Tales of Beatrix Potter: excerpts (1971/1999)
Thomas Hewitt Jones
Overture: The Age of Optimism (2023)
Philip Lane (b.1950), Ian Nicholls (b.1960)
Suite: The Adventures of Captain Pugwash (1999)
Simon Hewitt Jones (violin)
Royal Ballet Sinfonia/Barry Wordsworth (Hely-Hutchinson, Moore, Kelly, Saunders Journey to Lapland, Lanchbery, Hewitt Jones Overture) and Gavin Sutherland (Thornett, Saunders A Magical Kingdom, Hewitt Jones Christmas Party); City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Julian Bigg (Lane/Nichols)
rec. 1999-2023 Various locations.
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