Ronald Center: Instrumental and Chamber Music, Volume 3

I am beholden to the outstanding liner notes written by the present pianist Christopher Guild. I have used them at every turn in evaluating this exceptional new CD of the “Instrumental and Chamber Music Volume 3” of Scottish Composer, Ronald Center. For biographical details please see my earlier review of Volume 1 (TOCC 0179), here.

One thing to remember is that the dating of Center’s scores is fraught. As can be seen from the track listing below, only the Phantasy and the Melodie have a definite date. It is not possible to fit the remaining tracks into any kind of chronological order.

The liner notes explain that in 1945, Center and his wife were living in Huntly, in Aberdeenshire. Nearby were stationed two Polish soldiers: Witold Nowacki, a violinist, and Kazimierz Łydziński, a cellist. They became friends. Guild suggests that these two men may have been “the stimulus for Center to compose much of his string chamber music; one can easily come to this conclusion on hearing, say, the three string quartets and, indeed, the Sonata for Violin and Piano, since it is surely no coincidence that these works have a strong eastern-European musical strain running through them.”

I began my exploration of this disc with the diminutive Little Canon and Duet for violin and cello. This was (but not beyond doubt) written for Messrs. Nowacki and Łydziński. Nothing too difficult here, simply good humour and decent, at times wayward, counterpoint.

The most substantial work on this disc is the Sonata for violin and piano. It is easy to play spot the influence here. The “fleet-footed, scherzando character” may remind the listener of Benjamin Britten, and then there is the “diabolical side” of Ferruccio Busoni. The liner notes also mention echoes of Karol Szymanowski and Béla Bartók. The opening Allegro holds the scherzando and melancholic mood in equilibrium. I am not sure I agree that the Andante con espressione is a “searching pastorale” – there is little here that is “Cow and Gate,” more a sullen rumination. The finale, Allegro feroce, is a tarantella that pounds away from start to finish it is aggressive, hostile, and jagged with little relief. The entire Sonata is given a brilliant performance by Tamás Fejes and Christoper Guild. It is a powerful and accomplished composition that deserves its place in the repertoire.

Rumba (Giglot) and Toccata was published in 1988. The title of the first piece bears a little examination. I understand that ‘giglot’ can be construed as “a giddy, playful girl,” but is less flattering in its archaic meaning of “a lascivious woman.” Certainly, Center has created a delightful mood picture with his Latin-infused Rumba. The Toccata is a mad scramble of notes, a moto perpetuo, which is described as a “warm-up for the fingers!”

The short suite From Childhood (pub.1988) was devised for some of Center’s pupils. Despite the titles of each fragment, Merry-go-round, The Bogeyman, Doll’s Waltz and March, there is nothing infantile about these miniatures. All can be described as charming, beautifully wrought, and featuring technical difficulties for young players.

The Burlesca is another toccata. It combines several diverse sections into a satisfying whole. Opening slowly, it soon becomes a playground skipping song, then a Scottish reel, followed by a few thoughtful moments, an aggressive loping dance tune and concluding with a long glissando. It is all over in just under four minutes. Bartók is the inspiration here.

The Suite for piano is made up of three movements, lasting for more than thirteen minutes. The liner notes explain that the opening Allegro molto, is an alternative version of the first movement of Center’s Piano Sonata. This has an acerbic sound with a little relaxation in the middle section. The Andante (Children at Play) opens with an impression of a music box being ‘wound up. The children’s imagination goes in various directions: bagpipes, a march, and a reel, before the toy winds down and stops. The entire movement is a lovely conceit and is both involved and pianistically tricky. The finale, Allegro vivace, is concise. This brittle music displays a wild rhythmic intensity with constantly changing time signatures. The bagpipe drones are heard again.

The Phantasy is billed as one of Center’s earliest works, dating from around 1940. The notes explain that a valuable hermeneutic for listening is to see it as “stream of consciousness” with ideas emerging unbidden and not subject to conventional development of two or three subjects. The sound world is typically more romantic than other works on this CD. It is hard to pin down but is certainly nearer to Liszt than to Bartók!

The most chilled out number on this CD is Melodie (1942). It is described as an “album-leaf” which sounds as if it could be a transcription of a song for baritone. The tune is initially heard on the left hand, with a serene accompaniment. Nothing complicated in these pages, just a beautiful melody with the occasional bit of chromatic seasoning.

If there ever was a collection of short pieces that ought to be in every Scottish pianist’s gift it is the remarkable Seven Preludes. To be sure, Christopher Guild does not know if they were meant to be played as a group: they were collected in a single manuscript, but the title “Seven” was added later. To me they function well as a collection: they are too short to be excerpted. Various allusions are heard in these Preludes, including a reel, a bardic lament, jazz infused scales, a Schubert Ländler, a waltz, and a folksong. The finale is another jig with nods once again to Bartók.

Three close-written pages of the booklet are given over to the three Preludes and Fugues. The main thing to take away here is that these are very chromatic and rarely seem to stay in their assigned key. I listened to these, like any P&Fs – just allowing the technical development to wash over me. There is time enough in the next world (hopefully!) to unravel expositions, countersubjects, episodes, and stretto. That said, there is a consistency here that is satisfying and often surprisingly moving.

The concluding number on this disc is the Prelude, Aria, and Finale. The opening Prelude “starts in the manner of a reel, a furious moto perpetuo with loud, punchy chords and bitonal, toccata-like passages, and tumultuous scales such as those which bring it to a cataclysmic close.” A challenge to the pianist. The Aria is terribly sad and directionless but acts as a satisfactory balance to the pyrotechnics of the surrounding movements. The Finale includes a strange opening passage and later some conversational counterpoint, surrounded by fast moving passages and concluding with a tarantella, all in the space of just over three minutes.

This disc concludes Christopher Guild’s imaginative survey of the complete piano music of Ronald Center. I have already commented on the outstanding documentation. The recording is outstanding. Clearly the performance is totally engaged and utterly sympathetic.

For all enthusiasts of Scottish classical music, this CD is an absolute must. Hopefully, Toccata Records will explore beyond the piano and chamber works to the Symphony, the Sinfonietta, and the tone-poem The Coming of Cuchulainn.

Track Listing:
Ronald Center (1913-73)
Sonata for Violin and Piano
Little Canon for violin and cello
Duet for violin and cello
Giglot and Toccata (publ. 1988)
From Childhood (publ. 1988)
Burlesca
Suite for Piano
Phantasy (1940)
Melodie (1942)
Seven Preludes
Prelude and Fugue in E
Prelude and Fugue in G Sharp
Prelude and Fugue in A
Prelude, Aria and Finale
Tamás Fejes (violin); Balázs Renczés (cello); Christopher Guild (piano)
rec. 26 June 2019 (Violin Sonata); 1 July 2019 (Little Canon, Duet) RSNO Concert Hall, Glasgow; 2 April 2023 (Giglot, Phantasy) Wyastone Hall, Wyastone Leys, Monmouthshire; 4 January 2021 Old Granary Studio, Toft Monks, Beccles, Suffolk
Toccata Classics TOCC 0723