William Sterndale Bennett: Piano Concerto No.4 (1838)

For far too long it has been the lazy person’s view to assume that all early nineteenth century British music was influenced solely by Handel and Mendelssohn, important to the national musical life as these composers were. Whenever a piece of British music from this era is heard, people shake their heads and smile wryly. Of course we do not expect to find the towering giants to match the Liszts, the Chopins and the Wagners of the Continent but to categorise all Early Victorian English music as being either derivative or a pastiche of the above mentioned exemplars, is wrong-headed and does not do justice to the facts. A more nuanced view reveals that there were allegiances to Rossini, Spohr, Gounod, Brahms, Wagner, and Dussek as well as the two named above. Furthermore, a lot of British music of this period owed much to the London Piano School which included Cramer, Clementi, and Moscheles. And lastly, some of these British composers had a few jolly promising ideas of their own!

In a cynical yet perceptive commentary from 1964, Geoffrey Bush offered five reasons - each tinged with irony - for the neglect of William Sterndale Bennett’s music in modern times. First, Bush noted the unfortunate fact of Bennett’s nationality: he was English, and thus subject to the longstanding ambivalence with which English composers were often regarded. Second, he was a Victorian, a label that in musical circles frequently carried the weight of stylistic conservatism and cultural unfashionability. Third, Bennett had written an oratorio titled The Woman of Samaria, a work that, by its very subject and form, seemed to embody the earnest religiosity and moral didacticism of its era. Fourth, he held the post of Professor of Music at Cambridge - an academic distinction that, paradoxically, may have contributed to perceptions of his music as dry or overly institutional. And finally, Bush suggested that Bennett was, at best, a second-rate imitator of Mendelssohn, lacking the originality or brilliance to transcend his influences. Amusing though these observations may be, they reflect a broader unease with Bennett’s place in the canon - a composer caught between national pride and stylistic dismissal.

It is not my intention to demolish these reasons one by one – although I guess he could not help being born English! But Bush clearly shows the sheer unthinking prejudice that has surrounded Sterndale Bennett and by implication any who were associated with him. For many decades it was intellectual suicide to say that you liked a piece of music written by this ‘pedant’ who did not have an original note in his head.

Sterndale Bennett wrote at least five piano concertos, and it is with these that he established his reputation in both London and Germany. However, to most musicologists and reviewers - that will admit it - the Fourth is his magnum opus.

I have known Sterndale Bennett's Fourth Piano Concerto since I heard the version by Malcolm Binns with the Milton Keynes Chamber Orchestra (Unicorn-Kanchana UKCD 2032, 1990). This concerto has been a favourite of mine since then: if I am honest, I rate it higher than many examples of the genre written on the continent at that time – including at least one of those by Mendelssohn!

In October 1838 Sterndale Bennett returned to Leipzig, taking with him the new Concerto in F minor. The first and the last movements were newly devised, but the middle one was a rehash of an earlier Pastorale. Mendelssohn did not like this arrangement and prevailed on the composer to substitute another piece. Sterndale Bennett provided the present Barcarolle which suitably impressed the German. The change was made, and the complete Concerto was performed on 17 January 1838 in Leipzig with Mendelssohn conducting.

There is no doubt that this is a splendid work. Most people, justifiably, regard the middle movement Barcarolle as the highlight; it is exquisite. Yet, it would be wrong to cherry-pick this part of the piece. The first movement is full of striking ideas and in places, sheer poetry, and beauty. And the ‘presto agitato’ bristles with interesting music that impresses from the first note to the last. It is a splendid and often moving work that ought to be popular if concertgoers were given the chance to hear it.

Listen to Howard Shelley playing William Sterndale Bennett’s Piano Concerto No.4 on YouTube. I: Allegro con maesta, II: Barcarole. Andante cantabile e con moto and III: Presto. Agitato. The BBC Symphony Orchestra is conducted by the soloist. It was released on Hyperion CDA67595 (2007)

An edited version of a review published on MusicWeb International, 7 November 2007.