Prayer for Piece: Music for Strings, Recorder, Voice and Piano

In the advertising for this new disc, Julian Bryan explains its genesis: “The idea of putting together a compilation of unrecorded works and original arrangements for strings and flute or recorder first came about in mid-2023, when I realised, together with my already close friend and associate John Turner - a highly renowned recorder player - that there is a wealth of such music waiting to be recorded and released." he disc features eleven pieces, presented in (roughly) chronological order, all of which had not previously been recorded.

The recital opens with Breton composer Louis Bourgault-Ducoudray’s Abergavenny: Suite de Thèmes Populaire Gallois (1900s) scored for treble recorder and string quartet. They were dedicated to Lady Herbert of Llanover (Augusta Hall), a patron of Welsh culture regarded as the inventor of the Welsh National Costume. While the seven ‘popular’ tunes may not be quite so well-known nowadays, The Ash Grove and David of the White Rock retain their place in the canon of Welsh folk music. The Suite opens with the evocative The Blackbird and concludes with the rousing War Song of the Men of Glamorgan. I imagine these arrangements could be popular with school or college ensembles.

Claude Debussy’s Chansons de Charles d'Orléans, (1908) were arranged for mezzo soprano solo, violin (or contralto) and piano by Julian Bryan. They were originally devised for a cappella four/six-part mixed chorus. The first song, Dieu! qu'il la fait bon regarder, is a lyrical celebration of a lady’s incomparable beauty, grace, and virtue, admired as beyond all others. Quant j'ai ouy le tabourin is a light-hearted song about preferring the comfort of sleep over joining May Day festivities. Finally, Yver, vous n’estes qu'un villain is a spirited song contrasting winter’s harshness with the joyful beauty and renewal of summer. Despite my preference for the original choral version, these arrangements sit comfortably with these forces.

Randall Thompson’s Scherzino shows the lighter side of his more serious nature. It is a witty miniature that contrasts the recorder’s brightness with the warm sonorities of violin and viola. The date of the Scherzino is unknown.

It is good to have two works by Lancashire composer Thomas Pitfield, a polymath who also excelled as an artist, craftsman, poet, and educator. His Minuet and Trio (1940) for string quartet is a short, but magical little bit of English Pastoral, which may date from earlier. The liner notes explain that the Pastorale for piano, violin and cello (1939) was arranged from a discarded ballet score, The Elm Spirit.

Morten Lauridsen arranged his Les chansons des roses: No. 2, Contre qui, rose (1993) for string quartet. This was originally a wonderfully atmospheric setting of a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke for unaccompanied choir. The rose is a symbol of beauty and fragility, yet also of resistance and pain. The transcription has preserved the mood of the original, sometimes seeming to nod towards Samuel Barber’s Adagio. 

American composer, pianist, educator, mentor, Jon Jeffrey Grier provides two works on this disc. The first is an arrangement of Three Polish folk Songs for recorder and string quartet. The tunes are Hey Falcons, A Little Spark and The Nightingale and the Willow Leaf. The set originally comprised four songs, but the final one has been omitted. There is no indication of the date of composition, but a sheet music website suggests 2009. His second offering is the undated A Mystery Unsolved which seems to have no “mystery:” it is simply a well-wrought, but oh-so-short a piece for string quintet.

There are no details about Dublin born Rhona Clarke’s Pas de Quatre String Quartet No.2 (2009, rev. 2023) in the booklet. A programme note on the Internet explains that the “…title (A Dance for Four) is inspired by the movement between the players as they direct and interact with each other.” I am not sure what this means, as the basic concept of a String Quartet (or any chamber music) is of an interaction between players. Further ‘surfing’ revealed that this Quartet is devised as a single movement, lasting for about ten minutes. Technically, the main subject matter is based on a “gapped scale played with an irregular pulse.” Part of its structure are a series of aleatoric sections, where “three other instruments share short, repeated phrases, but use their own discretion as to where to come in and how many times to repeat.” After more written out development, there is another free-for- all before it concludes with a cello solo. The entire Quartet is an effective synthesis between incipient minimalism, extended techniques and “Renaissance inspire clarity.”

Adam Gorb has explained that his String Quartet No.1 (2001) was a substantial, half‑hour work that sought to probe the depths of human emotion. By contrast, the present String Quartet No.2 (2009) is a much lighter, serenade‑like piece in four short movements, lasting around eleven minutes. Written to celebrate the 85th birthday of Thilde Fraenkel, the mother of an old schoolmate, it was first performed privately at her home by the Tippett Quartet in December 2009. Stylistically, this remarkable Quartet is eclectic in sound. One moment we have Haydn-esque classicism, and another a kind of gritty urban dynamism: at times lyrical and at others propulsive. This was my major discovery on this CD.

The final number on this delightful potpourri is Sasha Johnson Manning’s elegiac Prayer for Peace. This short meditation, scored for tenor recorder, string quartet and double bass was written at the request of John Turner, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The booklet provides limited information about the music, certainly little in the way of analysis or description. Texts and translations of the Debussy songs are not given. There are biographical notes about the composers and resumes of all the performers. Photographs of the composers are printed on the rear cover of the booklet.

There is no doubt that the performances are all first rate, and the recorded sound is ideal.

In sum, this disc offers a richly varied and imaginative excursion through little-known repertoire and inventive arrangements, brought to life with skill and conviction.

Track Listing:
Louis Bourgault-Ducoudray (1840-1910)
Abergavenny: Suite de Thèmes Populaire Gallois (1900s)
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Chansons de Charles d'Orléans, L. 92 (completed 1908) (arr. for Voice, Violin & Piano by Julian Bryan)
Randall Thompson (1899-1984)
Scherzino (arr. for Descant Recorder, Violin & Viola by Anonymous) (?)
Thomas Pitifield (1903-99)
Minuet and Trio (1940)
Pastorale (1939)
Morten Lauridsen (b.1943)
Les chansons des roses: No. 2, Contre qui, rose (arr. for String Quartet) (1993)
Jon Jeffrey Grier (b.1953)
Four Polish Folk Songs for recorder and string quartet (2009)
Rhona Clarke (b.1958)
Pas de Quatre String Quartet No.2 (2009, rev.2023)
Adam Gorb (b.1958)
String Quartet No. 2 (2009)
John Jeffrey Grier
A Mystery Unsolved (?)
Sasha Johnson Manning (b.1963)
Prayer for Peace (2022)
John Turner (recorders), Sophie Clarke (mezzo soprano), David Jones (piano) James Manson (double bass), Victoria String Quartet.
rec. 2023; 2025 St Elizabeth’s Church, Ashley, Altringham.
Prima Facie PFCD 258
With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.