One Hundred Years of British Song Vol.3

The SOMM website announces that this is the third and final volume of One Hundred Years of British Song. This edition concentrates on works written after 1950. 

The recital begins with Peter Dickinson’s Let the florid music praise. He wrote this dramatic setting of W.H. Auden’s poem in 1960 whilst living and working in New York. It was premiered by Roger Norrington, tenor (now much better known as a conductor) and Dickinson on the piano. Many listeners will recall that this poem was used by Benjamin Britten as the opening number of his song-cycle, On this Island, dating from 1937. Britten provided sweeping piano arpeggios and a style of vocal delivery that seems to echo a Baroque instrumental solo. Dickinson on the other hand, opens with slow, measured chords, gradually building up to a powerful, sustained climax. The poem deals with two aspects of love: the public admiration of beauty in the first verse and a more intimate meditation on the subject in the second.

The Four W.H. Auden Songs date from 1956. Peter Dickinson explained that he completed them as an undergraduate at Queen’s College Cambridge. His webpage explains that they were given a private performance in the presence of the poet, who was visiting the University. After the recital Auden inscribed Dickinson’s copy of his poems: “To Peter Dickinson with many thanks for his nice settings and best wishes from Wystan Auden.””

The opening poem, Look, stranger on this island now, is a splendid seascape replete with cliffs, gulls and ships. Dickinson’s response is a balance between surging sea music (Peter Grimes?) and quiet reflection. Eyes look into the well is a deeply troubling song, that majors on a woman raped and murdered by a soldier. As the subject demands, this is slow, sad, justifiably angry and often intense. The composer has suggested that Carry her over the water is “a facetious comment on conventional marriage, where everything is singing agreeably of love – the white doves and the winds; the fish and a frog; and even the horses drawing the carriage.” This humour carries over into the music, with both the poet’s and the composer’s tongues firmly in their cheeks. The final number, What’s in your mind? is full of delicious sexual inuendo, which is perfectly mirrored by the vocal line and piano accompaniment. Stylistically, these songs owe more to Lennox Berkley than Benjamin Britten. They take a distinguished place in the development of English vocal music and would make a valuable addition to any singer’s repertoire.

John Betjeman has long been one of my favourite authors and poets. Many people of my generation will recall his fascinating films about architecture and railways.

Madeleine Dring composed her Five Betjeman Songs in 1976 and they were first performed by Robert Tear two years later. David Patrick Stearns (The Gramophone, April 2022, p.75) has made a pertinent observation: he suggests that Dring “fools you into thinking the impressionistic [opening number] A Bay in Anglesey sets the tone for the rest of the cycle.” It would be a wrong assumption. Various emotions and their resulting musical aesthetics are explored in the following four songs. There is an appropriate bluesy feel to Song of a Nightclub Proprietress which adds to the pathos of the final lines “What on earth was all the fun for?/I am ill and old and terrified and tight.” Dring creates a little bit of onomatopoeia in Business Girls opens with gentle semiquavers evoking “Autumn winds blowing down/On a thousand business women.” Its pace reflects the “morning routine of shopgirls” getting ready for work. This is a charming melodic song that perfectly complements this clever study of time and place. Undenominational is robust, with dramatic leaps in the vocal part. It describes a “man of God” who is outside the mainstream churches. Upper Lambourne imagines horse racing from the perspective of a long dead trainer. It is lyrical, with lovely easy-going piano accompaniment.

I did not find Nathan Williamson’s The Little That Was Once a Man (2016, rev.2019) with its complex and sometimes unsettling imagery in the least bit enjoyable or even interesting. They set texts by Bryan Heiser, onetime special advisor to Transport for London and campaigner for disability rights. In retirement he began to write poetry. The sentiments of the poems are compounded by unorthodox vocal gymnastics which, are occasionally effective. It is not something I need to hear again.

The problem with John Woolrich’s song-cycle The Unlit Suburbs (1998) is that it is too brief. All three songs are over in under three minutes. The poems were penned especially for Woolrich by Irish poet, Matthew Sweeney. The liner notes explain that “Sweeney’s poetry often sits on the cusp of reality, employing flights of imagination which reflect and refract the everyday and commonplace all the more potently – what he called “alternative realism.”” Certainly, the sentiments proposed in these three poems are surrealistic. The Submerged Bar still sells beer at 1960s prices and the music has not been changed on the jukebox for years. Sounds like paradise. Rat Town is clearly a gritty dead end place, where only the most dissipated would wish to visit. And finally, The Ghost Choir is dark and “gothic” in its impact. Completely approachable, these gnomic songs are delightfully disquieting in their imagery.

I am not sure why Nathan Williamson’s solo piano piece Intermezzo (2012) is featured on this disc of vocal music. It was written to celebrate the 90^th birthday of a friend, amateur organist, and pianist. The composer explains that it is based on a “popular Welsh hymn” but does not state which one. Furthermore, it also nods towards the late piano works of Schubert and Brahms. Williamson describes it as being “reflective, simple and whimsical” in tone. I cannot agree with the last adjective. Overall, this is introspective music from end to end.

The Eye of the Blackbird had its genesis in a 60-minute oratorio completed in 1991. This was composed at a time of sadness for Geoffrey Poole. He himself regarded it as “a mid-life account of death, the meaning of life, universe and everything.” The original libretto was a concatenation of texts from many sources. One of the writings used was American poet Wallace Stevens’s Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. In this poem Stevens tries to describe relationships between “humankind, nature and emotions.” The poem by definition is subjective: Stevens is not being proscriptive in his analysis. The booklet suggests that this song cycle was completed some 15 years after the oratorio, however, it was not published until 2020.

Geoffrey Poole covers a wide range of styles in the nine sections of the poem he chose to set. The liner notes adduce “total chromaticism,” “free tonality of late Romanticism,” and a “Baroque parody.” The general impression is gained of an improvisatory feel to virtually all these songs.

I think the listener will have to make several attempts to get to grips with this work. Despite the sheer beauty of much of the musical progress, its aphoristic nature makes it quite difficult to get an overall impression of the cycle.

The liner notes, compiled by Nathan Williamson are helpful in every way. They offer commentary on the music as well as contextualisation within each composer’s achievement. I would have appreciated dates in the track listing for each work. On several occasions, this information is not included at all. It is important. Resumés of the artists and the texts of all the songs are printed. I did notice that in the track listing, Peter Dickinson is shown as having been born in 1905!

James Gilchrist’s singing is exemplary, and the piano accompaniment, played by Nathan Williamson is always complimentary to the singing. It is enhanced by a vibrant recording, typical of SOMM. It is sad that this is the last CD in this fascinating project.

Track Listing
One Hundred Years of British Song Vol.3
James Gilchrist (tenor), Nathan Williamson (piano)
rec. 25-27 October 2020, The Menuhin Hall, Stoke d'Abernon, Surrey
SOMM RECORDINGS SOMMCD 0646
Peter Dickinson (b.1934)
Let the florid music praise (1960)
Four W.H. Auden Songs (1956)
1. Look, Stranger
2. Eyes look into the well
3. Carry her over the water
4. What's in your mind?
Madeleine Dring (1923-77)
Five Betjeman Songs (1976):
1. A Bay in Anglesey
2. Song of a Nightclub Proprietress
3. Business Girls
4. Undenominational
5. Upper Lambourne
Nathan Williamson (b.1978)
The Little That Was Once a Man (2016/2019):
1. In someone else's poem
2.4 a.m.
3. Not being… (I) The ordinary way
4. Not being… (II) Misunderstanding
5. Moon at rest
John Woolrich (b.1954)
The Unlit Suburbs (1998)
1. The Submerged Bar
2. Rat Town
3. The Ghost Choir
Nathan Williamson
Intermezzo (2012)
Geoffrey Poole (b.1949)
The Eye of the Blackbird (pub.2020):
1. Twenty snowy mountains
2. The Autumn wind
3. I Was of three minds
4. Which to prefer
5. Icicles
6. I know noble accents
7. Out of Sight
8. He rode over Connecticut
9. Evening all afternoon

Lockdown Blues played by Peter Dickinson

The advert for this CD announces that it is “the perfect escape from Lockdown Blues with a collection of appealing piano miniatures compiled and performed by Peter Dickinson to chase all your cares away.” Depending on personal situation, health and wealth, just how “Blue” this period has been, is an open question. Certainly, for musicians deprived of opportunities to concertize, teach and record, it must have been (and to an extent still is) terrible. Add to that the draconian restrictions on travel, visiting family and friends, hospital care, shopping and eating and drinking out, it has been a problematic time for all of us. For me, the periods of lockdown are made bearable by reading and listening to music - especially catching up with what I have always meant to tackle. 

Peter Dickinson’s superb piano playing, and artistry has produced an album of (mostly) soothing pieces, with more than a hint of jazz and blues. In some respects, this CD is a retrospective of his career. For example, he knew John Cage (and several other legendary American composers) when living and studying in New York. Along with his sister the mezzo soprano Meriel Dickinson, he introduced music lovers to the enigmatic work of Erik Satie. The duo made recordings and gave live “entertainments” during the 1970s, when Satie was still a closed score. As a composer, Peter Dickinson’s eclectic works often include jazz, pop, ragtime and blues.

Much of this disc majors on American music, with contributions by Edward MacDowell, George Gershwin, John Cage and Duke Ellington. This last-named is represented by twelve arrangements made by Dickinson. These feature several of, (as Eric Morecambe would have said) “The Greats.” We hear masterpieces such as Solitude, Sophisticated Lady, Mood Indigo and Prelude to a Kiss. They are based on the popular sheet music redactions, rather than the worked-out improvisations from back in the day. For me, it is like sitting in a cocktail lounge with the house pianist entertaining the patrons. And with an “Old-Fashioned” in hand.

Surprises on this disc for me were the Gershwin songs. Who Cares? was originally featured in the 1931 Broadway musical Of thee I sing. It is a smoochy, smoke-filled lounge (remember those days?) late night, meditation. The Three-Quarter Blues is subtitled an Irish Waltz: it is gentle and hardly that blue. Barber’s Canzonetta is the slow movement of his unfinished Concerto for oboe and orchestra. It was his last composition. Dickinson’s arrangement for piano solo is heart-breaking and perfectly reflects Barber’s musical farewell. I am ambivalent about John Cage’s 1948 piece, In a Landscape. It was devised “to sober and quiet the mind, thus rendering it susceptible to divine influences.” I know it is a good piece: I just don’t get it!

British interests include Constant Lambert’s minor masterpiece, Elegiac Blues. This was written by a composer who really understood jazz. Lennox Berkeley’s mildly bluesy Andante (from Six Preludes, op. 23) is always welcome. These were written in 1944 and dedicated to Val Drewry at the BBC. Eugene Goossens’s sad Lament for (or is it to) a Departed Doll is taken from his delightful collection of imaginative piano pieces, Kaleidoscope, op. 18, published in 1917. Although subtitled a Suite for Children, it is hardly music for the tyro. Every piece is marked by craftsmanship and subtlety.

Erik Satie is represented here by his overworked Trois Gymnopédies and Trois Gnossienne. It is good that Dickinson has chosen to include two delicious pieces by Frenchman Francis Poulenc. The tiny Nocturne No. 4 in C minor ‘Bal fantôme’ (Ghost Ball) was written around 1934. Hinting at the seventh of Chopin’s op 28 Preludes, this piece exudes a moody and strange atmosphere: certainly, there are supernatural goings on at the hop. Poulenc’s Pastourelle is from the one act ballet L'Eventail de Jeanne (Jean’s Fan). This charming children’s ballet was a combined French affair with contributions by Ravel, Ibert, Auric, Milhaud and five others. The entire work, in its orchestral version, is evocative of the creative individuality of Parisian music in the 1930s.

Finally, three “blues” by Peter Dickinson himself. Freda’s Blues was composed in memory of Lady Berkeley, widow of Sir Lennox Berkeley. It is based on Berkeley’s 1936 song How Love Came In. Secondly, Blue Rose. This was devised in 1978, and is designed to follow Edward MacDowell’s perfect miniature, To a Wild Rose. Scriabin’s mystic chord features here too. And lastly, there is Lockdown Blues. This “borrows” from Bach’s First Prelude from Book I of Bach’s ‘48’ – The Well-Tempered Clavier.

The liner notes for this new CD are ideal. First up, is an introduction by the veteran television presenter, broadcaster, TV director, producer, impresario, lecturer and biographer of musicians, Humphrey Burton. Then, Peter Dickinson’s detailed programme notes on all the pieces. Finally, there is a brief biography of the performer. The CD cover is “adapted” from a 1928 Art Deco advert for the New York fashion house Schwarzenbach (not Swarzenbach, as printed on the rear cover), Huber & Co. It complements this music perfectly. One other thing. Lennox Berkeley’s “dates” are wrong. He died in 1989, not 1981!

Do not listen to this CD from end to end. Pick bits out. Enjoy slowly. Most of this recital is lugubrious, often cool and always captivating. It should be savoured in a relaxed manner.

Track Listing:
Peter DICKINSON (b.1934) Freda's Blues (2016)
Edward MACDOWELL (1860-1908) To a Wild Rose, from Woodland Sketches op. 51 No. 1 (1896)
Peter DICKINSON Blue Rose (1978)
Constant LAMBERT (1905-51) Elegiac Blues (1927)
Peter DICKINSON Lockdown Blues (1920)
Francis POULENC (1899-1963) Nocturne No. 4 in C minor 'Bal fantôme' (c.1934)
Samuel BARBER (1910-81) Canzonetta arr. Peter DICKINSON (1977-78)
Lennox BERKELEY (1903-89) Andante (from Preludes, op. 23) (1945)
George GERSHWIN (1898-37) Three-Quarter Blues (c.1925)
Francis POULENC Pastourelle (L'Eventail de Jeanne no. 8) (1927)
Erik SATIE (1866-1925) Trois Gnossienne (1890)
George GERSHWIN Who Cares? (1931)
Eugene GOOSSENS (1893-1962) Lament for a Departed Doll (from Kaleidoscope, op. 18) (1917)
Erik SATIE Trois Gymnopédies (1888)
Edward Kennedy “Duke” ELLINGTON (1899-1974) Twelve Melodies (1932-43), arr. Peter DICKINSON
John CAGE (1912-92) In a Landscape (1948)
Peter Dickinson (piano)
Rec. 16-17 April 2021, Potton Hall, Westleton, Suffolk
SOMM RECORDINGS SOMMCD 0644

A Celebration of Conductor and Composer Stephen Wilkinson

Stephen Wilkinson, an extraordinary musician, was born in 1919 and is still very active. It was only in 2009 that he laid down his baton as conductor and director of The William Byrd Singers, a choir he had conducted since its foundation in 1970. Full details of his achievement are included in the liner notes and in a comprehensive Wikipedia entry.

This celebratory CD presents several previously issued recordings of choral music by John McCabe, David Ellis and Stephen Wilkinson himself. Of great interest is the World Première Release of a recording of Late Afternoon in November by Peter Dickinson. All the music (except for the Dickinson) is sung by the William Byrd Singers and all are conducted by Wilkinson.

Peter Dickinson’s Late Afternoon in November was specially composed to celebrate the 21^st anniversary of the BBC Northern Singers. It was duly premiered at Keele University on 14 November 1975.  Dickinson writes that “I wanted to create a close correspondence between words and music involving scrutiny of the words and even letters of the alphabet in a poem I had written much earlier.” It is very much a work of its time, but rather than present New Complexity, it is characterised by a sense of stasis and calm, with occasional outbursts of conservable brittleness. It presents a good musical picture of an icy, desolate landscape somewhere in Cambridgeshire, I guess.

Several arrangements of folksongs by Stephen Wilkinson are included. These are taken from his collection Grass Roots (2003). There is one each for Wales, England, Ireland and Scotland. They are well-wrought, subtle and imaginative: they deserve to be often performed.

I am curious why only two of the three parts of John McCabe’s Mangan Triptych are included: Visions and Siberia. There would certainly have been room on this CD for the final Motet. The texts are written by the Irish poet, James Clarence Mangan (1803-1849). These are dark, lugubrious poems. The liner notes declare that they “are emanations from a very dark psyche; indeed, Irish poet John Montague described “Mangan as a haunted man who found a metaphor for the stricken psyche worthy of Baudelaire.” Strangely, bearing this in mind the music is immediately approachable and does not typically present a tortured or angst-ridden sound. That said, the opening Visions ranges from “tenderness to screaming madness.”  The Mangan Triptych is an essential part of the English choral repertoire. It is just a pity that it is seldom heard.

For some reason, there are no details or dates provided for Betjeman’s Bells in the CD booklet. The track listing simply states that these are “arrangements” by Wilkinson. Who wrote the original tunes? They sound like novel music to me. I found it a most enjoyable work that reflects the patterns of the campanologist’s changes. It is a subtle piece that is full of interest.  The three “Bell Poems” set are Wantage, Uffington and Bristol. I think it is the first setting of Betjeman’s verse that I have heard.

My big discovery is David Ellis’s’ Sequentia in Tempore Natali Sancti for choir and soprano soloist.  It was written in 1965 and was premiered at Ilkley in the run up to Advent Sunday. The composer has set several of the Advent Antiphons which appear in the Roman Missal and are printed in English Hymnal. Ellis has combined these texts with several verses from the carol: O My Dear Heart, Young Jesu Sweet.  There is a good balance here of both rich and spartan choral textures. The final recapitulation of the Carol is perfectly stated.

The final work on this CD is Stephen Wilkinson’s That Time of Year, a setting of Sonnet 73 by William Shakespeare. It is written for baritone solo and full choir. This is a lovely musical recreation of the poet’s meditation on old age and love, with the twist that the former makes the latter imperative, before it is gone for good! The slow-moving harmonies generate a melancholy mood, with, alas, little optimism. It was premiered in the Royal Northern College of Music on 28 May 1977.

I have no concerns about the wonderful sound reproduction and the deeply sympathetic performances of these outstanding works. The liner notes by person/s unknown provide a good introduction to Stephen Wilkinson and the recorded repertoire. (Peter Dickinson did the note for his Late Afternoon in November).  The texts are included. Certain details are missing, such as some composer dates, and the above-mentioned omission of particulars about Betjeman’s Bells. Of more concern are the lack of recording dates and source details of the original LP/CD releases.

This is a remarkable disc of interesting, moving and accomplished choral music. It deserves every success. All these pieces ought and need to be part of the repertoire of choirs up and down the country. I hope that Prima Facie will reissue more recordings made by Stephen Wilkinson and The William Byrd Singers.

Track Listing:
Peter DICKINSON (b.1934) Late Afternoon in November (1975)
As I walked out arr. Stephen WILKINSON (b.1919) (2003)
John McCABE (1939-2015) Visions (1980)
Rowing down the Tide arr. Stephen WILKINSON (2003)
Stephen WILKINSON Betjeman’s Bells (?)
The Lark in the Clear Air arr. Stephen WILKINSON) (2003)
John McCABE Siberia (1983
The Piper o’ Dundee arr. Stephen WILKINSON (2003)
David ELLIS (b.1933) Sequentia in Tempore Natali Sancti (1965)
Stephen WILKINSON That time of Year (1976)
The William Byrd Singers/ Stephen Wilkinson; The BBC Northern Singers/ Stephen Wilkinson (That time of Year), John Powell (baritone, That time of Year)
rec. Various times, not given)
PRIMA FACIE PFCD147
With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.

A Peter Dickinson Concert – Stateside, 1959

In my recent review of chamber and instrumental music by the English Composer Peter Dickinson (b.1934), (TOCCATA TOCC 0538), I noted his absorbing Fantasia for solo violin, written in 1959 This piece was premiered at an ‘all-Dickinson concert at International House, Riverside Drive, New York, on Sunday, 3 May 1959.  In my review I suggested that I would appreciate seeing the programme notes for that concert. The composer duly obliged me with a scan of this fascinating document. 

Peter Dickinson was spending a year as a graduate student at the Julliard School of Music, studying with the Dutch American composer, conductor and violinist, Bernard Wagenaar (1894-1971). Dickinson had arrived on 31 August 1958 on a Fellowship from the Rotary International.   During his stay in New York, he had many of his compositions performed.  During this period, he had opportunity to discover music by composers such as Henry Cowell, John Cage and Edgard Varèse.

The International House concert opened with the premiere of Dickinson’s A Dylan Thomas Song Cycle for baritone and piano, written in New York. The soloist was Richard Eikenberry accompanied by the composer.  It must be recalled that Dylan Thomas had died only six years before this work was composed.  Dickinson writes ‘at that time the apocalyptic visits of Dylan Thomas were recent history and his barnstorming stance was seen alongside the protest of the Beat generation of Ginsberg and Kerouac.’ Heady days indeed.

This song cycle has been released on Albany Troy 365 (2000) Dickinson has written that ‘something of Dylan Thomas' blustering but lyrical address comes through in these settings of some of his most famous poems.’  Rob Barnett, reviewing this CD, considers that ‘…[these] songs depict turbulence and anxiety. They are concise and are free with dissonance.’

The ‘Variations on a French Folk Song’ (1957) for harpsichord is a challenging but vital work. It is based on the well-loved folk song ‘Sur le pont d’Avignon’. The theme is followed by eight diverse variations that explore aspects of the ‘deconstructed’ theme. There is humour, excitement and reflection in these variations: the finale is a ‘warhorse’. It is possibly the best ‘contemporary’ work for harpsichord that I have heard. It was dedicated to the Cambridge harpsichordist Mary Potts (1905-1982).

The above-mentioned Fantasia for solo violin, dedicated to Dickinson’s fellow student, the Greek American composer Dinos Constantinides (b.1929). Both men were graduate students at the Julliard School. This is a technically demanding work, that may be based on a ‘tone-row.’ Certainly, this music is full of large melodic leaps beloved by serialist composers. The music is vibrant and exciting, as befits a work inspired by Manhattan skyscrapers. Dickinson writes that the opening ‘declamation reaches up, mirroring these’ ubiquitous building. The work was performed at this concert by the dedicatee, Dinos Constantinides.

After the interval, two works were heard: Eight Variations for piano (now retitled Vitatalis Variations) and the String Quartet No.1. In Dickinson’s catalogue, this work represents an important development in his compositional technique.  The Eight Variations pay homage to Erik Satie and Igor Stravinsky. The composer has explained the he has used ‘a mosaic/cut-up technique’, which was inspired by Satie's ‘Prelude en tapisserie’. As far as I can make out, this involves several short phrases, quite different in character, ‘cut out’ and reassembled in a satisfying manner. Dickinson has stated that ‘textures and snippets recur like symbols moving in and out of focus.’  Vitatalis Variations had another life as an orchestral ballet score (now withdrawn), having been choreographed by the Mexican dancer Gloria Contreras.

Peter Dickinson has produced two string quartets. The first was composed during 1958, after he had arrived in New York, but was subsequently revised in 2010. The composer has noted that some American critics found that it was ‘aggressively modern.’ Listening to this remarkable work more than 60 years later is less challenging. There are three contrasting movements. The opening ‘allegro molto’ is frenetic, with fragments of melody being tossed around with abandon. It is exhilarating music but is unable to come to a resolution. The slow movement is written in ‘ternary’ form. An almost romantic ‘Bergian’ solo violin melody opens the proceedings. The ‘trio’ indulges in some bizarre sounds, sometimes played ‘con legno’. In other words, the soloist hits the strings with the back of the bow rather than with the hair. Plucked and struck, this is an adventure in string sound. The movement ends with the solo cello recalling the opening violin solo. The finale is a reminiscence on what has been previously heard. Fragmentary melodies, sometimes lyrical, other times dissonant predominate. This ‘allegro misterioso’ lives up to its title. But eventually, a sense of optimism breaks through. All four players combine in a terrific climax, before the work ends in an enigmatic cadence. Incidentally, the String Quartet No.2 was composed in 1976.

It has been instructive and a pleasure to [re-]discover a concert that was presented more than 60 years ago (I was just preparing for infant school at that time!). Equally satisfying is that the composer is still active and wholly involved in musicmaking. Importantly, all these works are currently available to the listener on CD or download. Few contemporary composers will able to make that claim.

With many thanks to Peter Dickinson who gave me considerable help and encouragement in writing about of this concert.

Peter Dickinson: Chamber and Instrumental Music

I decided to review this exciting new album of music by Peter Dickinson chronologically. I am beholden to the liner notes, as I have never heard any of these compositions before (except two other incarnations of the Lullaby). All are premiere recordings. For details of the composer, please see the helpful biographical notes on his webpage.

The earliest work is the Metamorphosis for solo violin. This was originally composed during 1955 for solo flute but was revised in 1971 for violin. The piece opens with a gorgeous pastoral diatonic melody, which sounds totally innocuous. But suddenly, as the title implies, it is transformed into something hectic, chromatic, vibrant and certainly not bucolic.

The Quintet Melody dates from 1956. The composer tells us that this is all that survives of a large scale five movement quintet for violin, cello, flute, clarinet and harpsichord. This was premiered at the Cambridge University Musical Club on 27 October 1956. For an unknown reason, Dickinson destroyed the work, but later found the present theme on the back of a sheet of manuscript paper. It is dedicated to the American composer Elliott Schwartz. If the present fragment is anything to go by, it is a pity that the entire work is no longer extant. It is a beautiful, elegiac melody that is haunting and strangely uplifting.

Looking at Peter Dickinson’s catalogue reveals that he has written two string quartets. The first was composed during 1958 but was subsequently revised in 2010. It was written after Dickinson had arrived in New York. The liner notes explain that some American critics found that it was ‘aggressively modern.’ Listening to this remarkable work more than 60 years later is less challenging. There are three contrasting movements. The opening ‘allegro molto’ is frenetic, with fragments of melody being tossed around with abandon. It is exhilarating music but is unable to come to a resolution. The slow movement is written in ‘ternary’ form. An almost romantic ‘Bergian’ solo violin melody opens the proceedings. The ‘trio’ indulges in some bizarre sounds, sometimes played ‘con legno’. In other words, the soloist hits the strings with the back of the bow rather than with the hair. Plucked and struck, this is an adventure in string sound. The movement ends with the solo cello recalling the opening violin solo. The finale is a reminiscence on what has been previously heard. Fragmentary melodies, sometimes lyrical, other times dissonant predominate. This ‘allegro misterioso’ lives up to its title. But eventually, a sense of optimism breaks through. All four players combine in a terrific climax, before the work ends in what sounds like a chord resolving with quartertones. Altogether a great string quartet, that is brilliantly played.

The Air for solo violin, begins in Dickinson’s ‘benign’ style, and surprisingly stays there. A timeless and quite ravishing tune is presented with little to trouble the ears of even the most conservative of listeners. It was originally written for solo flute.  A version of this ‘Air’ found its way into Recorder Music (1973) composed for David Munrow.

The last of the 1950s works is the Fantasia for solo violin. This was composed in 1959 for fellow student, the Greek American composer Dinos Constantinides (b.1929) whilst both men were graduate students at the Julliard School. It is a technically demanding work, that may be based on a ‘tone-row.’ Certainly, the music is full of large melodic leaps beloved by serialist composers. The music is vibrant and exciting, as befits a work that was inspired by Manhattan skyscrapers. Dickinson writes that the opening ‘declamation reaches up, mirroring these’ ubiquitous building. It was first heard at an ‘all-Peter Dickinson concert at International House, Riverside Drive, New York, on 3 May 1959. I would love to see the programme book for that event!

The Violin Sonata is possibly the most challenging music on this disc, especially for listeners who may not naturally relate to serial music. The Sonata is the last of Dickinson’s ‘American period’ works. It was composed during the severe winter of 1961. Dickinson recalls that ‘Manhattan was closed for three days; snow was piled up on the pavements for months. I had ideal working conditions for the piece in almost total winter isolation.’ The first movement is aggressive. No doubt about that. There is virtually no coming together of the two soloists. Each has their own agenda. What a mood change, then, to the proceedings is heard in the slow movement. I am not sure that I would have guessed it at first hearing, but the old English tune ‘Greensleeves’ underlies this music. The composer has used the technique of octave displacement to ‘hide’ the rustic melody. This method involves moving some of the notes into different octaves (and certainly modifying the rhythm). I would need to see the score and have pen and paper in hand to work out the details! Whatever the structural principles, this is no piece of light music. The finale is brilliant, dashing music. Here, there are diverse styles: sometimes hints of jazz, blues and even rock, with nods to the baroque era in the final fugal passage. It wraps up what is, for me, an engrossing violin sonata.

Although the liner notes state that all these works are premiere recordings, I did review the Lullaby in two of its incarnations. These versions for solo piano and for clarinet and piano were included on Peter Dickinson’s Translations: Early Chamber Works issued by (Prima Facie PFNSCD009) a couple of years ago. The Lullaby is a gorgeous piece of music that vacillates between palm court and recital room. It is beautifully played here in this version for violin and piano. Not so happy about the source of this music, though. It was extracted from sketches for an opera, The Unicorns. This story was about two competing countries who wanted to secure these rare, mystical creatures for research. I hope that in the projected opera the politicians got their comeuppance!

The String Quartet No.2 was completed in 1976. The title seems a little bit of a misnomer on first hearing. For, in amongst the typically slow-moving string texture there is a piano part. Let me try (with the help of the liner notes and a conversation with the composer) to explain. The piece is based around a piano ‘rag’ written in Dickinson’s student days, but subsequently destroyed. (I wish composers wouldn’t do that! Hide them away, with an embargo, but never destroy a work of art. It may be of interest to scholars down the road). The work is all about trying to remember the ‘lost’ rag. The substance of the piece is derived from this half-remembered tune. The pianist’s contribution, at first, is fragmentary. Rapid snippets with gaps and recalled fragments come and go for a large part of this work. The quartet is also playing the rag, but much slowed down and with blurring of obvious rhythm.  Slowly the keyboard and the string quartet make a rapprochement and begin get their act together. Just occasionally it seems that a tune will finally emerge – complete! Eventually the pianist has grasped the totality of the rag: there are now no gaps. This leads to the ‘ragtime’ played by quartet and pianist at full speed, but ‘comically out of synchronisation.’ Peter Dickinson has told me that the two parts – quartet and piano rag - are only loosely combined, not notated strictly against each other. The listener should be aware the Quartet is recorded as two tracks. The composer has assured me that this is a single movement work. The second ‘track’ simply marks the place where the two elements, quartet and piano come together and get up to speed. It is not a second movement. The piano part can be played ‘live’ or from a previously made recording (as here).

Initially this was my least favourite piece on this CD, but having listened to it several times, it is beginning to grow on me. There is a certain rare beauty in this slowly evolving music. It is a splendid example of contemporary (1976) ‘art music’ meeting Ragtime. And I don’t know who comes off best, if anyone. Charles Ives would have been delighted with this work.

The most recent piece on this disc the lyrical Tranquillo for violin and piano. It is part of the middle movement of Peter Dickinson’s Violin Concerto (1986) (see review here). The composer explains that the slow movement consists of four adagios. This Tranquillo is the third of these. The melody is a ‘popular’ version of the opening theme of Beethoven’s Spring Sonata for violin and piano, recast as a 1930 dance song. 

The liner-notes, written by the composer are excellent. They have been essential in writing my review.  It includes a short ‘autobiography.’ The sound quality is superb, with the detail of this often-complex music clear and bright. As this is a CD full of premieres, I have nothing to compare performances with. Yet everything tells me that we have definitive performances of all nine works. Special mention must go to Peter Sheppard Skærved whose technique both is compelling and spellbinding.

I enjoyed and appreciated virtually every bar of these varied and sometimes challenging pieces. Peter Dickinson is a composer with whom I can do business: I look forward to subsequent releases from his considerable catalogue. 

Track Listing:

Peter DICKINSON (b.1934)

Sonata for violin and piano (1961)

Air for solo violin (1959)

Metamorphosis for solo violin (1955, rev. 1971)

String Quartet No.1 (1958)

Fantasia for solo violin (1959)

Lullaby from The Unicorns for violin and piano (1967)

String Quartet No.2 (1976)

Quintet Melody for solo violin (1956)

Tranquillo for solo violin (1986, rev.2018)

Peter Sheppard Skærved (violin), Roderick Chadwick (piano), Kreutzer Quartet

Rec. 2017, St John the Baptist, Aldbury, Hertfordshire (Air, Metamorphosis, Fantasia, Quintet Melody); All Saints, Finchley, London (String Quartet No. 1); 2019, St Michael’s, Highgate, London (Sonata, Lullaby, Tranquillo, String Quartet No. 2).

TOCCATA TOCC 0538

Peter Dickinson: Three Statements for organ (1964)

One of the first pieces of modern organ music I discovered was Peter Dickinson’s Three Statements, dating from around 1964. I think that I found the sheet music in a second-hand bookshop in the early ‘70s’, so perhaps it was a review copy, or maybe it had belonged to an organist who found that it was not to his taste.

Ten years ago, I had the pleasure of reviewing Peter Dickinson’s ‘complete’ organ works which was released on Naxos 8.572169 during 2009. I gave my considered opinion that the Three Statements were ‘interesting, if a little dated in their sound-world.’ Having revisited them in recent days, I find that I misjudged them. To be fair, in the past decade I have been listening to much music composed between 1950 and 1970, so perhaps I have just got my eye (or ear) in to this style of music.

Peter Dickinson has written (CD Liner Notes) that ‘the Three Statements…arose from some work in improvisation I was doing with students, documented in a series of six articles in The Musical Times.’ So, clearly, they hint at this creative world rather than that of a formally constructed set of pieces. The work dates from the time that the composer had returned to Cambridge after study at the Julliard School in New York. During that period, Dickinson became familiar with music as diverse as Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber and John Cage.

Only the first Statement was in my gift as an organist, with its rolling melody played on the ‘choir’ organ and supported by soft cluster-chords on the ‘swell.’ The pedal part was made up of a short phrase containing two or more descending fifths. As the signed speed was ‘♩=84’ or ‘adagio’ it was quite easy to perform. I guess that the congregation at the Church of Scotland where I was assistant organist did not rate it. I was certainly never asked to play it again. One senior member felt that it was a little ‘long-haired.’

The second Statement, also an ‘adagio,’ has a collection of typically descending chords, often inverted triads, but sometimes with added notes. These have a jazzy syncopation about them. This is supported by a G major triad played on the swell, which continues until the end of the piece, with only a couple of added notes and suspensions introduced in the last few bars. The pedal part is played loud and is largely based on a rising tritone. The final C natural is played ‘fff’. I do find the sustained chord just a little irritating on the ear. The impact of this piece is created by the strong chords, which ‘modulate’ over a wide tonal range on the ‘great’ and the ‘choir’ organ, contrasted with the whisper on the ‘swell’ which never raises its voice beyond ‘pp’.

In the third Statement the contrast is straightforward: between a chorale-like few bars played on the ‘swell organ’ and a contrapuntal section for the ‘choir’ manuals only which repeats three times. The chorale is written using several parallel chords built on the fourth (e.g. E, A, D, G, C). The contrasting section uses a gently undulating left hand part against a wider spaced melody which never really comes into step. Much of the Statement is composed in 5/4 time. The piece concludes with a chords built on perfect fourths, separated by a variety of intervals.

All three Statements are good examples of organ music. Clearly, they belong to the era they were composed, but their interest holds in 2019.

Peter Dickinson’s Three Statements can be heard on YouTube played by Luca Massaglia. They are played on a digital representation of the Cavaillé-Coll organ of St. Etienne Abbey Church in Caen, France.  Statement 1, 2,  3.

Peter Dickinson: Mass of the Apocalypse on Naxos

I repost this review from 2009. I was listening again to this disc the other day, and I wondered what I had said about it in my review. Alas, I notices my blog had a curtailed version, I do not know how that happened. I have made a few minor edits and corrections.

The best way to explore this disc is to join the composer on a musical journey. This will be not so much a chronological trip but one that introduces the listener to a variety of facets of Peter Dickinson’s unique musical style.  I guess that most listeners will be like me: they will know few if any of these works, unless they had been present at the concert performances. In fact, all these works are ‘World Premiere Recordings’, with the exception of the Mass of the Apocalypse.

There is no need for me to give biographical notes about the composer: I have already given a thumbnail sketch of his career in my review of his complete solo organ works, also released by Naxos. However one thing is useful to remember. Dickinson is something of an eclectic composer, using devices as far removed from each other as ragtime and aleatory elements and from jazz to serialism. Yet it must be noted that his use of these compositional devices is not self-conscious. They are not simply used for effect: they are nearly always an integral part of the concept of the piece.

So, the best place to begin this journey is with a little bit of pastiche. Dickinson has insisted that the Five Forgeries for Piano Duet are simply ‘party-pieces.’  They are quite openly designed to take-off or parody the composers listed in the titles. The first piece gives the set a great start. This is a memorable tune that manages to ‘out Poulenc Poulenc’, especially in the middle section!  This first ‘forgery is dedicated to Lennox Berkeley who was a close friend of the composer.  The second piece is unmistakable Hindemith with its subtle juxtaposition of dissonant and consonant ‘areas’ of music. The Stravinsky parody is a little less convincing- although it is an attractive piece of piano music in its own right. It is ‘late’ Stravinsky and owes little to ‘The Firebird’.  The Delius number is a real treat. Although occasionally nodding to Debussy, this is the ‘quality’ piano piece that Fred. never quite got round to writing. It is dedicated to the composer’s father who was a Delius enthusiast.  The Bartok needs no recommendation – it is so typical of that composer’s percussive style that it could me mistaken for a lost part of the canon –although spiced with a hint of jazz.

After these infectious piano pieces I turned to the Air for solo flute. This is one of the works that the composer wrote whilst a post-graduate at the Julliard School of Music in New York. The piece is dedicated to Betty Mills who gave a number of performances of the piece in the early 1960’s. It is a haunting tune that seems to straddle the boundary between serial music and something less contrived. There is an ageless quality about this piece that makes it hard to tie down stylistically. 

The second piece for solo flute is Metamorphosis. Apparently this was originally conceived for an ‘eight-note pipe’. It dates from 1955 when the composer had just turned 21. In some ways it is aurally similar to the Air, yet the construction of the work is based round a transformational journey from a melody to a cadenza. Certainly the latter half of this work is exceedingly challenging - for both the soloist and the listener.

The opening track, Lullaby, is a rather lovely piece for flute and piano. This was part of a six-movement suite for brass, which was derived from sketches for the projected opera The Unicorn. This was to have been a story about “two unicorns [which] are discovered in a remote part of Africa. Both the East and West want to obtain specimens for research so they send out rival expeditions. The Western technique is to lure the unicorn with a young girl singing a lullaby. Both East and West manage to capture a unicorn each but the mythical animals, which have become attached to each other, escape together in the end”. Other versions of this attractive movement were severally made for clarinet, oboe and flute all accompanied by piano.

Before tackling the larger works on this CD I suggest a hearing of the Five Early Pieces for piano solo, which were composed during Dickinson’s last year as an undergraduate at Cambridge. These five short pieces are sometimes rather wistful and introspective. The set consists of two ‘Inventions’ framed by three ‘Contemplations’.  The composer recalls how the Inventions were written as a part of a music examination.  Apparently, Dickinson destroyed the first and the second Contemplations, but his music teacher kept a copy of the first and the composer was able to recreate the second some forty years later from memory! It is an attractive set of pieces that successfully contrasts tradition and modernity.

The most challenging piece on this CD is the Mass of the Apocalypse, which was commissioned for the 300^th anniversary of the radical Anglican St James’s Church, Piccadilly. It received its premiere there on 15 July 1984. It is certainly not a work that could be used in any liturgical context and can only be performed as a ‘concert piece’. Structurally, it is a mish-mash of words collated from the Mass and from the Book of Revelation.  This confusion is further increased by the use of the memorable prose of the Authorised King James Version for those parts of the work which are spoken against a background of music, with the sung parts conned from the less than satisfactory and somewhat pedestrian language of the now largely redundant ASB (Alternative Service book). The Mass is set for soprano and mezzo-soprano soloists, speaker and four-part chorus. Two percussionists and a pianist provide the accompaniment. I enjoyed this music in spite of its non-traditional format and the perplexity of styles. It is certainly a moving piece that will provoke a response from the listener of one kind or another.

A major part of this CD is given over to a live performance of Larkin’s Jazz. This is a rather unusual work written for a speaker and baritone (same person), small chamber ensemble including piano and percussion. It was commissioned by Keele University and was first performed in the chapel there on 5 February 1990. I have to hold my hand up and say that this work does not appeal to me. I guess that my main concern is the dichotomy between the relatively straight forward ‘jazz’ inspired sections and the much more modernistic tone of the remainder of the music. Yet there is much of interest and the music is always engaging. The balance of the musical and the spoken parts is well contrived.

Peter Dickinson met Philip Larkin at Hull and had a discussion about the possibility of setting some of his poems. Larkin was unenthusiastic. It was not until after the poet had died that Dickinson was able to set a number of the poems, however in deference to Larkin’s wishes they are narrated rather than sung. The work is quite simply constructed; being based around four poems and two of the poet’s favourite jazz numbers. These are Riverside Blues by King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, which had been recorded in 1923, and Blue Horizon featuring Sidney Bechet (clarinet) and His Blue Note Jazzmen which was laid down in 1944.

Larkin’s Jazz was conceived in some eleven sections – each poem has a prelude, then a reading of the text with minimal accompaniment and finally a musical commentary, or in the case of the final poem, and epilogue. The four poems used are ‘Reasons for Attendance’, ‘For Sidney Bechet’, ‘Love Songs in Age’ and ‘Reference Back’. 

It is good that this recording has been released to celebrate the composer’s 75^th year. There are now some six CDs in the current catalogue presenting a fair cross section of over fifty years of musical composition. This is an excellent CD with which to introduce the listener to the diverse sound world of Peter Dickinson, a world that is always challenging and interesting but never lacks interest.  It is a well-presented disc with an essential and informative essay by the composer. With nearly 80 minutes of music is excellent value for money. The ‘live’ first performances of the Mass and the Larkin’s Jazz add interest and colour to the programme.

Track Listing:

Peter Dickinson (b. 1934)

Lullaby from ‘The Unicorns’ (1967/82/86)

Mass of the Apocalypse (1984)

Larkin’s Jazz (1989)
Five Forgeries for piano duet (1963)

Five Early Pieces for Piano (1955-1956)

Air (1959)

Metamorphosis (1955/57)

Peter Dickinson (piano), John Flinders (piano: Forgeries, Early Pieces 2 & 4), Duke Dobing (flute: Lullaby, Air & Metamorphosis)

Rev. Donald Reeve (narrator), Jo Maggs (soprano), Meriel Dickinson (mezzo-soprano), St James Singers, James Holland & David Johnson (percussion) John Alley (piano) Ivor Bolton (conductor) [Mass]

Henry Herford (baritone/speaker) The Nash Ensemble conducted by Lionel Friend [Larkin’s Jazz]

Naxos 8.572287

Peter Dickinson: Organ Music on Naxos

I repost this review from 2009. I was listening again to this disc the other day, and I wondered what I had said about it in my review. Alas, I notices my blog had a curtailed version, I do not know how that happened. I have made a few minor edits and corrections.

I often say this, but it is worth repeating: Do not attempt to listen to this CD at a single sitting. Not only will the listener lose concentration but they will miss some very interesting pieces and a superb opportunity to explore a small but well-proportioned corpus of organ works.

Interestingly, the disc has been presented in chronological order, and that is how I approached it. It is possible to select a couple of contrasting pieces and slowly explore from that perspective. A good place to begin would be the Blue Rose Variations- more about that work later. However, I do recommend following the development of Peter Dickinson’s thought from his nineteenth year through to the Millennium Fanfare written when he was 66 years old. It is an interesting and instructive journey. Naturally, not all the works impressed me equally, but taken, as my late father used to say, in the round, this new CD is a remarkable musical document showcasing a composer and musician who has encapsulated much of the musical style of the last half of the twentieth century.

A few brief notes about Peter Dickinson may be of interest. He was born in the Lancashire seaside town of Lytham St. Anne’s on 15 November 1934. He began to compose whilst still at school. Later, he went up to Cambridge where he was Organ Scholar at Queens College. It was at the end of this time that he showed some of his early works to Lennox Berkeley. In 1958 he was a post-graduate student at the Juilliard School in New York where he was able to explore music by composers such as Henry Cowell, John Cage and Edgard Varèse. After returning to the United Kingdom, he spent most of the ‘day’ job as a lecturer at the College of St. Mark and St. John, Chelsea and later in Birmingham. He was the first professor of music at Keele University in 1974 and established there an important centre for the study of American music. Further academic distinction included being Professor of Music at Goldsmiths University of London and after that, Head of Music at the Institute of United States Studies, University of London. 

Interspersed with his academic achievement were parallel careers of composition and performance, often with his sister Meriel, a noted mezzo-soprano. His style is eclectic, with a number of his pieces exploring the techniques of the so-called avant-garde and others developing more popular idioms. Critics have noted that some of his music has been compared to Igor Stravinsky, Charles Ives and Erik Satie. Latterly, his works appear to have moved into a more approachable, if not populist style, which fuses ‘a mix of ragtime, jazz, serial music, and even electronic playback to more traditional types of instrumental musical forms.’ There is little in the way of this diversity in the corpus of organ music. None of these pieces force the listener too far out of their comfort zone. All are well within the tradition of contemporary organ music, although one or two would be rather inappropriate for the recessional at ‘St Swithuns’ or for signing the register at a wedding.

The CD opens with a fine ‘Postlude’ that was one the first pieces that Dickinson wrote as organ scholar. There is nothing particularly novel here, but it represents a good example of the then prevailing English cathedral tradition of organ music. There are one or two rather powerful dissonances to spice up the proceedings. The ‘Prelude’ of 1954 is reflective: a complete contrast to the previous piece. Once again it is very much a work of its era. Dickinson suggests that it was nearly lost when he had a mass burning of his early pieces. Fortunately, his father had kept a copy in his collection of organ music! It is good that it has survived. The Postlude on ‘Adeste Fideles’ is largely predictable in its use of the tune over and against a toccata-like configuration. A great Christmas Day recessional...

Peter Dickinson notes that the Three Preludes of Orlando Gibbons’s Hymn Tunes have never been published. The first two are largely introspective and the last is a sort of postlude. They nod towards Howells and owe much to the ‘early music’ revival at Cambridge in the mid-fifties, led by Thurston Dart. Truly lovely pieces that I hope will soon be published. 

The Toccata is a considerable stylistic distance from the Gibbons Preludes. It sounds fiendishly difficult. This music balances a largely complex figuration against some almost jazzy big chords. It would make a great alternative to the inevitable Widor!  

The Meditation on Murder in the Cathedral is a harder work to come to terms with. It is derived from some incidental music written for a performance of the T.S.Eliot’s play at Embley Park School in Hampshire. Some of the ‘string’ effects are quite simply gorgeous - yet these are offset with ‘violent’ moments that literally rip through the ‘meditation’.

The Study in Pianissimo was composed in the United States. It uses serialism to control much of the musical development and content. Dickinson is correct in noting that it is a ‘fragmentary’ piece. Yet despite of the highly organised nature of the music it has a strange fascination and freedom of expression.

I have an irrational dislike of any piece called a ‘Dirge’- it goes back, I think, to some piano music by Felix Swinstead. And this piece is no exception. Dark and inward-looking, it barely admits a glimmer of light. The definition of a ‘dirge’ is ‘a sombre song expressing mourning or grief, such as would be appropriate for performance at a funeral.’ If anyone plays this piece at my funeral I shall haunt them for a very long time! Yet, objectively, this piece does fulfil the criteria of the definition.

The Three Statements was the only organ work of Peter Dickinson’s that I knew prior to hearing this CD. I guess I bought the music way back in the early ‘seventies when I regularly played the organ. I seem to recall that the first piece was just about in my gift. It was never popular when I gave it an airing at Morning Service! Yet listening to these ‘Statements’ some thirty-five year later, I can see that they are good examples of organ music. They seem to hold a middle-ground between improvisation and control. The three pieces use note-clusters, wide melodic leaps and chords built on fourths for their effect. They are interesting, if a little dated in their sound-world.

The Carillon is another toccata-like effort that exploits interesting off-beat rhythms. Dickinson writes that it is ‘a jumble of bell sounds in variable metres - rhythms rarely heard from church steeples’. He assures the listener that the campanologist’s art lies fairly and squarely behind this work. It is a thoroughly enjoyable piece of organ music. 

Paraphrase I is quite long: it lasts over quarter of an hour. This is the most involved piece presented here. Although originally written for a chamber organ that had been installed in Pershore Abbey, it is ideally suited to a larger instrument. The music is presented in ten very short sections with the last being a repeat of the first. Dickinson mentions that the starting point of this piece is his motet ‘John’ (1963) that was a setting of a poem by Thomas Blackburn. I guess that it is effectively a ‘paraphrase’ on this music or poetic theme. It certainly holds the listener’s interest. The musical language is not particularly challenging and the whole appears unified and satisfactory. A glance at Dickinson’s catalogue reveals a Paraphrase II - but this time it is for piano!

The most novel, if not the most important work on this CD is the Blue Rose Variations. It was written some eighteen years after the Paraphrase. The composer points out that at the time of writing this work his music was influenced ‘with ragtime, blues and aspects of early jazz.’ The present piece achieves a balance between what may be regarded as secular and as sacred. I doubt that it could be played at High Mass, but it is certainly not out of place in the organ loft. It is an excellent example of how different styles of music can be successfully fused.

The latest piece on this CD is the Millennium Fanfare, which was quite naturally written in 1999! It was first performed at Aldeburgh Parish Church by Keith Bond. I have never heard Dickinson’s Organ Concerto (1971), [when I wrote this review] but he suggests in the sleeve notes that the Fanfare ‘looks back to the awe-inspiring chords” at the start of that earlier work. A jazzy section that complements these massive chords is derived from some form of appropriation of the ‘musical’ letters found in the name Aldeburgh. It makes an excellent conclusion to this largely interesting and often impressive recital.

Jennifer Bate has given a sympathetic and convincing performance of all these pieces - they were recorded over a period of a quarter of a century. The organs sound excellent and appear to be ideally suited for the pieces chosen for them. Naxos has provided a specification for all three instruments. For the cognoscenti, St John’s Duncan Terrace is a 1963 Walker Organ, St Dominic’s Priory is also a Walker and St James Muswell Hill was built by Harrison and Harrison.

Track Listing:

Peter DICKINSON (b.1934)
Complete Solo Organ Works
A Cambridge Postlude (1953); Prelude(1954); Postlude on ‘Adeste Fidelis’ (1954);  Prelude on Song 46(Orlando Gibbons) (1954/55); Prelude on Song 20(Orlando Gibbons) (1954/55); Prelude on Song 34(Orlando Gibbons) (1954/55); Toccata(1955); Meditation on Murder in the Cathedral(1958); Study in Pianissimo(1959); Dirge(1963); Three Statements(1964); Carillon (1964); Paraphrase 1(1967); Blue Rose Variations(1985); Millennium Fanfare(1999)
Jennifer Bate (organ)
Organ of St Dominic’s Priory London (Carillon); Organ of St James’s Muswell Hill, London (Toccata, Meditation, Study, & Paraphrase; Organ of St John’s Duncan Terrace (all other pieces)
NAXOS 8.572169

Peter Dickinson: Translations-Early Chamber Works

I greatly admire any composer who can develop a wide variety of musical styles yet manage to create a body of works that are challenging, satisfying and typically enjoyable.  A BBC Proms Prospectus (Christopher Palmer) summed this up: ‘Conflicts, juxtapositions, attempted syntheses – Peter Dickinson’s work is full of them, all shook-up, all mixed-up, all jazzed up…yet always keenly imagined and meticulously reasoned and realised.'

I have noted some of Dickinson’ stylistic traits in past reviews on MusicWeb International: these include ragtime, jazz, musicals, rock and pop, coupled with electronic playback, serial music, aleatory and traditional forms. It is redundant to try and present an idea of who Dickinson ‘sounds like’, but for the record, influences include Igor Stravinsky, Lennox Berkeley, Eric Satie and Charles Ives.

One tool to understanding Peter Dickinson’s music is the concept of ‘style modulation’ where ‘popular’, ‘serious’ and even ‘avant-garde’ sound-worlds are mixed together. Yet this ‘mixture’ always works. It is a considerable achievement: there is never any confusion in the listeners mind.

A good biography of the composer is available in his excellent webpage.

This CD is the first of two aiming to explore Dickinson’s early chamber works. A glance at the track-listings shows two pieces that were written in 2016 and one that was revised in the same year. But I get the idea. The composer has explained that he destroyed several early compositions, which, based the music heard on this CD, is a shame.

The earliest work on this CD is the Sonatina for recorder and piano, composed in 1956, some 62 years ago. Fortunately, this piece did survive. This work is as fresh today as it was when first composed.  This three-movement work was originally conceived for flute and piano and was written when Dickinson was an undergraduate at Cambridge University. Several years later, John Turner suggested that the Sonatina would work admirably for recorders.  The three movements are diverse in structure – sonata form, a canon between instruments and a comedy ‘overture.’ The clever thing about the middle movement is the deployment of two different modes, major and minor for each voice of the canon. It has a beautiful effect. The last movement is a riot of fun from end to end.  

The Threnody for cello and piano, which was written around the same time as the Sonatina, has a totally different mood. The word ‘threnody’ implies ‘a song of lamentation for the dead.’ This is a deeply felt work that achieves what it sets out to do. There is nothing challenging or ‘modern’ about this heartfelt piece. It is played here with a moving intensity.

The third of the early chamber works that survived the composer’s cull is the Fantasy for Clarinet and Piano (1956). It was not published until 2000 and was premiered in 2014. This is a delightful piece of neo-classicism that owes much to Lennox Berkeley. It is often cool, thoughtful and lyrical in its exposition. Just a wee bit too short to accommodate the ideas that Dickinson has generated.

Six years later, (1962) the Four Duos for flute and cello were composed. Dickinson tells us that they were begun when he was running a ‘cello class for beginners at a school. According to the liner notes, three of these pieces use a twelve-note row from Charles Ives’ Three Page Sonata (1908). It is a splendid example of a (largely) serial work, which certainly does (should) not put the listener off. I thoroughly enjoyed these interesting pieces. This may be music of its time, but these Duos are highly successful and approachable. There are four movements: Moderate – Lively and Precise – Slowly, with Foreboding – Bright, well-articulated. The Four Duos are attractively played here.

One of the longest pieces on this CD is the Sonatina for Solo Bassoon (1966). Personally, I am never sure about how effective solo wind pieces are, but in this case any misgivings were misplaced. The composer explains: ‘This solo sonatina started when my wife and I stayed with some friends in Paris and there was a bassoonist practising on the top floor of the house.’ Work on this piece began immediately, however it was replete with many ‘high notes’ which the French soloist in the room above was clearly able to produce with ease. When shown to British players they ‘recoiled in horror’ at these extreme notes. The work remained un-played.  Several years later the high notes were excised. Even with this concession, it is an extremely difficult-sounding piece. All difficulties are smoothed away by the present soloist, Rosie Burton.

The short ‘Lullaby’ for Clarinet and Piano was written in 1967 and revised in 1982. The piece was culled from sketches for an opera that was never completed, The Unicorns. The liner notes explain that the original storyline was ‘about two competing countries who wanted to secure unicorns for research.’ Grrr! One of these countries (not stated which) ‘played’ the poor animal like a bullfighter, and the other (not stated) used the voice of a girl singing. Hence the present ‘Lullaby’. It is a heartbreakingly beautiful piece.

Another incarnation of this same ‘Lullaby’ is included as the final track on this CD. Clearly Peter Dickinson knows when he is on a good thing. It is a lovely, ‘cocktail,’ piano version which is much more elaborate than the 1967 embodiment. It is played here by the composer in an expressive premiere performance.

The main event on this CD is Translations for Recorder, Gamba and Harpsichord (1971). It is the most challenging work on this disc. Translations was commissioned by, and written for, the early music specialist David Munrow. Munrow considered that early music instruments should generate their own repertoire of modern compositions, and not simply be restricted to ‘museum pieces.’ Translations is characterised by ‘extended techniques’ for the recorder and the gamba, including ‘noises off.’ This pushes the style well into the 1970s. On the other hand, there are some lovely moments when the listener perceives an almost ‘pop’ melody trying to establish itself: and then disintegrating. There are moments of jazz, rock figurations, fugue and ecstatic cadenzas. I have never really ‘dug’ the early music scene. Yet this avant-garde ‘take’ is right up my street. A fine composition splendidly played. My favourite work on this CD.

Two other little piano pieces make up the rest of this programme. Both were composed in 2016. The Waltz for Elliot Schwartz was written as a birthday tribute to this American composer. I may add, that he is a fantastic composer. Alas he died on 7 December of that year.  Freda’s Blues was composed as a tribute to Lady Freda Berkeley’ who was Lennox Berkeley’s widow. The waltz is a bitter-sweet ‘reminiscence’ on Berkeley song ‘How Love came in’, a setting of Robert Herrick written in the mid-1930s.

The sound quality is excellent. The liner notes by Peter Dickinson are concise and extremely helpful. I have noted the high standard of performances throughout.

This is a great CD. It does what it says on the tin and provides a conspectus of ‘early’ chamber music written in 1950s-1970s with two later numbers thrown in. Everything here points to Peter Dickinson as being one of the most important composers of his generation, yet he is often sadly overlooked by concert promoters and the media. This first CD is a welcome addition to several important recordings devoted to his music. I look forward to the second volume in this series.

Track Listings:

PETER DICKINSON (b. 1934)

Sonatina for Recorder and Piano (1956)

Lullaby for Clarinet and Piano (1967/82)

Translations for Recorder, Gamba and Harpsichord (1971)

Threnody for Cello and Piano (1956)

Four Duos for Flute and Cello (1962)

Fantasy for Clarinet and Piano (1956)

Sonatina for Solo Bassoon (1966)

Waltz for Elliott Schwartz for Piano (2016)

Freda’s Blues for Piano (2016)

Lullaby from ‘The Unicorns’ for Piano (1967/2016)

Rosie Burton (bassoon), Harvey Davies (harpsichord), Peter Dickinson (piano), Joseph Havlat (piano) (Lullaby & Fantasy), Lydia Hillerudh (cello), Stuart Eminson (clarinet), Peter Lawson (piano) (Sonatina), Rosanna Ter-Berg (flute), Richard Tunnicliffe (gamba); John Turner (recorders)

Rec. Carole Nash Recital Room, Royal Northern College of Music, 7-8 November 2017 PRIMA FACIE PFNSCD009