Richard Stoker: Regency Suite Op.15 (1952-1959)

Richard Stoker's attractive Regency Suite op.15 was composed over several years during the 1950s. It is a composite work - with a few early pieces being mined to produce what is a surprisingly well integrated result. 

The opening Scherzo - is a little toccata, in fact, is supposedly based on Picasso line drawings and circus paintings. It was the last piece to be completed for this suite. It is full of little figurations and has a definite and deliberate chaos of tonality. The following Minuet on the other hand was written when the composer was yet a boy. It is quite a concentrated little piece complete with cunning key changes at the cadences. I wondered if it was worked over by Stoker for this suite, as it seems to fit perfectly into the prevailing style. Again the tonality is very free- one almost feels that there is a little tone row somewhere amongst the rather sweet tune.

The Pastoral Andante was written in 1958. It is quite a desolate landscape that this Yorkshire born composer is reflecting on. It is nearer the moors above Huddersfield or the strange country around Spurn Point rather than the smiling fields near York. The 'Gigue' is a fun piece. Lots of contrast and a few sequences, ties this nicely into the old-fashioned feel to the work. The oldest piece of music is the Gavotte, composed when Stoker was a mere 14 years old. Yet it is a piece that deserves to be preserved. Absolutely perfect here. The last piece is a Toccata, and it is apparently very dear to the composer. A fine finish.

There is an interesting little bit of musical history here - the Gavotte and the Minuet were given their first Broadcast Performance on the BBC Home Service in 1953 - by none other than Violet Carson - later to become famous as Ena Sharples in Coronation Street. I never knew she was a pianist.

A critic once wrote that “this is not silk shirted music!" The title Regency Suite "aptly reflects the slightly neoclassical nature of each piece.”

Richard Stoker’s Regency Suite can be heard on SoundCloud. It is played by Erik Parkin.

Richard Stoker: Seventy Years Young!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICHARD!

Keep on composing, writing, acting, painting, teaching and quite simply entertaining for the next Seventy Years!!!!

Please see my Birthday tribute at MusicWeb International...hopefully it is up and on line!!!

Richard Stoker, Janet Craxton & ‘Polemics’

Richard Stoker is no stranger to the art of writing chamber music- either in general or for the oboe in particular. A brief perusal of his catalogue reveals Three String Quartets, Two String Trios, a Wind Quintet, and Clarinet Quartet. There are a number of works for various instruments, with or without piano.

When we consider the oboe repertoire the first thing to note is that he produced a didactic volume entitled An 'Oboe Method' -so we feel confident that he must have a facility for writing for this instrument. He has written a number of pieces for the instrument including a Chant & Danse for the Associated Board examinations, an Aubade and Three Pieces for solo performer. But perhaps must enticing of all is the Pastoral for Oboe and Strings – this must surely be a candidate for some future recording project.

Richard Stoker had met Janet Craxton when they were both on the staff at the Royal Academy. He was at that time professor of composition there. She had come to a performance of his Third String Quartet (Adlerian) on the South Bank and had been suitably impressed by what she heard. Soon she made a request to him for a work for her instrument. Now it appears that she wanted an Oboe Quartet. But Stoker was not inspired by this combination. What he had in mind was to set up a debate or a discussion between a single woodwind and a string trio. Hence the two main protagonists were to become oboe and the trio. The dedicatee did not know about this particular change to the planned quartet until the work was finished – but Stoker relates that she was ‘OK’ about it.

The relationship between performer and composer was based on vigorous debate. They discussed everything – from music through the state of the world and just about life in general. Craxton was some nine years older than Stoker and no doubt brought her considerable wisdom and wit into the conversations. He regarded these dialogues as a kind of ‘platonic’ debate – hence the title ‘Polemics.’ A brief look at the dictionary defines ‘polemics’ as follows:- A controversial argument, especially one refuting or attacking a specific opinion or doctrine.

A person engaged in or inclined to controversy, argument, or refutation.

Now listening to music it is difficult to see the more hard edged words used in the above definitions. For example there is little in the way of ‘attack’ and refuting.’ This suggests a ‘polemic’ infused by respect and admiration rather than by mere point scoring.

The composer writes that he considered the oboe as Janet Craxton and the violin, and other strings as himself.

Polemics is written in three slightly unbalanced movements. Although it could be argued that the work falls into five sections with the heart of the matter central to the argument.

The first movement is entitled Sonata – although it seems to be perhaps in a ‘Scarlattian’ sense as opposed to that of Beethoven. It runs for a mere two and half minutes. The oboe starts off the proceedings with a short solo gesture before the stings join in –the lady definitely has the first word! The oboe retains its prominence throughout this movement –but is set against bold and wide-ranging statements from the other strings. The debate seems to be somewhat abrupt and there are certainly a number of throwaway lines here!

The second movement is definitely the heart of the work. It is a strangle construction really, being a deep ‘sostenuto’ sandwiched between two skittish ‘scherzando passages. In some ways it is a sonata within a sonata! Yet it is this movement that give this whole work its touch of genius.

Stoker has written that in the ‘scherzando’ sections he has written music in a style that he knew Craxton enjoyed playing. He used the Mozart Oboe Quartet as a starting point rather than a model. This was a classical work that was a critical part of Janet Craxton’s repertoire.

But it is in the central section – the sostenuto – where Stoker excels himself. There is a profundity to this music that stays in the mind long after the final notes of the piece have been heard. And there is a strangely ‘English’ quality to this music – especially the string parts. This is not perhaps too surprising until one recalls Stoker’s predilection towards the ‘Francophile’ works of Lennox Berkeley.

The last movement is in fact a fugue. Here all the four instruments come into the argument. It is harder to spot anyone in the ascendancy –although the soloist is certainly never put in their place.

It is difficult to know if this work is based on a tone-row of any kind. Much of the writing has an atonal feel to it that suggests there may be some constructional principal underlying the melodic and harmonic development of this piece. But typically Stoker has used tone rows as a means to an end rather than the end itself. It does not really matter whether we are listening to inversions or retrogrades of the original note sequence – it is whether the music moves the soul. In this case it most certainly does.

The only recording we have of this work is unfortunately in ‘mono’ sound. It was made two days before Christmas Day in 1971 at the BBC Broadcasting House. Yet it is a classic in its own right. This is available on Oboe Classics CC2011 and is coupled with works by Routh, Maconchy, LeFanu, Berkeley and Lutyens. The playing of both the soloist and the London Oboe Quartet seems to my ear faultless – the cut and thrust of the ‘polemic’ or ‘dialogue’ is vital and the string tone leaves nothing to be desired.

Because of the close association of the composer and the player it is doubtful that any subsequent recordings can quite catch the magic and the personality of both the ‘key players.’ But that must never be a reason not to record a great work time and again. I sincerely hope that some oboist will take up this work and produce a modern, stereo recording. And perhaps they could include some of the other works that Stoker wrote for this great instrument.

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this was originally posted in 2006

Richard Stoker: From an Artist’s Sketchbook

I recently posted an article about Richard Stoker’s piano suite A Poet’s Notebook- I have known this work since reviewing a CD of the composer’s piano music. However, a few weeks ago, I discovered copies of the sheet music for this piece and also for From an Artist’s Sketchbook Op.7a in a second hand music shop near Edgware Road Tube Station.

The Sketchbook was written in the 1958 and was dedicated to Nicolas Berkeley, the third son of the composer Sir Lennox. The work was actually published by Hinrichsen a few years after it had been composed.

Richard Townend, writing in The Musical times in May 1968 was keen to point out that one of Stoker’s main interests is “providing music for the young and technically inexperienced amateur to play and enjoy.” There was a definite attempt in this present work along with the Notebook and The Little Giraffe (a Peter & the Wolf type of narrative) to write easy music which is real music. There is never an attempt to ‘write down’; there are no concessions made to musicality other than in technical content. I understand that this interest in ‘playable pieces’ dates from the composer’s attempt at finding suitable chamber music to play when he was studying at the Art School in Huddersfield.

The ‘Artist’s Sketchbook’ has six ‘easy’ pieces. They are all named after a genre of painting. The Portrait is an 'andante 'written in a gently rocking 2/4 time with a ‘confusion’ between the keys of A minor and major. The difficulty here it to ‘pull off’ the single bar phrases and maintain interest. Yet it is a good opener and certainly needs a wee bit of study.

The Still Life is ‘easier’ yet here there is a danger of spoiling the piece by lack of attention to the dynamics. There are a few interesting dissonances that need to be managed discretely. Cartoon is perhaps the highlight of the suite. Written to be played ‘presto’, this piece fairly rollicks along. The left hand carries most of the technical interest and little fingers as well as mine can get tied up – especially at the speed indicated!

The Study is another piece where the unwary can come to grief. For much of it the left hand has to play both quavers and crotchets –and it is easy to have an uneven touch and destroy the movement of the piece. The right hand swaps between a short three note phrase and an octave scale that appears to be in the mixolydian mode!

The fifth movement, Abstract is a little piece of counterpoint that utilises a kind of ground bass. Here again the phrasing needs to be cerefully attended to with this number.

The last ‘sketch’ is a Landscape. This is great music that sounds so much more impressive, and actually quite moving, than the notes on the page would suggest. It is a dialogue between a succession of three-note common chords in the left hand with and interesting Britten-like melody in the right hand. There is a harking back to the opening sketch with an alteration between A minor and major once more.

Interestingly, Richard Stoker is also an artist –in fact he told me recently that he hopes to spend more time painting in the next few years. As he is approaching his seventieth birthday in November, I just hope that it is not to the detriment of his composing!

Unfortunately From an Artist’s Sketchbook is unrecorded. I understand from the composer that there was a plan to record this and a number of other ‘children’s’ works – but this did not come to fruition. Naturally, for a minor work such as this there is little critical comment in the musical literature – however one reviewer in the Music Teacher has written that “all [these pieces] show a good sense of style, and have many useful educational points.'

Fortunately the music is available at Tutti and certainly represents a good investment for the any child wishing to break away from the ‘Teddy goes for a Walk’ type of juvenile teaching music – or perhaps for an adult who does not go beyond about Grade 4 but wishes to play something fresh and stylish that sounds like ‘real music’.

Richard Stoker: A Poet's Notebook Op.19 (1969)

A Poet's Notebook Op.19 (1969) combines two of Richard Stoker's interests. And perhaps a third by implication. For not only does he compose music and write poetry, but he also exhibits paintings. So what we have here could be entitled 'An Artist's Sketchbook.' For that is what these six pieces actually are -thumbnail sketches. One is reminded perhaps of Prokofiev's Visions Fugitives - not so much in quality but in design. They are pieces that are so short as to be untenable except when played in one sitting or perhaps as thoughts for future works; maybe even defining the parameters for a developing pianistic style. 

The listener cannot help noticing that there is a definite Berkeley-esque and French feel to this work. Although Benjamin Britten is also never far from these pages as well. There are six very short sketches in this work; Ballad, Epigram, Elegy, Lampoon, Parody, and Ode. The first sketch has a lovely tune set against a chordal accompaniment. The second is like a little toccata - far too short! The Elegy has a poignant theme - that is again far too short to get one's teeth into. The Lampoon is a little study making use of triplets. Britten is Parody, intended in the fifth movement, in fact the composer tell me it nods to The Salley Gardens! And finally the Ode is spare, compressed and perhaps lacking in movement. Again there is a touch of 'Winter Words' here I think.

What is perhaps most interesting is that they are in the gift of the competent amateur. However there are a number of difficulties lurking on these pages that will trip up the over-confident tyro.

Richard Stoker's A Poet's Notebook, along with lots of other great piano works, is on Priory 659

Nadia Boulanger & Richard Stoker

Richard Stoker recently sent me a copy of an article he had written for the "Books & Bookman" December 1976 edition. This magazine is no longer extant and has not been digitalised.

Richard asked me to transcribe it and put it onto his MusicWeb International web pages.

There is no doubt that Nadia Boulanger was one of the most important figures of 20th century musical composition – it is not so much what she composed as who she taught. A list of her pupils reads like a catalogue of the ‘greats’ – including Elliott Carter, Lennox Berkeley, Philip Glass, Virgil Thomson, Astor Piazzolla, Thea Musgrave, Nicolas Maw,,, Interestingly it was not just ‘classical’ composers who benefited from her teaching, but included George Gerswhin and Burt Bacharach! 

"The first thing one notices about Nadia Boulanger is her delicate refined perfume, the next is her dress – neither of the Twenties, nor of the Sixties but timeless and above all, her own. When she speaks a slightly Americanised-English is noticeable but it is at all times musical, concise and pointed, with much warmth and precision. She gives you her full attention, listening carefully to all you have to say with a remarkable concentration and patience.

You immediately gain confidence from this attention and you begin to feel a worthwhile person in your own right. I am sure that this one of her great secrets as a teacher; no one is too unimportant for this attention and a few moments speaking to her is enough to treasure for a long time to come. Any merit you may have, in your work or in your personality, is immediately noticed, drawn out, and encouraged. I believe as a teacher Nadia Boulanger discovers the latent talents of her pupils, however small these may be and concentrates on them as a gardener would on a delicate hot-house plant, the result being a new self confidence and growth of creative character. Next she endeavours to assist you to find the true direction that your work should take. To do this, she makes you aware of the contemporary climate in art and encourages any personal traits and original ideas you may have to come to the fore. She is first and foremost an ideas person, just as Schoenberg was an ideas man; indeed it is my opinion that Boulanger and Schoenberg have been the two great composition teachers of this century so far ...continued here

Richard Stoker writing on Elizabeth Maconchy

The composer Richard Stoker wrote this brief pen-sketch about Elizabeth Maconchy – whom he had known for a number of years. Maconchy was one of the most important composers of her generation, writing a considerable corpus of music. Her major achievement is perhaps her 13 String Quartets. Richard writes:-

Elizabeth Maconchy was an elegant, kind, cheerful, helpful and extremely modest woman with a formidable personality. In many ways as a composer and person she reminded me of her near contemporary, Alan Rawsthorne – some two years her senior.

Each time I spoke with her I noticed that an understanding and helpful expression would cross her kind and characterful face –as Leonard Woolf has said of his meetings with the two Stephen sisters (Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell) that there was something “going on” at the back of the eyes as is noticeable with many highly intelligent people. Added to this there was often a worried, worn, tired look of regret or even perhaps hope in her eyes.

Could she be longing to return to her desk at the earliest possible opportunity to move on with her latest composition?

Elizabeth worked tirelessly for the Composer’s Guild and became a Vice President. She had been involved with the Macnaghten Concerts and the Society for the Promotion of New Music over many years and had a number of her own works performed - especially the String Quartets and other chamber pieces.

That look of hope and regret could explain the impression I got from her music and memories of her strong personality of the endless Ulysses theme.

She was definitely one of the few woman composers of real talent working throughout the most turbulent years of the last century. I can quite see why she is often said to have been RVW’s favourite pupil.

Elizabeth Maconchy would have been a dutiful student – unlike many of her contemporaries. And I should think a joy to teach. She was a well rounded extrinsically influential person quite unlike her near contemporaries – one who was totally reliable as a committee member.

At the Composer’s Guild she tried to support the AGM and the glorious luncheon afterwards! Elizabeth took part often -she was revered and loved by all her contemporaries.

Richard Stoker 26th March 2008

Richard Stoker: Piano Sonata No.2 Op.71 (1992)

The Piano Sonata No.2 Op.71 was composed in 1992. This is a masterpiece: I love every bar of it. It was specially written for Eric Parkin and suitably exploits his abilities as a jazz pianist. however, this Sonata is not pure jazz- neither is it any kind of crossover music. It is unusual in being written in five movements -all of which have Italian titles to them. The first is 'Suonare' which means to sound - more often in connection with pealing bells. It is a complex first movement with both first and second subject and appropriate development. The composer has sought to include great contrast and he achieves this well. There is lovely piano writing that is both warm and romantic. Technique-wise there are lots of scales and pseudo glissandi. There is of course a more cerebral side to this music, especially in the development. But somehow I think the composer is wearing his heart on his sleeve here.

The second movement continues the interest - with a 'Cantare I.' Here we have jazz effects -where the right hand has the interest and the left hand is doing a 'cocktail lounge' style accompaniment. According to the composer, the outworking of these melodies is left to the performer. However, Eric Parkin has pointed out that he keeps to the text of 'Cantare I' but uses considerable melodic freedom in the third movement 'Cantare II.;

The 'Scherzare' - Italian of course for Joke - is not a classical scherzo. In fact there is a touch of Debussy about his music. Stoker appears to have discovered and subsequently enjoyed the whole tone scale. There are pauses, chords, scales and silences. Good stuff. And effective piano writing.

The last movement -after the somewhat improvised 'Cantare II' is a brief Toccare - Italian for touch. Once again Stoker shows a preference for cyclic forms. There is reference to much that has gone before.

Richard Stoker: Four Miniatures

Richard Stoker's Four Miniatures for oboe, bassoon and piano is “short and sweet.” In fact it is just possible that it is a little too brief! This four movement work is extremely approachable and needs little commentary.
The first movement has the unusual title of 'ballabile.' Richard explained to me that this simply means 'suitable for dancing.' Certainly the mood of this music is appropriate. The ‘duettino’ is the heart of the work - I certainly wish that it would go on a bit longer than the one minute twenty odd seconds that it does. This music is quiet, reflective and quite beautiful. The ‘intermezzo’ is attractive music that nods towards jazz in some indefinable manner. The last movement is quite French in character, but perhaps this reflects the composer's time studying with Nadia Boulanger? The work certainly has its antecedents in Stravinsky and Poulenc, but it is not pastiche – it becomes Stoker’s own creation.
Four Miniatures are well written, if somewhat short. Like much of Richard Stoker's music it little deserves being sidelined in the concert programmes and radio play lists. It is a near perfect work that in its own way is a minor masterpiece.

Thanks to MusicWeb

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