When the musical
achievement of Andrew Lloyd Webber in the world of West-end Musicals and his
predilection to collect theatres and pre-Raphaelite paintings is considered, it
is hard to realise that his grandfather -William's father- was in fact a self-employed
plumber. William was born into a respectable but quite poor family on 11th
March 1914 in London. Lloyd Webber senior was an organ enthusiast - it was his
hobby to travel around the country inspecting as many church and civic hall
organs as he could afford to visit. Soon his son was accompanying him on these adventures.
William began his
career as a teen prodigy: by the age of fourteen he was giving recitals at a
number of prestigious venues throughout the United Kingdom. He broadcast on the
infant BBC whilst still a teenager.
It was almost inevitable
that after winning a scholarship to Mercers School he would progress to the
Royal College of Music. It was there that he was fortunate enough to study
composition with Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Strangely, the elder composer’s musical style was not to make a huge
impact on the younger man. William Lloyd Webber received his Fellowship of the
Royal College of Organists in 1933 aged nineteen.
It was about
this period that William began to compose music. His first performed work was a
Violin Sonatina which is now lost.
The first surviving composition is the Fantasy
Trio. Curiously, this may have been written for the famous Cobbett chamber
music prize: the Phantasy (with a P) was a popular form in the first four or
five decades of the last century. There are examples by Bridge, RVW, Britten,
Hurlstone and many others. Lloyd Webber spells it Fantasy (with an F) so it is
a moot point as to whether it was meant to be entered into the
competition. It is interesting that it
fulfils Cobbett’s criteria - a single movement work under 12 minutes in length.
This is an
attractive piece of ‘rhapsodic’ music which is quite advanced for its time. It
is certainly not in the ‘English Pastoral’ school as such. Neither is it Webern
- rather more 'late' Frank Bridge or Alban Berg. The general mood is reflective
- even if there are some astringent harmonies and progressions. It is well-composed
with the parts lying satisfactorily for the instruments. We are fortunate to
have this interesting Trio - it was
deemed to have been lost but Julian Lloyd Webber found it in a pile of music by
other composers in his late father's estate. So it was rescued from oblivion.
The Serenade for Strings is one of the
loveliest works in the string orchestra repertoire: it is on a par with Edward Elgar’s
and Lennox Berkeley’s pieces of the same name. Lloyd Webber's example has a
slightly more complex history than these other two works. The three movements were
composed nearly thirty years apart. It was begun in 1951 and completed in 1980.
Yet, it is a work that is unified: there is no hint that it is composite. The Barcarole, Romance and Elegy are all romantic without being
overbearingly sentimental.
Three Spring Miniatures
were originally composed for the piano in 1952. They are ‘light’ music:
well-written, full of fun, poetry and lightness and a delight to listen to. Their naïve titles that do not express the flawless
artistry of their design - Gossamer, Willow
Song and Treetops: they are surely images of the
countryside imagined by a townie.
William Lloyd
Webber's masterpiece is his orchestral work, Aurora (1951). It is the only piece that the composer would talk
about: the only one that he seemed to have enthusiasm for. It is quite
definitely a love poem - Julian Lloyd Webber admits this in his interview with
Rob Barnett on MusicWeb International.
Yet it was a love-poem written in the abstract: it was not inspired by
any individual – although, tantalisingly, Julian states that he cannot be sure
of this! The listener has to put to one side any feelings of derivation. It is
true that echoes of Rachmaninov, Delius and Sibelius can be detected. The
opening of the piece has been described as being like ‘Bartok smoothed over by
Vaughan Williams’. But it is of little account. William Lloyd Webber was not a
trend-setter: he did not intend to break new ground. He used vocabulary that
was already available and appealed to his emotions. This is a skilfully
composed piece of music with well-wrought structures, harmonies and orchestral
colouring. Aurora could be described
as being ‘sumptuous’. It is instructive to quote some of the composer's own
words in connection with this piece:-
'Arriving from the East in a chariot of winged
horse,
Dispelling night and dispersing the dews of the
morning
Aurora was the roman goddess of the dawn.’
This short
tone-poem attempts to portray the inherent sensuality of her (Aurora’s) nature.
If this were the only piece of music written by William Lloyd Webber it would
be a considerable achievement.
There is a
limited catalogue of orchestral music by Lloyd Webber. It may be that the odd
piece will turn up in the future - just like the Fantasy noted above was found
by serendipity. There is a youthful symphony which was composed for an
examination. I asked Julian if it still exists and he assured me that the
manuscript survives.
There are
rumours that he planned a piano concerto - but this never materialised. A Nocturne for Piano & orchestra was
composed, but it was lost by the publisher. There is also a tantalising glimpse
of an orchestral piece he was working on shortly before he died.
William Lloyd
Webber was organist and choirmaster at the great Anglo-catholic shrine - All
Saints, Margaret Street. He held this post from 1939 until 1948. Church music
was to play an important part in his catalogue. Lloyd Webber could easily and
quickly compose an anthem or introit for liturgical purposes: he was good at
harmony and counterpoint and had an ear for a fine tune. In spite of this
fluency his son Julian feels that his heart was not in writing ecclesiastical
music.
There was a
ten year gap in his church musical directorship duties between 1948 and
1958. In that latter year he took up
the post of Director of Music at Methodist Central Hall: it was a long way
theologically and liturgically from All Saints Margaret Street. Whilst working
at Methodist Central Hall he composed two settings of the Latin Mass: the Princeps Pacis – ‘Prince of Peace’ (1962)
and the Missa Sanctae Mariae Magdalenae
(1979), works that would not have been comfortably at home in that institution.
The conclusion drawn is that the director’s job was an economic necessity and
that he was largely indifferent to the type of churchmanship.
Other
religious works composed over the years include an oratorio on the life of St. Francis of Assisi, The Divine Compassion for tenor,
baritone, chorus and organ, two or three cantatas, thirteen
or so anthems and three Christmas carols.
William Lloyd
Webber’s organ works are a rather mixed bunch. They range from the technically
complex to the relatively straightforward and from profound music to the ‘intermezzo’.
Yet the entire corpus allows us to see the consummate skill of the composer.
There is never a note too many. Lloyd Webber is reputed to have said to his
pupils, 'Why write six pages of music, when six bars will do?' The organization
and balance of these works are always satisfying. There are a number of pieces
designed for practical purposes - the Nuptial
March and the Solemn Procession. The
Chorale, Cantilena and Finale is as
good a concert piece for organ as one finds in the literature.
One of the
glories of English Music in the twentieth century is the songs. Most listeners
will know at least some of the fine numbers that have been composed by John Ireland,
RVW, Benjamin Britten, Gerald Finzi and Ivor Gurney. Very often they are
settings of poetry by English poets. William Lloyd Webber has contributed a
small but perfectly proportioned corpus of songs. Most of them date from the 1950s and are
written in what would then have been regarded as an old-fashioned style. He set
a number of well-known poets and not a few unknowns. Lloyd Webber’s songs always
reflect the mood of the words. In fact, they are a perfect blend of words and
music.
Oddly, the
only piece dedicated (but see Nocturne
below) to Julian was a song - The Forest of Wild Thyme
-it was composed c.1951 and warns of the dangers and hardships that a child may
have to endure - perhaps a somewhat morbid idea - but also one that was
exercising the mind of a proud father in the aftermath of the Second World War
and the start of the Cold War.
Having
mentioned Julian it is worth noting two pieces that William Lloyd Webber wrote
for the cello and piano or harp. The Nocturne
was derived from his oratorio, St Francis
of Assisi and is a lovely soliloquy for the cello. It is heart-warming to
know that the composer gave this work to his younger son shortly before he
died. There are also Three Pieces for
Cello and Piano of which two have been recorded. These are ephemeral pieces - for younger
players - they have titles like 'In the
Half-light' and 'Slumber Song.'
It is
unfortunate that William Lloyd Webber did not write a Cello Concerto. If he had,
it would have joined those by Moeran, Finzi, Bridge and Elgar in the fairly
limited (British) catalogue of that particularly gorgeous form. It would also
have given his son a possible masterwork to present to the musical public at
large.
It is important
to understand the sense of disillusionment that entered the composer's soul in
the early 1950's. This led him to give up composing and dedicate himself to
musical education. Music had changed since the Second World War. Serialism had
become the ‘accepted’ structural principle for composing music. New voices were
being heard in Europe and from America.
It appeared that music having any vestige of a tune was derogatorily regarded
as being 'conservative' with a small 'c'. William Lloyd Webber felt that he
could not compete with the new music:
his works were being ignored and were not receiving performances. A
composer writing music that was seen as ‘dated’ would not be the best guarantee
of a steady income. When the two boys were born there was a need to have tis
security. So he applied for, and got, a job at the Royal College of Music
teaching harmony and counterpoint where he had a string of famous pupils
including John Lill and Julian Bream. Lloyd Webber gave two lessons to Malcolm
Arnold, deputising for Dr Gordon Jacob. Apparently, Sir Malcolm rated these two
lectures higher than the rest of his time spent at the RCM!
Another
character trait of William Lloyd Webber was his lack of ambition. He was not inclined
to push his music into the forefront: he was not a self-publicist. Lloyd Webber
would not try to arrange performances of his music – nor did he contact concert
promoters or ring around editors of the musical press. So for a period of
nearly 20 years his voice was virtually silent. He continued his directorship
at Methodist Central Hall and was appointed as Director of the London College
of Music in 1964. In his final years he had begun to compose again, most
importantly the
‘Missa Sanctae Mariae Magdalenae’. William Lloyd
Webber died in London on 29th October 1982.
William Lloyd
Webber was one of nature's romantics. One cannot imagine him writing
neo-classical or serial music. He loved the moods and impressions prompted by
the landscape. He had a city dweller’s view of the romance of the country. Yet
it impressed him and he tried to recreate that mood in many of his works. There
are a number of styles apparent in his works: - the Anglican Church organ loft,
English Pastoralism, Delius and the ‘big’ romantics like Rachmaninov and Fauré.
But he was no mere writer of pastiche. All these elements are obvious in his
music, but he brought his own gifts: skilful structure, memorable tunes, delicious
harmonies, sumptuous orchestration and an excellent understanding of his
medium, whatever it was.
John France (2002/2014) © (With thanks to MusicWeb International where this essay first appeared)
