Edward Cowie: Streams and Particles

As I am not an expert on particle physics, the Japanese poet Matsuo Basho, Wiltshire limnology or Kandinsky, I am beholden to the exceptional liner notes for aiding my understanding of the music on this CD. That said, Edward Cowie does admit that “Music ought, of course, speak for itself.” I agree. But he goes on to state that “my use of titles is to try to at least give a listener some terms of reference…Each of these titled pieces has a specific inspirational core. The evocations that these inspirational responses seek to share with a listener are intended to take the listener to either a sense-of-place or even something more personal and that's the stimulation of experiences the listener might already have of the phenomena that have inspired each of my pieces.” I wonder if they always help.

The first work is Particle Partita, written for two violins, and completed in 2012. It was commissioned by the Experimental Physicist, Professor Brian Foster FRS of the University of Oxford. Cowie explains: “Each movement is inspired by key and epic discoveries about atoms and parts-of-atoms (sub-atomic particles), from The Heraclitus [should this be Democritus?] Question postulated in the mid-4th century BC in Greece, and through to the postulate Higgs Boson and beyond.” Now that does not really help me too much: I only managed to scrape A Level Physics at my second attempt. Yet I think that I can just about manage to gain a mental picture of an atomic particle that “curves through time and space - that spins and coils - that collides and refracts - that is sometimes simple as well as complex - that moves at different speeds and directions - that has different elemental substance…” to gain an idea as to what is going on musically. One interesting formal device is that the two violin soloists act in tandem – like a relay race, so their contrapuntal interaction is limited. That said, this collaboration increases as the Partita progresses. Overall, it is a sonically interesting work, splendidly performed. I guess I see it as an essay in dialogue, rather than a debate on a scientific thesis.

On the Basho Meditations, I am on safer ground. Edward Cowie has used eight of the notable 17^th century Japanese poet’s haiku to provide inspiration for the work. It is written for guitar duo. The haiku is traditionally an unrhymed verse, with three phrases, and a set number of syllables per line. It has often a seasonal or landscape reference. The haiku used here are given in translation. I suggest the listener read these, bear them in mind, but do not try to apply a detailed programme to the music. These are lovely Meditations, with some gorgeous and varied sounds from the two guitars. There is even a touch of flamenco, surely a million miles away from Basho’s world.

Stream and Variations (2019) was commissioned by the Julian Bream Trust. Bream’s words to Cowie tell all that is needed to understand its genesis: “I'm an old man now…and I thought I'd like music that connects with a part of my life that has sustained and nourished me for decades – and that is my living in a beautiful house in Wiltshire, not far from the little River Sem, where my dog (Django) and me used to go so often on healing and soothing walks.” Bream added that, “I'd remembered some of your earlier landscape pieces and a close friend of mine confirmed that you were the ideal composer for the job.” Cowie explains that he walked along the same paths as Bream had done. One thing that he noticed about the river’s progress were two distinct aspects of the stream: “there were pools of much slower and limpid water, sometimes gently twisting into groups of eddies or spirals, but often with scarcely any real and perceptible dynamic movement. But these were always preceded and succeeded by “runs” of narrower stream in which the water tumbled, buckled, coiled and folded in rapid and everchanging relationships with each other…” The reader will note the use of the words “twisting,” “eddies,” “spirals,” “coiled” and “folded.” These are all terms that could apply to photographs of particle collisions and to [some] drawings by Wassily Kandinsky. To me, the resulting theme and variations mirror these natural phenomena. Each variation is either “pool” or “run” successively. Knowing this background allows the listener to come to terms with this often magical “water music.” Add to this the topographical and emotional associations suggested by Julian Bream’s walks beside this stream, and we have a perfect landscape piece too.

To understand the background of Kandinsky (1996) for guitar quartet, we need to look at a bit of art theory. Kandinsky’s idea was that “Points,” “Line” and “Planes” are “the three basic structural and dynamic paradigms of not only the cosmos and nature but also of music and the visual arts...”  The first, Point, is the beginning of all things, the Line is in effect a moving Point, and a Plane represent multiple Lines, producing a composition. I think! In his writings Kandinsky reveals how “geometrical, physical, aesthetic, and spiritual concepts coexist naturally.” Just how Cowie has used this theory and applied it to his music, is a matter for future research students. For me, it succeeds as an abstract work, without the intellectual underpinning. The different guitars used (terz, “normal” and bass) add to the huge “range of colours” in this piece.

Kandinsky’s Oboe was completed in 2009 as a commission from the present soloist Christopher Redgate. It is constructed as a triptych: the three sections are once again Points, Lines and Planes, highlighting the theory previously mentioned. It is much more avant-garde in impact than the other works on this CD. Cowie uses extended techniques including ear piercingly high notes, breathings, sneezes, Klingon-like vocalisations, tappings and clickings. It is certainly not relaxing in any way. Whatever the listener feels about this piece, it is highly virtuosic and clearly challenging to perform. Not, however, my favourite number here.

As noted above the liner notes are essential reading unless the listener just wants to allow the music to wash over them. In fact, the entire booklet is a masterclass of design. The composer gives a brief overview of the works on this CD. This is followed by a detailed discussion of each work, placing it in context and giving the listener a handle for getting to grips with it. The texts of Basho’s haiku are included. An additional valuable resource are comments from the performers: Peter Sheppard Skærved on the Particle Partita, Hugh Millington and Saki Kato discuss aspects of the guitar music, and finally Christopher Redgate majors on Kandinsky’s Oboe. Thorough biographies of the soloists and Edward Cowie are included. Of considerable interest are the illustrations. They include subatomic particle collisions recorded at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), a sketch by Kandinsky and pen and ink drawings of the little River Sem. Two examples of Cowie’s pre-compositional graphics for Streams and Variations and Particle Partita are given: these are major works of art. Finally, the haunting CD cover painting, Stream Partita, is by the composer’s spouse, Heather Cowie.

All the performances are top of the range. The recording is perfect. I enjoyed most of the works on this disc. Whatever the theoretical underpinnings are, the majority can be enjoyed “abstractly”: after all that is what Kandinsky was all about. 

Track Listing:
Edward Cowie (b.1943)
Particle Partita (2012)
Peter Sheppard Skærved (violin), Mihailo Trandafilovski (violin)
Basho Meditations (2019)
Miyabi Duo: Hugh Millington (guitar), Saki Kato (guitar)
Stream and Variations (2019)
Saki Kato (guitar)
Kandinsky (1995)
Spectrum Guitar Quartet: Hugh Millington (terz guitar), Saki Kato (guitar), James Girling (guitar), Bradley Johnson (bass guitar)
Kandinsky’s Oboe (2009)
Christopher Redgate (oboe)
rec. 15 January 2019, St Michael’s Highgate, London (Particle Partita), 10-12 August 2021, Silverdale Institute Hall, Silverdale, Lancashire (guitar works), 16 February 2016, St John the Evangelist, Oxford, (Kandinsky’s Oboe)
MÉTIER msv 28612

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.

Edward Bairstow: Scherzo in A flat, (1906)

One of my recent discoveries is Edward Bairstow’s (1874-1946) Scherzo in A flat dating from 1906. Virtually everything known about this piece has been supplied by Francis Jackson in his monograph about the composer. 

Jackson (1997, p.253) quotes a programme note written by Bairstow stating that this is “a light and humorous piece in its broadest sense…”  He mentions that in an unguarded moment, Bairstow insisted that “It’s flick music” of “the kind of product he would [not] like to look back on during the more austere post war days.” I guess by “flick music” the composer meant something that would have been more appropriate played on a cinema or theatre organ rather than in a cathedral or parish church.

The Scherzo in A flat is well balanced. It opens with a dancing ‘allegretto’ 6/8 theme played on 8ft flutes. This consists of a gently falling set of intervals, balanced by a delightful rising phrase of two semiquavers and a crotchet. There follows a commentary on this material before the tune is recapitulated on the Great organ with a soft reed accompaniment.

The ‘trio’ section is a robust and firm diapason sound in complete contrast to the will o’ the wisp dance tune. In the recapitulation of the ‘minuet’ section, the solo oboe takes the counter melody.  Francis Jackson notes that the ‘coda’ takes up the whole of the final page of the score and is “playful and full of delightful surprises.” Peter Hardwick (2003, p.78) notes the “pathetic effect of the chromatic subdominant minor chord in the final cadence – a favourite of the composer in these early days of his career…as an illustration of harmonic adventurousness.”

Edward Bairstow’s Scherzo is a delightfully melodic piece of a lighter character. It deserves its place in any recital.

The Scherzo in A flat was published by Novello in 1906. It is the only piece by Bairstow to be published by this company. (Jackson, 1993 p. 253)

Bibliography:
Hardwick, Peter, British Organ Music of the Twentieth Century, (Scarecrow Press, 2003)
Jackson, Francis, Blessed City: The Life and Works of Edward C. Bairstow, (Sessions of York, 1996, rev.1997)

Discography:
In 1997, Francis Jackson issued a recording of The Complete Organ Works of Edward Bairstow on the Amphion Label (PHI CD 143). It had been previously issued on the Mirabilis Label (MRCD 902) in 1990.

There are several uploads of the Scherzo listed on YouTube. I recommend Daniel Cook using the Salisbury Cathedral Organ Sample-set via Hauptwerk.

William Baines: Pictures of Light

This notable CD explores the piano and vocal music of Yorkshire born composer, William Baines. Several of the pieces are receiving their first recording. I am beholden to the outstanding liner notes and to Roger Carpenter’s seminal Goodnight to Flamboro’: The Life and Music of William Baines (Triad Press, 1977), for much of the background to my review. 

The recital begins with Baines’s most “popular” piano work - Paradise Gardens (1919-20). The composer wrote: "…there was a lovely view, overlooking the gardens of the Station Hotel [in York]. You looked through thick green foliage on to the grounds, which were beautifully laid out with flowers - and in the centre a little fountain was playing. A perfect blue sky, and the sun shining low - made indeed a grand picture." He began writing the piece just a few days later. The result was a major tone poem for piano. Here is a subtle balance of impressionism and a more romantic musical language. Sadly, much of the Paradise Gardens has been turned into a car park, destroying this secret part of York precious to the hearts of many folks.

The Naïad was one of the Three Concert Studies written between 1919 and 1920. The score is prefaced by some lines of John Keats evoking a “bowery nook” in Elysium with “Nymphs in woods and fountains.” The muse for The Naïad was Maurice Ravel’s Ondine, from his Gaspard de la nuit. Roger Carpenter, in his study, insists that it is the hardest of his works to interpret. He notes the “quality of restless longing and sadness underlying “the bubbling swirl of tiny waterfalls,” “the soft undertones of the shallow rivulet” and the “rush of miniature torrents.””

The four numbers of Silverpoints have a definite whiff of the Orient about them – a least as far as artists who had never travelled there would have imagined. To be sure, Labyrinth conjures a “deep sea cave” which could as easily be below Flamborough Head, East Riding, as on a secluded island in the China Sea. It is easy to hear echoes of Debussy’s La Cathédrale engloutie in these pages. Water Pearls is a scherzo, which, to quote the contemporary pianist and teacher Frederick Dawson, has “the flash and glitter of falling water.” We are securely in East Asia with The Burning Joss Stick, with its lugubrious progress suggesting the rising of incense in some temple hidden deep in the forest. Finally, Floralia, is classical in its stimulus. It is euphoric and lush in effect, well capturing the image of children celebrating the Roman goddess of flowers in high Maytime.

Tides is one of William Baines’s better known piano pieces. The notes explain that it was the last work that he saw through to publication, by Elkin, in September 1922. It presents two dramatic tone poems. The first, The Lone Wreck, uses a minimum amount of material to create its effect: “rolling arpeggios,” “booming pedal” and “plaintive melody.” The score is prefaced with an evocative, but unattributed, quotation: “In the hidden beach the deep sea rolls around the lonely wreck…” Whether it was inspired by Baines’s trips by bicycle from York to Flamborough Head is a moot point. The second, Goodnight to Flamboro’ certainly does owe its existence to the Yorkshire Coast. Baines’s diary entry for 1 July 1920 says everything one needs to know: “Tonight I have written a lovely “mind's eye impression.” I got the idea from Colin Hunter's Goodnight to Skye [a painting now held at Glasgow Art Gallery] - only I have written mine to my beloved Flamboro' - instead of Skye - and I call this piece Goodnight to Flamboro'. The waves persistently roll on the rocks and in the caves… a beautiful ecstatic sorrow surrounds everything about…only the sea can give that feeling. The last chords are a dream.”

When I saw the track-listing of this CD, what first caught my eye was The Island of the Fay. This was finished on 27 July 1919. However, the following month Baines orchestrated it. Both versions have been recorded before, for piano by Alan Cuckston, and for orchestra by the Kensington Symphony Orchestra and Leslie Head. The latter can be heard at the Internet Archive, along with its companion Thought Drift. The Island of the Fay has been likened to Frank Bridge’s There is a Willow grows aslant a Brook in its melancholy mood. It begins with dark and ominous music, is followed by a slightly warmer theme that builds to a huge climax, before returning to the deep gloom of opening. It is based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, where the narrator is exploring alone. He stumbles across a mysterious island in a river that is inhabited by fairies, sometimes seen in the shadows and at others in the sunlight. The Fay pass from life to death, and vice versa. Baines has created the correct atmosphere for this tone poem.

Pictures of Light include the character piece Pool-Lights. Honeybourne considers that it has “a spareness of aesthetic and a transcendental lucidity of utterance.” There is little here of warm romanticism or impressionism: it is a frozen landscape that is depicted. The first Picture uses an unsettlingly repetitive ostinato in the right hand to suggest Drift-Light, whilst Bursting Flames is supercharged, almost atonal in impact, and with some dissonance. The exoticism of the suite sounds well as a group. They were collected by Frederick Dawson posthumously and were published by Elkin in 1927.

The liner notes explain that the Eight Preludes were constructed/realised by the pianist Robert Keys. The original holographs typically lacked performance directions. Honeybourne states that he “was delighted and fascinated to recognise a strong family likeness in the colouristic tints, intervallic shifts, lyrical shapes and pianistic layout…found in these intriguing pieces.” Roger Carpenter notes that all eight preludes were sketched between 1920 and 1922. There is definite enchantment here, and not only in their evocative titles. Immediately appealing is Ebbing Tide, with its “meandering melody” supported by a gently rocking accompaniment. Here and there some wayward notes creep in to give a little frisson and shiver. Shade Imagery is uneasy with its progress of rising arpeggios. We can allow our imaginations to supply the plot of the gentle A Fairy Story. Wind Sprites is like thistledown, blown into the night. The short Prelude in C presents an interesting study of a repeated figuration. Lullaby is certainly not restful music, except in the final bars. The final Prelude, given the title Eroica by Robert Keys, is a study in octaves. Along with the first, Prelude in G, it exudes romanticism and strength.

The Five Songs are new to me. They explore the wide-ranging extent of Baines’s literary reading. Certainly, Roger Carpenter cites them as a group in the catalogue section of his monograph. They were not published in his lifetime but have been issued by Tim Brooke in recent years. The opening number sets Fountains by the Georgian poet and dramatist James Elroy Flecker. It conjures still water rather than splashing fountains and is gentle and reflective in mood. The American poet John Banister Tabb’s Fern Song is played “Delicatissimo, like liquid pearls.” It is another watery song: this time rain and dew. By the Sea, setting a text by Christina Rossetti, evokes the ocean “fretting against the shore.” It has a more straightforward vocal line and piano part. The most profound setting is The Vigil, penned by Sappho. It tells the age-old tale of a woman awaiting her lover. Carpenter has noted “the aching longing of the words is conveyed in a vocal line of hesitant disjointed phrases and a keyless accompaniment of poignant beauty.” Finally, Morning, to a poem by the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, is the most dramatic of the set. Yet even here, after a marching theme in the piano, and a vocal line that is “delirious with songs,” the music just evaporates like a will o’ the wisp in the final bars.

I had not heard Robin Walker’s At the Grave of William Baines before. This is despite it having been composed in 1999 to celebrate the centenary of his birth. I did wonder what I was about to listen to. I imagined that it would be a kind of well-meaning pastiche. I was wrong. Walker has created an entirely legitimate work that not only honours Baines’s achievement but adds considerable interest and a unique musical experience. He could have created something that was melancholy, but the result is celebratory. Walker states that “the present piece [is] compelled forward by the concerted forces of exaltation and tragedy towards a conclusion that recognises suffering for the beauty and miracle it is.” Throughout, one hears chiming, not tolling, bells. There is certainly something of the subject’s exoticism and even romanticism in these pages, but it is celebrated with latter day freshness. The exceptional Yorkshire illustrator and author Richard Bell has summed up ideally this commemoration on his blog: “There's so much of Baines in there, but seen afresh through Walker's imagination, with no hint of pastiche or nostalgia. I find myself thinking that this could be what Baines would have written himself, had he lived.” At the Grave of William Baines makes an essential pairing in any recital of the subject’s music.

I was impressed by the booklet. It contains an interesting introduction by Robin Walker. This is followed by detailed programme notes on Baines’s piano works provided by the pianist. The comments on the Five Songs are by Gordon Pullin and include the texts. Finally, Walker writes about his At the Grave of William Baines. The booklet is illustrated with photographs of the performers as well as two evocative line drawings of Flamborough Head by Richard Bell. 

Overall, this is a remarkable new release of music by William Baines (and Robin Walker). It is perfectly executed by all concerned. I hope that Duncan Honeybourne will dig deeper into the surviving manuscripts located at the British Library and include further piano works from Baines’s pen. There is, I understand, an unpublished Sonata...

Track Listing:
William Baines (1899-1922)
Paradise Gardens (1918-19)
The Naïad from Three Concert Studies) (1920)
Silverpoints (1920-21)
Tides (1920-21)
The Island of the Fay (1919)
Pictures of Light (1920-22)
Eight Preludes (1920-22)
Five Songs (1919)
Robin Walker (b.1953)
At the Grave of William Baines (1999)
Duncan Honeybourne (piano), Gordon Pullin (tenor)
rec. 3-4 June 2022, Holy Trinity Church, Hereford
DIVINE ART dda 25234

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.

 

Louis Vierne’s Glasgow Recital, 1924

It is sad to think that when one passes the former British Home Stores building on the corner of Sauchiehall Street and Renfield Street that giants once walked there. On 12 January 1924, the legendary French organist and composer, Louis Vierne gave a major recital at the long- demolished United Reformed Church there. This was the final event during a whistle-stop tour of the United Kingdom. Just before leaving France, Vierne had played at the Basilica of Saint-Michel, Le Havre. Crossing to England, he played at Trinity College, Cambridge and Westminster Cathedral (3 January), York Minster (5 January), Leeds Parish Church (7 January), Manchester Town Hall (8 January) and St Anne’s R.C. Church, Edgehill Liverpool (10 January). Two days later he travelled up to Glasgow. 

At that time, the United Reformed Church had a Willis and Sons organ originally installed in 1878. After a major overhaul by the builder in 1905, it was rebuilt by Willis and Lewis in 1923, and then Hill, Norman and Beard in 1960. The three-manual instrument latterly had 35 speaking stops. (Stewart, David A., rev. Buchan, Alan, Organs in Scotland: A Revised List, The Edinburgh Society of Organists, 2018, p.230).

Fortunately, for music historians, the Glasgow Herald (14 January 1924 p.5) provided a detailed account of the event. The proceedings were begun by the Rev. W. Erskine Blackburn who stated that the venue had been chosen because of the “strategic position of the church…for the welfare of the citizens, and it was felt that many would be touched by music who were not so easily to be reached by preaching.” There was a further intention to “stimulate a liking for organ music.” The event was successful: the recital attracted considerable interest in Glasgow and the church was full, with some members of the audience failing to find seats. Somehow, I feel the gathering would have been the usual suspects, organ music cognoscenti, and that few Glesca Keelies would have attended on “spec.”

The programme began with J.S. Bach’s Buxtehude-ian inspired Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542, which would appear to have been written around c.1720 during his Köthen Period. This was followed by two chorale preludes: the highly ornamented O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß BWV 622 from the Orgelbüchlein and the powerful and jubilant Wir glauben all an einen Gott, BWV 680. Both were given their French titles in the programme. The next offering was César Franck’s highly-romantic Prelude, Fugue and Variation, op.18 which is the third number from Six pièces pour Grand Orgue. It was composed around 1860. The Herald reported that this was “a masterly interpretation by the accomplished French musician.” 

For many in the audience, the highlight of the recital must have been the generous selection from Vierne’s own compositions. First up was the Andante and Final from his Organ Symphony No. 1 in D minor, op.14 which was “a brilliantly scored composition” penned in 1898-99. Certainly, the balance between the slow movement with its dreamy voix céleste and the dazzling finale, complete with a powerful pedal part and carillon-like cascades on the manuals, must have impressed the audience. Vierne has been quoted as saying that this Symphony displays “a lack of taste, but a lack of taste that pleases the public…so I always play it!”

The end of the formal recital presented three contrasting movements from the Organ Symphony No.3 in F sharp minor, op.28 completed in 1911 and premiered the following year. Here the spellbinding and lyrical Cantilene once again effectively uses the string stops. The Adagio is meditative, bewitching and agonising at the same time. It reflects the troubled times that Vierne was experiencing currently. The optimistic Final is full of light and shade, dizzying in its toccata like exposition of the initial figuration. The work was dedicated to Marcel Dupré in whose home Vierne completed the score.

The Herald critic notes that these pieces were “followed with close attention, and…rewarded with enthusiastic applause.”

After this ecstatic Finale, there was a bit of fun. The members of the audience were asked to select a melody for Vierne to improvise on. He selected the “homely Scottish tune Kate Dalrymple.” The critic reported that its “treatment…was heard with lively interest. The vim and snap inherent in the tune were, perhaps not strongly marked, but the familiar air was handled in arresting fashion.”  A vote of thanks was given to the recitalist, and it was hoped that that he would return to Glasgow soon. To my knowledge he never did.

As Glasgow was Vierne’s final concert in the series, we can surmise that he boarded a train at Central or St Enoch Station to head towards London and then the Channel Ports. His next recital was at medieval Église Saint Bonaventure in Lyon on 11 February. This church remains in use, however a new organ by Merklin and Kuhn was installed 12 years later in 1936.

Renfield Street U.F. closed in 1964 and was dismantled a few years later to make way for the BHS store completed in 1969. The organ was relocated to Renfield St Stephen’s Church, now St Andrew’s West. The chain store itself closed in 2016. Covered in graffiti, the building awaits redevelopment.

With thanks to the Glasgow Society of Organists where this essay was first published. 

The World Rejoicing: The Music of Edward Gregson Vol.VII

This new CD provides a conspectus of Edward Gregson’s brass band music from 1966 to date. It is number seven in a series that will eventually feature his complete works for this medium. I have chosen to listen to (and review) them in chronological order. This provides a good synopsis of Gregson’s development from the heady romanticism of his younger days, to the more “contemporary,” but not off-putting, “language of his maturity.” As all the pieces on this CD are novelties to me, I am beholden to the programme notes written by the composer and Paul Hindmarsh.

First up is the Concertante for Piano and Band written in 1966, when Gregson was only 21 years old and still a student at the Royal Academy of Music. This was (seemingly) the first major work produced for this combination. It results from the composer’s encounter with the great piano concerto literature, including Mozart, Brahms and Rachmaninov. It is in three movements: a Prelude, Nocturne and a Rondo. The liner notes explain that although this remarkable work had several performances, it was not published until 2017. Gregson felt that the “stylistic influences were rather too close to the surface.” Listening to this Concertante more than 50 years on, gives the listener no such qualms. They will enjoy the musical nods to Rachmaninov in the opening Prelude, bluesy echoes of George Gershwin in the Nocturne and John Ireland and Arthur Sullivan (Onward Christian Soldiers) in the lively Rondo. Pride of place must be the gorgeous slow movement which is a tender love song to Gregson’s wife Sue: it was given to her as an engagement present. There need be no doubt as to the effectiveness of the brass band/piano combination. It exudes confidence, proficiency and sympathy from the first bar to the last.

Ten years later, Edward Gregson wrote his Variations on Laudate Dominum to be played during the Ontario based, London Citadel Band’s 1976 tour of the United Kingdom. The melody underlying this piece is Charles Hubert Hastings Parry’s “noble tune” for O Praise Ye the Lord (and other hymns): it provides interesting and effective source material for the whole work. It is not heard in its entirety until the end. The seven variations include an “interrupted waltz,” a reflective Siciliana, a cheeky tarantella, and a lively fugue based on the second half of Parry’s tune. The liner notes explain that the true title could be “variations in search of a theme.” Finally, Gregson’s website notes that he “has always found the requirement for Salvationist band music to include a familiar religious song, less than stimulating.” One need not worry about this vibrant set of Variations lacking inspiration.

The Fanfare for a New Era (2017) was created for a symphonic brass ensemble to celebrate the opening of the Stoller Hall at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester. The brass band edition was first heard during the 2022 European Brass Championships. This is a wide ranging work that packs more punch than its three minute duration would suggest. It is full of spiky rhythms, syncopation, pealing bell-like sounds and dramatic glissandi. The liner notes are correct in stating that the Fanfare is designed to fill the whole “concert space.” It would make an exciting introduction to any brass band concert.

The outstanding Euphonium Concerto (2018) is different in character to the preceding works. Here the composer has embraced a degree of modernism that combines “rigour, romance and revelry.”  The ubiquitous BACH motive (Bb, A, C and B natural) underlies much of the musical progress. The opening movement, Dialogues, is largely self-explanatory. There is much interchange between the band and the soloist, covering a wide range of moods and emotions. The harmonies are sometimes acerbic, and the rhythms are often harsh. After a long and clearly difficult cadenza, the mood changes for the second movement, Song without Words. This is a dreamy, misty ballad, which rises to a considerable climax, before collapsing to a serene close. The “modernism” is toned down here, with traditional brass band sounds predominating. Despite having been born in Scotland and having Irish ancestors, I have never been to A Celtic Bacchanal. This final movement is an extrovert dance that makes use of Irish folk music. That said, in the middle section the participants grow weary and maudlin, before getting their second wind. The movement concludes with a “life affirming coda.” The Euphonium Concerto was commissioned by the present soloist David Childs. It exists in versions for brass band and full orchestra.

The World Rejoicing: Symphonic Variations on a Lutheran Chorale is based on the well-known Nun danket alle Gott (Now thank we all our God). Once again Gregson is less than obvious with his use of the variation form. He states: “I have taken various phrases from the chorale and used them within the context of other musical material, applying an overall symphonic process of continuous variation and development.” In amongst the variations there are several sections that are seamless: a playful Capriccio, the vibrant La Danza I, a dignified Processional, La Danza II, intricate Arias and Duets, a Fuga Burlesca, a Chorale and a final exuberant Postlude revealing the big tune. One novelty of this piece is that the composer has made overt references to some of his key works for the genre. Enthusiasts may notice hints of Connotations, Dances and Arias, Of Men and Mountains, Rococo Variations and Of Distant Memories. Some others are hidden away. 

The World Rejoicing was dedicated to Gregson’s brother Bramwell, who sadly died in 2018. It was written specifically for the 2020 British Open Brass Band Championships. Due to Covid19 this event was cancelled. The premiere was eventually given on 21 September 2021, played by various bands.

I cannot fault anything about this CD. It is redundant to state that the playing by the Black Dyke Band is superlative. The soloists are masters of their art. The liner notes are exemplary. I look forward to further volumes in this series of Edward Gregson’s brass band music.

Track Listing:
Edward Gregson (b.1945)
Fanfare for a New Era (2017)
Concertante for Piano and Band (1966)
Variations on Laudate Dominum (1976)
Euphonium Concerto (2018)
The World Rejoicing: Symphonic Variations on a Lutheran Chorale (2020)
David Childs (euphonium), Jonathan Scott (piano), Black Dyke Band/Professor Nicholas J Childs
rec. Details not provided
DOYEN DOY CD414 

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.

 A Happy and Prosperous New Year

To All Readers of

The Land of Lost Content

 Some Significant (and less so) Composer Anniversaries for 2023: 

Bi-Centenaries:

Edmund T. Chip

John Bacchus Dykes

William S. Rockstro

William Spark

 

150 Years:

William H. Bell

Landon Ronald

David Vaughan Thomas

 

Centenaries:

Don Banks

John Barton-Armstong

Gerald Briscoe

Arthur Butterworth

Madeleine Dring

John Lanchberry

 

American and Continental Composers Anniversaries

Édouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo (200)

Sergei Rachmaninov (150)

Max Reger (150)

Ned Rorem (100)

György Ligeti (100)

I would certainly like to see some recognition of Don Banks, Madeleine Dring and Arthur Butterworth in concerts, recitals and the record shops over the coming year. Hopefully, the English Music Festival may feature something from their catalogues. John Lanchberry is probably best recalled for the score he devised for the ballet, The Tales of Beatrix Potter. Little else of his work seems to be in the public domain. 

Sadly, little attention has been paid to William H. Bell, a composer born in England, but who spent much of his life in South Africa. Hopefully his sesquicentennial anniversary may see some recognition.

Also celebrating 150 years, is Sergei Rachmaninov, who has certainly never lost his popularity. Slightly less fashionable is Max Reger, whose reputation rests largely on his organ music.

Important centenaries include the American, Ned Rorem, who died on 18 November 2022. Sadly, his webpage does not seem to have been updated since 2019. Hopefully, some special events will have been arranged Stateside. Finally, Hungarian born György Ligeti, whose avant-garde music explores "slowly evolving complexes of polyphonic sound, dispensing with the formal elements of melody, harmony, and rhythm" will be honoured at home and abroad.

Finally, it will be interesting to see how all these composers are represented in 2023 Proms season and other concert venues.

Ernst Krenek: Variations on a North Carolina Folk Song, op.94 (1942)

Ernst Krenek’s (1900-91) Variations on a North Carolina Folk Song, op.94 was inspired when the composer heard a recording of John Jacob Niles singing the “folk song” I wonder as I Wander. Looking at the text, it is really an appropriate piece for the Season, with its meditation on how “Jesus the Saviour did come to die for on’ry people like you and I.”  One point to make is that the folk song in question did not actually come from some remote corner of the mountains of North Carolina. It was composed by the above-mentioned singer. John L Stewart (Ernst Krenek: The Man and His Music, University of California Press, 1991, p.243) states that Niles, was “a folk song specialist whose compositions were often mistaken for the real thing.”

Krenek wrote: “My attention was aroused not only by the unique intensity with which Mr Niles performed this song, which he had discovered in North Carolina, but also by the unique modal pattern of the simple and moving tune. Sometime later, Mr Mitropoulos let me know that he was interested in my recent work in composition, and this fact prompted me to use the folk song, which had impressed me so deeply, as a symphonic piece. Mr Niles and the publishing house G. Schirmer were good enough to grant their permission for doing so. The composition was finished on July 1, 1942, in Madison, Wisconsin. It is a set of seven variations arranged to follow in broad lines the structure of a first movement of a symphony (exposition, development, etc.). I have attempted to infold the feelings of tragic loneliness and passionate devotion by which the solitary wanderer ‘under the sky’ of the old song is animated.”

Dimitri Mitropoulos (1896-1960) was a Greek conductor, pianist, and composer. Between 1937 to 1949 he served as the principal conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (now the Minnesota Orchestra). 

I wonder as I wander

I wonder as I wander out under the sky,

How Jesus the Saviour did come for to die.

For poor on'ry people like you and like I...

I wonder as I wander out under the sky.

When Mary birthed Jesus 'twas in a cow's stall,

With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all.

But high from God's heaven a star's light did fall,

And the promise of ages it then did recall.

If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing,

A star in the sky, or a bird on the wing,

Or all of God's angels in heav'n for to sin

He surely could have it, 'cause he was the King.

John Jacob Niles

The Variations on a North Carolina Folk Song opens with a statement of the theme played on the solo trumpet: there is some rhythmic flexibility. This seems to match the opening of the melody, which hints at a bugle call. It is followed by a strange muttering sound on the timpani, which is heard again in slightly varied form at the close of the composition.

There is considerable stylistic diversity, ranging from the modal theme to a 12 tone enhancement of this melody, hints of impressionism and even a touch of jazz. Yet, the overall impression is of a softly atonal work that does not challenge the listener to any great extent.

 The critic from the New York Times (21 December 1942, p.26) complained that “it was difficult to discern the intentions of much of the music, which in its nervous restlessness never attained a compelling sense of unity.” Furthermore, “it was hard to reconcile the quasi-Schoenbergian and thoroughly European treatment of the dissonant music, with the inherent nature of the [presumably simple] theme which inspired it.”  Most serious of all was the suggestion that “it was not easy to determine where the composer had “passionate devotion” in mind, or what was the relation of most of the variants to each other or to the conception as an entity.”

 Despite this perceived lack of unity, what impressed me most was the imaginative response to the text, and the ingenious and sometimes wizardly orchestration.

The large orchestra required includes two flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contra-bassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones and tuba, timpani, harp, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, xylophone, triangle, glockenspiel, wood block, chimes, a small and a large gong, and strings.

Much of the score was begun at Poughkeepsie, NY on 6 June 1942, before being completed (as noted above) at Madison, WI. The premiere performance was given on 11 December 1942 at the Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos. Eight days later, it received its New York debut by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra with the same conductor.

Viennese composer Ernst Krenek was born in the city on 23 August 1900. He studied in Vienna and Berlin, before becoming assistant director at opera houses in Kassel and Wiesbaden. His major work during the 1920s was the jazz-infused opera Johnny spleit auf, which gained him considerable success, but also aroused the disapproval of the nascent Nazi administration. In 1938 Krenek moved to the United States where he became a university lecturer. Stylistically, he was initially influenced by Mahler (whose daughter Anna he was married to for a year), but later adapted his music to what he deemed the best of contemporary styles, including twelve-tone procedures, jazz and even electronics and aleatoric techniques. Ernst Krenek died at Palm Springs, California, on 22 December 1991, aged 91 years.

A recording of the Variations on a North Carolina Folk Song, op.94 has been uploaded to YouTube. It is played by the Swiss Radio-Orchester Beromünster with the composer conducting. The recording dates from 7 September 1954, at the Radiostudio Zürich.

A detailed analysis of Variations on a North Carolina Folk Song is given in Masterworks of the Orchestral Repertoire A Guide for Listeners by Donald Nivison Ferguson (1968, p.307f)

Yuletide Greetings

 A Merry Christmas

To All Readers and Followers of 'The Land of Lost Content'

The Adoration of the Magi: Edward Burne-Jones

Christmas Song

From out of a wood did a cuckoo fly,

Cuckoo,

He came to a manger with joyful cry,

Cuckoo;

He hopped, he curtsied, round he flew,

And loud his jubilation grew,

Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo.

A pigeon flew over to Galilee,

Vrercroo,

He strutted, and cooed, and was full of glee,

Vrercroo,

And showed with jewelled wings unfurled,

His joy that Christ was in the world,

Vrercroo, Vrercroo, Vrercroo.

A dove settled down upon Nazareth,

Tsucroo,

And tenderly chanted with all his breath,

Tsucroo:

‘To you,’ he cooed, ‘so good and true,

My beauty do I give to you

Tsucroo, Tsucroo, Tsucroo.’

Percy Dearmer (1867-1936)

A Handelian Anecdote

Handel, whose divine compositions seem to have proceeded from a heart glowing with the fire of a seraph, was, notwithstanding, what some would call rather a gross mortal, since he placed no small happiness in good eating and drinking. Having received a present of a dozen bottles of superior champagne, he thought the quantity too small to present to his friends; and therefore reserved the delicious nectar for a private use. Sometime after, when a party was dining with him, he longed for a glass of his choice champagne, but could not easily think of a device for leaving the company. On a sudden he assumed (a musing attitude, and, striking his forehead with his forefinger, exclaimed, “I have got one tought! I have got one tought!” (meaning, “thought”). The company, imagining that he had gone to commit to paper some divine idea, saw him depart with silent admiration. He returned to his friends, and very soon had a second, third, and fourth “tought.” A wag suspecting the frequency of St. Cecilia’s visits, followed Handel to an adjoining room, saw him enter a closet, embrace his beloved champagne, and swallow repeated doses. The discovery communicated infinite mirth to the company, and Handel’s “tought” became proverbial.

From: Thomas Busby, Concert Room And Orchestra Anecdotes Of Music and Musicians: Ancient and Modern, in 3 Vols.Vol-2, p.283

Three Christmas Cantatas: Geoffrey Bush, George Dyson and Benjamin Britten

The liner notes do not explain that this new CD is a reissue of the Unicorn/Kanchana LP, DKP 9057. To this has been added the legendary recording of Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, performed by the Copenhagen Boys Choir with the composer on the rostrum. This was originally released on the Decca LP, LW 5070. It was (probably) recorded in the Danish Radio Concert Hall, Copenhagen on 20-22 September 1953. 

Geoffrey Bush’s In Praise of Mary for soprano, choir and orchestra was completed in 1955. The liner notes explain that Bush’s first thoughts for this cantata date from when in his teens, he heard “a broadcast of [Luigi] Dallapiccola’s Tres Laudi for soprano and chamber orchestra.” Further impetus came when he wrote incidental music for Henri Ghéon’s play, The Marvellous History of St Bernard.” And lastly, his discovery of Ancient English Christmas carols 1400 to 1700 edited in 1910 by the American medievalist, Edith Rickert, provided the texts. 

It could be argued that this cantata is not really designed for Christmas, but for Passiontide. Yet, several of these carols from the middle-ages have become Seasonal favourites: There is no Rose, A Maid Peerless, Adam lay ybounden and Lully, Lullay. Other texts include the opening Hail Mary, Full of Grace and the final Alleluia.

Theologically, the work is oriented towards Our Lady as “dispenser of universal grace and goodwill.” At the climax of the piece, Bush balances the notion that Mary is Heaven’s Queen because of Adam’s fall from grace: good coming out of evil.

In Praise of Mary is approachable, with little to disturb the listener. It is typically tuneful and harmonically conservative. Perhaps the most dynamic part is the rhythmically persuasive setting of Adam Lay ybounden which is analogous to a “scherzo.”  It displays “jerks” and “irregular timings” with a complex and difficult organ part. There is also an intensity in the setting of the Coventry Carol, Lully, Lullay with its heartrending soprano solo. The finale is serene, with its repeated Alleluias, leading to a huge climax and eventually resolving into perfect peace.

The original version of In Praise of Mary was scored for symphony orchestra, however, Bush latter made an updated edition for strings, organ and optional timpani. It is the latter that is heard on this CD.

It would have been useful to have had the texts of George Dyson’s A Christmas Garland for mezzo soprano, choir and string orchestra (1959). They are not featured in the invaluable The Lieder Net Archive. Paul Spicer’s important George Dyson: His Life and Music (The Boydell Press, 2014), provides a list of sections and texts, which I copy here for reference: Yet if his majesty, our sovereign Lord (Anon); Sweet music, sweeter far than any song is sweet (Anon); Tell us, thou clear and heavenly tongue (Robert Herrick); Come we shepherds whose blest sight (Richard Crashaw); Fairer than the sun at morning, Was the star (Prudentius); There came three kings from Galilee (Anon); Wake, O earth, wake everything! (William Austin) and But see the Virgin Blest (John Milton).

A Christmas Garland is presented as a single track on this recording, so it is not easy to locate the ends and beginnings of each poem/section as this lovely meditation unfolds. The liner notes give a detailed analysis of the work’s progress. The mood is typically easy going, melodious and varied in musical effect. It certainly has George Dyson’s “usual command of vocal writing.” (Spicer, op. cit.). This was the last major composition that Dyson wrote. There would be a few organ pieces and songs before his death in 1964.

It is well known that Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols was written whilst sailing back to England from America in 1942. He claimed that it was to relieve the boredom, and presumably take his mind off German torpedoes, despite having berths on a Swedish (neutral) freighter. During a stop-off in Nova Scotia, Britten purchased a copy of The English Galaxy of Shorter Poems, edited by Gerald Bullett, which provided him with the texts.

The Ceremony is set for treble voices accompanied by solo harp. The texts are mainly anonymous medieval carols but also poems by James, John and Robert Wedderburn, Robert Southwell and William Cornish. The premiere performance was given at Norwich Castle on 5 December 1942.

Listeners who have heard a live performance will recall that the choir enter and leave the church/hall to Gregorian chant. In-between they sing several standalone carols including Wolcum Yole, There is no Rose, This Little Babe and As Dew in Aprille. The seventh number is a harp solo interlude.

It has often been noted that the Old English texts may give the choir some problems. The liner notes explain that in this “1953 recording made by the Copenhagen Boys’ Choir, under the composer’s direction is compromised now and then by suspect pronunciation…” For me this does not matter. The overall performance is superb, full of vivacity and “youthful brio.” Britten himself stated that “they sang my Ceremony of Carols as I never thought it could be sung…” And that their “treble sound has the sweet clarity of spring water on a sunny day bubbling with a little vibrato…”

The CD concludes with two charming bonus works. First is the straightforward arrangement for string orchestra of John Ireland’s ever popular The Holy Boy. First composed for piano during December 1913, it was published as the third of four Preludes for piano in 1918. The present arrangement, by Ireland, dates from 1941 and not 1914 as stated in the liner notes.

Equally delightful is Heathcote Statham’s The Bells of St Chad’s: Postlude for strings. It began life as the final piece in Four Diversions for organ, published in 1957. The liner notes explain that the present transcription for string orchestra was made during the 1980s by Christopher Palmer. It is a wonderfully vibrant piece, full of the joys of Christmas bells. It is not clear which St Chad is referred to.

I cannot be certain, but the programme notes by Christopher Palmer, Lloyd Moore and Charles Darke were those provided with the original releases. It would have helped to have had the texts for all three cantatas, this is especially so with some of the less well known poems chosen by George Dyson. I noted that the recording dates/venues are not included in the booklet or insert. I thank the record company for giving me this information for the Dyson and the Bush. A little research bottomed out the Britten. No biographical details are given about the performers.

It is not stated if these recordings have been repristinated before transfer. That said, the sound quality is great in all cases, including the 1953 Ceremony of Carols.           

I missed the George Dyson and Geoffrey Bush recordings when they were first released. It is wonderful to have them as part of my collection. It seems superfluous to say that all the performances are excellent and probably definitive.

Track Listing:
Geoffrey Bush (1920-98)
In Praise of Mary, for soprano, choir and orchestra (1955)
George Dyson (1883-1964)
A Christmas Garland, for soprano, choir and orchestra (1959)
Valery Hill (soprano), Jane Watts (organ), Royal College of Music Chamber Choir, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/David Willcocks
Benjamin Britten (1913-76)
Ceremony of Carols, op.28 (1942)
Enid Simon (harp), Copenhagen Boys Choir/Benjamin Britten
John Ireland (1879-1962)
The Holy Boy, arr. for string orchestra (1913/41)
Heathcote Statham (1889-1973)
The Bells of St Chad’s: Postlude for strings (1957/1980s)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/David Willcocks
rec. 11-12 March 1986, St. Jude-on-the-Hill, London (Bush/Dyson/Ireland and Statham); 20-22 September 1953, Danish Radio Concert Hall (?), Copenhagen
HERITAGE HTGCD 151

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.

Doreen Carwithen: Travel Royal Suite

One of my minor discoveries during Doreen Carwithen’s (1922-2003)centennial year, is her score for the short documentary film Travel Royal. This was commissioned by the former airline, British Overseas Airways Corporation in 1951. The concept of the film was to present highlights of the British “way of life in the country” and to depict “historical places of interest” for potential overseas travellers. These included Ann Hathaway’s cottage, Shakespeare’s birthplace, Cotswold cottages, Hampton Court, a Wimbledon tennis match, the Tower of London, the Trooping of the Colour, Drake’s Statue in Plymouth and more. The film lasted for about 21 minutes and featured the voice of the actor John Pudney. In 2002-03 Philip Lane arranged some of Carwithen’s score to make a short Suite, which lasts just under nine minutes.

The liner notes for the Dutton Epoch recording of the Travel Royal Suite explained that the director and script writer, Peter Bradford, encouraged Carwithen to include “as many national and folk tunes” in the score as possible to “reflect England’s green and pleasant land.”  Melodies heard in Lane’s Suite include Oranges and Lemons, John Peel and Greensleeves.

Rob Barnett, reviewing the CD for MusicWeb International (11 October 2011) considered that “This nine minute continuous piece is masterfully broad…and radiates 1950s confidence.” Add to this a generous warmth of tone, splendid orchestration and a sense of ceremony of almost Bliss-ian intent, and the listener has a perfect miniature.

Sadly, Travel Royal does not appear to have been uploaded to the British Film Institute or the Pathé websites. That said, the latter does have a fascinating selection of scenes from this film that were left on the cutting room floor.

In 2011, the Suite was issued on Dutton Epoch (CDLX7266) along with several others derived from Carwithen’s film scores, including East Anglian Holiday, Three Cases of Murder and Mantrap.

Doreen Carwithen’s Travel Royal Suite has been uploaded to YouTube.

 

Undertones of War: British Organ and Vocal Music after 1918

This is a veritable potpourri of fascinating pieces from the years after the conclusion of the First World War. To be sure, there is nothing particularly challenging here. The ethos of this CD is to explore music that followed the cataclysmic events of 1914-18. Strangely, there is nothing violent or anarchic here: nearly all are introspective and present a general feeling of sadness rather than resentment. 

The opening Diapason Movement by Basil Harwood is a gently evocative “sursum corda” that looks back towards the Victorian era, with its unfolding chromaticism in the development section. Reger or Franck may be the models here. The liner notes explain that Harwood has used the three-note opening theme with the surprising melodic interval of a falling major seventh from William Walond’s Voluntary in G, written nearly two centuries previously.

Most organ enthusiasts will have come across Walter Galpin Alcock’s powerful Introduction and Passacaglia. The present Voluntary I from a set of twelve is gentler in mood, once again echoing Franck. It would make an ideal introit for Evensong.

Richard Runciman Terry’s beautiful hymn tune Highwood is sung by a vocal quartet. It was included in the important Roman Catholic Westminster Hymnal published in 1912. This was later associated with the Advent hymn, “Hark, What a sound,” to words by F W H Myers.

At Eventide is the third number from Book 2 of Charles Villiers Stanford’s Six Occasional Preludes op.182, composed around 1921, but published posthumously in c.1930. They were everyday miniatures devised for the “practical organist.” It is an attractive little miniature that serves its purpose at Evening Prayer, whilst possibly outstaying its welcome. The present performance is played from the OUP edition issued in 2021, which corrected “the original edition’s chordal misprints.”

John Ireland’s The Holy Boy is well known in its original piano version (No.3 of Preludes written between 1913 and 1915). He also arranged it for string orchestra or string quartet (1941). Other arrangements were made by various hands for several instrumental combinations. The present incarnation sets words by Ireland’s solicitor, Herbert S Brown: “Lowly, laid in a manger/With oxen brooding nigh/The Heav'nly Babe is lying/His Maiden Mother by.” It is tenderly sung here by the soprano Elizabeth Barrow.

I was underwhelmed by York born composer’s Alan Gray’s Andante Grazioso (1922). It is a pleasant little barcarolle with no pretensions. Only in the final bars is there a touch of angst, which the liner notes suggest reflects the fact that Gray lost his two sons during the war.

Leighton Triplow then gives a sympathetic account of Peter Warlock’s lugubrious Adam lay ybounden.

One of my discoveries on this CD are the Three Chiddingfold Pieces by Thomas F Dunhill. This was originally conceived for string orchestra and was first heard in Bournemouth on 7 December 1922. There are three movements. The first, Canticum Fidei, has definite nods to plainchant. It is a little bit of a dirge. The Warrior’s Daughter follows on with an Allegro sollene, alla marcia, that seems just a little tame for the associated programme. It’s all to do with Brunna, the British Chieftain’s daughter who discovers a field full of treasure. The music celebrates her “carried aloft in triumph upon the shield of her warrior father.” The final movement is equally not up to the story – The Vision of Richard Peyto. Peyto was a stained glass artist who is forbidden to use his furnaces which were required for his craft. The music purportedly presents a dream granted to the dying Peyto of “Visionary Presences glowing with hues of stained glass…” and the final completion of his masterwork by the Angels.

I would have preferred that the Three Chiddingfold Pieces had been played consecutively, rather than in-between two carols from the Cambridge Hymnal of 1967. First up, Elizabeth Poston’s setting of Andrew John Young’s Christmas Day. Bass James Emerson gives a sensitive account of these wistful words. It is a little carol that deserves to be better known. London born composer Norman Fulton’s Released by Love is sung by Brigette De Poi and Emily Tam. This short setting of a poem by W.H. Auden is given a near perfect musical treatment. It lasts only 51 seconds. Why do the liner notes suggest that Fulton is Scottish? Perhaps I am missing something. He did write a Scottish Suite, however.

The Call, which is the fourth number from Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Five Mystical Songs was first heard in its orchestral version in 1911 at the Gloucester Three Choirs Festival. This present arrangement for organ and mezzo soprano (Emily Tam) is moving in its impact. The liner notes are correct in stating that the parallel harmonies used here are effective on the organ.

Alec Rowley’s Three Quiet Preludes for organ were published in 1937. The idea behind this was to “purely present” the sounds of Modal, Chromatic and Diatonic harmonies and melodies. I agree with the liner notes suggestion that these Preludes are “calmly regretful all through.”

Charles Villiers Stanford’s pupil Geoffrey Turton Shaw’s setting of Milton’s words Ring out, ye crystal spheres brings this recital to a dramatic close. It is a big, powerful anthem, full of optimism that in 1932 may well have been misplaced. It is sung and played by all the performers.

The recording is outstanding, complimenting the talents of the soloists and organ. All these works are given decent, expressive performances.

The liner notes are by the present organist Robert James Stove and provide a helpful overview of each work and their composers, preceded by a well-considered introduction to the period. All texts of the vocal pieces are included. The specification of the three manual and pedals Magahy Organ in the Our Lady of Victories Basilica, Camberwell, Victoria are printed. Very brief notes are given about each of the performers.

This is a short but very sweet presentation of typically rare, largely reflective, vocal and organ works. It is always interesting, never demanding and quite simply enjoyable. Hopefully there is plenty more from where this came from.

Track Listing
Basil Harwood (1859-1949)
Diapaso Movement (1935)
Walter Galpin Alcock (1861-1947)
Voluntary I from set of twelve (1925)
Richard Runciman Terry (1864-1938)
Highwood (Hark, What a Sound) (1912)
Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)
At Eventide, from Six Occasional Preludes (1921)
John Ireland (1879-1962)
The Holy Boy (1913)
Alan Gray (1855-1935)
Andante grazioso for organ (1922)
Peter Warlock/Philip Hesletine (1894-1930)
Adam lay ybounden (1923)
Thomas F Dunhill (1877-1946)
Canticum Fidei, from Three Chiddingfold Pieces, op.60a no.1 (1922)
Elizabeth Poston (1905-87)
Christmas Day (1967)
Thomas F Dunhill
The Warrior’s Daughter, from Three Rheingold Pieces, op.60a no.2 (1922)
Norman Fulton (1909-80)
Released by Love (1967)
Thomas F Dunhill
The Vision of Richard Peyto, from Three chiding Pieces, op.60a no.3 (1922)
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
The Call, from Five Mystical Songs (1906)
Alec Rowley (1892-1958)
Three Quiet Preludes for organ: Modal Prelude, Chromatic Prelude, Diatonic Prelude (1937)
Geoffrey Turton Shaw (1879-1943)
Ring out, ye crystal spheres, (1932)
Robert James Stove (organ), Elizabeth Barrow (soprano), Brigette De Poi (mezzo-soprano), Emily Tam (mezzo-soprano), Leighton H. G. Triplow (tenor), James Emerson (bass)
rec.10-12 January 2022, Our Lady of Victories Basilica, Camberwell, Victoria
ARS ORGANI RECORDINGS AOR004

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.

 

Orchestral Music and Arthurian Legends

Ever since reading Arthur, Lord Tennyson’s The Passing of Arthur from the Idylls of the King at school, I have held an interest in Arthurian literature. Whether this be some of the original medieval texts, the Matter of Britain, or T.H. White’s Once and Future King, I have enjoyed exploring the historical and mythological implications of this legendary history. Composers have not been slow in dedicating their talent to celebrating these stories. I have selected a dozen examples of orchestral music that has caught my eye. Mostly these are tone poems of one sort or another. Some were written as incidental music. I have omitted the numerous operas by Purcell, Wagner and Albeniz that major on these magical themes. Most of these pieces are available on CD, streaming or YouTube. However, some of them simply caught my eye: they are desideratum for the concert hall or recording studio.  A number of these works are by British composers however, the enchantment of the Arthurian story has inspired music by French, American and a Polish composer. 

Arnold Bax (1883-1953):  Tintagel - a symphonic poem (1917)

Frederick Bridge (1844-1924): Overture: Morte d’Arthur (1886)

Benjamin Britten (1913-76): The Sword in the Stone – incidental music (1938)

Ernest Chausson (1855-99): Viviane – a tone poem (1882)

Albert Coates (1882-1953): Lancelot Symphony

Edward Elgar (1857-1934): King Arthur – incidental music (1923)

Hans Werner Henze (1926-2012): Tristan, Préludes for piano, tape and orchestra

ludes for piano and orchestra (1973)

Edward Burlingame Hill (1872-1960): The Parting of Launcelot and Guinevere – a tone poem (1915)

Paul Ladmirault (1877-1944): Tristan and Isolde – incidental music (1929)

Edward MacDowell (1860-1908): Lancelot and Elaine – tone poem (1888)

Georges-Eugène Marty (1860-1908): Merlin enchanté – tone poem (1888)

Ludomir Rogowski (1881-1954): A Celtic Legend – Three symphonic pictures Solemn entrance of the Knights of the Round Table and the oath of King Arthur. 2. The dance of Vivien with the spirits of Earth. 3. Sea-crossing of Merlin.

Of the above dozen pieces, the most famous is probably Arnold Bax’s Tintagel. It should be remembered that this great seascape for music probably has more to do with the composer’s tempestuous relationship with Harriet Cohen at that time, rather than the myth of Merlin and Camelot.