Leginska: Forgotten Genius of Music. By Marguerite and Terry Broadbent

If anyone was to suggest that a young lady born in the city of Hull called Ethel Liggins was to become one of the most talented musicians of her generation, one could be a little surprised. Call it prejudice if you like, but the fact remains it seems like a fairy tale. From a terrace house to conducting at the Hollywood Bowl within less that 40 years is a remarkable achievement by any standards. But there is more. She was not only a conductor but also a top class pianist once dubbed the ‘Paderewski of Woman Pianists’, a teacher who was in considerable demand and a composer of some merit as well. In fact, she was a complete musician. The strange thing is that very few people seem to have heard of her. For some reason she has been ignored by musical historians and recording artists. It is the purpose of this excellent book to try to remedy this default.

There are many people who should be interested in this book. The thing that led me towards Leginska was her compositions, not that I have heard any, but the tantalising information that she wrote a Fantasy for piano and orchestra, an opera based on Thackeray’s The Rose and the Ring and fair number of songs and piano pieces. On top of this, there is a major symphonic poem Beyond the Fields We Know. It is an evocative title. Let us hope that one day it can be revived. Apart from those interested in her compositions, this book must appeal to students of the piano and the art of the conductor. And lastly, there is the feminist critique here too. Fundamentally, the history of Ethel Leginska revolves round the irony of a once-famous artist totally disappearing into oblivion in a world largely dominated by men.

There is no other biography of Ethel Leginska. Various references crop up in journals and on the Internet and there is a contemporary article in Woman’s Work In Music by Arthur Elson and Everett E. Truette. Furthermore there are a host of references in newspapers such as the New York Times and the Christian Science Monitor. This present volume is a distillation and synthesis of much of this primary material and serves not only as a biography of Leginska but as a document that charts the musicological development of her times. It is doubtful if another biography will be undertaken in our day, but that would seem to be of little concern when presented with what is quite definitely a model of biographical writing.

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A few brief notes on Ethel Leginska may be of interest to readers. As noted above Ethel Leginska was born Ethel Liggins in 1886 in Kingston-upon-Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was immediately clear to her parents that she was immensely talented and was playing the piano publicly from the age of six. She made her debut at the Queen’s Hall in London in 1896, with works by Mendelssohn, Bach and Beethoven. In mid-1897 she entered the Hoch Conservatory of Music in Frankfurt, Germany, where she stayed for some years. It was around this time [1899] that Lady Maud Warender, suggested that she change her last name from Liggins to Leginska. It was thought that a ‘continental’ sounding name would be of benefit to her career. She was to use that name for the reminder of her life. Leginska had further studies with Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna until she was seventeen or eighteen years old; The Broadbents point out that she was always a little hazy about dates. Ethel Leginska married the composer Roy Emerson Whithorne in 1907. In 1913 she made her debut recital at the New York Aeolian Hall where she played a concert of music by Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin and Brahms. The book gives a number of contemporary reviews of this event. But her repertoire covered a wide range of composers including Max Reger, Edward MacDowell, Carl Maria von Weber, Maurice Ravel and Cyril Scott.
Not content with an impressive career as a recitalist she studied composition with Ernest Bloch. She was later to undertake lessons in conducting with Eugene Goossens, Robert Heger and Genaro Papi. Over the years, she was to conduct a variety of major orchestra including the London Symphony, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Paris Conservatory and the New York Symphony Orchestra. In 1924, a reviewer in the National Zeitung insisted that “Leginska dominated the orchestra completely by the storm of her tremendous temperament and aroused the audience to tumultuous applause.” Another in the Daily Telegraph suggested that she “conducts with freedom and élan, and her expressive gestures are eloquent of the effects at which she is aiming.” These were typical of reviews at this time. Her career as a conductor was to last until 1957. An article on the internet suggests that she was “probably the first woman in musical history to be guest conductor of most of the world’s major orchestras, and the first of her gender to be engaged as a grand opera conductor, in London, Salzburg, New York City, Boston and elsewhere”. Just before the outbreak of the Second World War Ethel Leginska settled in Los Angeles and concentrated on teaching. She was to die in that city in 1970. The authors have presented the story of Leginska in largely chronological order - although not quite. They note that they have sometimes written chapters that consider various aspects of her career that were running concurrently. So, various topics such as Leginska as recording artist, her conducting, her teaching and her work as a recitalist are examined in separate chapters. Perhaps my one disappointment with this book is the relatively little discussion of her musical compositions. For example I could find little about her Symphonic Poem Beyond the Fields we Know. There is, however a good discussion of the Cradle Song, complete with a reprint of the music.

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The main feature that immediately strikes the reader is the depth of research that has gone into this book. It has truly been a labour of love. The text is crammed full of information derived from a large number of reviews, articles and letters. There are literally dozens of illustrations presented on virtually every other page in this book. Most of these are fascinating and contribute to our understanding of the text. The photographs naturally include studies of Ethel Leginska, but often depict concert programmes, publicity shots, advertising posters and pictures of venues associated with the artist. The documentation is impressive. For each chapter there are both footnotes and endnotes! The appendices are of great importance and interest. These include: details of Liggins family tree, a typical concert programme, a list of music played at here first season of concerts with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and a comprehensive list of her compositions and her recordings. Finally, there is a comprehensive index.

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The book itself is a solid production by the Heaton Press Limited of Stockport: it feels nice, is robust and has an attractive cover. This volume fills a major gap in the history of both British and American music. It is a huge and important investigation into one of the forgotten great all-rounders of music. It will fill the needs of all interested musicologists for many years to come. The book can be read as a biography - from cover to cover, or the reader can dip in to explore various themes and topics, although I do recommend a through-read. As noted above, it is an attractively presented and well-documented production that is certainly good value for money. I do not imagine there will be a huge demand for this text, which is a pity, for it is really a model of its kind. However I believe that it will be required reading for all those interested in women in music and for those who are particularly interested in performance history both in the United States of America and in Great Britain.

Leginska: Forgotten Genius of Musiy: Marguerite and Terry Broadbent The North West Piano Player Association, Wilmslow, Cheshire Paperback. 354 pages. Published 2002 ISBN 0-9525101-4-6 £15:99 The book can be purchased from Terry Broadbent

With thanks to MusicWeb International

Stanislaus Elliot: The Bicycle Sonata for the Pianoforte.

I give this review without comment, save to suggest that it would make an interesting and novel revival for some enterprising pianist with a good sense of humour! It is from the March edition of the 1881 Monthly Musical Record.

The composer of this piece, fearing some apology may be needed both for the title and the design, would wish, in place of such apology, to call attention to the fact that the greatest Classical composers have now and then employed their powers in depicting grotesque and comical scenes and actions. And perhaps it were to be wished that composers would use other means than trashy dance tunes and comic songs for the expression of the ludicrous. In the sister art of painting, the greatest men have depicted subjects calculated to affect our sense of the ridiculous, and this, too, in true artistic form and without con­descending to the level of the common-place or trashy. Why, then, should not music artists do the same? This little work is written in the strict sonata (binary or duplex) form, necessarily curtailed in the development of the motives, and yet lays no claim to great excellence either of conception or of treatment, the composer only trusting that it will tend to amuse the hearer without degrading the art.
The common-sense view of the composer will commend itself to all thinking minds. There is no argument why music should not be made to minister to innocent fun, and if all who make the venture are as successful as Mr. Elliot, there is no reason whatever that his sonata should not be the herald of a new era in programme music. The majority of the sentimental devices are already worn out, and sentiment itself can only be made palatable when it possesses an element of humour; a little drollery will go a great way, therefore, in ekeing out and setting off a serious thought. Then let composers work this new vein, and be grateful to the proposer.
The Bicycle Sonata, as music, is by no means bad; it is well written, and quite fulfils all the conditions expected in a sonata. There are four movements. The first, allegro, depicts the Bicyclist's first attempt; the andante displays "his despair and return;" the scherzo, his second attempt; and the final rondo, "success at last." The composer has exhibited a fair command over the demands of form, and knows how to write effectively for the pianoforte, and these, united with his humorous plan, give a particular point and character to his sonata; so that if he be encouraged to make, like his bicyclist, a second attempt, it is not at all likely that he will fail to find a second welcome.

The work was published by London: Duncan, Davison, & Co. But does not appear to have been recorded!

Havergal Brian: English Suite No.1 another contemporary review.

A few days ago I posted a mildly enthusiastic review of this piece from the Musical Times. I found another, more positive consideration in the contemporary edition of The Musical Standard. It was quoted in Reginald Netel’s Ordeal by Music and is worth re-publishing.
It was not surprising that honours fell to Mr. Havergal Brian after the performance of his English Suite at Queen's Hall Promenade Concerts on Thursday, September 12th, for it is a work of considerable interest. From the point of view of orchestral tone colour it was a triumph. His use of the orchestra is especially good, and throughout the work the varying colours of the instrumental palette were adroitly chosen and harmonized. That is an achievement in technical skill which few writers can attain; we hear so much mist and mud in modern orchestration. Neither was the scoring of this work reminiscent, it had a freshness and breezy vigour which can be broadly described as English.
In modulation, Havergal Brian brings a new touch, and in the first two movements, March and Valse, there were many striking and individual transitions. The Suite has an honest face, there are no false heroics and, heaven be thanked, no puling melancholy in this music; and humour was much in evidence in the last movement. Typifying some scene of a Carnival, this last section had a brief interpretation of a Punch and Judy show; the scoring and ideas of this section were especially amusing. The motive was scored for piccolo and side drum, and this led to the theme of "God Save the King" scored for muted trumpet and trombones. The mere association of (carnival-like) loyalty with a Punch and Judy show is just a stroke of bombast of which English people are truly capable; it is a motive suited to the brain and pen of Bernard Shaw or Chesterton, and would set either of them off on a play or a paragraph. I am wondering whether Brian is a satirist at heart, or whether he only sets out to chronicle.

On the whole, this work of Brian's is a worthy contribution to our British school. The composer achieves what he sets out to do. It is not a subjective work, but more a musical transcription of an English country fair, and must be judged from that standpoint. The music, except in a few places as in the third movement, Love under the Beech Tree, has that objective non-introspective quality which is so much a feature of our times; although one cannot say that the thematic material strikes very newly upon the ear, there is yet a personality in the work.

Mr. Henry J. Wood took a tremendous interest in its interpretation. and it was very evident that his orchestra enjoyed their labours; for, after all, it is something to an orchestral player that his work counts, that the characteristics of his instrument are not overlooked, or "crowded out", and in this particular work the orchestral tints gleamed -that is the word-and the various groups of tone, strings, wood, brass, percussion, were each excellently written for.
Every discovery of musical creative talent is important to our countrymen because it is only by an overwhelming army of talented and diverse abilities that the many hindrances to our musical life can be overcome. The public, the publishers, the performers, the press will all respond to an inevitable fact, they always do, since they deal in inevitable facts. We have chosen, for constitutional purposes, the majority shall decide, they do both in civil and impolite matters, also in music; all we can do is to transform lassitude and indifference into enthusiasm and vitality. Creative minds alone can arrange the transformation, they always were the world's ransomers; yet between them and their ideals is ranged an unproductive and negative force. The creative gift is a natural force, the only one which the world denies existence to.
The Musical Standard October 2007[with minor edits]

Ethel Bilsland: Review of her Sernade for string quartet and piano

[There is] a Serenade, for string quartet and piano, by Ethel Bilsland. Here we have the attenuated and ethereal style which would perhaps not have occurred to English writers as a medium without the influence of Debussy-the very opposite of the full-blooded robust or the cloyingly sentimental manners. Perhaps the consecutive fifths occur with an air of knowing that they are naughty, but it would not be fair to suggest that the music is artificial. There is great spontaneity about the very characteristic .air which is announced on the viola below the muted accompaniment of the two violins; and there is an engaging rhythmic freshness about the piu mosso section which brings in the other main material of the movement. It is all very decidedly alive. The strings are handled with considerable knowledge and good feeling for their character, and the piano is employed with skill to throw up and not to cloud the clarity of the other instruments. Altogether, an effective movement, and one which leads us to expect other works of more extended scope from Miss Bilsland.
The Music Student Chamber music supplement July 1914 pp.97-8 [with minor edits]

One can only hope that one day this score will turn up and well will be able to hear a performance of appears to be an impressive work.
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Haydn Wood: The Dance of a Whimsical Elf

Ever since the days of Felix Mendelssohn’s music to A Midsummer’s Night Dream, composers have had a fascination with the ‘little folk’ One need only consider the large number of piano pieces with titles like Forest Fairies, Fairy Footsteps and The Sad Troll. And that is ignoring the subtler efforts of Tchaikovsky and the Sugar Plum Fairy. I guess that a thesis could, and may well have been written on this topic.
Yet one work I have always enjoyed is The Dance of a Whimsical Elf. It is part of a suite called A Day in Fairyland, Suite de Ballet are:
The suite has four movements that each relates to a time of day: -

1.Invocation (Dawn)

2. Dance of a Whimsical Elf (Noon)

3. A Dream Fairy (Sunset)

4. Fairy Revels (Night)

The Oxford English Dictionary describes ‘whimsical’ as being “characterised by a whim or whims; actuated by a whim or caprice.” There is a subsidiary adjectival meaning determined by “mere caprice, fantastic, fanciful, freakish odd or comical”. Of course the word ‘elf’ carries with it a large number of meanings. However I believe that Haydn Wood is simply using it in its basic form as a synonym of ‘fairy’. For interest an elf was originally masculine and an elven feminine, however in modern usage an ‘elf’ is really a ‘male fairy.’
At time of the first performance, the second movement was called Dance of a Lone Elf. Listening to this attractive miniature today, it would be difficult to consider the character portrayed as a ‘lone’ or even ‘lonely’ unless it is in the sense of a fairy who is a bit of a loner, by choice. There is no real way of telling is Haydn Wood imagined this elf to be a good fairy or a mischievous one: it is more to do with mood and suggestion. The orchestration of this piece is superb. A variety of techniques are used to create an air of ‘whimsicality’ or caprice. Look out for the muted brass, the xylophone and the intricate woodwind. But perhaps the greatest surprise is the use of five beats in the bar – this really does make the little fellow seem quite capricious.

The piece is quite short being just over two and half minutes long, no doubt designed to fit onto one side of a 78-rpm record.
This is another one of these pieces that makes me wonder just where the divide is between ‘light’ and ‘art’ music. I guess that it must be more to do with subject matter, for this piece is a great example of craftsmanship and formal design. If it was by Elgar, and was part of say a Third Wand of Youth Suite it would be a regular on Classic FM and in the recording studios.
The work was first performed in November 1933 during a broadcast by the BBC Orchestra Section C, conducted by Joseph Lewis.

Unfortunately there is not a recording of the entire Suite, the only movement on CD being the Dance. However there are at least two versions of this on Marco Polo and Guild.

Gustav Holst: a pen-portrait by Edwin Evans from 1928

I came across this excellent pen-portrait of Holst by the critic Edwin Evan, in a copy of the short lived Dominant music magazine. I was lucky to fine a bound copy of the complete run - Novembeer 1927 -November 1929.

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IT is characteristic of the way in which Holst is regarded by his more intimate associates that those of them whom we approached with the request for a pen-­portrait denied their competence, im­plying that the subject required greater eloquence than theirs. To his collabo­rators and his pupils he is somewhat like those revered figures of the remote East in which he once found stimulation: guru and musician in one. And the strangest thing is that he is the last man in the world to have sought or encouraged such reverent hero-worship. It may even have caused him some moments of irritation. He has too much common sense to be an exalté and would be entitled to regard as a peculiarly per­nicious slander anything that implied pretensions beyond those of an honest and conscientious craftsman.
In the absence of the 'close-up' which an intimate associate could have given, the duty has devolved upon me. Holst and I were born within three weeks of each other, and have been acquainted very nearly half the time that has elapsed since then. A quarter of a century ago, to a month or two, I wrote my first article on the works of Vaughan Williams - works some of which he has since discarded. The preparation of this article naturally brought me into personal relations with the composer, who roused my curiosity by the enthusiasm with which he spoke of the work of a confrère who had been a fellow-student with him at the R.C.M. This was Holst, who was then about to relinquish trombone-­playing to take up teaching at Dulwich.
Though our respective occupations precluded close and constant meeting, we had many talks together, and my impressions of both the man and the musician date from then. Reviewing them for this occasion I find them strangely little altered. He has grown, his ideas have developed, his range has widened, but in all essentials his outlook is what it was then. For a young com­poser he was unusually free from all indefinite aspirations. He knew quite well what lay before him to do, and was concentrated upon the problem, tech­nical and musical, how best to do it.
This tenacity of purpose has remained with him, and is a more powerful factor in his make-up than the attribute which has impelled him to seek spiritual adventure-and-texts-in Vedic or Gnostic hymns. He has been credited with mysticism. To me he appears more of an idealist without ideals-far too practical to encumber his philosophy with imagined ideals, but at the same time so keyed as to be an idealist without them, serving a high purpose but always less conscious of its height than of the demands of its service. I find it difficult to imagine him carried away by any elation other than that of the artist content with his work. And here begins an apparent paradox, for, just as vagueness and diffidence are often associated with a morbid degree of self-criticism, one might imagine this calm self-possession to reflect a lack of it. But precisely because Holst knows his purpose so well he is a severe judge of the degree in which he has achieved it. Some time ago I had occasion to ask him if there were any prospect of his reverting to chamber-music. He replied that he was then engaged upon something that might be chamber-music or might be rubbish, [1] and in due course he would let me know which form it had ultimately taken. Concerning a recent work, of which little has been heard, he confided to me that he had been in some doubt whether it was music or not, and was gradually inclining to the latter view. But I have preserved a card which came with a newly printed score [2]: ' Hope you'll like it. I'm afraid I do'. There speaks, not the man who is sometimes querulously dissatisfied with his work because it does not fulfil an aspiration which is probably nebulous to himself, but the man who knows his task, is the best judge whether he has performed it well or ill, and at the same time sufficiently objective to be able to deliver either verdict without any disturbance of equilibrium. That this calm sense of values should be associated with an outward manner suggesting diffidence to the point of timidity is only the obverse aspect of the same apparent paradox, and equally explicable.
The Dominant April 1928 p.24-25 

Notes:

[1] Probably the chamber opera At the Boar's Head

[2] Egdon Heat

Selfridge's: The New Organ in 1912

I read this short announcement in the September 28, 1912 edition of Musical News. I have never heard about this instrument. I checked in Lewis Foreman's book about Music in London and found no reference. I have a knowledgeable friend on the case, and he has suggested that the instrument was perhaps damaged or destroyed during the war. Apparently it was installed in the Palm Court. It sounds like an excuse to visit Selfridge's in Oxford Street on the grounds of historical research! Any information will be gratefully received.

An organ as an attraction at a drapery store is suffi­ciently unusual to be of interest. Mr. Selfridge is, we believe, a musical enthusiast, and he has had the happy idea of installing an instrument by Messrs. Norman and Beard in the Palm Court of his establishment in Oxford Street. The specification of this was given in Musical News for August 10th last. In order to give due im­portance to the occasion, Mr. E. H. Lemare was engaged to open the organ with recitals on September 18th and 19th, which were attended by a very large audience on each day, who testified their appreciation of the player's remarkable mastery of the instrument, as well as his choice of pieces. There is no need to review in detail the various items, except to protest against Mr. Lemare's excessive use (especially at the first recital) of the tremulant, a mechanical effect which was particularly out of place in the last movement' of Mendelssohn's sixth sonata. At each recital Mr. Lemare improvised on a theme sent up from the audience, his performance being remarkable .for its ingenuity, resourcefulness, and fancy. The art of extemporisation is not lost so long as Mr. Lemare lives. One of the themes was specially devised to show off the set of carillons with which the organ is fitted. These are, un­fortunately, placed in the swell-box, but although thus somewhat muffled, the tone is undoubtedly very sweet and pure. Similar carillons of a larger size are devised a, substitutes for church bells, a use for which it is evident they are extremely suitable. As regards this organ, no doubt it will prove a great attraction to Mr Selfridge's customers. B.
Musical News September 28, 1912

Lyrita: Celebrating Fifty Years devoted to British Music

I recently had this wonderful collection of 8 CDs from Lyrita to review. It is a stupendous collection and makes a fine introduction to British music. Please read my full review at MusicWeb International. However I give a short extract here – outlining who I feel will be interested in this impressive collection:-

Who is going to buy this double-boxed 8 CD set? I for one have virtually all these recording and pieces as part of my collection. I am sure that many readers of MusicWeb International will be the same. So I sat in the garden one warm October day and puzzled. Like the vicar once said, there are three points: three groups of people that this collection will appeal to. Firstly, there may well be those music enthusiasts who are comfortable with the ‘big’ pieces of British music - Elgar’s Cello Concerto, Vaughan Williams’s Tallis Fantasia and Fred Delius’s Walk to Paradise Gardens. But the rest of the corpus of British music is a closed book. They may not have the courage (or the wherewithal) to go into HMV and buy a CD of Symphonies by Robert Still or John Joubert’s Symphony No.1 on a whim. They have no way of really knowing whether they would like it or not. And even if they listen to short 30 second extracts on the ’Net, it is hardly a basis for forming an opinion. So for these people this collection could be an ideal gift or introductory sampler. It will allow them to explore further and confidently to purchase recordings of music and composers of which they have no or little knowledge.

The second group of people that it occurred to me that this set will appeal to are those who feel that just want to listen to some British music. They are perhaps a little tired of the half a dozen favourites played day in and day out on Classic FM and feel they want a bit more variety: and a new challenge. They want to be introduced to the wealth of British music but have neither the time nor the inclination to investigate under their own steam. They want a package of great music that is ready made for them. I can think of no better purchase than these eight CDs.

And thirdly, it will be a required purchase for all collectors of things Lyrita. I imagine there are a fair few folk out there who have virtually everything that the company has produced over the past fifty years. This collection will be a fine overview of their stack of vinyl and drawers full of CDs. A kind of keepsake, really. As a self-confessed musical snob, I have usually avoided extracts and samplers. It is the complete work for me. But there are occasions when there is just not the time to listen to a complete symphony of concerto. Sometimes a movement has to do. I for one will use this set as a source of inspiration when I have only a few minutes to spare. Like many people I will put it onto my iPOD and will enjoy picking out a track or two whilst sitting at the station waiting on the train to London Euston.

Havergal Brian: English Suite No.1

I have written in these pages before about the urgent need for a professional recording of the extant English Suites by Havergal Brian. The only version currently available (with a bit of searching) is the 2-CD set from Cameo. Now the playing and the recording quality of this CD do leave a bit to be desired.

The critic in the Gramophone Magazine of April 1980 generously wrote that: “These are by no means easy pieces to play, and occasionally […] one feels that the Hull Youth Symphony […] has bitten off more than they can chew. Nor is their intonation invariably a joy elsewhere. But within the obvious limitations these are good performances and can safely be recommended not only to Brian aficionados but to the general public as well. The recorded sound is if anything slightly superior to the orchestra and previous releases”.

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That this is an important work as is clear from this review in The Musical Times. In a future post I will present the contemporaneous review from the Musical Standard. I do worry that the Marco Polo/Naxos series of Brian appears to have ground to a halt. He is one of the most important composers writing in Britain during much of the Twentieth Century.

The English Suite No.1 can be heard on Cameo RR2CD 1331/1332 and is still much better than no recording at all.

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THE MUSICAL TIMES: OCTOBER 1, 1907 p.672 [with minor edits] Previous to September 12 few Londoners had heard of Mr. Havergal Brian. He is a well nigh self-taught composer, born in North Staffordshire in 1877, and in the North, notably at Hanley, his compositions have won much esteem. They include three Psalm settings for orchestra and soli, Burlesque Variations for orchestra, a symphonic poem, inspired by Lord Leighton's picture Hero, an English suite, and an overture For valour. The Suite, originally produced at one of the Leeds Town Hall Municipal concerts in January last, was performed for the first time in London on September 12. The poetic basis of the suite is an old English country fair. Rustics assemble to a spirited march, whereunto a humorous element is imparted by the prominence given to that most rural of all instruments, “the loud bassoon”. The next number is a waltz, not of modern sentimentality but a rhythmic measure that stirs the pulse; its influence, however, upon the dancers appears to be much the same, since without break the music passes into an amorous episode entitled “Love under the beech tree”. Presumably the village has only one such trysting-place, a state of affairs which must have caused occasional inconvenience. That the beech tree is not far from the dancers is evident from the strains of the waltz that occasionally mingle with tête-à-tête sentences. The fourth movement, entitled “Interlude”, takes one away from the fair, for the composer says it is “an attempt to convey in sound the emotion which arose while gazing from the Hanchurch hills, in Staffordshire, in the direction of the Wrekin, in Shropshire, the whole country suffused in brilliant sunlight”. Still farther from the spirit of the fair is the next section, in which a hymn-like melody plays a prominent part; but with the concluding movement a return is made to rustic revelry, and a series of episodes introduce us to such sundry side-shows as Punch and Judy, a Sleeping Beauty, and The Breathless Lady, the latter represented by a version of the 'dancers' theme played with mock solemnity by trombones and tuba, shortly after which the work ends in a spirit of carnivalism. One is conscious that the composer is somewhat weak in the art of thematic development, but there is a freshness and significance in his music which indicates creative power.

Chopin: An attack by the Musical World Journal

I recently found this excellent quotation on the Frederyk Chopin Institute website. Now I do not normally write about ‘continental’ composers, but anyone that was and is so popular in Great Britain cannot be ignored. Chopin’s music is a vital part of musical life here and furthermore his tour of Britain between 20 April and 23 November was a huge success. He was lionized in London and played before Queen Victoria. So it is fascinating to read a somewhat negative review in the contemporary press. The Musical World was published in London during the nineteenth century.

The attack on Chopin was incidental to a review of some Mazurkas (Op. 41?): ‘Mr Chopin is far from composing anything banal, but – as many may consider considerably worse – is a producer of the most preposterous and hyperbolic oddities. […] Well might such a hot-headed enthusiast as Mr Liszt utter a poetical “rien” in “La France Musicale” with regard to the philosophical tendencies of Mr Chopin’s music; yet, from our point of view we can see no connection whatsoever between philosophy and affectation, between poetry and swagger, and we would allow ourselves to call to witness the ears and the judgement of all impartial people that all the works of Mr Chopin present a gaudy palette of rhetorical overstatement and excruciating cacophony […] At present, there is some justification for the offences of the poor Chopin: he is caught up in the compelling bonds of that arch-witch George Sand, notorious for both the number and the eminence of her romances and lovers; nevertheless, we are surprised at how she […] could allow herself to waste her dreamy existence on such an artistic non-entity as Chopin’.

In a reaction to this no-holds-barred assault on the part of its rival publishing house, the firm of Wessel & Stapleton addressed a letter to the editorship attempting to defend Chopin and his works, referring to ‘their immeasurable popularity abroad and finally the unanimous praise bestowed upon them by a host of the greatest authorities. Suffice it to mention here such names as Hector Berlioz, Ferdinand Hiller, Henri Herz, Robert Schumann, Sigismond Thalberg, Ignace Moscheles, Ferencz Liszt, Edward Schnitz, Henri Bertini, Jules Janin, Jules Maurel, George Sand, Frédéric Soulie, H. Balzac, Jules Benedict, Madame de Belleville-Oury, Theodor Doehler, Frédéric Kalkbrenner, John Cramer, Jacques Rosenheim, Charles Czerny, Aloys Schmitt, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Clara Wieck, Alexander Dreyschock, Adolphe Henselt, Catarina Bott, Robena Laidlaw and countless others’.

Charles Villiers Stanford: Piano Sonata in D minor

I recently reviewed a CD of piano music by Stanford and was impressed by virtually every piece. At that time I recall wondering if he had written a Piano Sonata. I suppose only laziness stopped me checking it out. I was perusing Lisa Hardy’s The British Piano Sonata 1870-1945 the other day and to my delight discovered that Stanford had indeed composed a Sonata for that intrument. However my excitement soon went – it is a work that is lost. Hardy notes that Grove mentions a Piano Sonata in D flat Op. 20 which was unpublished. She explained how she had corresponded with the author of the dictionary entry, Dr. Frederick Hudson, however he had been unable to trace the manuscript after thirty years of searching.

The Sonata was performed by Fuller Maitland at a Cambridge University Music Society Pop concert on 25 February 1885. This seems to have been its last appearance. However it had been previously performed at a concert in the St James’s Hall in London on 4 February 1884 and again at a second recital some five days later. It was given a positive review in the March 1884 edition of The Musical Times. Hardy further notes that the pianist Miss Agnes Zimmerman was “a noted interpreter of British piano sonatas".
Jeremy Dibble explained that Stanford was included in a list of ‘ten original piano sonatas’ which had been advertised by Henry Carte. However the project was never completed. Dibble suggests that Sonata was probably completed in late 1883.
Paul Rodmell adds little to this, but quotes a review in the Cambridge Review 12 March 1884 that suggest the Sonata “would certainly add to his [Stanford’s] reputation.” Yet when it was performed the following year, Rodmell suggests that the reception was ‘lukewarm and the Sonata was referred to a not possessing ‘enough continuity, repose or distinctive style.’

It was perhaps this last review that caused the composer not to allow publication? However, I hope that one day the manuscript will reappear and that an enterprising pianist such as Christopher Howell or Mark Bebbinton will see fit to record it. Meanwhile I have printed the contemporary review from The Musical Times:-
"Amateurs should have mustered in strong force on Monday 4 March for the programme contained a new pianoforte Sonata by Mr. Villiers Stanford, but as a matter of fact they severally stayed away. This indifference on the part of the public to the claims of native art is not only irritating, but it is fast becoming ridiculous. We have three or four young composers whose collective ability is at least equal tot hat of the same number of leading German living musicians, whose utterances always awake interest and expectation. Mr. Villiers Stanford is gaining honour abroad, but he is not without it at home for in his orchestral Serenade in G and his Elegiac Symphony – to a name but two of his works – qualities have been recognized far more valuable that mere musicianship, even of the highest class.
These qualities are also present in his new Sonata, which is in the unusual key of D flat. Some listeners have professed to perceive in the work a deliberate intention to violate the established laws of form, but we confess that to us no such design is apparent. In matters of detail, Mr. Stanford shows himself an independent thinker, but in all essentials his newest work is as classical in outline as could possibly be desired. The opening adagio is exceedingly impressive, and the succeeding allegro moderato is worked out with splendid mastery of the subject matter, the general effect being that of a lofty design carried into execution by a thoroughly experienced hand. The succeeding allegro grazioso, a modified kind of scherzo, is vigorous, and the final allegro commodo with its excellent first subject, seems scarcely less important than the first movement, though for some mysterious reason no analysis was vouchsafed of this portion of the work...
…we have no hesitation in characterising it as one of the most important compositions for piano solo produced within the present generation. It was very finely played by Miss Zimmermann, and composer and executant were called to the platform and loudly cheered…

The Sonata was repeated by Miss Zimmermann on the following Saturday, and again favourably received, its merits more conspicuous on second hearing.
The Musical Times 1 March 1884 [with minor edits]

Sources:-
Dibble, Jeremy, Charles Villiers Stanford: The Man and his Music (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2002)
Hardy, Lisa, The British Piano Sonata 1870-1945 (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press 2001)
Rodmell, Paul, Charles Villiers Stanford (Aldershot: Ashgate 2002)

British Piano Music: Some Tantalising Pieces

I recently found a copy of Walton O'Donnell's When the Sun is Setting in an Oxfam shop. This pieces is interesting, but what is perhaps more fascinating is the advertisement on the back of the cover. To be fair, some of the pieces are by composers who are not British. And there are a few famous names, including Bax, Hurlstone, Bowen, Elgar, Stanford and Bantock.

Yet scattered amongst this ''Selection of Modern Pianoforte Music are some truly desirable gems. Some of this music I have in my collection, yet most of it seems to have disappeared 'without trace.' I guess that many of these pieces will not be in the RCM or the RAM libraries: perhaps the only place to locate them will be the British Library?

I do not for one minute suggest that all these works are masterpieces, however I do feel that many of them probably deserve an occasional airing by professional pianists. Certainly most are probably just beyond the gift the amateur: the pieces I know are typically Grade 7 or 8' -ish.

If I had to mention three of the pieces listed that I would most like to hear, or try to play, they would be Pierrot by Ernest Farrar, F.H Cowen's Cupid's Conspiracy Suite and Edith M. Saunders's Impromptu in F minor.

Lastly I am charmed by the name A. E. Horrocks: I wonder where he lived, what he wrote and what his music sounds like. I will certainly keep my eye open in the second hand bookshops for his Six Pieces Op.14.

Graham Lynch: Undiscovered Islands

I was recently sent this fine CD to review by the composer. It made an immediate appeal to me. I listened to the entire album twice, although even on the first hearing I felt comfortable with most of the works presented. The reason, I guess is that the music passes the two fundamental tests: is the music original and is there an obvious trajectory of tradition that enables the listener to relate the pieces to something that is already familiar? The answers to both these questions is ‘yes’. The first thing to be said on the originality aspect is that this music is both demanding and interesting. The stylistic parameters lead to a sense of variety that is well under control. Lynch’s music is not like, say, Einaudi, whose every piece seems to sound the same.

Before I had a chat with the composer, I had decided that there were certain influences (conscious or apparent) at work in Lynch’s music - these included Debussy, Messiaen and for my money Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji. Perhaps there were even hints of Fred Delius. However the composer told me that the Japanese composer Takemitusu and the Latin-American Astor Piazzolla also had an important contribution to his music. But as I have often said, listening to music is not about ‘hunt the composer’, unless the composer we are considering has been unable to develop and synthesise their own style”.

The presentation of the CD is excellent [...] a good essay introduces the composer and his music. There follows a more detailed analysis of each piece along with further comments from the performers. The middle pages of the booklet have a collection of photographs that reflect the mood and subject matter of a number of the pieces. The playing by both the pianist and the flautist sounds excellent […] this is an impressive CD that is well within the tradition of British (or Western) music. All the works are approachable, but like all good music continues to reveal their secrets with repeated hearings.

Track Listing:
Graham LYNCH (b.1957) White Book 1 (piano) (2001) Mediterranean (flute and piano) (2007/8) Petenera (piano) (2005) Moon Cycle (solo flute) (2002/6) White Book 2 (piano) (2007/8) Three Tangos (flute and piano) (2003/7)
Mark Tanner (piano); Gillian Poznansky (flute) PRIORY PRCD1024

Please read the full review of Graham Lynch’s CD at MusicWeb International

Felix Swinstead: March Wind for Piano

I recently found this attractive piece of sheet music in an Oxfam shop. Even although I already have March Wind in another album, I could not resist the drawing on the cover. I know somebody (who shall remain nameless) who studied with Felix Swinstead and does not rate his music. I guess that they felt it lacked character, interest and technical content – which can be pretty damning. I trended to disagree with tem. Whilst not suggesting that Swinstead’s music has a major place in the canon of British piano music, I think it is fair to suggest that many of his teaching pieces have a charm over and above their intent. Perhaps Swinstead can be bracketed with Thomas Dunhill and Walter Carroll, although I do feel the latter had the ability to present very original music for students. I was ‘brought up’ on much of Felix Swinstead’s music – Fancy Free and the Three Sets of Six Pieces for Children were in the piano stool. Alas these latter have been lost.
March Wind was composed, or at least published by Joseph Williams in 1937. It is a miniature toccata really that certainly manages to give a sense of movement and a feeling of nasty weather. It is not an easy piece, in spite of being (and I am guessing) about Grade 6. The left hand part is typically played staccato and ranges over three octaves. The effect id created by at least three note patterns which are repeated and juxtaposed Most of this piece are largely diatonic, yet in the last four bars there is a considerable amount of key change and a little descending chromatic scale in the left hand. Alas The Musical Times does not give the piece a good review – “it is a rather meagre little breeze set up by quick finger work – a useful study no doubt.”

Yet all that said, I enjoy playing it and surely one is reminded of the Swinburne poem:-

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Mad March, with the wind in his wings wide-spread,

Leaps from heaven, and the deep dawn's arch

Hails re-risen again from the dead

Mad March.

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Soft small flames on rowan and larch

Break forth as laughter on lips that said

Nought till the pulse in them beat love's march.

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But the heartbeat now in the lips rose-red

Speaks life to the world, and the winds that parch

Bring April forth as a bride to wed

Mad March.

British Piano Sonatas: A Wish List Part 1

I note here a number of Piano Sonatas that have been composed by British composers, but are yet unrecorded (as far as I can tell). It seems unbelievable that there is such a rich vein of untapped Sonatas, some by well known composers and others by names that are barely known even by the ‘experts’. However, based on the pages of the Leo Livens Piano Sonata, that I was perusing the other day, there are certainly some treats in store, should enterprising concert agents and recording companies decide to explore these avenues. I give the composer and work without comments. Most of these works have been published whilst others remain in manuscript.

Ernest Austin: Sonata in B minor Op.31 No.2 [1907] Novello
William Baines: Sonata in F# minor Op.4 [1918] unpublished
Benjamin Burrows: Sonata [1934] F.W. Smith & Lewis
Lawrence Collinwood: Sonata No1 [1915] and Sonata No. 2 [1913] P Jurgensen
Duncan Edmonstoune: Sonata in D minor Op. 100 [1906] Vincent Music Co.
Harry Farjeon: Miniature Sonata in Bb Op.12 [1906] Augener and Sonata in E Op. 43 (1920) Ashdown
Edward German: Sonata [1884] Banks
William Hurlstone: Sonata in F minor [1894] unpublished
H.V. Jervis Read: Sonata [1925] Murdoch
Leo Livens: Sonata [1914 Anglo-French
R.O. Morgan: Prize Sonata [c 1908] Ashdown
Alec Rowley: Sonata No.1 [1939] Durand and Sonata No.2 in D [1949] Chester
William Wolstenholme: Sonata in Eb [c 1908]

Angela Morley: Starlight - an impresison for orchestra

I guess that a lot of light music portrays pictures of romantic locations – Las Vegas, New York, Paris and the Mediterranean. However, for many people there nowhere more romantic than London by night. One need only think of taking a taxi cab along Piccadilly on a cold winter’s evening, or perhaps taking a late-night stroll by the gaslights in Green Park. Or maybe it is late-night shopping at Harrods in Knightsbridge before popping into the Dorchester for a Cosmopolitan or a Bellini. And all of these moments somehow seem better if there are stars in the sky. Certainly it will be a rare night in London when the Milky Way is clearly visible, but surely there a many times when the stars and the moon peep out and manage to compete with the electric lamps and light pollution.

Angela Morley has captured all this magic in her evocative piece Starlight. It was written around 1956 when the composer was better known as Wally Stott. All the appropriate effects are used here, the sweeping violins that sound so like Mantovani or Henry Mancini, rich parallel string chords in thirds and sixths, pizzicato and harp arpeggios. Later in the piece a definite light touch of percussion gives an effective counterpoint to the main progress of the strings. Yet the work approaches the end all too soon with a passionate reprise of the string theme. The works last few bars conclude with a great splash of colour.
This is a classic example of the genre and certainly manages to create the image intended. It is impossible to listen to this music and remain oblivious to its mood. Naturally, it is only my conceit that sets it in the West End – it would be equally effective to someone imagining a trip across the Lagoon to the Lido or anchored in the bay off the town of Cannes.
Angela Morley’s Starlight can be heard on The Golden Age of Light Music The 1950s Volume 5 Sunny Side Up Guild GLCD 5142

King's College Cambridge: England, My England

I recently had the opportunity to review this latest compilation from King’s College Cambridge. Now I am not a big fan of compilations especially when they excerpt movements from larger works or even excise a small purple passage from a movement or piece. However, this present CD is not too bad on that score. After a brief introduction, I suggested a few tips to use in approaching this CD.

I guess that a lot of purchasers of this new release will just bang it into their CD players in the car and let rip. They will allow this music to envelop them as they drive along the West Lancs Road or around the M25. And there is probably nothing wrong with that. Concentration is what is needed for this present CD, in spite of its largely ‘popular’ appeal. It is not a fashion accessory, but a compendium of some of the greatest and most uplifting music written in England and performed by the country’s most the iconic choirs.

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What tips can I give for a logical exploration of England, My England? Well, first of all it can be sliced vertically or horizontally, by which I mean chronologically or by genre. I would prefer the latter. Now I imagine that most purchasers of a double CD of music by the world’s greatest ‘church’ choir (not just my opinion!) will have a certain sympathy with religious and liturgical music even if they do not sit in the choir stalls or the pews twice on a Sunday! So, perhaps the first group of pieces to explore are the Hymns. These are the ones that my late mother would have wanted to listen to. She was always singing them around the house and enjoyed hearing them sung by a good choir. All the big hitters are here. The ultimately tragic Abide with Me written by Henry Francis Lyte as he lay dying from tuberculosis and later to become a favourite of the Military and the F.A. Cup Final. The fine processional Praise my Soul the King of Heaven, the masterpiece of hymnology by Vaughan Williams, Come down of Love Divine and his Coronation arrangement of the massive Old Hundredth- All People that on Earth do Dwell. But King’s College do not forget the more intimate moments associated with the service of Evensong. Favourites include Orlando Gibbons exquisite Drop, drop slow tears and the ever popular The Day that thou gavest Lord is ended is beautifully sung…

I concluded my review by considering the title of the CD and then gave it a strong recommendation:-
The title of the CD is refreshingly ambiguous. Different people will read different things into it. I thought of D.H. Lawrence’s short story, a friend suggested that it was derived from the largely forgotten poet W.H. Henley’s largely forgotten poem “What have I done for you/England, my England”. And then there was a film about the life of Henry Purcell with that name...
…this is great value and is a fine introduction to English Choral music. This is sung with the unmistakable King’s College sound that evokes the atmosphere of the fundamentally Christian religious sensibilities of this country. This is a CD that can be enjoyed by all lovers of choral music, irrespective of their belief. It is a CD that manifests the spirit of Christianity as well as the long tradition of that faith in England and her music.

Please read the full review at MusicWeb International and also listen to short samples from this great album on YouTube.

Adam Pounds: The Martyr of Latimer and other news

A few months ago I mentioned in these pages that Adam Pounds was just putting the finishing touches to a new work – The Martyrdom of Latimer.
The work had its first performance on Saturday 3rd October 2009. Unfortunately I was not able to be present. However I do know that the work was extremely well received by an audience in excess of 800. It gained a standing ovation. Please read the review of this performance on Pounds’s website.
Dr. R J Westwell PhD, MA TESOL, MA Ed, B Mus, BA Hons wrote that:- "This profound work explored the excitement and darkness of death and spiritual revival. After the opening appealing melody was taken up in turn by the different sections of the orchestra, the toll of impending doom heralded the contrasting development of dramatic conflict, building up to an exciting climax with trumpets off-stage broadening the experience until the work's final thunderous drum call brought this fine composition to a memorable close."
I only hope that he is successful in having the work broadcast, although I do understand that the work was recorded and a future CD release will be undertaken in February with the Academy of Great St. Mary’s (the new name for the Orchestra of Great St. Mary’s, Cambridge). The venue is Great St. Marys (The University Church) Cambridge, Sunday 13th December, 7.30pm

Two last snippets of news: Pounds plans to compose a new carol, presumably for this Christmas and he will be conducting his ‘Northern Picture’ on December 13th – venue to be announced.

Eric Chisholm: A New Biography by John Purser

I cannot quite remember when I first read about the composer and musician Erik Chisholm. I think it was in a spiral-bound catalogue published by the Scottish Music Information Centre: This booklet had a wealth of interesting information about works that I thought I would probably never hear. I seem to recall that this publication had been on sale at one of the Glasgow Promenade Concerts when they were held at the Kelvin Hall. That would be about 1975. However, I did not hear any music by Chisholm until the relatively recent Dutton Epoch recording of his masterly Symphony No.2 - unless one includes the Harris Dance which was released in 1997. Somehow, I missed the two or three other recordings issued between 1998 and 2004. And lastly, few people interested in British piano music can be unaware of Murray McLachlan’s superb, on-going exploration of the Complete Piano Music.

Up until this present volume, information about Chisholm was hard to come by. There were a few scattered references in the various journals, including the British Music Society Newsletters and the Composer magazine: there is an entry in Grove. Recently the excellent Website maintained by Chisholm’s daughter Morag has done much to promote his music: it is a model of its kind. But there was a lack of a standard biography and a detailed discussion of the compositions.

Erik Chisholm, Scottish Modernist 1904-1965 ‘Chasing a Restless Muse’ by John Purser is a comprehensive study of the composer and his music. It explores his contributions to the musical life of Scotland and latterly his work in the Far East and South Africa. Chisholm was much more that a composer: he was, at various times, a conductor of the Glasgow Grand Opera Society and later the Carl Rosa opera company, an organist, a concert pianist and a director of ENSA in South East Asia. His interest in modern music and its performance led him to found the Active Society for the Propagation of Contemporary Music in 1929 and the Barony Opera Society in 1936. At the end of the Second World War, Chisholm was appointed as Director of the South African College of Music at Capetown. Once again he was instrumental in promoting both new music and opera and set up the University Opera Company and the University Opera School. John Purser examines all these activities and presents a detailed discussion of many of Chisholm’s compositions alongside the biographical account his life.

The book is aimed at a serious audience: it is hardly likely to be read on the off-chance by the average music-lover. However, its appeal is far wider than to those wanting a few biographical details or some information about a particular piece of music. Chisholm’s active involvement in such a wide and diverse area of interest means that his story is central to the history of music, opera and ballet in Scotland in the years between the two World Wars. Furthermore his friendship with a wide range of musicians and composers, including the enigmatic Kaikhosru Sorabji, Béla Bartók, Paul Hindemith and William Walton, means that this book will be of interest to students of those particular composers. This is the first book written about Erik Chisholm, and I guess that it may be a long while before another major study is produced by another author. Interestingly, there is a dearth of books about Scottish composers. One looks in vain for biographies of Hamish MacCunn, John Blackwood McEwen, Alexander Mackenzie, William Wordsworth or Iain Hamilton. So, in many ways this book is the first of its kind. Someone pointed out to me that there is a fine biography of Ronald Stevenson - but he was born in Blackburn, although for some reason many people suppose him to be a Scot!

The structure of Purser’s book is a model for future studies. He writes a basically chronological text, but not quite. He intersperses the biographic flow with chapters on various important aspects of Chisholm’s musical activities and influences and friendships. For example, he majors on the Scottish inheritance that was so important for his music. Chisholm was beholden to the folk-music of the past in his task of forging a Scottish vernacular. It is this part of his career that earned him the nickname of MacBartók. It was his largely successful attempt at fusing a modernist style with the music of national music of previous generations that gave the distinctive sound to much of his music. This is expressed most forcibly in the fine series of Piobaireachd and the Sonatine Ecossaise. Another revealing digression is the study of Chisholm’s friendship with Sorabji and his music. A major essay on the Active Society of the Propagation of Contemporary Music is an important contribution to Scottish musical history in general. Later chapters explore the influence of Hindustani music, and the writing of Chisholm’s only book, The Operas of Leos Janacek. 

The apparatus of the book is of supreme interest. I am pleased that John Purser has opted for endnotes rather than footnotes. Two important appendixes present information about the Active Society and the Scottish sources of Chisholm’s Piano works. The first appendix is fascinating: it details the concerts and the office bearers of the Active Music Society between the years 1930 and 1937. The lists of works performed include pieces by Alfredo Casella, Ian Whyte, Arnold Bax and Cyril Scott. The book concludes with the usual offices of Select Bibliography, Discography, Selected Compositions and a comprehensive Index.

I guess that I was a little disappointed that there was not a complete ‘works list’ in this rather expensive book. To be fair, John Purser has provided some mitigation for this less than ideal state of affairs. He explains that Michael Tuffin is currently preparing a full catalogue of Chisholm’s music: this is due to be published in the near future. Furthermore he argues that the Erik Chisholm web pages link to the Scottish Music Information Centre’s Catalogue which is reasonably complete. However if the reader looks at the latest edition of Lewis Foreman’s biography of Arnold Bax, they will find a complete list of works, in spite of the fact that Graham Parlett has produced a fine and indispensable catalogue.

I think that the compromise would have been a complete listing of all the works and their many subdivisions, along with the date of composition, publisher and perhaps the date of the first performance. All other details such as reviews and bibliographical references could have been left to the forth coming volume. I was also a bit disappointed that the discography did not give the dates of the recording and in a few cases the performers are not noted.

These two criticisms apart, this is a superb publication. It is a massive investigation into the life and music of one of Scotland’s great, but massively underrated composers. It will provide the biographical and musical reference material for all interested parties for years to come. I wish that I had this book available when I was writing my reviews of the first five CDs of the Complete Piano Music. This is a book that can be read cover to cover, or can be used as a source book. Once the catalogue is available it will make a hugely valuable resource for Chisholm’s life and works in particular and Scottish music in general.

This is a book that looks good and certainly feels good. The text is printed on high quality paper in a font that is clear and easy to read. The book is well illustrated, with a large number of musical examples, a fine collection of line drawings and a good selection of black and white and colour photographs. The style of the writing is readable without in any sense failing to uphold the highest of scholarly standards. It is an expensive book, retailing at £50 which is more likely to be purchased by libraries and institutions rather than a mass of individuals. However, for scholars and writers who are interested in this composer or the period of his activity, it is an essential purchase.

If I had not received this book as a review copy I would most certainly have been saving up to buy one.

Erik Chisholm, Scottish Modernist 1904-1965 ‘Chasing a Restless Muse’ by John Purser The Boydell Press, hardback, 283 pages ISBN 978-1-84383-460-1 £50:00

With thanks to MusicWeb International

Bluebell Klean: Concerto in E minor for Pianoforte and Orchestra

I recently wrote a post about this composer. Basically I collected all the bits and pieces that I could find and which others had given me the references for. There is not much. Even a search of the contemporary Census records has borne no fruit. It seems likely that Bluebell Klean is a pseudonym of some sort, although I do understand the surname Klean is of Jewish origin, and there were a number of people called this reported in the 1891 and 1901 census – but not Bluebell. I have enquired at the Royal College of Music: she did not attend there nor, it seems at the Royal Academy of Music.
It is always difficult to discuss music that one has not heard. With this Piano Concerto it is highly unlikely to be heard – unless the score and the parts were to turn up. Yet it is a good example of how a major piece can be composed, performed and then largely forgotten. The cynic would suggest that it was because she was a women, however I could name at least half a dozen other Piano Concertos from that period that have also been lost to the world. It seems to be a common problem.
The first and most likely the last performance of Bluebell Klean’s Piano Concerto was given at Bournemouth on December 13 1917. The composer was the soloist and the orchestra was conducted by Sir Dan Godfrey. Other works in this concert included Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony in A minor The Scotch Op.56 and Frederic Corder’s Prospero Overture and Charpentier’s Impression d’Italie. The Musical Times records that “this work was ‘very capably played by the composer and proved to be a work of merit’.

We are fortunate in having the programme note for this work, and I make no apology for reproducing it below – with a few minor edits.

Analytical Programme Note by F Gilbert-Webb

“The composer of this work is British born, and has received her musical training entirely in England. The most noteworthy of her compositions are a Quintet in C minor, for pianoforte and strings, which has been performed twice at the Wigmore Hall, London, and a Piano Trio in F. Miss Klean has also written many songs, the best known of which are The Water Sprite and A Fancy of Fontenelle. She has twice had the honour of playing before Queen Mary.
The concerto is constructed on classical line. It begins with an orchestral tutti which starts the delivery of the principal subject, Allegro ma non troppo. It is of emphatic character, in E minor, and is followed by what is technically known as a bridge passage leading to the second chief subject in G major. The bridge passage should be observed as much use is made of it in varied forms as the work proceeds.
If the first theme is taken as expressive of the masculine element of the music, the second theme is amiably feminine. The pianoforte enters with a short cadenza built upon the first subject. When the orchestra re-enters it is with the same subject which is dealt with simultaneously by the solo instrument. In due course the pianoforte takes up the second theme and when it is repeated by the orchestra it is ornamented by the solo instrument. After the return of the first subject in a tutti in C, the pianoforte indulges in an important cadenza. These portions form the development section, in which is contained the recapitulation of the thematic material. In this the second subject returns in E major and proves its feminine character by dominating the situation. The conclusion is approached by a long pedal passage on F sharp, which leads to an exuberant finale.
The second movement is an Andante in E major in three-four measure. It opens with an introduction of twelve bars leading to the announcement by the orchestra of the principal melody, the significance of which is increased by a syncopated accompaniment. The pianoforte repeats the theme slightly varied. Presently the solo instrument introduces two phrases from the principal subject of the first movement. These are repeated by the orchestra on its re-entrance. A climax is worked up and proves the herald of the second subject in C sharp minor. The pianoforte repeats it with varied treatment. Later on the first melody returns in E major on the flutes and violins. Another big climax is built up, but the movement ends quietly with passages based on the principal melody.
The finale is in Rondo form. It is in E major and begins with a short introduction based on the first tow notes of the Rondo subject. The pianoforte announces this theme which gains in vivacity by being written in the rhythm of the Polka and by the manner it is supported by the orchestra. The second subject is in C major, is of a light character, and is ingeniously approached by the orchestra, which announces it. Some frisky passages on the pianoforte seem to express satisfaction with the second subject while being delivered by the orchestra. Subsequently the principal themes are heard in combination. A climax having been achieved there ensues an episode in B flat. This is founded on a singing melody given out by the pianoforte. When repeated by the orchestra the solo instrument indulges in some chattering remarks in counterpoint. In due course the Rondo theme returns slightly varied for full orchestra. The melody of the Episode comes back, but now in E major and in augmented form. The pianoforte has some airy passages, and a big climax is worked up in Eb upon the episode from which, by an ingenious modulation, the conclusion is approached, the concerto ending brilliantly in E major.”