British Classical Music: The Land of Lost Content: John Fox ...

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Friday, October 25, 2013

Romantic Piano Trios - One British, One Australian, One French and One Swedish

Posted on 10:29 AM by humpty
William HURLSTONE(1876-1906) Piano Trio in G major (1905) 
Miriam HYDE (1913-2005) Fantasy Trio (1933) 
Max D’OLLONE (1875-1959) Trio for Piano, violin and cello in A minor (1920) 
Dag WIREN (1905-1986) Piano Trio No. 1  Op.6  (1932)
Trio Anima Mundi Rochelle Ughetti (violin) Miranda Brockman (cello) Kenji Fujimura (piano)
Divine Art dda25102
This CD explores four pieces of music by a diverse group of composers, none of whom are particularly well-known. The quality of their music is impressive and deserves to be in the repertoire. I will stick my neck out and suggest that Max D’Ollone’s Trio in A minor is one of the best works in this genre that I have heard: it is my chamber music discovery of the year-so far.

MusicWeb International has provided an excellent biography of William Hurlstone, which is tailored to an understanding of the present work.  However three brief points can be made here to provide context for this review. Firstly, there is anecdotal evidence to suggest that Charles Villiers Stanford regarded him as his ‘best pupil.’ Secondly, Hurlstone was both composer and pianist – he performed in his own Piano Concerto. And lastly, he was happiest when composing chamber works of which there are many: most remain unrecorded and un-played in our time.
There is an openness and optimism about this Trio in G major for piano and strings.  This work was seemingly written around 1904/5 and was published posthumously. The Trio has been declared by the composer Richard Walthew as being ‘happy and genial throughout’ and displays considerable craft and workmanship.
From the very first bars of the opening ‘allegro moderato’ this work reveals its ‘untroubled mood of optimism.’ The principle themes are ‘Schubertian’ in their lyrical structure and rarely lead to a display of great tension or contrast.   The ‘andante cantabile’ has been described as exhibiting John Milton’s ‘linked sweetness long drawn out.’ It is a truly expressive movement that soothes away any troubles and cares. The scherzo, ‘molto vivace’ is a breezy piece, at least in the ‘minuet’ sections. The ‘trio’ is hardly more serious, with its temporary mood of repose rather than serious change of mood.  The finale, ‘allegro comodo’ makes use of a Scottish (not Scotch, which is a drink!) air. Hurlstone uses this tune thoughtfully and does not make it into an exhibition of ‘tartanry.’
The Trio in G major is one of those works that is hard to describe in terms of other composers. There is nothing modern or even post-romantic about this music. The composer is in a direct line from Schubert with nods to Brahms and Dvorak along the way: it is none the worse for that.  This Trio is one of the finest and most enjoyable examples of the genre.

I have not come across the Australian composer Miriam Hyde. Currently, she is only represented by three compositions in the Arkiv Catalogue. Hyde was born in Adelaide on 15 January 1913. After gaining her Batchelor of Music degree she journeyed to London where she studied with Arthur Benjamin and Gordon Jacob at the Royal College of Music. She was also an accomplished pianist and around this time gave performances of her own Piano Concerto. Most of her life was spent teaching, composing, performing music and writing poetry.  Miriam Hyde died in 2005.
The Fantasy Trio was composed in London during 1933 and may have been influenced by the unique genre created by the demands of the Cobbett Prize.  Interestingly, Hyde took second prize in this competition in 1934 with her ‘Phantasy’ for string quartet.
Her one movement Trio is a well-structured work that explores a number of moods. Of particular interest is the considerable tension between the choppy opening theme and serene middle section.  Critics appear to have struggled a little in defining her style. The liner notes allude to Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff: her music is described elsewhere as being impressionistic, romantic and pastoral.  Nevertheless, I believe that the romantic ‘note’ is the most appropriate. This attractive Fantasy Trio is the ideal companion piece to Hurlstone’s offering.

Neither have I come across the composer Max d’Ollone. I am beholden to the liner notes for information about both man and music.  However, these notes do not state that d’Ollone was a French composer born in Besançon in the Franche-Compté region of France. He died in Paris in 1959. After a precocious start to his career, he entered the Paris Conservatoire aged 6 – he was encouraged by many of France’s senior composers including Gounod, Massenet and Delibes.  He held a number of important positions including conductor and director of the concerts Populaires d’Angers, director of the Ministère des Beaux Artes, and director of the Opéra-Comique. Academic positions included professor of music at the Paris Conservatoire and director of the American Conservatoire at Fontainebleau.
Max d’Ollone’s portfolio of compositions is largely dedicated to the theatre, the opera house and the ballet.  Beside the operas there are a number of scores for orchestral, chamber and instrumental forces.
The present Trio in A minor was composed in 1920. This is a hugely romantic work that is full of beautiful post-Wagnerian melodies and harmonies. The formal structure of the work appears to be a subtle balance between ‘traditional forms’ and the use of a cyclical motive. The tunes pour out in great profusion and with huge vitality. The Trio is written in four movements.

Dag Wiren, born in Striberg near Stockholm in 1905, is hardly known outwith his native Sweden. Certainly in the United Kingdom, he is basically a ‘one hit wonder’ to use that dreadful Classic FM concept. I guess that everyone has heard the ‘Marcia’ from his Serenade for Strings which was used in the BBC programme Monitor.  Yet, he has written a wide range of music including five symphonies, concertos for violin, piano and cello and a wide range of chamber music.
The present Trio is a work that I would not have claimed as a ‘romantic’ work. On the other hand, it is not ‘modernist’ or dependent on serialism. It was composed in Paris at a time when the composer had come under the influence of Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev and some members of ‘Les Six’.  The Trio is concise, full of rhythmic energy, contrasting with introverted, dark contrapuntal explorations and neo-baroque constructions. The work’s acerbity is epitomised by the extremely short, concise ‘fughetta’ which makes up the ‘scherzo’.

I have not heard the Trio Anima Mundi before reviewing this CD.  They are based in Melbourne, Australia and have been making significant contributions to chamber music in that city since 2008.  They have a considerable repertoire, often playing the works of the established masters as well as exploring lesser-known music.  The three soloists Kenji Fujimura, Miranda Brockman and Rochelle Ughetti are all established players in their own right.  For the curious ‘Anima Mundi’ translates from the Latin as the modest title ‘Soul of the World!’ As I understand it, this is their first CD.
The presentation of this disc is ideal. The sound quality is excellent. I enjoyed the committed playing and consider that the Trio Anima Mundi truly responds to this ‘romantic’ music: they are in their element. The liner notes, which are written by Kenji Fujimura, are informative and give sufficient information about the composers and the music. 
It is a little unusual for there to be two CDs of such relatively short duration in what is not really a ‘double album’. However, it would not have been possible to cram all four works onto one disc. What work would have been omitted? From my point of view I would not like to have lost any of these pieces.  Could they have found another piece to ‘fill up’ the first disc?  I guess that at a price of £7.95 this really counts as one CD – that has had to be ‘stretched’ a little.

This is a fine debut CD.  I think that they have been extremely courageous in issuing this disc of ‘discoveries.’ It would have been so easy to have recorded a couple of ‘pot-boilers’ to ensure sales. As it is, TAM deserves support from all enthusiasts of Commonwealth composers and chamber music specialists. 
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to Facebook
Posted in | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • Ernest Tomlinson: Little Serenade
    Ernest Tomlinson (b.1924) is one of the most prolific of all light music composers. He has been compositionally active since before the Seco...
  • York Bowen: Symphony No.2 in E minor, Op.31
    Until a few years ago York Bowen would have been a name known to precious few listeners, even those committed to British music. A number of ...
  • Frank Bridge & Cyril Scott Piano Quintets on BMS Label
    Frank BRIDGE (1879-1941) Piano Quintet in D minor, H49a (1904-5: rev.1912)   Cyril SCOTT (1879-1970) Piano Quintet No.1 (1924) Raphael Terr...
  • The Golden Age of Light Music: Bright & Breezy on Guild
    The Golden Age of Light Music: Bright and Breezy GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5180 There are some 81 volumes of Guild’s ‘Golden Age of Light Music’...
  • Alec Rowley: ‘Down Channel’ Overture
    This is one of the works that I have been waiting for. I first heard of this piece in Philip Scowcroft’s essay on ‘ English Composer’s for A...
  • David Dubery: Songs and Chamber Works
    David DUBERY (b.1948) Songs and Chamber music Sonatina for oboe and piano (Threesome for 2 players) (1986); Three Songs to Poems by Robert G...
  • (no title)
    Arthur Benjamin (1893-1960) Violin Concerto (1931) Romantic Fantasy for Violin, Viola and Orchestra (1936) Elegy, Waltz and Toccata [Viola ...
  • Arnold Bax: review of first recording of Tintagel.
    In 1929 Eugene Goossens and the New Symphony Orchestra made the first recording of Arnold Bax’s great tone-poem Tintagel . The critic W.R. A...
  • John Rutter: Shepherd’s Pipe Carol
    My earliest introduction to the music of John Rutter was the second volume of Carols for Choirs . It was in use by Coatbridge High School ‘s...
  • Deems Taylor: Suite, Through the Looking Glass
    I know that Deems Taylor is not British, but I feel that the new release of his Suite, ‘Through the Looking Glass’ on the Naxos CD label is ...

Categories

  • Adam Pounds
  • Adam Saunders
  • Adrian Boult
  • Alan Rawsthorne
  • Alec Rowley
  • Alfred Hollins
  • Algernon Ashton
  • Alun Hoddinott
  • Angela Morley
  • Anthony Burgess
  • Antony Hopkins
  • Arnold Bax
  • Arthur Benjamin
  • Arthur Bliss
  • Arthur Butterworth
  • Arthur Somervell
  • Arthur Sullivan
  • Benjamin Britten
  • Bernard Stevens
  • Bill Worland
  • Book Reviews
  • Brian Easdale
  • British Film Music
  • British Light Music
  • C.W. Orr
  • Carlo Martelli
  • Charles Halle
  • Charles Hubert Hasting Parry
  • Charles Shadwell
  • Charles Villiers Stanford
  • Charles Williams
  • Cheltenham Festival
  • Christopher Wright
  • Claude Debussy
  • Clive Richardson
  • Concert Series
  • Cyril Cork
  • Cyril Scott
  • Cyril Watters
  • David Bedford
  • David Dubery
  • David Ellis
  • David Jennings
  • Deems Taylor
  • Don Banks
  • Donald Harris
  • E.J. Moeran
  • Edward Elgar
  • Edward German
  • Eileen Joyce
  • Elisabeth Lutyens
  • Eric Coates
  • Eric Craven
  • Eric H. Thiman
  • Erik Chisholm
  • Ernest Tomlinson
  • Ethel Smyth
  • Eugene Goossens
  • Felix Mendelssohn
  • Felix White
  • Festival of Britain
  • Francis Edward Bache
  • Frank Bridge
  • Frank Merrick
  • Frank Tapp
  • Franz Reizenstein
  • Frederic Curzon
  • Frederic Hymen Cowen
  • Frederick Delius
  • G.W.L. Marshall-Hall
  • Gareth Glyn
  • George Frederic Handel
  • George French
  • George Lloyd
  • George Macfarren
  • George Melachrino
  • Gerald Finzi
  • Gilbert and Sullivan
  • Gordon Crosse
  • Granville Bantock
  • Greville Cooke
  • Gustav Holst
  • Gustav Mahler
  • Hamilton Harty
  • Hamish MacCunn
  • Harriet Cohen
  • Harry Farjeon
  • Havergal Brian
  • Haydn Wood
  • Hector Berlioz
  • Henry Walford Davies
  • Henry Wood Promenade Concerts
  • Herbert Brewer
  • Herbert Howells
  • Herbert Sumsion
  • Herman Finck
  • Humphrey Searle
  • Ian Venables
  • Ignaz Moscheles
  • Ina Boyle
  • Irene Scharrer
  • J.S. Bach
  • James Friskin
  • Johann Baptist Cramer
  • John Addison
  • John Ansell
  • John Anthill
  • John Blackwood McEwen
  • John Carmichael
  • John Cook
  • John Fox
  • John Holliday
  • John Ireland
  • John Joubert
  • John McCabe
  • John Purser
  • John Rutter
  • Jonathan Harvey
  • Josef Holbrooke
  • Judith Bailey
  • Julius Harrison
  • Kathleen Ferrier
  • Kenneth Leighton
  • Len Stevens
  • Lennox Berkeley
  • Lionel Monckton
  • Lost Music
  • Malcolm Arnold
  • Malcolm Sargent
  • Malcolm Williamson
  • Marcus Dods
  • Matyas Seiber
  • Maurice Greene
  • Montague Phillips
  • Moura Lympany
  • Myra Hess
  • Paul Lewis
  • Percy Fletcher
  • Percy Scholes
  • Percy Whitlock
  • Peter Dickinson
  • Peter Hope
  • Peter Maxwell Davies
  • Peter Racine Fricker
  • Peter Yorke
  • Philip Lane
  • Philip Sawyers
  • Promenade Concerts
  • Ralph Greaves
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams
  • Richard Addinsell
  • Robert Farnon
  • Robert Still
  • Roberto Gerhard
  • Robin Holloway
  • Roger Quilter
  • Ronald Binge
  • Ronald Stevenson
  • Sergei Rachmaninoff
  • Spike Huges
  • Stanley Wilson
  • Theodore Holland
  • Thomas Dunhill
  • Tobias Matthay
  • Trevor Duncan
  • Vivian Ellis
  • Walter Carroll
  • William Alwyn
  • William Blezard
  • William Lloyd Webber
  • William Mathias
  • William Sterndale Bennett
  • William Walton
  • William Wolstenholme
  • York Bowen

Blog Archive

  • ►  2015 (4)
    • ►  January (4)
  • ►  2014 (123)
    • ►  December (10)
    • ►  November (10)
    • ►  October (11)
    • ►  September (10)
    • ►  August (10)
    • ►  July (11)
    • ►  June (10)
    • ►  May (10)
    • ►  April (10)
    • ►  March (10)
    • ►  February (10)
    • ►  January (11)
  • ▼  2013 (122)
    • ►  December (11)
    • ►  November (10)
    • ▼  October (10)
      • Sir Henry Wood: A Tribute by Sir Arnold Bax
      • Ernest Tomlinson: Little Serenade
      • Romantic Piano Trios - One British, One Australian...
      • Sir Henry Wood: Dame Ethel Smyth on the Conductor’...
      • Fred Olsen MV Balmoral Piano Recitals
      • Alec Rowley: ‘Down Channel’ Overture
      • Adam Pounds: String Quartet No.2 (20030 and some o...
      • Trevor Duncan: Listings of Music recorded on the G...
      • Sir Henry Wood: Orchestration of Debussy’ ‘La cath...
      • David Jennings: 'Harvest Moon' Suite for piano
    • ►  September (10)
    • ►  August (11)
    • ►  July (10)
    • ►  June (10)
    • ►  May (11)
    • ►  April (9)
    • ►  March (11)
    • ►  February (9)
    • ►  January (10)
  • ►  2012 (137)
    • ►  December (11)
    • ►  November (10)
    • ►  October (10)
    • ►  September (11)
    • ►  August (12)
    • ►  July (13)
    • ►  June (11)
    • ►  May (13)
    • ►  April (12)
    • ►  March (11)
    • ►  February (12)
    • ►  January (11)
  • ►  2011 (114)
    • ►  December (13)
    • ►  November (12)
    • ►  October (12)
    • ►  September (12)
    • ►  August (13)
    • ►  July (14)
    • ►  June (14)
    • ►  May (14)
    • ►  April (10)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

humpty
View my complete profile