Charles Williams: Seaford Head.

Charles Williams has written a delightful miniature tone-poem describing one of the most romantic places in the South of England. Seaford Head is located between Brighton and Eastbourne. From the Head there is a great view of the South Downs, the famous Seven Sisters and unsurpassed vistas of the English Channel. Tennyson stayed here and revised his ‘Ode to Wellington’. The house has gone, but the garden is (I believe) still there, with cedar trees that the poet would have known. Smugglers were rife about here many years ago and the nearby Seaford College was built on the site of the old Corsica Hall, which belonged to a smuggler. 

The musical image opens with a nautical flourish supported by a musical representation of waves gently washing onto the beach. There is a big tune introduced which is quickly built up into a climax, before dying down. The woodwind takes over and slowly brings this piece to an end.

The raison d’être of this piece was not as concert piece: it was designed to be used as an accompaniment to a documentary film. It was a library piece probably filed under ‘seascapes’ which would be used by film directors to underscore their scenes. It is just a pity that this beautiful music was not developed beyond the 1 minute 47 second duration. Yet there is enough to convince me that Charles Williams had captured the mood and view of this most exciting part of the South Coast. It is easy to imagine yachts or even a cross-channel ferry heading out mid-channel as the visitor stares out to sea. Perhaps he has his arm wrapped round a girl’s waist? There is all the romance of the sea wrapped up in these few precious bars.

Seaford Head is available on Guild The Golden Age of Light Music GLCD5107 played by the Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra conducted by the composer. The recording was made in 1942 and was catalogued as Chappell Music Library No. C189.

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Charles Williams: Tone Poem –‘Lizard Point’

It is many years since I sat above Lizard Point looking far out to sea. After enjoying the view, of the cliffs, the rocky islets, the lighthouse and the Lifeboat Station, I made my way back to a hostelry in Helston where I enjoyed a pint or two if St Austell Brewery’s best bitter. According to Wikipedia, with the exception of some parts of the Scilly Isles this is the southernmost part of England.  Historians will know that Marconi carried out some of his wireless experiments at this location. Nearby is the beautiful beach at Kynance Cove with the attractive Mullion Cove a few miles further along the coast.  I do not recall when I heard about Charles Williams’ miniature tone-poem describing musically this particular landscape; however it is title that I seem to have known of for years. It was not until 2005 that a recording of this work appeared on CD.

A reviewer has alluded to Arnold Bax’s glorious tone-poem Tintagel in connection with Williams’ Lizard Point, and I believe that this is a good comparison. Whilst not being as complex as Bax’s work it is still a fine achievement that paints an effective musical picture of one of England’s great topographical landmarks. However, the big difference between the two pieces is in the dramatic sense. Bax has created a physical and emotional storm scene which is barely resolved, whereas Charles Williams has fashioned a picture of a fine summer’s day with hardly a care in the world.

Lizard Point opens with an almost Delius-like tune, but soon resolves into a ‘lighter’ style with a sweeping, romantic melody. There is a slightly more urgent middle section, before the ‘big’ tune re-establishes itself.  It is a well-balanced, finely scored work. Unfortunately it is too short in duration to develop the mood of the moment:  it was most likely designed to fit onto a single side of a 78rpm record.

The exact date of composition of Lizard Pointis not known however, the date of the recording was 1954. The original catalogue number was Chappell C445.  The ‘A’ side was a Golden Trumpets by Roger Barsotti.

Charles Williams’ Lizard Point is available on The Golden Age of Light Music: Reflections of Tranquillity, GLCD5112. It is performed by the Danish State Radio Orchestra conducted by Robert Farnon. The record label states that is by the Melodi Light Orchestra conducted by Ole Jensen. 

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Charles Williams: Rhythm on Rails.

Charles Williams contributed a number of works celebrating railways. I think of the score to the film Night Train to Munich (1940), the miniature orchestral piece Model Railway and the present Rhythm on Rails.  However, any listener imagining that this present piece has its genesis in a consideration of the Royal Scot speeding between London Euston and Glasgow Central, the Cornish Riviera travelling between Paddington and Penzance or the Talisman connecting Edinburgh with London Kings Cross, will be mistaken. This railway is ‘all-American’. My minds eye sees a heavy goods train crossing the Rockies rather than an express passenger train on British Rail.  It is Casey Jones that has his hand on the regulator.

The musical picture opens gently with steam locomotive sounds which more or less keep up for the duration. There is a little scrurrying tune that features as one of the ‘counter-melodies of the piece. Eventually this builds up to a bold theme delivered on the brass instruments. This has an intimation of a steam whistle. However there is another theme introduced which is a sweeping, romantic tune that acts as a foil to the ‘rhythm of the rails.’ Towards the half-way point the composer introduces a hard, bluesy whistle sound into the musical texture. This is a sinister wailing noise and suggests that the train is insisting everything gets out of its road. The music quickly moves to the coda and ends with a ‘sforzando’ chord, but not before the whistle is heard again – this time it is a little shunter and not a giant freight locomotive.

The work was composed circa 1956 and was likely to have been a contribution to the massive Chappell library of ‘mood music.’

There have been many recordings made of this piece over the year, including some by the composer. However the Hyperion British Light Music Classics., Volume 4, CDA67400 is possibly the best of the currently available versions.

It is often stated that Rhythm on Rails was used as the theme music to Morning Musicon the BBC Home Service. However, although this tune was often heard, it was not actually the theme tune. 

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Charles Williams: ‘Marianne’

Charles Williams (1893-1978) wrote a huge corpus of music for the concert platform and for the film industry. However, most of the latter is un-credited.  He is best known for the romantic tune The Dream of Olwen which was used in the 1948 film While I Live.  Equally successful was the Devil’s Galop which was the theme music to the successful radio show Dick Barton, Special Agent.  Other well-known tunes are the theme music to the long-running BBC Light Programme “Friday Night is Music Night”. For many years he was the conductor of the Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra.

Marianne is a delicious little concert valse written in an easy going, but typically romantic style.  

After a sad  introduction which is followed immediately by a wistful tune for woodwind supported by strings, the main waltz tune sweeps into the picture. However the opening clarinet theme never quite leaves the scene and we are left with the distinct impression that Marianne is at one and the same time a ‘tom boy’ and a ‘deb.’  Like so much light music the listener is impressed by the formal integrity of this short work, the balance of the themes and the surprisingly subtle orchestration.

It is difficult to date the work; there is no record on COPAC. However the recording of this piece preserved on Guild’s Golden Age of Light Music was made in 1943. This was likely mood music that may have been composed in the nineteen thirties. Certainly Marianne has all the flair of thirties fashion.

‘Marianne’ can be heard on Guild Light Music GLCD 5107

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