Frank Tapp: Beachy Head Overture

There is a lot of history about Beachy Head. This wonderful landmark is situated near to the holiday resort of Eastbourne in Sussex. The cliffs have the honour of being the highest chalk cliffs in the country. I do not believe that Frank Tapp’s music has anything to do with military matters; however the Battle of Portland in 1653 during the Anglo-Dutch War was fought off this point. During the Second World War there were a number of installations on cliffs that survived into the Cold War era.  On the other hand, what I think that Tapp is suggesting is the mood of the holiday maker to either enjoy the view or to the coastal hamlet of Birling Gap with its steps down to the sea. The romantic theme may be indicative of lovers having afternoon tea before returning to the lights of London or Eastbourne.

Beachy Head Overture opens with a moody horn call followed by soft strings that has an almost Delius-like effect. This is dawn looking out across the English Channel –just before the visitors arrive by train from The Smoke. However the music soon moves into a more typical ‘light music’ style with rushing strings, perhaps suggesting the surging of the sea. However the second theme of this overture is a romantic song worthy of the likes of Henry Mancini and Frank Chacksfield. The basic ternary form of this overture is satisfied by the return of the fast music. I guess that the visitors are leaving with happy memories and Beach Head is left in peace.

Once again this piece of music suggests that Frank Tapp (1883-1953) is a composer worthy of investigation.  Alas he has not made it to an entry in the revised edition of the British Music Society’s revised edition of British Composer Profiles.  Tapp did produce a Symphonyand a deal of other music including a once popular set of variations on the tune ‘Pop goes the Weasel.’  With Rob Barnett’s permission I published a brief account of Tapp’s life and works on my blog.  The Beachy Head overture can be heard on Guild Light Music GLCD5107. Although there is nothing wrong with this 1940’s Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra recording, there is surely a case to be made for a modern version, along with some of Tapp’s other music. 

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Frank Tapp Overture: Metropolis

I recently posted about Frank Tapp’s second prize-winning work in the Daily Telegraph ‘overture writing competition.’ I found the programme notes that were included in the BBC Promenade Concert where the work was given its first performance. The work is not available on CD (or record) but one lives in hope. Certainly it ‘sounds’ as it may be an interesting work, bearing in mind that contemporary critical commentary suggested that Tapp’s music tended to sound like Elgar. Perhaps we have another Cockaigne Overture on our hands? And there is a little more on Tapp still to come!

‘Metropolis’ is obviously inspired by the life of such a city as London and the opening, with its hint of St Martin’s bell, suggests early morning and the city’s awakening. After the first introduction, four horns with a declamatory entry foreshadow the main theme, and after working up to ‘forte’ and again dropping to pianissimo, the music grows in strength and speed to reach the main theme itself, allegro moderato. The upper strings have it first, a clear-cut, decisive theme in which the hearer will notice a characteristic drop of a fourth. Full of vitality, the movement carries on without a break in the same rhythm, until an espressivo episode is reached, quieter and more thoughtful. It leads to the second subject, begun meno mosso by the oboe; a quite definite second section of this subject follows, rising to a moderate climax, and then, in allegro the working out begins with the first subject, passing through various keys. The movement broadens; first and second subjects are heard in combination, and there is a quiet moment when the first and then the second are heard in 3-2 rhythm. A short section like a recitative, still on the two main subjects, leads gradually to a stretto, with the thematic material still the basis of the music; that works up to a big climax and a restatement of the second subject, varied in its presentation. A loud chord on the full orchestra begins a coda, in which both subjects are used contrapuntally, and with a reminder of the bell effect from the opening, the overture closes as though a carillon gathered up all the impression which the music has set forth. D.M.C.

BBC Promenade Concerts (with minor edits)

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Frank Tapp: Symphony No. 1 in E ‘The Tempest’

It is always hard luck when one comes across a review of a work that one has not heard and probably has little chance of hearing. However, it is worth while posting this review from The Times newspaper for Frank Tapp’s Symphony No.1 in E ‘The Tempest’. The work was completed in 1913 and was duly given its first performance at a Bath Pump Room Concerts with the Pump Room Orchestra conducted by the composer. It is a work that one has to hoe will reappear at some stage, although I know that it was not published, so it is really serendipity as to whether the manuscript will reappear.

"The production of Mr. Frank Tapp’s Symphony in E major, ‘The Tempest’ drew a large audience last week at the Pump Room, Bath.

The work is laid out on a large scale, the actual playing time being at least 70 minutes. There are the usual four movements. The first opens with a theme that might be described as the Prospero motif; and this theme plays an important part, not only in the first movement but throughout the work, just as in Shakespeare’s play Prospero is the dominating force. The slow movement depicts the love scene between Ferdinand and Miranda. In the Scherzo Ariel does his ‘spriting gently’, and Caliban is introduced in a sinister manner towards the end of the movement. The finale is a portrayal of Prospero, Ferdinand, and Miranda, and, like the first movement, is in sonata form; the coda of the finale is, however, of unusual proportions, and partakes of the nature of a new movement in the form of a dance, in which is welded together the thematic material of the whole work.

The Symphony, quite apart from its programme, is attractive; and although the development sections and codas of the first and last movements seemed unduly prolonged, yet the work never became wearisome, and much of it improved on a second hearing. There is a wealth of orchestral device, effective modulation, and harmonisation. Mr. Tapp is very happy in his endings, the final touch of the first movement being especially noteworthy; and there is much charming writing in the Scherzo.

The work was well received, and at a second performance in the evening of the same day the audience, though smaller, was much more appreciative."

‘From a Correspondent’ The Times Dec. 2 1913 [with minor edits]

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Frank Tapp: A Forgotten British Composer

I recently came across the composer & conductor Frank Tapp whilst reviewing the The Pump Room Orchestra Bath: Three Centuries of Music and Social History by Robert Hyman and Nicola Hyman. I noted there that I would welcome any more information about this gentleman. Rob Barnett has written a brief resume of the composer and, with his permission I publish it here. With thanks to MusicWeb International.

Frank H. (or W.) Tapp was born in Bath in 1883. He is now an almost totally forgotten figure in British music though his work was frequently played in its day. Initially a pupil of Sir Percy Buck he gained a composition scholarship at the RCM. His eight years at the College saw him studying composition with Stanford, Sir Frederick Bridge and Sir Charles Wood. His piano tutor was John St Oswald Dykes. He studied organ with Sewell.

While at the College he played his Rhapsody for two pianos with Edward Dannreuther. A visit to the RCM by Glazunov had Tapp playing the celesta when the composer conducted the Raymonda Suite. As might be expected from this background his music was reportedly romantic in style with a "zest for style and architecture with clear texture … he has not yet been touched by the 'isms' of the atonal group. Clear headed thinking and direct expression are the visible aims in his long list of large and small-scale compositions."

He married Kathleen Mary Vaughan. He was awarded a Scholarship for Composition at RCM and Sullivan Prize. Appointed to conduct Bath municipal orchestra in 1910 he directed the Pump Room concerts with an orchestra of 24 players on occasions augmented to forty. He followed the example of both Godfrey and Bantock in encouraging composers to conduct their own compositions there. Tapp gave Schoenberg's Five Orchestral Pieces in Bath. He also conducted the first West of England performance of Enigma Variations. He gained a reputation in Bath as "too much the autocrat" and left the orchestra in 1914.

As a student in 1904 he played his Rhapsody for two pianos with Dr. Harold Rhodes. He also composed a Prelude and Fugue for organ (publ. Houghton) which was broadcast by Dr Rhodes from Coventry Cathedral. His String Trio was performed by the Walenn Trio in 1909. His compositions include three symphonies of which one (in E) was based on Shakespeare's Tempest. This is in four movements and was his first large scale work. This was conducted by Tapp, initially at Bath and then at Bournemouth on 17 December 1914.

Fond of variations he wrote Symphonic Variations (on Tom Bowling) for piano and orchestra and appeared as soloist in this work in Bournemouth on 4 November 1909. The work had been premiered at a Patron's Fund Concert in June 1905. There was also a Rhapsody for piano and orchestra on Tipperary. After its premiere this work was described as "ingenious and most deftly transformed." The soloist was Marie Novello who later toured the work throughout the U.K. Later the composer took over the solo part of this work which eventually 'clocked up' over 400 performances.

His predilection for variations took its most extreme shape around the banal tune "Pop Goes the Weasel". He wrote three large-scale works for piano and orchestra written around this tune. The first dates from 1915 and was produced at Bath. The second was written in 1930 and broadcast by the BBC conducted by Aylmer Buesst. The score for this work together with five others was stolen from a car outside the GSM. Buesst ended up having to conduct the score from a fiddle part and Tapp played the piano solo from memory. In a kind gesture the BBC had a new score made from the orchestral parts. A third edition of variations on this tune was written in 1935 and in 1936 still awaited its premiere. All three works are apparently "serious in their purport … exhibitions of ripe musicianship."

There are also various orchestral overtures. Metropolis was the work by which Tapp's name came to national prominence. It won second prize in the 1934 Daily Telegraph concert overture competition and was premiered at the Proms that year. The overture is reported to be an abstract picture of London. The only specific pictorial reference is a bell in F sharp the idea for which came to the composer while he was in the neighbourhood of St Martin's. Apparently the overture is not a light jeu d'esprit but depicts a 'serious London.' It would be interesting to match this with the Elgar, Coates, Ireland and RVW works associated with the City. Other overtures include Highgate Hill (broadcast by Reginald King), Village Revels, and Island Festival. The overture Beachy Head features parts for three saxophones and is timed at between 5'30" and 7'. It was premiered by the BBCSO conducted by Anthony Collins on 23 December 1938.

Tapp came to Bournemouth during the Easter Festival of 1923 to conduct his Suite de Ballet, a work produced for a Patron's Fund concert earlier the same year.

The lighter orchestral suites include English Landmarks which has three movements each playing for about 3': a waltz Ascot, Tintern Abbey and the march Whitehall. Published by Peter Maurice & Co., this work was broadcast eighteen times. In the same genre, and similarly popular 'on air', there are the suites Knick-Knacks and Land of Fancy. The latter has movements: A Swing Song at Morn (3'15"); Sprite's Lullaby (3'0") and The Pixies' Parade (5'30").

Smaller pieces include A Wayside Melody (publ Peter Maurice & Co.), Woodland Echoes (8' with a part for saxophone), Entr'Acte Woodland Scenes (Bosworth) and Evening Glory (Maurice again). Naturally these pieces also existed in solo piano arrangements.

The Waltz Idyll (à la Viennoise) for piano solo dates from 1938. Colin Scott-Sutherland describes Valse Idyll as "a superb piece that outdoes Godowsky's Alt Wien". There are also the songs The Green Lawns of England (Chappell) and Highgate Hill (Peter Maurice) both popular on air. In 1936 he set the words of L. Wane Daley in three serious songs: Moods, Birthright and Field Folk.

In addition there are string works and chamber music amongst which there is a Violin Sonata (1931) and a Wind Quintet for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn both works sharing "the same serious driving force."

Tapp must have been a formidable pianist. He was the soloist with the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra in Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 in December 1916. In any event he listed his recreations as drawing, walking and cinema. In 1935 he lived at 129 Leeside Crescent, Golders Green.

Rob Barnett c.1997

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