British Music for Piano Duo: Holst, Bainton, Bury & Elgar

Edward Elgar (1857-1934) Serenade for Strings in E minor,  Op.20 – the composer’s own version for piano duet (1893); Frank Bury (1910-1944) Prelude and Fugue in E flat major for two pianos (c.1935/f.p. 1987); Edgar Bainton (1880-1956) Miniature Suite for piano duet (1922); Gustav Holst (1874-1934) Elegy (In Memoriam William Morris) From Symphony in F (‘The Cotswolds’ – the composer’s own version for two pianos (1899-1900); Gustav Holst The Planets – the composer’s original version for two piano (1913- )

Anthony Goldstone (piano) and Caroline Clemmow (piano)

Divine Art ddv24154 [74:29]

The main event of this new CD from Divine Art is Gustav’s Holst’s own two-piano version of his masterpiece The Planets. This work has impressed and moved me since first hearing the Scottish National Orchestra playing it more than 40 years ago. However, when I approached the two-piano version of this work I was a little wary, and a touch cynical. Still, I need not have worried. It is a valid account of this work that inspires, excites and often astounds. The highlight of Goldstone and Clemmow’s playing has to be the marvellous interpretation of ‘Jupiter’ – with its ‘loping’ march tune.  However, the intricacies of Mercury, the rhythmic drive of Mars, the romance of Venus and the more rarefied atmosphere of the distant spheres are all impressive.

Edward Elgar’s Serenade for Strings has always been one of my favourite works for the string orchestra medium.  However, I am not sure that I need a recording of a piano duet version. On the other hand, it is interesting to hear. There is a clarity about this duet that allows the harmonic and melodic progress of the music to be heard in detail. I guess that it is good to have in my collection; nonetheless, I will not turn to this version in preference to Boult or Barbirolli and the band.

I have not come across the music of Frank Bury before.  He was killed during the Normandy Landings in 1944.  Certainly, this beautiful short Prelude and Fugue demonstrates his compositional skills. The opening Prelude is a master class in the genre of English ‘pastoral’ whilst the more ambitious fugue nods to Handel in the ‘theme’. However, the exposition of the fugue is anything but baroque. Although this big, powerful work is largely ‘conservative’ in its musical language, it manages to push the boundaries towards an almost Prokofievian intensity. I understand this is the only composition of Bury’s currently available on CD. Based on this Prelude and Fugue we have to hope there will be a deeper exploration of this unknown composer. Unfortunately, this present work would appear to be the only one in print at this time: I hope someone will tell me that I am wrong on this score.

Edgar L. Bainton is a composer with whom I can do business. Whether it is one of his three symphonies or the great anthem ‘And I saw a new Heaven’, he always exhibits a craftsman like approach to his music: it typically inspires and moves the listener. As an admirer of Richard Wagner, his musical style is neo-romantic; however, this does not imply that he wrote parodies or pastiches of an earlier generation of music. The Miniature Suite for piano duet is a perfect miniature displaying a typically ‘English’ mood – with nods to Debussy and Vaughan Williams. There is nothing here of a Wagnerian disposition. My only criticism is that it is excessively short.

Holst’s ‘Elegy’ (In Memoriam William Morris) is a dark, austere work that is funereal in its progress. It is written as a processional march – with a huge climax in the middle section. If I am honest I prefer the orchestral version, however, the present two-piano version preserves the dignity of the original. It is difficult to understand from the liner notes whether this piece is performed in the Colin Matthew’s ‘modern performing edition’ or as the track listings suggest that is is played directly from Holst’s own ‘version for two pianos.’

In spite of my reservations about the Elgar ‘Serenade’, this is an important release from Divine Art. The recording is excellent: the playing of all the works is superb. The interaction between Goldstone and Clemmow is tight and always musically convincing. I do not wish to compare this present version of The Planets with that of Fiona and John York on NIMBUS Records NI5871. However, I did suggest in my review of thatCD that it was ‘an achievement that will long stand the test of time and will hardly be bettered’. Whether the present recording is ‘better’ is largely irrelevant. Certainly, as far as The Planets is concerned, it is a little shorter. However, I thoroughly enjoyed both two-piano versions of this great work.  Moreover, the Frank Bury and Edgar Bainton are attractive bonuses.

Comment received:-
Can I point out that the version played here, and the one performed by the Yorks on the Nimbus disc, are DIFFERENT WORKS……. The Yorks do not play on two pianos but as a piano duet (on one instrument) using the version revised from the orchestral piece by Nora Day and Vally Lasker, under Holst’s supervision .
The version on our disc is Holst’s original two –piano version which PRECEDED the orchestral one…. so has many differences, and so a direct comparison is rather more problematical. .
Divine Art

Thanks for that JF!

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IGNAZ MOSCHELES: A Brief Biography & Eulogy

I found this short note in a book written by Samuel Henry Morais in 1880,  Eminent Israelites of the Nineteenth Century: A Series of Biographical Sketches.  This was written a mere ten years after the composer’s death. It is not the most important contemporary notice, yet it succeeds in presenting a charming portrait of a once highly regarded composer who has largely fallen into neglect.  I have adopted him as an honorary Englishman for the purposes of this blog. Certainly the 26 years he spent in London and touring the country giving innumerable recitals and concerts deserves our attention. His name should be of vital importance to all British music lovers for his determined work to introduce the music of Beethoven to these shores.  

I append a few footnotes to this extract for interest.

The art of Music and that of writing are not necessarily twin-born. But it occasionally happens that the hand whose delicate touch evokes sweet strains can wield a graceful pen. This double acquirement adds lustre to the possessor, and éclat to his performances.

But in Ignaz Moscheles [1794-1870] three qualifications combined to render his name famous. He was admired as a player, a composer, and a scholar. True, many years were given him to reach the height he attained, but when very young he had already moved upward so rapidly, that all could predict his future greatness.

Ignaz Moscheles was born at Prague, in Bohemia, Austria, on the 30th May, 1794. As early as his eighth year he received instruction in music from F. D. Weber, [1] director of the conservatory. The boy's innate talents developed fast, and when eleven he performed on the piano with the ease and skill of a finished artist. His introduction to men of note naturally followed, and each hailed the rising genius.

While still a lad, Moscheles went to Vienna, and there formed the acquaintance of Haydn and Beethoven, who advised him to continue studying. He became the pupil of Albrechtsberger, [2] under whom he made such progress as to create amazement. He competed with Hummel [3], then reputed the first pianist in Germany.

Moscheles now undertook an extensive continental tour, his playing creating everywhere rapturous delight. In 1820 he removed to England, where he resided for twenty-six years. Here his abilities met with full recognition, his popularity' increasing to so wide an extent, that, in 1825, he was appointed Professor in the Academy of London; also Conductor of the Philharmonic Concerts, holding both stations more than two decades. It must be borne in mind that few could obtain the latter position, it being granted only to a musician of the very highest order.

Moscheles rendered incalculable service to the musical world, by inducing the English to cultivate the compositions of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and other acknowledged masters. In fact, he brought more influence to bear upon this than any who preceded or succeeded him. His thorough knowledge of the pianoforte, and capacity to show forth its wonderful applications, mainly tended to the glory he achieved. Then his rendition of Beethoven's sonatas and concertos left him without a superior, and. probably, an equal. 

In 1846 Moscheles was chosen Director of the Conservatory of Leipzig, spending there the remainder of his life. As a composer, he wrote, for the piano, violin, and other instruments, pieces which are splendid specimens of classical music, and marvels of perfection and beauty.

Moscheles' cultured mind enabled him to search into matters other than those to which he specially devoted himself. His literary work, an English translation of Schindler's Life of Beethoven to which he added valuable notes, does him honour.

The career of Ignaz Moscheles ended at Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany, on the 10th of March, 1870, Productions of sterling merit will always declare their own praise, and he must be deaf to the voice of truth who does not hear the deserved eulogy.

Morais, Samuel Henry Eminent Israelites of the Nineteenth Century: A Series of Biographical Sketches (1880) E. Stern & Co. Philadelphia USA [with minor edits]

[1] Frederick Dionys(us) Weber (1766-142) was both a respected teacher and composer. He was a founder and the first director of the Prague Conservatoire.  He wrote a number of operas and music for wind band.

[2] Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736-1809) was a Viennese composer, teacher and church organist. Amongst his many pupils was Ludwig Van Beethoven.

[3] Johan Nepomuka Hummel (1778-1837) was a Hungarian pianist and composer. He studied with Mozart. Between 1787 and 1792 he was resident in London.  His music lies at the crossroads between the Classical and the Romantic traditions. 

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The Complete Piano Music of Sir Arthur Bliss Volume 1

Sir Arthur Bliss (1891-1975)

Valses Fantastiques (1913) Toccata (1925) Intermezzo (1912) Study (1927) Piano Sonata (1952) May-Zeeh (1910) Suite for Piano (1925) Miniature Scherzo (1969)

Mark Bebbington (piano)

SOMMCD0111

A great place to begin this excellent exposition of Sir Arthur Bliss’ piano music is ‘May-Zeh’. Hardly the most profound piece on this CD, it is nevertheless a well-crafted little number that balances a nod at the prevalent ‘salon music’ of the pre-Great-War years, but retains a subtlety and technical content beyond most examples of this genre.  It is the earliest work (1910) on this CD, the composer’s first surviving work for the piano and is also a premiere recording.

Arthur Bliss is hardly well-known for his piano music. Most folk approaching his music will do so through one of the larger pieces such as the Colour Symphony, the choral work Morning Heroes or perhaps the film score to Things to Come.  However, any study of Bliss’ catalogue shows a huge variety of music written in virtually every genre – from the opera The Olympians to a Fanfare for Macclesfield and from the ballet score Miracle in the Gorbalsto the magnificent Viola Sonata, he has created works that are impressive, worthy and often touched with genius.  Yet his piano music remains a closed book. There are more than twenty work listed in addition to two piano concertos.  There is plenty to explore.

Where the quantity of recordings of Bliss’ piano music have been few and far between, the quality has been excellent. Two major releases appeared some 21 years ago on the Chandos label. Kathron Sturrock (CHAN8770) chose to couple the Viola Sonata (viola played by Emanuel Vardi) with a selection four important works: Masks, Triptych, Two Interludes and the Toccata. The same year Philip Fowke (CHAN8979) released a major selection of music including the then unrecorded Suite for Piano, the Sonata, and a number of smaller works, including premiere recordings of Das alte Jahr veergangen ist, the Study (1927) and the Miniature Scherzo.

Mark Bebbington, under the auspices of SOMM Recordings has set out to record all of Bliss’s music for piano. The present disc is the first of two volumes and includes three premiere recordings, which will be mentioned in due course.

The second work chronologically presented on this CD is the serious little Intermezzo: this inward-looking music is not like the typical examples of the genre being composed at that time. The liner notes suggest that it may have been a rejected movement from the first ‘Suite for Piano’, which was composed in 1910 and published in 1912. The Intermezzo was the composer’s second published work.

One of the important ‘discoveries’ on this CD is the Valses Fantastiques. The listener will not be surprised to learn that these ‘cool’ pieces were written some years after the publication of Maurice Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales.  Bliss’ score is prefaced by a quotation from John Keats’ ‘Fancy’ – Break the mesh /Of the Fancy’s silken leash [/Quickly break her prison-string.’]. The poet may have used symbolism to suggest that ‘Fancy’ was a bird who needed to be set free. Whatever the literary background to this poem, Bliss had created a delicious sound world that is at once attractive and moving. All four ‘Valses’ are well-written and make use of a neo-romantic sound world. They are a million miles away from some of the composer’s ‘bad-boy’ experiments that were to follow.  

Listeners are on territory that is more familiar with the three works composed during the 1920s. The Toccata is a Stravinskian extravaganza.  It was composed in 1925 after the Bliss’ return to London from his sojourn in California and is dedicated to his wife, Trudy.  It is in a completely different sound world to the foregoing pieces and owes much to Scriabin and Prokofiev as well as Stravinsky. The work is characterised by energy, drive and rhythmic complexities: there are hints of jazz and ragtime. This Toccata tests the virtuosity of the pianist to the limit: it is a wonder why this short piece is not a standard feature of piano recital encores.

The Suite for Piano (1925) is a major work. Forget any similarity between this piece and the countless ‘suites’ being written at that time by the Percy Elliots, the Eric Coates and the Alec Rowleys. [This is not to disparage these composer’s – I love ‘em all, but to note the serious intent of Bliss’ example]. It is virtually a piano sonata by another name. Four movements make up the massive structure of this piece and any of them can be performed separately. However, I do believe that they need to be heard as a group.  The Suite opens with an Overture, which hat-tips Bach at the beginning and occasionally during its progress but is then dominated by the rhythmic and dissonant mood of Stravinsky and Prokofiev.  The Polonaise is dark and menacing.  The heart of the Suite is the ‘Elegy’ that is prefaced by the dedication ‘F.K.B Thiepval 1916’, which refers to the death of his brother, Kennard, during the Great War. This is, not unsurprisingly, deeply felt music. Based largely on chords, there is a sense of timelessness about the exposition of the material in this movement. It is a subtle balance between, what Andrew Burn has noted, solemn and wistful music. This is one of the most moving pieces of music to come from Bliss’ pen.  The mood of optimism is restored with the impressive set of six ‘Variations’ which concludes the Suite.  Dissonance, aggression, movement and complexity are tied down to the prevailing sound world of the mid nineteen-twenties. However, there is a short return to sadder matters in the fifth ‘pastoral’ variation, before the work concludes in mayhem of harsh chords, wild syncopations and energetic cross rhythms. It is an important and very successful work.

The Study, which dates from 1927, was dedicated to the great English music critic Edwin Evans.  I agree with Robert Matthew-Walker when he contemplates what Evans would have thought about this piece with ‘its rhythmic uncertainties, its technical demands of diminished ninths and tenths and the juxtapositions of adjacent tonalities.’  Yet listening to this piece today one can enjoy the elusive balance between modernism and a certain romantic tinge.  

The Piano Sonata is another massive, complex work. It was composed in 1952 when the composer had reached his 62 birthday: it was a ‘thank-you’ present for Noel Mewton-Wood who had championed Bliss’ Piano Concerto.

It is fundamentally a serious piece that has a number of lighter moments. The emotional content of the piece is varied, but does tend to be profound.  Stylistically there is an excellent balance between advanced tonality and chromatic complexities and dissonant harmonies with some more relaxing chords. It has been suggested that the work is close in mood to Sergei Prokofiev’s Sixth Piano Sonata, which was composed in 1940.

The Sonata is conceived in three largely equal movements. The opening ‘Moderato marcato’ is fresh and forceful with occasional relief given by a lovely ‘cantabile’ melody. The slow movement is ‘slow and serene’ and once again epitomises Bliss’s ‘elegiac’ strain of writing. This profound music explores a narrow range of reflective moods. Bliss has characterised the third movement as being ‘gay and lively’. However, the coda is more aggressive and ends with a ‘fiery burst of sound.’

My liking of this work is largely predicated on the fact that the entire Sonata is a mature work that manages to balance modernity with a romantic and heroic mood that produces a unified and satisfying Sonata.

The latest work on this CD is the Miniature Scherzo dating from 1969.  It was composed to celebrate the 125^th anniversary of The Musical Times. This very short work is based on a theme cribbed from Mendelssohn’s well-known Violin Concerto, which had been composed in the same year as the journal was first published.  The Miniature Scherzo is a terse little work that keeps the ‘quote’ closely guarded, however it is enjoyable and straight to the point.

The recording of this piano music is excellent, as is expected from SOMM. Robert Matthew-Walker has provided exceptional introductory ‘programme notes’ that situate these works into the composer’s career and give the listener all the information needed to enjoy these works.

The first volume of Mark Bebbington’s recording of Arthur Bliss’s piano music will be essential listening for all enthusiasts of the composer’s music. However, Bliss was not a parochial composer: he was popular in the United States where he made his home for a number of years. His music is often cosmopolitan and makes use of wide variety of modernist techniques as well as alluding to jazz and popular styles.  Therefore, the fan-base will be much wider than enthusiasts of British music.

It is not a case of deciding which recording is best – where Bebbington reprises repertoire from twenty-odd years ago. Both Sturrock and Fowke are essential listening. However Mark Bebbington brings his considerable experience of British music to bear on the entire repertoire recorded. One need only think of his stunning cycles of music by John Ireland, Frank Bridge and the Dale and Hurlstone Piano Sonatas. His playing is always concentrated, sympathetic and clear.

It is probably a wee bit of a cliché to say that I look forward to the next volume: however it would be true.

John France May 2012

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Ignaz Moscheles’ Train Trip to Liverpool

Moscheles (1794-1870) is a composer I have adopted as being of interest to British Music enthusiasts. Although he was born in Prague and subsequently died in Leipzig he spent much time in the United Kingdom. Many of his works were performed here and he was friends with all the key players in English music. His description of a train journey is of great interest. 

In February 1831 Ignaz Moscheles, on a professional tour in the north of England, speaks of his first railway journey.

"On the 18th I went by rail from Manchester to Liverpool; [1] the fare was five shillings. At 1.30 I mounted one of the omnibuses, which carried all passengers gratis to the great building called the 'station’. [2] Eight to ten carriages, each about as long as an omnibus, are joined closely to one another ; each carriage contains twelve places with seats like comfortable arm-chairs ; at a given signal every traveller takes his place, which is marked with the number of his ticket, and the railway guards lock the carriages. Then, and not before, the engine is attached to the foremost carriage; the motion, although one seems to fly, is hardly perceptible, and the traveller is amazed when he looks out of the window and observes at what incredible speed the train approaches the distant object and suddenly whirls by it. Words cannot describe the impression made on me by this steam excursion on the first railway made in England, and the transports I felt with an invention that seemed to me little short of magic. The famous engineer, Sir John Stephenson [3], has realized his project amid untold struggles and difficulties."

[1] The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was opened on 15 September 1830.

[2] The Manchester station was situated at London Road. It is now a part of the Manchester Science Museum.  The terminal at Liverpool was located at Crown Street.
[3] It was George Stephenson assisted by his son, Robert Stephenson who engineered the Manchester to Liverpool Railway.

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Gilbert & Sullivan: The First Performance of The Pirates of Penzance at Paignton in 1879.

Forty years ago, I had just finished ‘starring’ as a ‘pirate’ in the Coatbridge High School performance of The Pirates of Penzance. It is an experience that remains remarkably fresh in my mind. Nowadays, alas, I only manage to keep in touch with a couple of other ‘pirates’, one of General Stanley’s ravishing daughters and the Major General himself. It is a connection that I treasure.

However, looking back on those days, I have come to realise that one of the ‘spin offs’ from singing in the Pirates ( and the following two years so my activity in the chorus line of Iolanthe and The Mikado) was that you learnt a lot about G&S in particular and music in general. For example, a friend of mine (also a pirate) announced that he was off home to hear a Bach organ recital including the Prelude and Fugue in D minor (Dorian). At that time, I wondered what a ‘fugue’ was and mused over the word ‘Dorian.’ Not wishing to seem stupid, I grunted and then looked the terms up in my father’s Encyclopaedia Britannica. There was no Internet in those days.  Another thing I learnt was that The Pirates of Penzance had three ‘premieres’ one in New York, one in London , but before these two there was a single performance in Paignton.  Now to G&S aficionados this is common knowledge. However, I had recently been to that town and had walked past the building where The Bijou Theatre (now demolished) was situated. Therefore, the penny, metaphorically, dropped.

Just in case readers are not sure of this ‘historical drama’ I will quote a short extract from the Gilbert & Sullivan Archive which explains more succinctly that I can why the opera was first heard in that lovely sea-side town:-

‘After the sensational success of H.M.S. Pinafore, many American performing companies presented unauthorized versions of that opera. Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte decided to prevent that from happening again by presenting official versions of their next opera, The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Dutysimultaneously in England and America. The opera premiered on December 31, 1879 at the Fifth Avenue Theater in New York with Sullivan conducting, but a single performance had been given on the previous day at the Royal Bijou Theatre, Paignton, England, to secure the British copyright. Finally, the opera opened on April 3, 1880, at the Opéra Comique in London, where it ran for 363 performances, having already been playing successfully for over three months in New York.’

I recently came across a number of reviews of the Paignton performance in an old copy of the The Gilbert & Sullivan Society Journal (Autumn 1979: Volume X No.17).  I will quote a couple here and the remainder in a subsequent post.

“Messrs. Gilbert and Sullivan’s New Opera”

Our Torquay correspondent telegraphs: A new opera in two acts by Messrs. A. Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert entitled The Pirates of Penzance, or Love and Duty, was produced yesterday afternoon in the presence of a most aristocratic audience at the Royal Bijou Theatre, Paignton, one of the prettiest bijou theatres in the country, by Mr. D’Oyly Carte’s company under the joint management of Mr. Ralph Horner and Mr. Herbert Brooke…[an account of the story followed]…Taken as a whole, the representation was a great success. The audience showed their appreciation not only by recalling the performers at the end of each act, but also demanding encores of several of the songs. Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 31^st Decemeber 1879.

The reviewer at the Troubadour wrote:-

The Pirates of Penzance, Messrs. Gilbert and Sullivan’s new comic opera, has seen the light of the English stage for the first time, at Paignton, of all places in the world. The bearings of that illustrious town our readers must discover for themselves. The reason for the extra-ordinary choice is simple enough. The first performance of the work at New York was to take place last Tuesday, and in order to secure English Rights the production in this country had to be simultaneous or previous. Mr. D’Oyly Carte’s company happened to be at Torquay and the neighbouring (?) Paignton was chosen as the scene of the important event alluded to. The performance accordingly came off before a small but select audience, amongst whom the imaginative reader may include the Mayor and grandees of Paignton.

The plot of the new opera hinges on a pun, a young man having, by his father’s misinterpreted will, been apprenticed to a pirate instead of a pilot. The hero’s adventures amongst the pirates and his amorous entanglement with his mature nurse (a pendant to Little Buttercup), whom he does not wish to marry, are the chief components of the plot. Of the merits of the piece, it would be premature to speak. Suffice it to say that the amateurs and critics of Paignton were highly pleased, and from their enlightened verdict few London audiences will venture to differ.

Troubadour 10^th January 1880.

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An Appreciation of Charles Villiers Stanford by Samuel Liddle

I had the privilege of three years' lessons from Stanford, at the Royal College, having been lucky enough to gain a scholarship. He seemed to know at once what treatment was good for me, and I certainly got it from him. I was ‘for it’ from the beginning, and my first year with him was not a bed of roses. There was no softness in his methods with me, and he was right. A few effective sentences of criticism, startling in their candour and absolutely unanswerable; a few enlightening sarcasms, followed by a few hints on methods of study, and he handed me back my work with his usual smile (!) and an invitation to ‘Tear it up, my boy, it's no use!’ Towards the end of my first year with him, I came to the end of my tether. I was working like a slave (too hard, in fact), and one day my disappointment at my failure to satisfy him made me entirely forget myself, and my tongue (hitherto tied) suddenly went berserk. He didn't say anything-just looked at me a moment and then went out of the room. He came back presently and said: ‘Go down to Sir George Grove.’ I went, and Sir George said to me: ‘Oh! Liddle, Dr. Stanford says you need a holiday- you've been working too hard. He says you ought to go to the sea for a week. Here's some money-off you go.’ It certainly was what I wanted, and, curiously enough, from that day the clouds lifted, and my next two years with him were a joy and I finished top of the class. But, I should never have done anything in music worth doing if I hadn't been with him. He gave me exactly what I wanted and I became absolutely devoted to him, for as time went on I experienced kindness after kindness from him, invaluable help and advice. He had been friend as well as teacher from the beginning, but it took me a year to find it out. S. LIDDLE [1]

Music & Letters July 1924 (with minor edits)

Notes

[1] Samuel Liddle (1867-1951) was born in Leeds. After experience as a church organise, he went to study with Stanford at the Royal College of Music.  As a pianist, he accompanied many great names from the early twentieth century, including Clara Butt, Ada Crossley, the cellist W.H. Squire and Plunkett Greene.  Philip Scowcroft has noted a number of Liddle’s compositions and these include an Elegy for cello and piano, possibly for Squire and a number of songs of the ballad type Scowcroft writes, ‘best-known of these were Abide With Me, often sung by Butt, How Lovely Are Thy Dwellings, The Lord is My Shepherd, Like as the Hart, Arabic Love Song, Sung by John McCormack, A Farewell and an arrangement of The Garden Where the Praties Grow’ Other of his ballad titles included A Farewell, At Last, Home Song, Lovely Kind and Kindly Loving, My Lute, The Gay Gordons and The Young Royalist; there were also slightly more upmarket compositions such as the Seven Old English Lyrics and the duet Now is the Month of Maying.’

[2] Sir Charles Grove (1820-1900) Civil Engineer, Secretary to the Society of Arts (1850), Crystal Place. He revolutionised the writing of analytical programme notes. In 1883, he became the first director of the royal College of Music. Between 1879 and 1889, he published the first editions of Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians

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Stereo in the Sixties: Great new CD in the Guild Light Music series

I can still remember being taken to my Uncle John’s house to see his new stereogram. I cannot recall the exact date, but it would have been around 1962. I am not sure what I expected, but the stereo effects record was rather fun. There were a number of LPs stored inside the unit, with some rather attractive covers, including what I later discovered to be Henry Mancini’s soundtrack for Breakfast at Tiffany’s. At that time it all seemed so modern and up to date. However, that defined my Uncle and Aunt – they had just recently acquired a Kenwood Mixer and regularly holidayed in up-and-coming Spanish Balearic seaside resorts. Some fifty years down the road and sound systems have changed. We have enjoyed stereo, quadraphonic sound, 8-track and cassette tapes. Vinyl disappeared, only to make a comeback amongst enthusiasts. Just when we thought that perfection had been reached with the audio CD, someone invented iTunes and the MP3 player. I certainly do not know what will come next: perhaps an electro-organic download direct to one’s brain? However my Uncle John’s stereogram impressed me – even if the tunes he played on it did not. I was just beginning to enjoy pop music, whilst he was into Henry Mancini, Percy Faith and Mantovani. I have come to like this music now, without losing my love of the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers and Led Zeppelin.

This new release from Guild Light Music is quite simply a stunning re-pristination of this ‘fab’ music. This is not to belittle the original ‘stereo’ tracks and vinyl LPs where all of these tunes have their origin. It is just great to hear these tracks digitally re-mastered and restored (by Alan Bunting).

I always smile at the number of musicians that are involved in some of these ‘light music’ tunes – for example, the Spanish inspired ‘Pedro the Fisherman’ from The Lisbon Story and lasting just a fraction over two minutes was written, arranged, rearranged and fettled by Harry Vousden Purcell, Harry Parr-Davies, and Johnny Douglas. ‘Bobsled’ - a classic example of ‘music on the move’ and so typical of the nineteen-fifties is ‘dished up’ by a trio of composers. Somehow, Havergal Brian managed to write his massive two-hour long Gothic Symphony all by himself. Fortunately this CD does have a fair few ‘original’ works by ‘single’ composers.

A visit to ‘Italia Mia’ by Mantovani depicts a perfect picture of that romantic country. Then Ron Goodwin’s jaunty ‘Serenade’ to London describes an era before, but possibly anticipating, the ‘swinging sixties’. Have you ever been to Coney Island? It is now a former shadow of its American Dream heritage, but still a great place to visit. The hamburgers are good too. Don Banks’ vision suggests romance, a stroll along the boardwalk from Brighton Beach and all the fun of the fair. It is one of my favourite tracks on this CD. Who could not fall in love with Percy Faith’s musical description of the beautiful ‘Lisa’?

I am not sure if Joe Heyne’s amusing ‘Petite Waltz’ comes from a show or is a stand-alone number; however it a fine piece complete with harpsichord continuo! Still in ‘Sunny Spain’ the rather martial ‘Amparito Roca’ by Jaime Texidor balances the sunshine with the pizzazz of the bullfight or fiesta.

Not sure about being On the Beach at Waikiki: it just does not impress me. However Richard Rogers’ ‘Nobody’s Heart’ is a good example of a dreamy, romantic number that must have been the soundtrack to many lovers’ evenings sitting listening to the stereogram and sipping Liebfraumilch.

Good old-fashioned, traditional ‘light music’ is represented with a fine version of Eric Coates ‘Mayfair’ from his London Again Suite. We move from ‘The Smoke’ to lands somewhere in the Caucasus region of Eurasia with the exotic ‘Fete Circassienne’. This was composed by a certain Wal-Berg –real name Voldemar Rosenberg!

There are a fair number of ‘standards’ from films and the shows. The CD opens with a great curtain-raiser – a version of ‘Night and Day’ from The Gay Divorcee with music by Cole Porter. The next ‘musical’ song is the Gershwin brothers hit ‘Bidin’ my Time’ from Girl Crazy. This is performed by the redoubtable Frederic Fennell. It is a lovely relaxing, slow-tempo piece featuring high strings, solo piano and Glen Miller-like muted brass. ‘Carioca’ from the well-loved film featuring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Flying down to Rio is given the full Latin-inspired works. I enjoyed Vernon Duke’s number ‘What is there to say?’ written for the Ziegfeld Follies. These were a series of Broadway revues popular in the 1930s inspired by the Folies Bergères in Paris. Equally inspiring is the Jerome Kern number ‘Jockey on a Carousel’. This foxtrot started life in the RKO picture I Dream Too Much starring Lilly Pons and Henry Fonda. Still on films, One Eyed Jacks was a 1961 production featuring Marlon Brando in the lead role and as director. In spite of the rather vicious nature of the film, the music written by Hugo Friedhofer is impressive. Another film that has its ‘dark’ moments is Ruby Gentry starring Jennifer Jones and Charlton Heston. However the music epitomises romantic Hollywood.

As a youngster, I used to watch The Billy Cotton Band Show with my parents. One of the guests who featured regularly was Russ Conway. He is usually famed for his up-tempo music such as ‘Side-Saddle’ and ‘China Tea’. So it is good to hear his interpretation of the ‘Dream of Olwen’ from the film ‘While I Live’ with music by Charles Williams. Conway plays this tearjerker with consummate skill. I would challenge listeners hearing this work ‘blind’ to think it was anyone other than a ‘great’ concert pianist.

All film buffs will be stirred to recall John Wayne, Patrick Widmark and a youthful Frankie Avalon in The Alamo. The CD concludes with the exciting music from the film Around the World in Eighty Days –‘Away out West’. Once again three composers and arrangers have contributed to the success of this powerful number.

Nothing more to say about this fantastic CD – except to Guild - ‘Just keep them on coming!’

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

Cole PORTER (1891-1964), arr. Brian FAHEY (1919-2007) Night and Day (from the film The Gay Divorcee) (1960) Cyril Orandel and the Starlight Symphony [3:20]
George GERSHWIN (1898-1937), arr. Rayburn WRIGHT (1922-1990) Bidin' my time (1961) Frederick Fennell and his Orchestra [2:45]
Wayne ROBINSON, Caesar GIOVANNINI, Herman CLEBANOFF (1917-2004) Bobsled (1961) Clebanoff and his Orchestra [2:15]
Annunzio Paolo MANTOVANI (1905-1980) Italia Mia (1961) Mantovani and his Orchestra [2:41]
Ron GOODWIN (1925-2003) London Serenade (1961) Ron Goodwin and his Orchestra [2:31]
Don BANKS (1923-1980) Coney Island (1961) The Sinfonia of London conducted by Douglas Gamley [6:18]
Gus KAHN, Edward ELISCU, Vincent YOUMANS (1898-1946) Carioca (from the film Flying Down to Rio) (1961) Jack Shaindlin and his Orchestra [3:22]
Vernon DUKE (1903-1969), E.Y. HARBURG (1896-1981) What is there to say? (1961) David Rose and his Orchestra [2:20]
Jerome KERN (1885-1945), arr. Morton GOULD (1913-1996) Jockey on the Carousel (1961) Morton Gould and his Orchestra [3:34]
Harry Vousden PURCELL, Harry PARR-DAVIES (1914-1955), arr. Johnny DOUGLAS (1920-2003) Pedro the Fisherman (from the film The Lisbon Story) (1960) The Living Strings conducted by Johnny Douglas [2:02]
Joe HEYNE PETITE Waltz (1961) David Carroll and his Orchestra [2:10]
Jaime TEXIDOR (1884–1957) Amparito Roco (1960) Eastman-Rochester Pops Orchestra conducted by Frederick Fennell [2:22]
Hugo FRIEDHOFER (1901-1981) One Eyed Jacks (Love theme from the film) (1961) Ferrante and Teicher at two pianos, with Orchestra and Chorus [3:03]
Percy FAITH (1908-1976) Lisa (1961) Percy Faith and his Orchestra [3:26]
Heinz ROEMHELD (1901-1985), Mitchell PARISH Ruby (from the film Ruby Gentry) (1961) The Melachrino Orchestra conducted by George Melachrino [2:49]
Henry KAIKIMAI, G.H. STOVE, arr. William Hill BOWEN (1918-1964) On the Beach at Waikiki (1961) The Living Strings conducted by William Hill Bowen [3:00]
Charles WILLIAMS (1893-1978) (Dream of Olwen (from the film While I Live) (1960) Russ Conway (piano) with Michael Collins and his Orchestra [3:55]
Richard ROGERS (1902-1979), arr. Frank CORDELL (1918-1980) Nobody’s Heart (1960) Frank Cordell and is Orchestra featuring Neill Sanders (horn) [2:44]
Paul Francis WEBSTER, Dmitri TIOMKIN (1899-1979) The Alamo (theme from the film Green Leaves of Summer) (1960) Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra [2:26]
WAL-BERG (1910-1994) Fete Circassienne (1960) Wal-berg and his Orchestra [6:57]
Eric COATES (1886-1957) Mayfair – from suite In London Again (1961) Eric Jonson and his Orchestra [5:47]
Victor Popular YOUNG (1900-1956), Harold ADAMSON (1906-1980), arr. Robert FARNON (1917-2005) Away out West (from the film Around the World in Eighty Days) (1960) Robert Farnon and his Orchestra [3:23]
All Tracks are in Stereo.
Dates refer to recording, not composition.
GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5192 [73:20]

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