Judith Bailey & George Lloyd: Havas - orchestral music

I was enormously impressed with Judith Bailey’s significant contribution to this new CD from EM Records. I have had the opportunity of hearing her retrospective of chamber and piano music released on Metier MSVCD92101 (review) which proved to be a most interesting and challenging exploration of her music. So, it was fascinating to be able to discover these two successful orchestral scores.

The first work on this CD is Havas op 44. The title is the Cornish idiomatic phrase/word for ‘a period of summer’. It was sketched out in 1991 near to the composer’s home in West Cornwall. Three things will impress the listener on hearing this powerful work. Firstly, there is a huge cinematic sweep to this deeply romantic music: it could have been written for a feature film about the people and places of this great and proud county. Secondly, much of this music reflects the fact that Cornwall is surrounded by the ocean on two of its three sides: Bailey has composed some first-rate sea-music that reflects both the stormy waves and contrasting calm azure blue oceans. And finally, there is a legendary feel to these three movements that points up the historical and esoteric history of that land. Whether it is the Neolithic monument portrayed in ‘Lanyon Quoit’, the ‘Merry Maidens’ turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath or the breached ‘Gwavas Lake’ with it connection to St. Pol or Paul one feels that that the mists of time are just occasionally clearing but still jealously clasping their age-old secrets.  Another reviewer has suggested that Havas may be considered alongside Malcolm Arnold’s Cornish Dances. Up to a point, this is a fair comparison. However, there are differences. Judith Bailey is a Cornishwoman: Arnold only fell in love with the place and lived there for a space. Bailey’s music is effectively a series of short, ‘tone poems’, which possess a stylistic unity, whereas Arnold has written four largely discrete ‘dances’ that reflect the diversity of his eclectic style of composition. And finally, this present work is of almost symphonic proportions lasting just short of twenty minutes, twice the length of Arnold’s work.

The Concerto for Orchestra, op.55, written in 1986, is a slightly more challenging work. It was commissioned by Dr. Patrick Waller as a birthday present for his wife Jean, who at that time was the principal cellist of the Southampton Concert Orchestra.  Hardly surprisingly, the cello features predominantly in these pages. There are also well-constructed solo parts for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, trumpet and trombone.

This Concerto is cast in a long single movement that is divided up into three sections reflecting fast-slow-fast. The sound world is intense, and largely reflects ‘absolute music’ rather the landscape impressions of Havas. It is a tightly-structured work that the composer states depends on the working out of a couple of melodies heard at the beginning-with some astrological significance. I agree with Rob Barnett that the last bar is an anti-climax, with its ‘conventional affirmative gesture.’ I am not a composer, but there is more than one way of ending on a positive note: this is not satisfactory after the imaginative and exploratory music that has preceded it.

Other reviewers have suggested that this Concerto may take a few hearings for the listener to get their bearings: I found that it appealed to me immediately. I guess that Judith Bailey has created a work, which, like Bax, relates to the legendary nature of her Celtic Fringe homeland –even if the work was composed for a Hampshire-based orchestra.  The Concerto for Orchestra is a stunning piece of music that had me interested from the first note to the last (the final bar excepted). The orchestration is superb. Bailey’s balance of haunting melody and percussive harmonies is second to none; the formal balance between the various tempos is well-wrought, and finally, the stylistic equilibrium of the work remains consistent throughout.

I have to admit that I have never come to terms with George Lloyd’s music. On the one hand I find that it is usually interesting, enjoyable and often quite moving. The technical competence of the composer in writing fine melodies supported by largely untroubled harmonies and satisfying formal structures are incontrovertible. So, too, is his skill at orchestration. On the other hand, I feel that Lloyd often sounds like someone else.  Much of his music seems to hark back to an earlier period, be it Elgar or possibly even Tchaikovsky.   Lloyd set his face against what was happening in the development of Western Music and ‘ploughed a lonely furrow.’ I guess that for me what this music fails to do is challenge the listener. It often lacks ‘spice’ and certainly seems to eschew any ‘edginess.’ It strikes me as sometimes being a little insipid. Composers of a similar generation such as Humphrey Searle, William Alwyn and Peter Racine Fricker managed to successfully (in my opinion, others will disagree) synthesise a largely post-romantic sound with serialism and other ‘advanced’ technical devices.

I missed the opportunity to buy the Symphonies which were issued on the Albany label some years ago. Over the years I have heard a few of them, but I have never quite felt at home with their style and effect. The only CD of his music that I have reviewed was The Vigil of Venus which I found lacking in consistency. The present CD has given me a good opportunity to approach some of Lloyd’s undiscovered works with an innocent ear.

The ‘HMS Trinidad’ March was written by George Lloyd in 1941 for the commissioning of the cruiser of that name. This work was recently rediscovered and was well-received by ‘Prommers’ in 2013. Glancing at the BBC Prom Archive shows that only two other works by Lloyd have been performed at this festival – the Requiem (2013) and the Symphony No.6 (1981). Much has been written about how his largely tonal and melodic style was reviled by the cognoscenti at the BBC which probably deserves examination in the light of changing tastes of music and an acceptance of greater diversity in musical styles.  I note this suggestion myself!

I enjoyed this March and feel that it easily holds its own against many similar compositions.  It deserves its place in the repertoire, however as a ‘traditionalist’ I do not feel it should have replaced (but rather supplemented) Sir Henry Wood’s Sea Songs.

The Prelude to Act II of George Lloyd’s second opera The Serf is quite lovely and presents a pastoral landscape free from any stress which the plot of the opera (Saxons versus Normans) would appear to demand. This opera was first performed in 1938 since when it has not been revived. An orchestral suite was made and subsequently released on Troy 458. 

‘In Memoriam’ honours the death of eleven soldiers and seven horses as well as many serious injuries to the Blues and Royals and Royal Green Jacket Regiments (a number of spectators were also wounded) as a result of the IRA bomb in Hyde Park on 20 July 1982. Lloyd was one of the first civilians on the scene. The work is elegiac and moves with an Elgarian slow march pace mitigated by something valedictory by way of a clarinet tune possibly nodding to Gerald Finzi. It was originally part of George Lloyd’s Royal Parks Suite for brass-band, although here it is presented in its orchestral guise. 

As with David Barker, my highlight of this selection of Lloyd’s music is the impressionistic tone-poem Pont du Gard written after a holiday-visit to France. Lloyd had been impressed with the ‘magnificence, the scale, the grandeur and above all the solidity…of this extraordinary [aqueduct]’ built by the Romans in the 1^st century AD. The score is prefaced with the words ‘A wild country; shepherds play their pipes; the Romans come and go; the shepherds play again’. This really sums up the progress of this ten-minute score. The work features a conspicuous part for cor-anglais. The mood is typically one of rest, silence and timelessness for much of the progress of this work. Here and there the mood changes to reflect dancing and there is a hint of the wind ‘soughing’ through the aqueduct’s arches and the arrival of some Roman legionnaires. It is a minor masterpiece that is well-balanced, thoughtful and wholly consistent.

The presentation of this CD is ideal. The excellent sound quality gives this music every possible chance to impress. I have not knowingly heard the Bath Philharmonia with their conductor Jason Thornton before: they give a committed and enthusiastic performance of these works.  I echo other reviewers of this CD in hoping that EM Records will make a ‘return visit’ to this impressive orchestra. The liner notes are superb.  William Lloyd and Judith Bailey have written detailed and fascinating studies of the music: there are biographical notes about both composers, the conductor and the orchestra. I was delighted that I can read this text without recourse to a magnifying glass: these small things are important.  Finally, the lovely photograph on the ‘sleeve’ of Lanyon Quoit, Cornwall provides a final touch to an outstanding production.

This CD has provided a welcome introduction to the orchestral music of Judith Bailey. Based on Havas and the Concerto for Orchestra, I look forward to hearing her Three Symphonies on CD in the near future (hopefully). Certainly, the Cliff WalkSymphony op.88 sounds like a good place to begin. And what about the locally titled ‘Penwith’ Overture?

It is also encouraging to have four works from George Lloyd that had not made it into the recording studio. One thinks of the innumerable versions of Elgar’s P&Cs, Walton’s ‘Crown Imperial’ and Coates’ ‘Dambuster’ Marches that are in the catalogues. At least now there is one version of Lloyd’s’ superb and historically fascinating ‘HMS Trinidad’ March. But for me the Lloyd discovery is the impressionistic Le Pont Du Gard.  It has already become an ‘old favourite’ in spite of any reservations I have about the overall consistency of Lloyd’s music.

Judith BAILEY (b. 1941)
Havas – a period of summer, op. 44 (1991)
Concerto for orchestra, op. 55 (1996)

George LLOYD (1913-1998)
The Serf – Prelude to Act II (1938)

In Memoriam (1982)
Le Pont du Gard (1990)

HMS Trinidad March (1941, rev. 1945)

Miriam Lowbury (cello) (concerto)
Jennie-Lee Keetley (cor anglais) (Le Pont)
Bath Philharmonia/Jason Thornton
All world premiere recordings
EM RECORDS EMRCD026

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Pandora’s Last Gift: Chamber Music by Christopher Wright

My first introduction to the music of Christopher Wright was his Oboe Concerto released on Dutton Epoch CDLX 7249 (review) alongside works by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Cyril Scott and Elis Pehkonen. I was immediately impressed by this concerto and looked forward to hearing more of his music. In the same year Dutton Epoch issued a strong retrospective of Wright’s orchestral works -Evocation CDLX 7240 (review). They also issued two important pieces: Momentum(2008) and the Violin Concerto (2010) on CDLX 7286 coupled with the revised version of RVWs Symphony No. 5 edited by Dr Peter Horton. In 2007 a CD of chamber and vocal works had been released on Merlin Classics MRFD 070914 (review). I have not heard this last CD.

Christopher Wright (website) was born in Ipswich, Suffolk in 1954. Much of his life has been spent living and working in East Anglia. He studied composition with Richard Arnell and later Alan Bullard. In 1993 he gave up his post as a schoolmaster and turned to full-time composition.  Wright’s music includes a wide variety of genres including colourful orchestral works and concertos for violin, cello and horn. He has contributed to the brass band repertoire as well a selection of anthems, songs and chamber works. Wright’s first performed score was the Kyson Point Suite (a lovely reed-fringed place on the Suffolk coast near Woodbridge) in Ipswich Town Hall in 1971. He is also an accomplished performer, playing the trombone and the piano, as well as being a choral conductor.

I am beholden to the composer’s liner notes for details of the music. As I understand it, all these works are first recordings. The Wind Quintet (1993) gets this CD off to a great start. Perhaps the most edgy piece on this CD, it was composed shortly after Wright experienced two ‘life changing events’ –one unpleasant and the other ‘very beautiful’. He describes it as ‘desolation followed by new life.’ The Quintet reflects the former mood. A verse from W.B. Yeat’s poem ‘The Second Coming’ has given a focus to this music – ‘The ceremony of innocence is drowned.’  The composer adds that the progress of the Quintet is based around the interval of an augmented fourth (e.g. c-f#) – the ‘diabolus.’  This derives from the medieval admonition against using the tritone in composition – ‘The Devil in Music’.  The early part of the score is characterised by gloom and despondency, but very slowly and subtly this begins to change. The work ends on a slightly more positive note-the journey is (nearly) complete. Wright makes use of a judicious blend of dissonance and instrumental devices to present the mood of despair.

‘Spring’s Garden’ for viola and piano is a beautiful piece that was written for the composer’s wife in 2006. Tragically, she was to die three years later. The work’s aim is to capture ‘a typical picture viewed from my music room window…of birds scampering amongst wild flowers in spring.’ Nothing could be further in mood from the Wind Quintet.  Although this music has a strange, prophetic sadness in its pages, there is much that is positive and reflects more of a thanksgiving than a memorial. This is a truly lovely piece that is worthy of being in the viola repertoire.

I enjoyed ‘Orfordness’ for flute, violin, cello and piano which was composed around 1997. It is written to explore the paradox between man’s potential for destructiveness and nature’s constantly shifting tidal surges: Orfordness in Suffolk was home to a Cold War military base as well as being a wildlife paradise. The music is almost ‘Messiaenic’ in its exploration of timelessness. The 9½ minutes seems to simultaneously fly by as well as appearing to last for an eternity. The musical language is always interesting, with the composer showing no fear of using dissonance and edgy rhythms.

‘Capriccio’ for clarinet and piano has nothing of the unfathomable dichotomy of good and evil attached to it. As the title implies, this is an exploration of ‘spontaneity and joy.’ The composer states that it is written in a neo-classical style. The harmonies are often acerbic, but a definite lyrical mood pervades much of this music. It is a remarkable piece that balances poetry with hedonism.

The three-movement Spirit of the Dance for recorder, violin, cello and harpsichord (2005) was commissioned by the composer Elis Pehkonen. It is designed to be played by Baroque instrumental forces. It successfully explores a sprightly ‘rejouissance’ followed by a thoughtful ‘air’ and a concluding ‘Adam’s Family’ (remember Lurch’s performance on the harpsichord!) inspired ‘tarantella’, designed to chase the spider or other spooky creatures away. This suite is intended as homage to the Baroque idiom rather than being a pastiche or parody. In this it is entirely successful.

I cannot say that I enjoyed the only vocal piece on this CD. It is entitled The Long Wait and is based on a poem written by the composer: the work was composed after the death of Wright’s father around 2006. I concede that there are some lovely elements to both the vocal line and the piano accompaniment. The recorder does not add value and seems to clash with Lesley-Jane Rogers’s beautiful voice. On the whole The Long Wait is just that: long-winded and a little disjointed and lacking stylistic unity. All that said, I do hope to hear more of Wright’s vocal music in the future.

‘In Celebration’ (2013) was composed for the 70^th birthday of the well-known recorderist (and doyen of Manchester Music Making) John Turner. It is written in three short movements for recorder, violin, viola and cello. The first movement is inspired by jazzy rhythms and a ‘lazy suburban Sunday afternoon’ mood.  I agree with the composer that there is a ‘mysticism’ about the ‘misterioso’ movement: it does give a relaxing and thoughtful respite before the concluding riotous syncopations of the ‘presto con forza’. This is altogether a most enjoyable and attractive work that must surely find its way into recorderists’ repertoire.

‘Helter Skelter’ lives up to its title. I imagined swirly music emulating a dizzy turn down the once-loved fairground attraction and that is what the composer delivers in this short ‘character piece’ for cello and piano. However, even a casual hearing of this work will reveal that there is a little more depth to this music. There is a reflective middle-section that is maybe a little scared about making the downward trip on the helter-skelter or of life itself? There are one or two examples of musical ‘word-painting’ in this piece that are quite fun.

The final piece on this disc is the Concertino for violin, viola and piano written in 1985 for the Cheltenham International Violin Course. The composer states that it was written to ‘celebrate’ the tercentenary of Bach, Handel and Domenico Scarlatti (1685). The music, although not being a parody of any of these composers, was written in a neo-baroque style. The first and last movements are full of life and vigour, whereas the middle ‘tranquillo’ is a profound and ageless meditation. The entire work is masterly in its instrumentation and the piano part does add so much interest: I am glad the composer did not choose to use the harpsichord. I wonder if it could successfully be reworked as a Concertino for piano and string orchestra?

The CD is an excellent production that combines a judicious selection of chamber works with an excellent performance by all the players. The sound quality is ideal and gives the best possible opportunity for listeners to approach these unfamiliar works. The liner notes are detailed and useful as well as being legible. Notes on the musicians are given as well as a biographical sketch of the composer. A short list is appended showing how ‘The Gifts of Pandora’ relate to each of these pieces. It is for the listener to discover this relationship when they buy this excellent CD: I will reveal that the opening Wind Quintet displays her gift of ‘Destruction’ and the final Concertino that of ‘Music’.

Christopher Wright’s musical style can easily be categorised as ‘largely tonal with atonal flavourings.’ It is never insipid, always displays interest and clear evidence of controlled development. It is approachable, even if occasionally a little challenging. Naturally, any listener will relate to various pieces to a greater or lesser extent however I have found nothing that is not written with consumate skill and not inconsiderable inspiration.

Christopher WRIGHT (b.1954)

Wind Quintet (1993)

‘Spring’s Garden’ for viola and piano (2006)

‘Orfordness’ for flute, violin, cello and piano (1997)

Capriccio for clarinet and piano (1990)

Spirit of the Dance for recorder, violin, cello and harpsichord (2005)

‘The Long Wait’ for soprano, recorder and piano (2006)

In Celebration for recorder, two violins, viola and cello. (2013)

‘Helter Skelter’ for cello and piano (2013)

Concertino for violin, viola and piano (1985)

Nichola Hunter (flute); Lisa Osborne (oboe) Elizabeth Jordan (clarinet) Naomi Atherton (horn); Sarah Nixon (bassoon); Richard Howarth, Nicholas Ward & Catherine Muncey (violins) Richard Williamson, Michael Dale (viola) Tim Smedley (cello) Lesley-Jane Rogers (soprano); John Turner (recorder) Harvey Davies (harpsichord) Jonathan Fisher (piano).

MÉTIER MSV 28547 

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Robert H. Hull: An Early Bax Champion, 1934

In a letter to the The Gramophone magazine (November 1934) Robert H. Hull presented a plea for the expansion of the Bax record ‘catalogue.’ At that time it stood at just a handful of recordings [1]. Unfortunately his pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears, as it was to be a number of years before Bax’s music began to be made widely available for listeners.  Hull is a name who crops up in musical journalism in the 1920s and 30s. He is probably best recalled for an important study on Bax’s symphonies [2] as well as a booklet about Delius. [3].

The present situation (2014) where the majority of Arnold Bax’s music is available on CD or download, including four versions of all seven symphonies and some 22 versions of Tintagel would have seemed unbelievable to Hull and the readers of The Gramophone.

To the editor…

Possibly a good many of your readers feel the urgent need for gramophone records of Arnold Bax’s principal orchestral works, more particularly the five symphonies and of his chamber music. At present only a bare handful of Bax’s works are available to the gramophone public. The expense of production, especially in the matter of rehearsals, is cited as a prohibiting factor. There is no early prospect of the symphonies being recorded, and very little hope of anything similar, unless a wide circle of intending purchasers can give positive assurance of their support.

It seems highly desirable, therefore, to establish how far the many admirers of Bax’s genius can be relied upon to purchase future records of his orchestral and chamber music. Information is quite imperative if we are to end the present deadlock. I shall be extremely grateful if all those who are anxious that further works shall be recorded, particularly the Third Symphony, [4] will write to me as soon as possible at 463 Oxford Street, London W.1. [5] It will be a great help if writers will state the names of the Bax works to which they give preference. I am making this appeal with the approval of the composer and his publishers.

Once an adequate list of names has been collected – and we beseech every Bax enthusiast – it maybe possible, I hope, to come to some agreement with the Gramophone Company [6] and to submit the names of the works for which there is the greatest demand. Whether, ultimately, the records would be issued through the Company’s lists, or through the medium of a Bax Society, is a question which must await the decision of the Gramophone Company when the amount of promised support is definitely known.

Yours faithfully,

Robert H. Hull.

Notes:-

[1] Works available on record in 1934 included:-

• Mater, ora Filium, Leeds Festival Chorus/Albert Coates, HMV D1044/5
• Fantasy Sonata for harp and viola, Raymond Jeremy (viola) and Maria Korchinska (harp), National Gramophonic Society NGS118/120
• Mediterranean, New Symphony Orchestra/ Eugene Goossens, HMV C1620
• Mediterranean for piano, Harriet Cohen, Duo-Art 0355
• Quartet No.1 for strings, Wilson String Quartet Gramophonic Society 153/155;   
• ‘Cradle Song’ from Three Irish Songs and ‘I heard a piper piping’ from ‘Five Irish Songs’, Carmen Hill (soprano) Arnold Bax (piano) listed in CHARM but possibly not released as no record number given (December 1923)
• ‘Cradle Song’ and ‘Rann of Exile’ from ‘Three Irish Songs’ Ann Thursfield (Soprano) and unknown pianist. HMV E410
• Sonata for two pianos, Ethel Bartlett and Rae Robinson, duo pianists, National Gramophonic Society 156/158.
• Hardanger, Ethel Bartlett and Rae Robinson, duo pianists, National Gramophonic Society 158.

[2] Hull, Robert H., A Handbook of Arnold Bax’s Symphonies (Murdoch, London 1932) 

[3] Hull, Robert H., The Hogarth Essays Second Series ‘Frederick Delius’ (London, 1928)

[4] According to Graham Parlett’s discography printed in Lewis Foreman’s Bax: A Composer and his Times (The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, 1983, 1987, 2007) Bax’s Symphony No.3 had to wait until  1943 Hallé Orchestra conducted by John Barbirolli HMV C3380/5 in 1943. It was recorded in Manchester.

[5] 463 Oxford Street, London were the offices of Arnold Bax’s publisher Murdoch, Murdoch and Co. The premises were bombed during the Second World War.

[6] The Gramophone Company was an early recording company which in 1931 along with the Columbia Gramophone Company formed English and Musical Industries Ltd (EMI) HMV was a trademark. 

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Bill Worland: Scottish Power for orchestra

When I first heard Bill Worland’s Scottish Power I was convinced that it was a forgotten score for a film documentary about hydro-electricity in that country: I had not read the liner notes written by the composer. Worland also denies that it has anything to do with the commercial company of that name.  In fact, it is a piece dedicated to a certain Miss Power, who was a Scottish lassie that the composer admits to ‘know[ing] so well’ and with whom there was a ‘magnetic attraction.’

The music of this short suite was pieced together for the Marco Polo recording of Worland’s works. The composer had resuscitated some old manuscript sketches with a ‘Scottish flavour’, one of which was a ‘march’. This short ‘sixteen bar theme’ was then worked up into a ‘mini-suite’ which explored a number of moods awakened by the landscape and his lady-friend. It is in four sections which continue without a break. The work opens with the brisk march theme accompanied by brass and drums. There is a short bridge passage before the tune is reprised. Soon the mood changes to the dance floor and Worland presents what is really a restrained reel. After a ‘lunga pausa’ the harp quietly introduces a lovely ‘adagio’ tune that the composer has called ‘By the Loch.’ This given all the romantic treatment including fluttering flutes and sweeping strings. A brass chorale crowns the climax of this calm movement before a rising harp arpeggio leads to a reprise of the ‘March’. Scottish Power concludes with a broad restatement of the ‘love’ tune before the brass ushers in the closing chords.

There is precious little about Bill Worland available in print or online. Even Philip Scowcroft, the doyen of light music, manages only a few words. Worland was born in 1921 and later became a pianist working with dance bands before, during and after World War 2.  Scowcroft notes that Worland’s heyday for musical composition was around 1960 at a time when ‘light music’ was in serious decline as a result of the burgeoning pop and rock culture as well as a downer on the genre by classical music cognoscenti.  

Worland’s music would appear to have been written for the ‘music library’ rather than the concert hall. Many of the titles are suggestive of ‘mood music’ such as ‘Happy Hacienda’, ‘In the Shadow of Vesuvius’ and ‘Midnight in Manhattan’. On the other hand, Neil Horner on MusicWeb International has suggested that much of Worland’s music sounds as if it has been written for the ballroom.

Bill Worland’s Scottish Power may not have the sheer dynamism and invention of Malcolm Arnold’s Scottish Dances, nor the exuberance of Ronald Binge’s ‘Scottish Rhapsody’, but it is a delightful work that gives full credit to Miss Power from a composer ‘furth o’ the border.’

The only performance of Bill Worland’s Scottish Power can be heard on Marco Polo 8.225161

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Malcolm Williamson: Lento of strings

This is my first post about Malcolm Williamson and his music. He is a composer who seems to have passed me by. In the early 1970s the ‘Senior Ensemble’ at Coatbridge High School performed his delightful Procession of Psalms: it was a work that I took to immediately. In the intervening years I have only heard his First Symphony ‘Elevamini’ (1956/57) and the hugely attractive Suite to the opera Our Man in Havana (1963/66).  Somehow, I missed the first two offerings from Chandos of the ‘Orchestral Works’ which were released in the mid-2000s. I guess that is another series of music that was curtailed, as Williamson’s catalogue indicates many more pieces in that category.

One of the works that was issued is the Lento for Strings, composed in 1985. This short, but moving piece was dedicated to the composer’s friend, the Australian violinist and conductor Paul McDermott, who died in September of that year. McDermott had been instrumental in the recent recording of Williamson’s Symphony No.6.

Lewis Foreman in his liner notes for the Chandos recording of this work has noted that the music is a ‘slow and musically direct piece easily within the technical reach of young string players'. The Lento opens with an almost hymn-like simplicity, with the diatonic harmony giving a genuine elegiac feel to this music. Just occasionally there is something a little more acerbic in the harmonic progress. There is a gorgeous ‘upward run’ on the first violins towards the restatement of the tune. Here and there, the composer indulges in a little counterpoint and hints at a counter-melody. The work comes to a quite and meditative close.

Rob Barnett has wisely (and in no way disparagingly) suggested that this piece would be an ideal candidate for Classic FM. I agree. Here is a beautiful, touching elegy which moves in a gentle trajectory from Elgar to the present by way of Percy Grainger. It is almost unbelievable that I have never heard this work until the other day.

The Lento for strings was first heard performed by the Philharmonia a concert Music in the Round at Melbourne in 1985.

Malcolm Williamson suffers from the curse of having been an eclectic composer. He produced music in a huge variety of styles, from jazz to pop by way of Schoenberg and Britten for many different musical genres.  This lack of internal consistency and his failure to adopt the practice of integral serialism or other avant-garde procedures led to him being ignored by the musical cognoscenti. To be sure, there is a huge stylistic disparity between the ‘pop’ feel to the above mentioned Procession of Psalms and the sub-Stravinskian Perisynthion(1974) ballet score written for Robert Helpman, but never performed, which displayed ‘a combination of fantasy, imagination and extraordinarily complex compositional rigour.’ (Christopher Austin).

Malcolm Williamson’s ‘Lento for Strings’ is available on Chandos 10406 along with the composer’s Symphony No. 1 ‘Elevamini’, Symphony No. 5 ‘Aquero’ and the Epitaphs for Edith Sitwell. 

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Arthur Butterworth: ‘The Night Wind on the Desolate Moor in Winter’ from The Moors Suite, Op.26

In 1960 Arthur Butterworth composed ‘The Moors’, Suite for large orchestra and organ, op. 26, which was specifically written for the BBC Northern Orchestra in Manchester. At that time the Head of Music was Paul Huband and the chief producer, was the composer, David Ellis. I understand that the work was 'pro bono' and not a paid commission.

The Suite evoked the spirit of the moors during the four seasons under various meteorological conditions. The composer told me that it was the result of many hours spent in his youth, walking the moors between Oldham and Huddersfield which was, and still is, a wild tract of country.

The work was conceived in four sizable movements – 1. ‘Moorland Dawn in early Spring,’ 2. ‘The Pageantry of Sun and Cloud on the High Hills at Midsummer,’ 3.  ‘The Mist on the Bleak Grey Moor at Twilight in Autumn,’ and 4. ‘The Night Wind on the Desolate Moor in Winter’. 

It is possible to hear the final movement on YouTube. This is billed as being played by the Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Rupert d’Cruze. There is no date of the performance given. However, I do wonder if this extract is not actually played by the Huddersfield Philharmonic. I look forward to being corrected.

I have not heard the entire work: I am not sure that it has been performed recently. The sound-world of the YouTube extract is truly impressive and creates one of the best tone-pictures that I have heard: it is a truly scary experience. The orchestration is masterly and creates an impressionistic painting of the bleak northern landscape.

The Moors’, Suite was first performed at a concert conducted by Stanford Robinson in January 1963. Arthur Butterworth told me that the work was performed a few times in the early 1960s including by the Huddersfield Philharmonic with both the composer and Rupert d’Cruze conducting separate performances. It was also heard in Manchester Town Hall at a Friday midday concert with the BBC Northern Orchestra featuring the once-splendid Cavaille-Coll organ there. Alas, this great instrument has been allowed to deteriorate into an almost unplayable state. (See this YouTube Videofor a heart-breaking view of this organ as it is now). I do understand that there is a society working to restore it, however their web page is almost unreadable due to a plethora of 'pop-up' ads. 

Based on this last movement of Arthur Butterworth’s, ‘The Moors’, Suite, op.26 I believe that a full professional recording is demanded. For all intents and purposes this work appears to be a symphony by any other name. 

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Sir Henry Wood: A Tribute from Harriet Cohen

A year ago I published a short tribute from Sir Arnold Bax to Sir Henry Wood on the occasion of that great conductor’s 75^thbirthday in Homage to Sir Henry Wood. A number of eminent musicians contributed to this volume including Ernest Ansermet, Leopold Stokowski, Alan Bush, RVW and Yehudi Menhuin. Bax’s mistress, the beautiful Harriet Cohen also made a short homage which is quite revealing- especially her ‘name-dropping’ of Richard Strauss and Jean Sibelius. However, it is a heartfelt tribute from one of the best loved pianist of her generation.

For many musicians in this country the Jubilee in the Spring of 1944 of Sir Henry Wood, our most beloved English conductor, is an exciting and happy occasion. Considering the enormous amount of work entailed in a conductor’s life – performing, rehearsing, studying, travelling, etc. – it must be unique to come through fifty years, vigorous and buoyant, as Sir Henry has done; he seems to me younger than ever. Two aspects of Sir Henry immediately come to mind: one is his never-diminishing youthfulness and freshness, the other is the sum of these qualities which have made him so remarkable a pioneer of the best modern music of the whole world.

Sir Henry has a marvellous way of putting young artists at ease: he interests himself in their career and is young with them. That was part of his genius to recognize the line in which some of the young artists would eventually excel. Richard Strauss told me once that he thought the whole world benefited by Sir Henry’s introduction of notable modern music into the English concerts. It was really thrilling to hear such praise. When I was in Helsinki, Sibelius [1] talked for hours about Sir Henry and his amazing achievements.

One could never exhaust the stories about Sir Henry’s astounding capacity for work; his catholic range and understanding, his loyalty and utter devotion to his Art; it has been a great happiness to most English musicians to see their artistic blossoming under the genius of Sir Henry’s direction.

Harriet Cohen. Homage to Sir Henry Wood, p.20 (LPO Booklets, Welwyn Garden City,1944)

Notes

[1] Harriet Cohen was introduced to Jean Sibelius in London during the composer’s visit in 1921. Fifteen years later, Cohen journeyed to Finland with Arnold Bax. During this time she had long chats with Sibelius in Helsinki and the composer’s home in Ainola. It is a conversation that deserves investigation. Wikipedia reports that Sibelius even wrote here the opening chord of his Eighth Symphony which was never published. 

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