The ongoing Chandos
Berkeley Edition has so far provided
an invaluable survey of the larger-scale
works of father and son, Lennox and
Michael Berkeley. Here, in a disc that
stands separate from that series, Chandos’s
admirable dedication to the Berkeley
cause turns to the piano music.
Interestingly, this
is an area in which the two composers
differ significantly. Lennox was an
able and enthusiastic pianist and the
works recorded here demonstrate a clear
affinity with the instrument. Michael
on the other hand does not profess to
be confident at the keyboard and as
of 2004 had only contributed two works
to the solo piano repertoire in contrast
to a substantial quantity of piano music
by his father.
Other than Lennox’s
own ability at the piano, another clue
to his love of the instrument can be
found in his enthusiasm for the music
of Ravel and Chopin, two composers whose
influence is evident in the works here
recorded. Indeed, in the case of Ravel
the French influence can be extended
further. Berkeley was himself of partly
French ancestry and one of his closest
friends was Francois Poulenc. It is
no surprise therefore that a Gallic
sensibility informs much of Berkeley’s
music, a stylistic trait that placed
him in stark contrast to many of his
English composer contemporaries. As
if to prove the point, the brief but
touching Paysage, was written
in celebration of the liberation of
France from the Nazis.
The most substantial
Lennox Berkeley work here is unquestionably
the wartime Sonata in A major,
placed centrally in the running order
amongst pieces by Berkeley senior that
are generally more lightweight in comparison.
Berkeley opted for an ambitious four-movement
structure, which he conveys with typical
panache. As is so often the case there
is little literal thematic repetition,
rather an organic and slowly evolving
treatment of the melodic material that
demonstrates a keenly intelligent and
rigorous compositional mind at work.
As with most of the pieces recorded,
there is a specific dedicatee, in this
case Clifford Curzon who gave the work
its 1946 premiere. Margaret Fingerhut
proves a fine latter-day advocate of
a sonata that is one of the finest English
examples of the medium for its period.
Less ambitious but
no less attractive, the other examples
of Lennox Berkeley’s work for the piano
range from the early Three Pieces
Opus 2 (the early Opus number belies
the fact that he was thirty two when
he wrote the pieces) to the Improvisation
on a Theme of Manuel de Falla,
written in 1960 as a contribution to
an album celebrating the centenary of
the publisher Chester. In the Six
Preludes there are several passages
that testify to the influence of Ravel
(the oscillating opening conjures thoughts
of Gaspard de la Nuit) whilst in the
dreamy Andante that follows there
is the faintest air of Satie in Gymnopédie
mode. The Three Mazurkas
are a direct homage to Chopin whilst
the virtuosic Scherzo was written
at the request of Colin Horsley for
use as an encore to his performances
of the Six Preludes on an antipodean
concert tour. The Concert Study
occupies similarly energetic and virtuosic
territory, proving that Berkeley could
deviate from his more naturally refined
style when required.
Michael Berkeley’s
Strange Meeting draws its inspiration
from the poem of the same name by Wilfred
Owen. The meeting of the title takes
place between two soldiers, one British
and one German, who are reunited in
the afterworld following the death of
the German at the hands of the Englishman.
At over fifteen minutes the work is
not insubstantial, Berkeley having expanded
the piece into a triptych from the original
stand-alone first movement in response
to a commission from Howard Shelley.
In its original form the first movement
had been premiered in 1974 by fellow
composer Malcolm Williamson. Michael
Berkeley is clearly not as natural as
his father in the fluency of his writing
for the piano. However there are some
effective passages, notably within the
final panel, which slowly progresses
towards an uneasy peace. For Michael
Berkeley at his best, I would suggest
that the larger-scale orchestral works
and concertos are not only more representative
of his latter stylistic idiom but also
effectively demonstrate his ability
to develop and control substantial formal
structures.
Christopher Thomas
Margaret Fingerhut (piano) 
