I suspect not many
people would think to put Tippett on
their short-list of 'unjustly neglected
composers' or, come to think of it,
'great British composers'. But I wonder
how many people actually know
his music. Certainly compared with Britten,
the contemporary he's most often associated
with, there's very little Tippett which
could be said to have reached repertory
status, and still less that could be
described as 'popular'. In my experience,
his intellectualism frightens away lovers
of earlier 20th century British music
who might otherwise be inclined to investigate,
and his fondness for complex and detailed
material contrasts with the innate simplicity
and distinctive 'Englishness' of, say,
Delius and Vaughan Williams. Even the
heartfelt and richly melodic A Child
of our Time struggles for our attention
- and that of choral societies up and
down the land - besides Belshazzar's
Feast or the War Requiem.
And the five string quartets, four piano
sonatas and four symphonies (marvellously
inventive and strongly individual scores,
all of them) haven't yet been taken
up by performers or concert-promoters,
let alone listeners, as much as 'similar'
scores (but actually not remotely similar
scores!) by some of his contemporaries.
His day will come, I'm sure.
For those who wish
to dip their toes into these waters,
be they uncharted or already-familiar,
this disc is a near-perfect introduction
to Tippett's music. The beautifully
crafted Divertimento on Sellinger's
Round is as fresh, as accessible
and as 'English' as any number of British
music best-sellers, and yet remains
little known. Anyone familiar with the
quasi-Baroque manners of the Fantasia
concertante on a theme of Corelli
or the Concerto for double string
orchestra will surely enjoy this.
So too will anyone who treasures the
lovely 'Passacaglia on the Death of
Falstaff' from Walton's music to Henry V,
or the celebrated Lament from Dido
and Aeneas, both of which were evidently
haunting Tippett at the time of its
composition.
Little Music
too is very easy on the ear. With obvious
references to Eine kleine Nachtmusik
in its title, and recollections of Purcell
and Vivaldi in its stylistic make-up,
it's a piece which is positively waiting
to be popular! Classic fM producers
please note!
One piece which can't
be compared with much else, on account
of its almost unique scoring - although
there is another by Hindemith - is the
Sonata for Four Horns. Which
other instrument commands the range
of pitch and expressive character necessary
for such an exquisitely-varied one-instrument
piece? Written for Dennis Brain and
his Philharmonia colleagues, the cascading
hunting calls of the opening movement
recall -perhaps I should say quote?
- the Tennyson setting ('Blow, bugle,
blow') in Britten's Serenade for
tenor, horn and strings. Compare
that with the close-voiced barber-shop
harmonies of the nocturnal slow movement!
The sheer variety of music here ensures
that the potentially-limiting tone of
four horns cannot possibly outstay their
welcome! If you know and enjoy the horn-quartet
sound in that wonderful Schumann Konzertstück
for four horns and orchestra, do
give this a try!
The Midsummer Marriage
conspicuously integrates ingredients
of The Magic Flute - the pairs
of lovers and the initiation ceremonies
required of them - and, as implied by
its title, A Midsummer Night's Dream,
in its juxtaposition of ordinary mortals
and supernatural figures. And its warm
heart follows in the wake of both. These
Ritual Dances were written for
Paul Sacher, and actually predate the
opera. They make a perfect concert-suite,
and a tasty appetiser for the real thing.
It's difficult to think of more voluptuous
music than the interweaving woodwind
configurations and romantic horn-calls
(from the prelude to Act II of
the opera) with which the five-movement
sequence begins and ends. The hounds
chasing hares, the otters chasing fish,
and the hawk chasing its prey, are all
marked by music which is wonderfully
alive with playful rhythms and delicate
sonorities. And the ecstatic peroration
- with heavy brass intoning praise of
'carnal love through which the race
of men is everlastingly renewed' - is
intensely memorable. Such rapturous
music really does deserve the widest
possible dissemination. The four main
dances here are set in Autumn, Winter,
Spring and Summer: now if only Tippett
had called this The Four Seasons…
These performances
are all in the top flight. Marriner
and the Academy are at their incredible
best: and Michael Thompson and friends
contribute a performance of quite extraordinary
dexterity and virtuosity. Barshai and
the Bournemouth orchestra - without
the optional but unforgettable choral
intervention - can't quite match the
confidence and rainbow-like colourings
of Andrew Davis and the BBC Symphony
Orchestra and Chorus (now reissued
on Warner Apex 8573890982: another
all-Tippett curtain-raiser) but they
do not disappoint. Nor do the recordings,
which are among EMI's digital best.
Peter J Lawson
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Rudolf Barshai
