Four quarter hour wind
sonatas by the late romantic British
composer York Bowen - another man whose
music has been deservedly resurrected
from the crypt in which fashion had
walled it up.
Lyrita recorded some
of Bowen’s solo piano music with the
man himself in the 1950s on a mono LP.
There was the odd chamber piece on LPs
here and there including one of the
viola sonatas on Melodiya! Even Sorabji's
glowing endorsement of Bowen's music
failed to stem the decline still less
reverse it. Since the onslaught of the
CD he has done much better. Now seemingly
lost from sight Marie-Catherine Girod's
complete 24 Preludes on Opès
3D made an impact and should be reissued
(who has the master tapes?). Stephen
Hough's mixed all-Bowen recital on Hyperion
probably did more than any other disc
to remake the Bowen reputation and credibility.
Since then there has been a magnificent
disc of the two string quartets on a
British Music Society CD (not to be
missed on any account [triple
review]- it can be ordered from
this site and from Mr Stephen Trowell,
7 Tudor Gardens, Upminster, Essex RM14
3DE. phone: 01708 224795) as well as
several other Bowen chamber discs in
the Epoch series.
The Flute Sonata
is a gentle starter in the borderlands
between whimsy and abandon. It is the
soul-mate of the Bax sonata for viola
and harp - mercurial, damp with nostalgic
regret yet ultimately care-free. Helen
Keen is notable for her clean unbreathy
work sans sibilants and some lovely
pointed playing. This is not a sonata
defined by a single undifferentiated
legato.
Ornament and idyll
play like shafts of light through the
pages of the Oboe Sonata. It
is done with breathtaking skill and
artistry so that the line of the melody
is not disturbed by the lung's limitations.
Moments which bring the sonata close
to the cool elusive mood of Goossens’
By the Tarn contrast with the
impudent and pacy finale - as cheeky
and happy as a Moeran scherzo
The Clarinet Sonata
was written for Pauline Juler who
played clarinet in the recording of
Ferguson Octet (also on Dutton - their
historic line). Terse and fantastic
the writing recalls the Bax sonata with
a touch of Medtner in the elaboration
of the piano part and its grand flourishes.
There are some lovely languid clarinet
gestures along the way. The whimsical
central movement speeds up and then
slows down the fantasy. All three movements
are predominantly quick although finally
the piece ends in sleepy regret. Juler
was also the player for whom Finzi wrote
the Five Bagatelles.
The Horn Sonata
with its rounded auburn tones and
aureate chivalry is the most dramatic
of the four.
All but the Horn Sonata
have been recorded before as part of
mixed anthologies. The present performances
and recording quality leave nothing
to be desired.
The disc is dedicated
to John Lindsay (1926-2002) a lifetime
champion of Bowen's music even if his
focus was on the piano and chamber music
to the exclusion of the concertos and
symphonies.
Strongly recommended
and self-recommending to the growing
legion of music-lovers and musicians
who have discovered Bowen occupying
the territory marked out by Rachmaninov
and Medtner.
Rob Barnett
Endymion Ensemble: Helen Keen (flute); Melinda
Maxwell (oboe); Mark van de Wiel (clarinet); Stephen
Stirling (horn); Michael Dussek (piano). 