Early in 2006 I was
studying the original manuscript of
Jacob’s Symphony No. 1, attempting to
gain some impression of the work and
how it sounded. At the same time I reflected
on the fact that, apart from a studio
run-through by Sir Henry Wood in 1932,
and a live performance of the slow movement
under the composer’s baton at a Three
Choirs concert in Gloucester in 1934,
the work had received no other performances.
Although I knew from Eric Wetherell’s
biography of the composer that Jacob’s
two numbered symphonies had been recorded
by Lyrita in the mid-1990s. I resigned
myself to the fact that these would
probably never be released. Then came
the exciting news in the summer of 2006
that a whole host of British music was
to be made available on CD - some for
the first time - including the two Jacob
symphonies.
Thanks to the enterprising
work of the conductor Douglas Bostock,
the first of the British Symphonic Collection
issued on the ClassicO label was a CD
of three Jacob works, including a fine,
taut performance of Symphony No. 2,
so this work has been available for
a decade or so. [review
and purchase link]
In British Music Society
News 80 (December 1998) Douglas Bostock
wrote: "Jacob’s second symphony
was an absolute revelation. I’d known
his wonderful and always craftsmanlike
music before but the second symphony
shows a side of the composer which most
people don’t know."
These comments are
equally pertinent to the First Symphony.
In these two major works - and why have
they been so neglected for so long!
- Jacob’s music reveals a dramatic robustness
at times, rarely encountered with such
ferocity in his other works. Here Jacob
makes some powerful statements, inspired
perhaps by the two world wars in his
lifetime. Symphony No. 2 was written
towards the end of WW2 and in the composer’s
own words is "a meditation on
war, suffering and victory."
Even though the First Symphony dates
some ten years after the end of WW1,
it is still a war symphony because it
is dedicated to Jacob’s brother Anstey,
who fell at the Somme. Anstey was a
favourite brother and Gordon Jacob,
who saw action in the same conflict,
was deeply affected by the loss. Maybe
this emotion alone was behind the intensity
of feelings of anguish, even anger perhaps,
in the purple passages in both works.
Symphony No. 1,
for large orchestra (with triple woodwind)
opens with a rugged motif in fourths
that leads to a perkier trumpet theme,
both of which are developed with vigour.
A contrasting second subject heard first
on violas together with lighter, more
playful passages on woodwind provide
occasional relief from the general bustle.
This is an expansive movement that makes
a great impact and maybe it shares something
of the "meditation on war…"
that pervades the Second Symphony.
The main thrust of
the dedication "…to my brother
Anstey Jacob, killed on the Somme in
1916" almost certainly lies
in the following movement (marked lento
e mesto) because it is elegiac throughout,
and towards the end is "in the
style of a funeral march",
in Jacob’s own words. It begins with
a slow ostinato figure on pizzicato
lower strings, timpani and harp and
the main theme is heard above this,
played quietly on trombones. The reflective
mood is briefly disturbed by a sudden
strike on a gong and a dramatic crescendo
before the main theme returns. Altogether
this movement is a moving tribute to
the dedicatee.
One surmises that the
Scherzo, so much lighter in vein, echoes
happier family memories, and this movement
is succeeded by a second slower movement,
a beautifully tranquil and modal Larghetto
and the second longest in the whole
work. This is not the final movement,
however, because this work is cast in
five movements, unusual for a symphony,
especially as Jacob generally adopted
classical forms for his music. This
movement is full of good tunes and is
in ternary form.
And so to the lively
(allegro con fuoco) fifth and
final movement which begins in fugal
style, though as a whole it is in the
form of a rondo. The main theme is a
sequence of four descending leaps of
fifths, corresponding to violin tuning,
as Eric Wetherell points out in the
CD booklet. It is energetic and broadly
optimistic in mood.
Let us turn to Symphony
No. 2, which was dedicated to the
Worshipful Company of Musicians to acknowledge
the John Collard Fellowship which Jacob
had held from 1943 to 1945. Having listened
to the Bostock recording over the past
decade, I have formulated my own interpretation
of the work in terms of its war-based
message. It is perfectly valid, in my
view, to express the feelings and emotions
that one experiences by listening to
a particular musical work. As Gordon
Jacob stated in a letter to me in 1958:
"Among all the arts, music seems
to make the most universal appeal because
of its elusive magical character which
enables it to mean one thing to one
person & another to another quite
rightly regardless of whether it meant
either to the composer (or indeed anything
to him apart from the weaving of webs
of sound)."
The first movement
begins with a sinister single long note
that leads to a slow introduction followed
by the brisker main theme on trumpet
(cf. Symphony No 1!). Together with
the energetic and vigorous musical ideas
that come and go, this movement seems
to depict the heat of battle, the tremendous
efforts made by all at home and at the
front to cope with the hostilities.
The second movement
(adagio molto) begins with a
cri de coeur from the strings
and the music is full of anguish, epitomising
the suffering of those involved. Towards
the end, however, there is surely courage
and optimism in the music.
The Scherzo with its
busy passages on strings and woodwind
and elegant theme on lower strings suggests
that life must go on and one must remain
optimistic, but sudden changes of mood
in this movement, menacing in character,
remind us that more sinister events
are just around the corner. Composer
Joseph Horovitz, one of Jacob’s students,
told me recently that he attended a
performance of this symphony in the
late 1940s and that Jacob had told him
to "…listen for the bomb!"
The very last note of this movement
is an orchestral "thump" quite
clearly intended to represent this weapon
of destruction, and there are perhaps
a few smaller ones scattered about earlier.
The final movement
is a ground, the repetitive motif seeming
to represent the continuous, persistent
and varied efforts of all involved in
the struggle. Starting in the minor
key it eventually blossoms into an exultant
mood in the major key signifying victory
and the work ends on a single continuous
note as at the very beginning of the
work, but this time with trills, no
longer sinister but triumphant.
Barry Wordsworth and
the LPO give sterling performances of
both works, which do seem to have a
certain affinity with each other and
they are a most welcome addition to
the catalogues. The orchestration is
as brilliant as one would expect and
there is a great clarity of texture,
too, another Jacob characteristic. All
the musical strands are distinct.
It is interesting to
compare the Bostock and Wordsworth readings
of the second symphony. The obvious
differences are that Wordsworth takes
the second movement a good deal slower
than does Bostock, and the Scherzo a
little faster. Overall, Wordsworth has
a slightly more laid-back approach.
The strings at the opening of the second
movement produce a spine-chilling sound
in Bostock’s version, not quite matched
in Wordsworth’s. Nevertheless, the slower
tempo is perfectly acceptable. Both
conductors allow the emotions to emerge.
At last we have more
examples of Jacob’s major works for
orchestra. They will surely serve to
re-establish his reputation after so
much neglect in the later years of his
life. Full marks to Lyrita for releasing
this intriguing and important CD.
Dr Geoff Ogram
The
Lyrita Catalogue
for details
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Barry Wordsworth
