Back in 2008 I reviewed
a most enjoyable disc of orchestral music by John Gardner. Based
on that experience I was delighted to receive this disc containing
more music by him, much of which was previously unknown to me.
Most of the programme content is Christmas music. The exception
is the Chamber Concerto. This was written for the inauguration
of the organ at Dartington College of Arts. The scoring is not
only modest but also unusual: as well as the solo instrument
Gardner calls for oboe, bassoon, horn, trumpet, percussion and
string quintet. Such scoring might raise the fear that the organ
might overwhelm the accompaniment, especially in this instance
a large cathedral instrument. However, Gardner’s scoring is
cunning and the organist never overwhelms his colleagues, though
it’s possible, of course, that on this occasion the microphones
have helped a little. If so that’s acceptable because on a recording
one needs to hear as much as possible.
It’s a pithy, attractive work. In his notes the composer’s son,
Chris, quotes his father confiding to his diary during the composition
“It comes, but with ill grace”. To be honest, the listener would
find it hard – if not impossible – to detect the “ill grace”.
The first movement opens, unusually, with an extended passage
for solo double bass, played pizzicato. The choice
of instrument and the syncopated rhythms give a jazz flavour
and when the organ becomes the second instrument that we hear
the slightly jazzy rhythms continue. The strings have a second
subject which is a touch more lyrical but overall the perkiness
remains. Chris Gardner applies the term “neo-baroque” to the
second movement. I agree: it seems to me to have some of Stravinsky’s
piquancy. The finale, in Chris Gardner’s words, “develops a
couple of cheerful and capricious themes with plenty of good
humour and cross-rhythms galore.” The music is extrovert and
puckish – and great fun. I love the delicate little pay-off
at the end. This concerto makes for very pleasant listening;
it’s entertaining. It’s not a virtuoso work, more a conversation
between eleven musicians with the organist as primus
inter pares. That’s not to diminish in any way the
performance of Stephen King, who plays excellently, as do his
colleagues. This is the work’s first recording; it’s a welcome
addition to the catalogue and it was a nice touch to invite
the composer’s son, Chris to conduct this recording.
Half of the eight carols are also receiving their first recordings.
John Gardner became Director of Music at St. Paul’s Girls’ School
in 1962 and so it’s appropriate that not only should all the
vocal music have been recorded there but also that the Paulina
Voices should be on hand to join in some of the carols. This
is a choir that comprises girls from the top four years at St.
Paul’s and they more than justify their involvement; there are
some good voices in this choir. They are heard to particularly
good advantage in Gardner’s best-known composition, Tomorrow
shall be my dancing day, of which they give a fine, spirited
performance. Among the other carols The Holly and the Ivy
is a jolly setting; I’m not surprised to read that it was “a
wow” at its first performance. Also worthy of note is Entry
of the three Kings. I’ve heard this before. It
was written for the annual Nativity Play at Springhead, the
family home of Henry (Rolf) Gardiner. Sir John Eliot Gardiner,
who remembered the plays well from his childhood, recreated
some of that music in his marvellous album Once as I Remember,
which has just been reissued on Eloquence and he included John
Gardner’s piece in that collection. It’s well worth hearing.
You may be surprised at the unusually sprightly arrangement
of Good King Wenceslas but it works well.
The main Christmas fare, however, comes in the shape of Cantata
for Christmas, here recorded for the first time. This consists
of seven short movements set for SATB choir and a modest orchestra.
Each movement features a well-known carol or Christmas hymn
– the chorale Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, or
variances upon it, runs as a thread through several of the movements.
I have to say that the first movement, which is a chorale-prelude
on Wie schön leuchtet strikes me as a little bit dull
and earnest. However, even if you agree with me – and you may
not – persevere because things look up thereafter. There’s some
attractive, light-footed music in the next movement, a short
setting of Herrick’s Ode on the birth of our Saviour.
Later, a setting of O magnum mysterium is restricted
to the sopranos and altos, accompanied only by oboe and horn.
The music is somewhat spare, almost austere, but it’s effective.
There’s a festive setting of the tune we know as Unto us
is born a Son and another austere setting, this time of
the Coventry Carol. Finally, Gardner rounds things
off with a fast-paced setting of In dulci jubilo. This
movement is mainly a merry dance though the reappearance of
Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern ushers in a calmly
reflective ending.
I enjoyed this cantata though there were times when I wished
for a bit more sparkle in the music. Though much of it is attractive
I don’t find it as consistently appealing as, say, Geoffrey
Bush’s winning A Christmas Cantata, which still awaits
a complete recording. However, it’s an enjoyable piece and,
like the Chamber Concerto, it’s a very welcome addition to the
catalogue. The performance under Hilary Davan Wetton is committed.
My one criticism is that the words aren’t always ideally clear
and it’s a pity that no texts or translations are provided.
The recorded sound is good for all performances and, apart from
the lack of texts, the documentation, in which Chris Gardner
makes good use of his father’s diaries, is valuable. Once again
EM Records have put English music lovers in their debt with
another enterprising issue of music that deserves to be much
better known.
John Quinn
Hanah Parry-Ridout has also listened to this disc:
Now this is the sort of thing you could definitely give someone
for Christmas. No-one will own recordings of these pieces already,
as almost every piece has never been recorded before. Not only
that, but it is great music which is well performed. John Gardner,
who died last year, followed in the footsteps of Herbert Howells
as Director of Music at St. Paul’s Girls’ School in Barnes,
London which proved to be quite an inspiration to his choral
writing. Many of the Christmas Carols on this disc were composed
for, or first performed at the School, including Gardner’s most
well known work; Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day,
which is performed here by Paulina Voices, the auditioned
choir of the older girls at St. Paul’s. The girls easily handle
the complicated rhythms and provide a beautifully rich and even
tone. The other carols are sung by the City of London Choir
which also has a lovely warm tone, although the lower parts
occasionally become heavy when deep in their registers. Especially
well performed is the setting of O Little Town of Bethlehem
which was written for an American publisher. It is a substantial
choral work with intricate word setting. The choir achieve subtlety
in their performance, which is rare with an amateur choir of
such large forces. Entry of The Three Kings, which
is scored for unaccompanied voices and oboe, suffers slightly.
This harmonically complex piece has a huge dynamic range and
the pitch wobbles at both extremes of the spectrum but the interplay
of oboe and chorus creates a mysterious air. However, Hilary
Davan Wetton has a secure hand on the rudder of this choir and
they should all be very proud of their achievements with this
recording.
The Cantata for Christmas was completed in 1966 and
was described by Gardner in the book Twenty British Composers
as “dull and insipid” and “lacking in warmth and spontaneity”.
It is none of those things. Yes, sometimes warmth is lacking,
but with good reason. The hymn Wie schoen leuchtet der Morgernstern
is a thread which runs through the whole work whilst almost
all the movements are based on familiar Christmas Carols. The
first movement isn’t the most successful, or the most securely
performed, yet it is an enjoyable piece. The second movement,
written partly in the Dorian mode, inhabits some of those dark
places that Britten gives light to, which are perfectly orchestrated
to dramatic effect. The best performance is the third movement,
an arrangement of what we know as Angels from the Realms
of Glory. The vocal parts are quite straight-forward for
much of this movement but the cunning instrumental writing,
performed securely and in perfect balance, creates a unified
entity which could be performed as a piece in its own right.
The tuning is exposed in the mysterious fourth movement which
is set for sopranos and altos with oboe and horn. The darkness
returns in the sixth movement, Coventry Carol, which
includes vocal soloists and is a miniature masterpiece. The
final movement appears to be returning to a jovial mood but
takes some sinister turns in the middle. This work demonstrates
Gardner’s extremely skilful composition methods, the carols
that are regularly performed don’t fully portray his mastery
of the forces he chooses.
The final work on this CD is the Organ Concerto. After
a slightly underwhelming beginning of solo bass pizzicato, the
intentions of the first movement are stated and the jazz influences
aren’t disguised. It all finally gets going in the development
section of this sonata form movement. The organ takes centre
stage and the orchestration becomes unified. This must have
been very difficult to record. Brentwood Cathedral’s organ is
huge and for Stephen King’s playing to be so clear is a credit
to both performer and recording engineer. The second movement,
entitled Duetto was composed using imitative-counterpoint.
The organ playing is first rate but it would have helped the
overall sound if the string players had tried to match the sound
of the organ slightly more, perhaps using less vibrato, which
would give a more unified blend of sounds. This happens when
the oboe and bassoon take the foreground and the performance
feels more rounded. The Finale trips along with great
energy and whilst the tuning isn’t always spot-on, the cheerful
movement contains enjoyable interplay of instruments. Whilst
this piece doesn’t have the serious intentions of Howells’ Rhapsodies
or the compositional dominance of Britten, it is an effective
composition which makes an enjoyable conclusion to a lovely
CD.
Hannah Parry-Ridout
And Gary Higginson
The long-lived and astonishingly prolific John Gardner who died
last year has yet to receive his due rewards. He remains one
of the most original and intriguing figures in English twentieth
century music. Some of you might possess the disc consisting
of his Third Symphony and Flute Concerto (ASV
WHL2125) but there have been other recordings. Indeed Naxos
recorded his Piano Concerto and the powerful First Symphony
in 2006 (8.570406).
It’s good to welcome this newcomer especially in the run-up
to Christmas. After all, for many it is Gardner’s highly rhythmic
and exciting Tomorrow shall be my dancing day (track
13) that introduced them to his music. It shouldn’t stop there.
The disc cuts to the chase immediately with the Cantata
for Christmas, which, like several of the pieces is a world
premiere recording. The cantata is scored for double choir and
small orchestra. It opens similarly to Honegger’s Christmas
Cantata written just about fourteen years before, in a
sombre Advent tone as it were, and uses the German Advent chorale
Wie schon leuchtet. In fact other choral and hymn melodies
also permeate the work. The texts used include ‘Ode on the birth
of our Saviour’ by Robert Herrick which is followed by ‘Les
anges dans nos campagnes’ set in the original French. After
the angels proclaim the birth we move to the stable for ‘O magnum
mysterium’ in Latin evocatively set for upper voices, oboe and
horn. The joy of the birth of the child is represented in a
brief scherzo again to Latin words: ‘Puer nobis nascitur’. The
composer’s original notes are quoted. He admits to having ‘monkeyed
with the rhythm’ in this movement. The murder by Herod of the
young boys is austerely set in the Coventry Carol having a cold,
almost medieval atmosphere. The 'In dulci jubilo'
finale is suitable animated and brings the piece to a grand
end; quite why Gardner described it as ‘dull and insipid’ I
can’t say and neither can any one of the many musicians who
have performed it over the years. The performance is ideal,
beautifully balanced and clearly enunciated with some lovely
solo work both instrumentally and vocally.
The middle portion of the CD is given over to eight Christmas
Carols some using the traditional melodies like Good King
Wenceslas and others that are totally original. Most are
well known but the Sunny bank Carol was new to me.
It’s short and delightful. The selection includes a terrific
performance of Tomorrow shall be my dancing day. They
were written for Carol concerts held at St. Paul’s Girl’s School
in Hammersmith where Holst had worked. It’s especially good
to have the clear, fresh and young singers of the Paulina Voices
under Hilary Davan Wetton who was also Director of Music at
the school between 1979 to 1994. His work on behalf of British
Music of all eras has been legendary having also founded the
Holst Singers. Gardner, like all altruistic composers involved
in the education of teenagers regarded creating music especially
for them as essential. Apparently some of the tunes often developed
from improvisations in the classroom; his diaries often comment
on these occasions. Some extracts are quoted in Chris Gardner’s
excellent booklet notes. These concerts included audience participation.
On top of the unison tunes the composer added descants - he’s
especially good at these - and also sometimes altered the rhythms,
and even the keys. It must have made the concerts great fun.
I wouldn’t want to give the impression that Gardner’ ‘knocked
off’ these pieces over night although he could be a very fluent
composer. The lovely setting of Little Town of Bethlehem
written for an American publisher, was his third attempt over
a Christmas holiday before he was satisfied. The manuscript
of The Holly and the Ivy is reproduced in the booklet
and is a clever and brilliantly memorable tune. It also works
as a canon ā 4. We Wish you a Merry Christmas is set
with a piano part in the style of Count Basie. The original
performers the Louis Halsey singers recorded it in the 1960s.
It’s worth searching out Gardner’s Petite Suite for
recorder and strings (ASV
WHL2143) one of his last works. Its opening movement is
a neo-baroque Prelude - the shapes and humour of baroque music
often inspired the composer. Gardner was also a lover of Jazz
and in the final work on the disc baroque and jazz mix in the
Chamber Concerto. It’s unusually scored for organ and
ten players: a mixture of woodwinds, percussion and strings.
It begins with something like a funky-jazz bass line although
develops into a more neo-classical Toccata. The second movement
Duetto offers us “neo-baroque imitative counterpoint” to quote
Chris Gardner’s notes. This is filtered through a nightclub
atmosphere. The finale, with its syncopations and cross-rhythms,
is infectious and filled with many Gardner fingerprints: capricious
and bouncy rhythms and quirky orchestration. This last movement
was, apparently encored at the first performance. The whole
piece will give enormous pleasure to listeners. It is also a
welcome find for any musicians who are looking for an unusual
work which is also not too long to frighten the horses. As in
all the other pieces the performances seem to be ideal, utterly
committed and technically assured.
In any other circumstances I would now have been rather grumpy
about the lack of texts in the booklet. I would also have appreciated
if the Cantata had been supplied with translations. That said,
the choir’s diction is amazingly clear helped no doubt by the
excellent recording and adroitly chosen acoustics. Also, quite
astonishingly, the CD came into my hands just over a month after
the last recording was completed. It just shows what can be
done. Congratulations to all concerned in its presentation and
in the wonderfully committed and prepared performances. Worth
every penny.
Gary Higginson
*Stephen King (organ); Mark Williams (piano)