Those of us who know and love Rubbra's music are at last getting what we
have wanted for many years, that is, a full and true representation of his
music on CD in superb performances. Now we have some of his most lovely music,
his songs and harp works. Rubbra loved the harp and he always wrote for it
with skill and understanding, quite often including it in his choral and
orchestral works with most telling effect (e.g. Inscape Op 122). Whilst I
might still say that Rubbra's choral music are still woefully little known
and under-represented in the catalogues most other areas of his work are
becoming appreciated and what he had to say both musically and spiritually
is chiming in with our own times.
To my knowledge only the Pezzo Ostinato has been recorded before (by Ann
Griffiths its dedicatee, in the early 70s) but some of the songs have been
put onto the Associated Board syllabus i.e., Hymn to the Virgin, and Jesukin,
not because of their technical difficulty necessarily, but because of the
considerable musicality it needs to bring off these perfect miniatures. I
have known the songs for over 20 years (indeed I was fortunate enough to
give the first London performance of The Mystery in 1974). I have taught
them and I well realise the myriad interpretations and nuances that are available
to the sensitive singer. Tracey Chadwell is just such a singer and captures
the true meaning of each song with total commitment and beauty.
Some of the above songs could be described as neo-medieval (Danielle Perrett
in her useful sleeve note does use that phrase) with their strong modality,
but other works here are Oriental in inspiration. The previously unknown
solo harp piece Fukagawa was written for an Oriental entertainment c.1927.
The Jade Mountain is a setting of Chinese poetry and the Pezzo Ostinato with
its incantatory atmosphere uses an unusual 7 note oriental scale stated at
the top of the score.
It is worth remembering that Rubbra was first exposed to things oriental
when he was briefly taught by Cyril Scott as early as 1920, and although
Rubbra became a Roman Catholic in the 1950s his interest never waned, note
that his only opera The Shadow subtitled Bee-Bee Bei (1933) was, the composer
remarked "fostered by my interest in Eastern philosophy and religion", and
the Piano Concerto Op 85 is dedicated to the Indian musician Ali Akbar Khan
whom he met c.1955.
The most substantial work here is the Transformations for solo harp Op 141
(1972). This is a remarkable piece. Rubbra once described his 11th Symphony
as 'a controlled improvisation' a term which I feel could well apply to much
of Rubbra's late music from c. 1970. Certainly the improvisatory feel is
strong here, but there is never a sense of meaningless rambling. The opening
idea of falling and rising sixths is, on the surface, rather banal but it
is developed with freedom and fantasy yet it is so very tightly controlled
that the work is captivating for its entire time, over 13 minutes. The
contributions from cellist Timothy Gill are also of a high quality with the
aptly titled Improvisation Op 124 a great highlight.
