Reading the composer's own account of his unconventional
musical pilgrimage in the notes accompanying this recording, one might
be forgiven for thinking it at least self- indulgence - at worst shameless
egotism. A composer who, unfashionably, writes music on a scale1
comparable with that of Busoni, Sorabji and Stevenson, and of a Mahlerian
intensity, must resolutely be able to defend himself against such a
charge - and that through his music. The record sleeve, written with
his heart very much on display on his other sleeve, tells us of his
rites of passage - citing Roussel, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Webern, Varèse,
Berg, Mahler, Medtner, Szymanowski, van Dieren and Busoni - a catalogue
of possible influences, a recital of which would today excite caution,
if not ill- founded antagonism. Regrettably Hinton's own music is too
little known. But whatever the convoluted rites of passage which he
describes with a detectable degree of emotion, there is little doubt
in my mind2 that, as a composer, Alistair Hinton has reached
a platform from which he is well equipped to champion his work in creative
composition. This he does, with some conviction, in this present work,
the eight year genesis of which he outlines in the notes in some detail.
Suffice it to say that I have played all three discs (just over 169
minutes duration!) a dozen times in total, discovering music of a rare
and compelling loveliness, rich in imagery, logical in structure - and
with growing admiration.
It is something of a paradox that a work so evidently
indebted to early Schoenberg (even to the illustration on the sleeve3
) and, to a much lesser extent, if at all, to Sorabji and Stevenson
(despite Hinton's role as archivist to the former) should emerge ultimately
as a highly original piece of writing.
No music today, written as this is in a tonal idiom
(albeit colourfully chromatic) can escape the charge of 'quoting' -
even of plagiarism - when he is merely dipping into the common pot of
20th century European musical experience4 .The impact of
Verklärte Nacht cannot be ignored, but its dark romanticism
is here absorbed into Hinton's own musical language. To compose a work
of such proportions, in a tonal framework, and with a bias towards C
major5 and having its genesis in a musical atmosphere, the
fashionable culture of the Boulez/Darmstadt/Donaueschingen persuasion,
with minimalism still then in the future, is surely original enough.
But the proof of the pudding …… !
The Quintet is in five movements, with a dramatic soprano
part in the final movement, drawing for texts on a variety of sources,
not all of them identified.
The first movement is in clear Sonata form, and opens
with a three-note 'motto' - C, F sharp, E flat - on Double Bass and.
Viola (Ex1) that holds within
it, as in a nucleus, the seeds of an essentially lyrical development.
This IS a far cry from Tchaikowsky’s or Beethoven's Fate' motif, being
of an introspective cast. Together with a rising scale passage (Ex.2
) , its retrograde corollary and a brief melodic pattern (Exx
3a and b), these elements are woven into a Chagall-like tapestry
of evocative colour. Propelled by an expectant dominant 7th build-up.
a strong sense of key persists and, after a climax, the lyrical second
subject crystallises (Exx 4 and 4a) whose
eloquence is to feature powerfully in the peroration of the work. If
one must cite influences then surely Siegfried Idyll is not far
away? After straying through various keys and finishing with an echo
of the 'motto' figure the material is developed over a rocking accompaniment.
The scale passages of Ex 2 are interwoven
in the development section and the movement continues with a reflective
epilogic musing resulting in the return of the opening 'motto', but
finally with G natural (replacing the F sharp) in C minor, its concerns
at least temporarily resolved. Such a brief description of what is a
richly inventive and elaborate piece of writing gives little enough
idea of this cogently constructed movement, from which the subsequent
material of the Quintet is formulated.6
The following three movements comprise two Scherzi
and an intervening Theme and Variations. The second brief movement is
marked Allegro scherzando and begins with a rhythmic Beethoven-ish pulse.
- I.Į | I .Į | I.Į |
- impish rather than devilish,
whose melodic aspect becomes clearer as the music progresses. It dissolves
into a mysterious fog of pizzicato and col legno sounds
from which an important figure materialises (Ex.5).
This is challenged by the motto theme from the opening of the first
movement (slightly varied) The opening rhythmic figure is coloured by
the mellow tones of the viola in the appearance of the important second
subject (Ex 6) which reappears, in the same
C minor tonality but rhythmically altered, in the second Scherzo. After
this is developed, entwined with elements of the first movement, the
rhythmic opening figure triumphs in a rather pompous-sounding march
rhythm, subduing Ex 6, which is heard as a ghostly echo.
The third movement is in the form of a Theme and Variations.
The theme is a slow-moving7
Mahlerian hymn (Ex 7) which despite straying
widely in the first of the Variations ends conclusively in D flat. The
second variation also strays widely but again ends in D flat. The third
takes the form of a contrapuntal dialogue between violin and the heavy-footed
Bass - an instrumental colour that is used to effect in the final movement.
A more ethereal treatment, like moths' wings, follows ending again solidly
on the note D flat which, with a G natural and E natural is a brief
gesture of Ex 1, as if calling a momentary halt. The fifth variation
is lyrical, yet stretches tonality to the limit en route and the movement
culminates in a warmly harmonised version of the theme - a kind of protracted
epilogue (which, in the same key of D flat, clothes the ultimate invocation
to 'Divine Music' (see Ex 16) in the final
movement of the Quintet.) effectively fulfilling the role of Variation
6, detached as it is from the other five by half a lifetime …
The second Scherzo which forms the fourth movement
is marked Allegro con Brio; its wraith-like sounds filled with a repeated
'pleading' motif (Ex 8) not unrelated to previous
figures such as Ex 5, and from this Ex 9's second subject ( a variant
of Ex 6 from the first Scherzo) appears in C minor.
This material, developed, ends with an eloquent Coda
passage that, before being rudely broken off seems to acknowledge a
passing debt to Schubert in its delicacy.
Thus far the conception of the Quintet is clearly enunciated,
of a recognisably logical construction. It is more than that - it is
a powerful and moving exposition of emotive ideas, and while in one
way self-contained formally at this point, with virtually all the material
exposed, it is in another way full of anticipation. In the fifth and
final movement, occupying almost thrice the time taken by the four preceding
movements, we are entering darker-hued territory. The atmosphere is
fraught - the strings intone an octave C, tremolando and as all save
the viola fall away, the remaining solo voice underpins the persistent
violin harmonics (recalling the third variation.) This is followed by
a drooping D- D flat, B- B flat in the double bass which underlines
the feeling of foreboding. Out of the darkness Ex 2, turning in on itself,
prepares sombrely for the return of Ex 1 which, with the lyrical E xx
6 and 9, is mulled over. The nightmarish sonority
of bass and ghostly harmonics continues, and, as if in anticipation
of what is to come, these violin harmonics seem to acquire the timbre
of a distant human voice. With more impassioned and enigmatic intensity
the earlier material of the Quintet (Exx 6, 9 and 4,) strays further
and further from a tonal centre. Ex 1 is again suggested only to be
borne away in another scherzo-like passage recalling the second movement
of the work. Despite attempts to reawaken the more lyrical aspects the
mood remains one of uncertainty. Resolution is imperative and, dramatically
over dark harmonically clouded tremolando chords, the soprano, entering
for the first time intones (Ex10) the words
of an unidentified Brahmin Rishi poet8
- ‘I have seen the vision’. From this point contact with tonality seems
lost in the strange unworldly atmosphere 'ich fuhle luft / von anderen
Planeten’ and underlying the restless music, the philosophy of 'Self'
becomes an elitist stance against the cult of the commonplace. Taking
a second text from Schoenberg, 'the chosen one' is urged to believe
in the Spirit, and to ,create 'beyond [his] courage' to accomplish,
further pursuing the elitist standpoint. Over the next few bars much
is made of the extreme sonorities of voice, double bass and violin harmonics,
with a foretaste of the ultimate consummation - a shadowy version of
Ex 4a ( and later Ex 17) appearing in the
darkness. With a climax on the words 'Kleine nicht verehern' the voice
blends into a high cello C (a reversal of the effect heard previously
in the movement) and, like a benediction, come the words 'you must believe
in the Spirit'.
Along double-bass cadenza with the rising and falling
scale patterns elaborated in counterpoint with the other instruments
leads to the next setting. This, a little known sonnet of Keats written
'in disgust at vulgar superstition' is clothed with the colour of tolling
bells - 'a melancholy sound' - achieved by a curious but evocative use
of upper harmonics. Pursuing the elitist standpoint, there is irony
in repeated pointing of the word 'glory' with a falling series of 6/3
minor chords descending by whole tone steps (Ex
11). Another recitative 'My Soul preached to me ... taught me to
love that which the people abhor', further separates the artist from
popular acclaim. This is expressed in a diatribe (to words of Delius,
himself intolerant of the mediocre) in which 'Music is a cry of the
Soul' .In this lengthy section - an extended aria scored for voice and
Bass only - those who do 'anything and call it art' are castigated,
followed by the epitome of elitism in words by Norman Douglas 'Consider
well your neighbour / What an imbecile he is'
Delius's ironic sentiments 'Great men must be denied
in order that the little ones become conspicuous' brings back the falling
6/3 minor tone motif (Ex11) .It is not surprising
to find herein the words of Sorabji, one of the strongest influences
in the thinking (though not recognisable in the music) of Hinton, summing
up the position of the creative artist as the elitist par excellence
- the adventurer into Nirvana, seeking the ultimate refuge therein as
the only El Dorado in a world of mediocracy.
Significantly the words 'music is a way to enlightenment
of the spirit' are intoned, unaccompanied, with the spoken voice uttering
Sorabji's final sentence from his book' Around Music'.9
This marks a very definite turning point as the music
resumes, quietly, dream-like and gradually thickening in texture with
the following words of Milton II And as I wake" ( Ex
12) following Ex 6 and returning to more earth-bound harmony. Now
is addressed the' ALL' of creation, the music leading inexorably towards
a climax at 'For Thou art all' - a spectacular high C , fraught with
expectancy on the final syllable (Ex 13),
the soprano voice blending into the cello which then traces exactly
the same line that followed the word 'verehren' (where the cello had
entered on the same high C. ) But resolution thus glimpsed from afar
( in a brief reference to Ex 4) - as Bax did
in his seven Symphonies - is not yet to be. The mists of those evanescent
regions instead of dispersing turn to clouds. This shadowy Adagio statement
of Ex 4 precedes a passage that might pre-echo the image of 'ceaseless
patterns of being' - a line which occurs in the later poem of Tagore
(which follows after some 350 bars.) The texture is invaded and disrupted
by rhythmic references to Exx 5 and 8, culminating in the disruptive
rhythm from the opening bars of the first Scherzo.
During this, and the following pages where we encounter
a triple fugue, the voice is noticeably silent while the composer comes
to terms with his philosophy.10
A climax of harsh chords introduces the first fugal theme (Ex
14) acknowledging its indebtedness to previous material. With the
disintegration of this trenchant rhythm, the slow deliberate processional
of the second fugue appears (Ex 15) above
which the violin sings softly of the poet's "ageless light". This long
contrapuntal chorale-like episode becomes progressively more dark in
colour. As these chords begin to unravel this polyphony ends suddenly
in a tremolo sfz chord, and the third fugal subject appears (derived
from Ex 3b), underpinned by the grotesque rhythm of Ex 14 in a kind
of 'Dance to the Music of Time'. Out of this furioso confusion
the voice reappears with the words of Tagore 'The eternal Dream is borne
on the wings of ageless light', and Self is now projected into the vision
of Life and Love, that which is essentially expressed only in music,
now the sole object of veneration. Emerging quietly from the tumult
on a radiant D flat Adagio" again on an expectant pedal 6/4 chord, ‘Divine
Music’ (Ex 16) is a lyrical hymn to Music,
that "inspirer of poets, composers and architects" , paying its
debt to Schoenberg in a long mellifluous passage, ascending into the
aether towards a seeming resolution on D flat. This promise is however
rudely interrupted by a brusque pattern of descending scale figures,
very reminiscent of Verklärte Nacht - and this agitation
gathers emotional momentum to what is the ultimate expression of the
foregoing - "Love can give no idea of Music/Music can give an idea of
Love" (Ex 17) - a peak of heart-wrenching
loveliness. They are "The two wings of the Soul" (Ex
18) - and on these words the voice on atop B against a 6/4 C major
chord, reaches the emotional climax of the whole work.
Significantly there is nothing Wagnerian about this
consummation - a restrained, even awesome, triumph of the spirit. Exhausted,
there now begins a poignant and richly harmonised Epilogue in which
all the previous material is involved - a vast quasi-liebestod, in which
the voice addresses "O Thou Love of unsurpassable sweetness", exhorting
the music to illuminate the creative spirit. All the earlier material
seems to come together to round off the composer's plea, and with an
ethereal procession of chords seems to approach a cadence. But with
a thrilling modulation to a further top C "Now all is finished.
the ultimate apex is reached (Ex 19) - the
last bars resembling the climber who, as he scales each peak, finds
another mountain in view. The preceding series of chords now lead to
what is probably the 'raison d'etre' of the Quintet - "Others may be
dumb in their sufferings/But God gave me a gift to tell of mine.":-
These final pages ~ reaching union. with the 'omnipresent
Spirit Love and Music, which is Beauty Supreme, move with all the solemnity
of a vast chorale (combining Exx 3b,4 and 6, all melded in a glorious
and peaceful whole) , and the calm of ultimate resolution towards the
Quintet's final resting place in an unequivocal C major, the invocation
'Beauty' echoed by a disembodied voice as the curtain falls over the
final seven bars. I am reminded of Bax - "Within us the desire
becomes an agony to live for a single hour with all the might of the
imagination: to drown our beings in the proud sunlit tumult of one instant
of utter realisation even though it consume us utterly …"11
What are we to make of this music - not only a gloriously
uninhibited declaration of a young composer's musical philosophy, an
exposé of an inner soul in terms that are rapidly belonging to
a past age - but now a listener's journey through an emotional landscape
of varying territory - an experience from which one cannot come away
unmoved. It is a major assault on the fashionable foibles of a musical
public in danger of being seduced from Beauty by the empty posturings
and caricatures of those who seek, vainly and mistakenly, for the momentary
thrill and acclaim that passes for 'originality' but in reality is only
novelty. Do not be fooled - this is the genuine article - and, in my
estimation, one of the potentially great works of the 21st Century.
In his notes Alistair Hinton speaks of the commitment
of the soloists. This is felt in these discs, clear and involved. So
involved in fact and so much part of the creation of this astonishing
work that I accepted the commitment in the playing without requiring
to mention it - the composer's will rightly adjudged and interpreted.
There is nothing more to be said except what is in the music itself
.
Colin Scott-Sutherland
see also review and article
by Rob Barnett
FOOTNOTES
(1) Pansophiae for John Ogdon (organ) 44': 2nd Piano Sonata 70': Sequentia
Clavicensis 72':
(2) As I had already reviewed Hinton's 'Variations on a theme of Grieg’,
and to avoid any danger of diluting my own impressions, I played all
3 discs some 8 or 9 times before reading his Notes.
(3) footnote deleted
(4) I use the term 'European' deliberately - the esoteric influence
of Sorabji felt in the philosophy yet not in the music.
(5) "the prevailing tonal centres of the work are actually C minor (1st
movt), G sharp minor (2nd , movt, altho' its second subject returns
to C minor), D flat major (3rd movt) E flat minor (4th movt) and C minor
( 5th movt up to the entry of the soprano ). The ultimate tonal goal
is of course C major but other than a brief shard of this tonality just
before the recapitulatory passage in the 2nd movt it is not reached,
indeed it is almost wilfully avoided 'at no matter what cost' until
it bursts upon the scene (see Ex 18 above: ed) 'to herald the words
"They are the two wings of the Soul" - thereafter , and only thereafter,
does the music retain a bias towards the C major of its conclusion (letter
from the composer).
(6) Sorabji would have exclaimed infantillistic babble about 'form',
'subjects', 'development' and all .the rest of classroom claptrap tells
us less than nothing about the music' ('Mi Contra Fa' Porcupine Press
page 15)
(7) .it was the general 'feel' of the second movement of Beethoven's
opus 127 String Quartet and its layout as a very long, slow theme wi!h
but few variations that was a kind of inspiration for the Quintet's
third movement (letter from the composer).
(8) The texts of this final movement, from a variety of unlikely sources,
are not all identified. The composer explains that, having virtually
abandoned the composition at some point in its gestation, notes were
subsequently lost when moving house.
(9) The final chapter of 'Around Music' (Unicorn Press 1932) entitled
'The Good, the Beautiful, the True' whose catalogue of 'masters' reflects
pretty well those already mentioned above, and in which the argument
of 'What is Beauty' is proved impossible to resolve universally. Let
us take refuge in Nirvana and leave it at that’.
(10) His philosophy is perhaps in some way involved in the necessity
for the formal strength exemplified in the Fugue as form - a Bach-like
formal perfection where perhaps Life and Love are in some way Subject,
and Counter Subject?
(11) 'The Lifting of the Veil' from 'Children of the Hills' Arnold Bax.
Maunsel. Dublin. p91.
see also review and article
by Rob Barnett
Sarah Leonard
(soprano)