The first thing you
notice is the acoustic of All Saints
Church which is allowed to bloom in
fullness and resonance. It is a cathedral
effect although with echo-blur under
control.
King's Herald from
the brass band suite Pageantry is
tumultuously and densely ebullient.
The opulence is crowned by the organ’s
underpinning and by horns rolling and
roaring (e.g. at 3.30). Howells certainly
makes a glorious noise though I am not
sure that this is lyrically memorable.
Contrast this very public ceremonial
with the Paradise Rondel which
is a work from the heart. Paradise is
a Cotswold village and of it Howells
said: ‘a good walking place full of
tunes for those who can hear them’.
This is a very Elgarian sentiment and
the walking references chime perfectly
with the wanderings of Vaughan Williams,
Holst and Gurney. The Paradise Rondel
is a gentle rural fantasy - more
impressionistic and ecstatic than Vaughan
Williams; a better linkage is to Butterworth's
Shropshire Lad, Hadley's One
Morning in Springtime and Finzi's
Severn Rhapsody - or further
afield to the sustained lyricism of
Josef Suk's Ripening and A
Summer's Tale. Once again there
are some densely magnificent and thrusting
climaxes.
Then come two works
for cello and orchestra. The Fantasia
is often just the other side of
the same lichen-hung river as Frank
Bridge's Oration (11:47) though
without Bridge's grieving caustic eloquence
and certainly without his extremes of
asperity. The work encloses a soliloquising
episode of discontent between animated
and densely active - prelude and epilogue.
The Threnody was to have been
the slow movement of a Cello Concerto.
The concentrated grieving manner is
deeply impressive more so than in the
case of the Fantasia. The angry
emotional cargo of the piece occasionally
recalls the Barber Adagio not
least at the vehement climax at 5.18.
There is a kinship
between the Paradise Rondel and
the even more substantial Pastoral
Rhapsody. As ever with Howells the
French Horns add a radiance throughout
... often subtly. The skein of sound
is related to Vaughan Williams’ Pastoral
Symphony, another work of the 1920s.
Similar mood-idylls can be found from
the pens of Finzi (Severn Rhapsody),
Bax (Spring Fire, Summer and
The Happy Forest), Delius and
even Ludolf Nielsen. I have already
mentioned Josef Suk. The difference
here is that Howells’ distinctive gift
for movement and flow and his use of
folksong is always tasteful and avoids
‘the smocks and straw’ (6.23). Indeed
when he grasps a climactic moment one
can see linkages with Bridge's Enter
Spring (8.15) and Foulds' April-England.
Here reflective-idyllic music frames
more animated action.
Procession is
dedicated to Arthur Benjamin and is
evocative of marching feet though there
is no sense of khaki or field grey.
This is a very colourful, almost Rimskian,
piece complete with orchestral piano,
harp and xylophone. Its extroversion
makes it feel more like Bliss than Howells
but then you might say the same of King's
Herald.
This is a stunning
recording. The music is rewarding and
varied. Do not miss this sleeper in
the catalogue especially if you have
any feel for the Howells who is here
on display both in intimacy and in public
celebration.
Rob Barnett
see also review
by Hubert Culot
Moray Welsh, cello 
