This is an interesting
programme although I must be honest
and state straightaway that the most
impressive part of this CD is the recording
of the 11 Preludes by
Ivor Gurney. Well at least ten preludes
– the eleventh is a ‘fragment.’
The rest of the CD
consists of a variety of adventures
by composers who are alive and well
and working in the ambit of the River
Severn. The youngest of these composers
is just nudging thirty whilst the eldest
is well past his three score and ten.
Geoffrey Self is the
only one of these Severnside Composers
of whom I had heard before reviewing
this CD. In the programme notes he claims
that the Sonatina 1 is ‘light
music.’ Perhaps he and I have different
concepts of what light music is. This
is certainly not Eric Coates or Robert
Farnon – it is much more like Walter
Leigh’s Concertino for Harpsichord
and Strings – a point noted by Colin
Scott-Sutherland in his review on these
pages. This is an extremely attractive
work that deserves its place in the
repertoire. I especially liked the slow
Elegy – which to me is not 'light’
but actually ‘reflective’; apart from
the Gurney Preludes, the best
thing on this CD!
Jolyon Laycock studied
with Cornelius Cardrew and Roger Smalley
in the 1970s. I cannot say that the
prelude L’Abri Pataud impresses
me; it seems to ramble without coming
to any conclusion.
Richard Barnard is
the youngest composer represented. Amongst
other things he teaches composition
at Bristol Cathedral School and plays
in a band called ‘Goldfunk’. The piece
presented here is the slightly Debussy-esque
‘On Erin’s Shore’. The programme
notes state that the tune is ‘hidden
between various layers of melody and
pulse, creating a fragmentary, brittle
and dream-like atmosphere’. Who knows?
However it is a nice piece that does
not deserve to be lost in the mists
of time. Stephen Kings’ ‘Fingers
Pointing to the Moon’ is a very
different proposition. The work has
a somewhat ambitious aim – to get to
grips with mankind’s futile attempts
to describe God. It is the longest single
piece on the CD – however I am not sure
it is the best. It all sounds a little
contrived and what it gains in its tight
compositional structure it loses in
its lack of lyricism; very much like
music I had to listen to in cartloads
back in the seventies.
Susan Coppard’s work
is described by the composer herself
as ‘Bach in an Israeli Madhouse’. It
is part hora, apparently and part fugue
- it is hardly a masterpiece and I feel
that it lives up to its origins as a
compositional exercise at Canford! And
a hora is a traditional round dance
from Romania or Israel, in case anyone
was wondering. Why a ‘madhouse?’ I do
not know – I can only assume that it
is some kind of political point that
should have been unpacked in the programme
notes.
John Pitts’ music reminds
me of Herbert Howells’ Lambert’s
Clavichord; not in idiom so much
as his ‘picking up’ an older style of
keyboard composition and re-presenting
it for our times. One ‘Aire’
and two ‘Fantasys’ are given
here. The former relying on ‘tune’ whilst
the latter owes more to ‘pattern’. Fantasy
5 is based on a prelude by
Bach. This is lovely music to listen
to and shows a deep absorption of earlier
styles but with a large degree of originality
added for good measure.
Apparently James Patten
studied with Richard Arnell. I am not
sure that the wisdom and style of this
composer has rubbed off on the pupil
– at least as far as these works are
concerned. I cannot for the life of
me understand why the pieces have been
called Nocturnes. Nocturne
No.3 is an exploration into the
effects of ‘overtone – produced by striking
a low note while holding others silently’.
No.4 is a rumination on the progress
of two sets of chords made up of 4ths.
This one is certainly rather lovely.
But the first did not move me in the
least. Curiously, the 3rd
Nocturne opens with six seconds of silence
– how do I know when it has started
and/or when to begin counting?
The Dorian Dirge
by Sulyen Caradon (real name Richard
Carder) is just that – a bit like chewing
toffee. The interest, supposedly is
in the bass, In spite of the fact that
it was written for a musician who died
in tragic circumstances, it fails do
anything for me other than be thankful
Ivor Gurney’s beautiful Prelude in
C minor is next in the batting order.
Raymond Warren’s contribution
is unfortunate. There are only two movements
of a three movement Sonata presented
here. Whatever happened to the middle
movement? I am sure it has been omitted
for space reasons. But I am afraid I
would have dumped one or two (or more)
of the other works on this CD to give
Mr Warren full credit. The Sonata
is hardly new; it was composed for the
1977 Cardiff Festival. But it is full
of interest and colour and vitality
– even if the invention fails a little
from time to time.
I am not convinced
that Peter Jacob was right in scattering
the Gurney Preludes throughout
the programmes. It is to these works
that I will turn again and again – so
I will have to programme my CD player
to give them to me in order!
This is not the time
to rehearse the tragic life of Ivor
Gurney, however it is important to recall
that Gurney is best remembered for his
songs and his poetry rather than his
instrumental music or even his lost(?)
Symphony. Gurney produced many
works for chamber groups and instrumentalists
but apparently did not have a great
mastery of ‘sonata’ form and the music
tended to ‘lose direction.’ What we
have in these Preludes is a fine
example of his skill at writing for
the piano – which of course is always
self evident in the accompaniment to
his songs. These are typical examples
of post-Great War ‘Georgian’ music.
However they are not redolent of Englishry
or pastoralism. It is not easy to say
that these works sound like this or
that composer. If I had to plump for
a name to give the potential listener
some kind of clue it would have to be
York Bowen; I suppose I make this comparison
more to emphasise the European rather
than the English dimension of these
Preludes.
Peter Jacob has provided
the last few bars to the second prelude
of the third set, as Gurney had left
it incomplete at the time of his death.
The music was derived from the composer’s
song Heart’s Pain.
Generally speaking
this is a nice CD to have. In some ways
the music is variable. The playing however
is committed and the sound quality is
excellent.
As I have indicated,
the main event is the sequence of Gurney
Preludes. However it is always
interesting to hear works from composers
who are less often heard than perhaps
they deserve. Let us hope that this
will not be a one-off CD from the Severnside
Composer’s Alliance and that we will
be hearing more from (some) of these
composers.
Aside from the Gurney
the highlights for me are the Self,
the Warren and the Pitts!
John France
see also review
by Colin Scott Sutherland
DUNELM add:
I apologise for omitting the venue and
thank John for deawing this to my attention.
It will be added to the booklet immediately.
The recital was "Live" and
recorded in The Michael Tippett Centre,
Bath Spa University College, Newton
Park, near Bath, Avon.
Regarding Raymond Warren's contribution
about which John France opines, about
the middle movemen, that "I am
sure it has been omitted for space reasons."
This is not so! The recital was recorded
in its entireity and nothing was omitted.
Richard Carder, who was the "pomoter/organiser"
might be able to supply the answer.
[possibly more later]
Peter Jacobs (piano) 
