This is the latest
release in the Naxos British Piano Concerto
series. Having so far concentrated on
relatively well-known names - even if
their piano concertos are hardly everyday
listening - here comes the music of
someone much more obscure. Born in Bolton
of humble origins, Thomas Pitfield managed
to study briefly at the Royal Manchester
College of Music and returned there
as a member of its teaching staff in
1947. That was the year he wrote his
First Piano Concerto at the behest of
Stephen Wearing, who gave the first
performance with the (now Royal) Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra. The excellent
essay in the booklet by John Turner
informs us that "as a composer, Pitfield
was essentially self-taught". Indeed
his music is a little hard to place
although reasonably obviously "British".
Coming from an original, if almost forgotten
voice, this seems well worth resurrecting.
When Pitfield retired
from teaching in 1973 the First Concerto
was revived at a farewell concert by
Anthony Goldstone who plays it here
most convincingly in a recording made
thirty years later. Structurally not
particularly remarkable – there are
three movements in the classical format,
Pitfield’s material is harmonically
interesting and tuneful in a folkish
kind of manner. The piano part is felicitous
and accompaniment relatively sparse
but includes significant percussion.
The Second Piano Concerto
is briefer and much less conventional.
There are three short movements – Dance
Prologue, Interlude on White Keys, and
Air and Variations. The latter is based
on the folksong The Oak and the Ash
and there are three variations. The
work was commissioned by a publisher
friend but it is not now clear when
it was premiered. Peter Donohoe takes
over as soloist for the rest of the
disc and dashes this off with great
aplomb. As in the First Concerto, the
Royal Northern College of Music Orchestra
give excellent support under Andrew
Penny.
There are seven studies
on an English Dance-Tune, the tune being
Jenny Pluck Pears. They are for
solo piano and proper miniatures with
none lasting as much as a full minute.
Only the third – Cantabile Melody
– is in a remotely slow tempo. Written
for John McCabe when he was a student,
he performed it first at the Royal Manchester
College. The Arietta and Finale, and
Toccata are earlier works for solo piano
which are less strikingly original but
attractive enough.
In many ways the best
is left until last. Peter Donohoe leaves
the piano, picks up his sticks and impresses
greatly in the Xylophone sonata, a work
written when Pitfield was in his mid-eighties
and still remarkably productive. In
four movements, this work catches the
ears and charms without being in the
least inconsequential. If your collection
lacks anything for solo Xylophone (as
mine did), this would be a very good
place to start.
All in all, a most
interesting disc which is well-played,
recorded and annotated. Collectors of
this excellent series will surely have
bought it by now and anyone else fancying
something a little different should
join them. Finally, the picture on the
front is a lino cut by Pitfield entitled
Macclesfield. He died in Cheshire
just a few years ago – a pity he didn’t
live to see the disc issued.
Patrick C Waller
See also review
by Rob Barnett
*Anthony Goldstone (piano) 
