It
is a tribute to Anthony Payne’s skill and sensitivity that
the ‘Third Symphony’ has grown in the estimation of a considerable
number of observers. Elaborated from Elgar’s sketches for
the projected Third Symphony the result has proven to be a work
of some stature. Payne captured the essence and spirit of Elgar
so well; you recognize all the Elgarian harmonies, density of
textures, dynamics, rhythmic patterns, turns of phrase and orchestration.
Payne imposed his own creations intuitively, sensitively and unobtrusively
and above all most appositely. This is, I believe, its fourth
recording. Following on from the original 1997 NMC recording with
the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis, Naxos came
along with their recording made, in 1999, by the Bournemouth Symphony
Orchestra conducted by Paul Daniel. Then the London Symphony Orchestra
waded in with release looming on their own label. This latter
recording has not been reviewed on this site.
I
will not bore readers by reiterating the provenance of this symphony
or the controversy surrounding Payne’s elaboration. It was contrary
to the composer’s wishes but was made at the behest of the Elgar
estate who were concerned about the looming end of copyright and
the prospect of less sensitive elaborations.
The
new recording has the benefit of the latest SACD technology. The
Chandos sound is spectacular with a wonderful sense of spaciousness
and transparency.
Hickox
faces strong competition especially from Paul Daniels. Daniels’
recording was the 2,000th release from Naxos. They
pushed the boat out not only by using the BSO with its solid tradition
of acclaimed Elgar performances and recordings but also the superior
engineering skills of Tony Faulkner. For this recording, Payne
made some revisions that added even more stature to his accomplishment.
Hickox’s
opening is muscular and strident, brass blaring; Daniels impresses
strongly too. He arrests attention immediately with an opening
that has a scaldingly abrasive trumpet salvo. Daniels’ first movement’s
first subject has bite and heroic imagery while the second subject,
the theme associated with Elgar’s last love, Vera Hockman, is
more tenderly romantic and wistful than Hickox. The second movement
for Hickox is something of a return to the mood of the Andrew
Davis reading: it is more reminiscent of Elgar’s lighter salon
music. Hickox dreams softly and delivers music of delicacy, refinement
and femininity with only a brief broadening to a more aggressive
stance midway. Daniel, opting for a quicker tempo, invests more
depth and character. This movement, in his hands, sounds more
symphonic.
The
Symphony’s Adagio solenne is the emotional heart of the
work. It has great depth and power. Andrew Davis’s reading, which
I still value highly, is profound and deeply disturbing. He is
more bleak than Daniel and Hickox. Daniel finds space for defiance
and some early heroic-assertive gestures. In addition he conveys
a touching vulnerability, an acute sense of loss, of bewilderment
and disorientation which is very moving. Hickox, too, finds all
this but adds a feeling of isolation and loneliness. It is as
if the composer, out-of-joint with the times is looking back sadly
but manfully without self-pity. It is an amazing musical statement
that moves me more and more every time I listen to it. In all
three conductors’ hands the coda, with its unresolved viola phrase,
is heartrending.
The
final Allegro under Hickox is for me the most successful. Hitherto
I had regarded it as just a pastiche of the chivalric, martial
material associated with the second movement of the First Symphony
and the finale of the Second. Hickox’s reading goes further, investing
the music with a better sense of cohesion. It has the good old
swagger we have come to associate with the Edwardian Elgar. In
addition there is that sense of grandeur recollected in a nostalgic
glow shot through with regret at the passing of an era. Like Daniels,
Hickox’s final modulations are deeply affecting as they progress
through material from “The Wagon Passes” to those quiet resigned
snare-drum tappings and that soft gong-stroke leading “the music
away into some new visionary world”.
So
Many True Princesses Who Have Gone
was composed for the unveiling of Sir Alfred Gilbert’s monument
to Queen Alexandra, widow of Edward VII, who had died in 1925.
Elgar’s setting of words by the then Poet Laureate, John Masefield
was for chorus and military band. It remained for many years in
manuscript: a vocal score with a keyboard reduction, the band
parts apparently lost. Anthony Payne’s orchestration of the accompaniment
was first performed at the 2002 Aldeburgh Festival. As Hickox
proves, it is an affecting work of simple dignity, especially
moving at the words “This lovely princess came from far away,
And won our hearts and lives within them still”, Elgar clearly
remembering, with affection, his friendship with Edward VII and
his Queen.
The
existence of a Sixth Pomp & Circumstance March had been unsuspected
for many years. In 1996, however, sketches came to light in the
library of the Royal School of Church Music, complementing others
in the British Library. The Elgar Will Trust asked Anthony Payne
in 2005 to examine this material with a view to assembling and
orchestrating a performing version. It was premiered in a 2006
Prom concert. Its form is more complex than its predecessors alternating
between 2/4 and 6/8 metre. Until the appearance of the big tune
at about 3½ minutes in, this material is, to my ears, frankly,
empty bombast. This big tune may sound familiar; for it is the
same as that heard in the composer’s Empire March written
for the opening of the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in
April 1924 (as it happened, a logistical oversight meant that
the first performance was not until that July). The CD notes inexplicably
make a connection between this Pomp and Circumstance No 6 and
the ‘first and most famous march in the series’? The Welsh players
turn in a thrilling enough performance, if you start it at 3:20;
but perhaps this is a case of it better to have left the sketches
in the archives?
Another
noteworthy recording of the Elgar/Payne Symphony. My choice of
available recordings: Paul Daniels on Naxos. Pomp and Circumstance No. 6 disappoints; perhaps the sketches
were better left in the archives?
Ian Lace
