Though a prolific composer,
Hoddinott has been far from fortunate
in his representation by the record
companies, so the current CD, part of
Lyrita’s attempt to redress the balance,
is very welcome. None of these concertos
is currently available anywhere else,
which makes my task of reviewing easier
– no comparisons to make – but is a
sad reflection on the neglect of this
composer. With four concertos, all dating
from the first twenty years of his creative
career, this disc makes a useful supplement
to the two Hoddinott CDs already released
by Lyrita.
SRCD331 offers Symphonies
2, 3 and 5 and SRCD332 contains Dives
and Lazarus, the Viola Concertino, Nocturnes
and Cadenzas and the Sinfonia Fidei.
Reviews of the former by Colin
Clarke and of the latter by Hubert
Culot and Colin
Clarke were extremely appreciative.
I should say at the
outset that I am equally appreciative
of the merits of the current CD. Though
recorded at various times, the standard
of performance and recording is consistently
high. The Clarinet and Harp Concertos
were recorded in 1971 by Decca, who
also recorded the Second Piano Concerto
in 1973, all in the Kingsway Hall. One
1970s reviewer, à propos
of their LSO/Kertész Dvořak Symphonies,
I think, asserted that Decca’s Kingsway
Hall recordings sounded as if they had
been made in a zinc tank. The aforesaid
metal does not seem to have touched
these well-remastered recordings, which
hardly sound inferior to the
1996 DDD recording of the First Piano
Concerto.
The performance of
the Clarinet Concerto is all that could
be wished for. This is an attractive
work; its performance at the Cheltenham
Festival in 1954 marked the beginning
of general interest in Hoddinott’s music.
That first performance was given by
Gervase de Peyer, who is also the soloist
here. His version of the Mozart Clarinet
Concerto long held the field alongside
Jack Brymer’s and the Double Decca which
contains it (466 247 2) and the Eloquence
CD containing his Mozart, Spohr and
Weber concertos (a bargain on 476 7404)
are still highly recommendable. (Brymer’s
version, coupled with the Bassoon Concerto
and ‘Jupiter’ Symphony under Beecham
is deservedly a ‘Great Recording’ on
EMI 5 67596 2) de Peyer’s playing here
is of the same high quality; the slow
movement, marked arioso, is especially
entrancing. No comparisons available,
of course, but it is hard to image anything
here being bettered.
The Harp Concerto is
equally delightful; the performance
and recording of this piece are equally
delectable. Osian Ellis was the work’s
dedicatee and, again, it is hard to
imagine a better performance. Whereas
the harp would have been able to compete
(just) with an orchestra in Mozart’s
time – and even he coupled it with the
solo flute, which he is said to have
disliked – it would be lost against
the background of a full modern orchestra.
Hoddinott solves the problem by having
harp and orchestra conduct a dialogue
with each other. ‘Dialogue’ is actually
the title of the first movement; here
and in the other movements, ‘Improvisation’
and ‘Fantasy’, the solo instrument is
never allowed to get out of its depth.
The Clarinet and Harp
Concertos are extremely colourful and
there is nothing in them to deter even
the most determined advocates of tuneful
music. In both of these 1972 Decca recordings
the LSO and David Atherton lend very
sympathetic support.
The First Piano Concerto
appears in a more recent (1996) recording
made by Lyrita themselves. The two piano
concertos are tougher, less ‘tuneful’
than the earlier works but, again, there
is little here to annoy those who dislike
the more angular manifestations of modern
classical music. (I include myself in
this category.)
The First Concerto
opens with what might almost be mood-music
from a film, mildly dissonant at times,
even strident, before a more lyrical
theme is developed. The presto
second movement, which follows without
a break, is a little more angular but
even at its menacing and exciting climax
there is nothing to upset all but the
most conservative listeners. The dream-like
lento and an energetic finale
round off a work which is less easy
to like than the Clarinet and Harp Concertos
but repays repeated hearings. Again
here soloist and orchestra give fine
performances which should win friends
for the work and the DDD recording is
demonstration-worthy.
The Second Concerto,
which followed hard on the heels of
the first and was revised in 1969, is
again re-mastered from a Decca Kingsway
Hall recording, from 1973. Whereas the
First Concerto was in four movements,
Hoddinott here reverts to the more traditional
three. The quietly lyrical opening introduces
a work which is slightly easier to engage
with than the First Concerto. The reflective
adagio is particularly beautiful,
even at its ff climax. Yet again
the authoritative performance and the
recording, which is hardly dated in
the slightest, offer the best possible
opportunity to get to know a work which,
I am sure, will repay repeated hearings
as much as the First Concerto.
The conductor, Andrew
Davis, has, of course, since gone on
to give us many fine recordings of better-known
20th-century British music.
Some of these, such as his Elgar Enigma
Variations (Apex 0927 41371 2: NB
the number in the Penguin Guide is incorrect)
and Falstaff (Apex 2564 62200
2) and his Vaughan Williams Sixth Symphony
(Apex 0927 49584 2), can stand against
all comers especially at their new budget
price. Here there are no rival versions
to contend with, but the end result
is just as creditable. The pianist Martin
Jones is equally first-rate in this
concerto. Many of his recordings for
Nimbus, unavailable since the demise
of that company, are now becoming available
again. Most recently his CD of the music
of Hans Gál received very favourable
reviews.
Anyone wishing to sample
mid-twentieth-century music which is
a little more avant-garde than
Vaughan Williams or Walton but still
colourful and approachable, especially
at second or subsequent hearing, should
try this CD. The music is easier to
engage with, for example, than the Malcolm
Williamson concertos on another Lyrita
CD which I recently reviewed.
The notes in the booklet,
by Michael Oliver, revised by Lewis
Foreman, are informative and helpful.
The one problem which
I experienced with this CD was that
one of my decks failed to read the TOC
and refused to play the disc. Three
others did agree to play it, one reluctantly,
having first identified it as a CDR
rather than a commercial CD. I have
not had this problem with any other
Lyrita CDs, so I hope that it is a fluke
limited to my review copy.
So far so good, but
there is still a great deal of music
by Hoddinott, of later provenance than
that on these three Lyrita CDs, waiting
to be recorded. (His complete works
are listed here
on Musicweb.) I certainly second Colin
Clarke’s call for a reappraisal of Hoddinott.
Perhaps Lyrita will put us even more
in their debt. Or Chandos with the BBC
National Orchestra of Hoddinott’s native
Wales. Failing that, I note that Naxos,
otherwise an able advocate of British
music, have nothing by Hoddinott in
their current catalogue – surely they
will want to put that right. Are there
any more Decca recordings out there
waiting to be reissued?
Brian Wilson
for details
Gervase de Peyer (clarinet)*; Osian Ellis
(harp)**; London Symphony Orchestra/David
Atherton*/**; Philip Fowke (piano); Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra/Barry Wordsworth***;
Martin Jones (piano); Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra/Andrew Davis§ 
