A useful anthology
from Lyrita, making available some long
inaccessible material and some newly
released items. Pierson’s Macbeth
is very much a product of its time,
a mid nineteenth century symphonic poem
in definite Mendelssohnian vein. Pierson
attempts to create a vaguely north-of-the-border
feel by including some dotted rhythms
here and there, and the supernatural
and dramatic elements of Shakespeare’s
play are fairly subtly delineated. It
is a pleasant enough piece and well
worth reviving.
Alan Rawsthorne wrote
his Cortèges for the 1945
Proms. Despite the funereal-sounding
title and the imposing slow opening,
the work as a whole is sleek and mercurial,
a whirlwind of thematic and contrapuntal
development which dies away to a nostalgic
conclusion.
David Morgan wrote
his Contrasts in 1974 and the
work was first performed, by the RPO
and Vernon Handley, at a concert of
contemporary music in January 1975.
I am a little puzzled by the apparent
dedication "to the memory of Shostakovich",
as the piece was completed some months
before the Soviet composer’s death.
Contrasts features some interesting
sonorities and is written in a fairly
traditional vein for its time. The work
is in two parts; a long, predominantly
slow opening movement and a shorter
second movement. The performance and
recording are excellent, but to be honest
I don’t find the work particularly memorable.
The recording was originally issued
on SRCS 97 coupled with Morgan’s Violin
Concerto played by Erich Gruenberg,
of which it would be interesting to
have a reissue. Incidentally, the British
Music Information Centre composer database
tells us that Morgan died in 1988, a
fact not recorded on the Lyrita booklet
[information supplied
to Lyrita and to be incorporated on
re-print - LM].
Francis Chagrin’s Helter
Skelter Overture and Arnold’s Beckus
the Dandipratt come, as it were,
from the same stable. The Chagrin is
a short, enjoyable piece deriving from
1949 film music of the same name and
was first performed by Boult and the
LPO in January 1952. It is given a rumbustious
performance by Pritchard. Beckus
the Dandipratt comes into competition
with the composer’s own reading with
the RPO on EMI, not to mention Eduard
van Beinum’s pioneering account with
the LPO. Nicholas Braithwaite acquits
himself well in this exalted company.
Between the Chagrin
and Arnold pieces we are given by way
of contrast Warlock’s Serenade for
Strings with Nicholas Braithwaite
and the LPO. Braithwaite avoids any
charge of pastoral meandering by giving
a clear, no-nonsense performance, which
does not preclude poetry.
Overall an interesting
collection, with some fine performances.
If some of the actual music is not entirely
top-notch, the performers make as good
a case for it as they possibly can.
Ewan McCormick
See also reviews by
Rob
Barnett and John
France RECORDING
OF THE MONTH December 2008
for details
London Symphony
Orchestra/Nicholas Braithwaite 
