By unhappy coincidence my lukewarm review
of Richard Hickox’s final recording was published shortly
after his death in November 2008. That Carmina Burana
may not have been a great success, but it pales into insignificance
when set against his wider - and much acclaimed - body of work,
both live and in the studio. Hickox’s disc of Strauss’s
Four Last Songs with Heather Harper and the LSO is simply
radiant - review
- and I have memories of a profoundly affecting performance
of Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ, shown on
BBC Four some years ago and still awaiting release on DVD or
Blu-ray.
Hats off to Chandos though, who have brought together this conductor’s
recordings of English music in a series of composer-themed boxes
entitled ‘The Richard Hickox Legacy’. Rob Barnett
writes glowingly of the individual discs in this set - review
- which gives me a good excuse to hear music I scarcely know
and to sample Hickox in repertoire he does best. I also have
a soft spot for these retro boxes and their smart, sleeved contents,
the aroma and feel of which reminds me so much of my early LP-collecting
days. Packaging of such quality - there’s a substantial
booklet as well - may seem rather peripheral, but it always
puts me in the best frame of mind for careful listening.
CD 1 begins with Enter Spring which, despite its
title, is anything but a pastoral romp; ostensibly inspired
by a wild day on the Sussex Downs it’s a whipping, whirligig
of a piece, chockful of bright sonorities and bold, repetitive
rhythms; Hickox certainly brings out the almost pagan thrill
of this music, which ends in a rolling, cymbal- and bell-adorned
climax of simple splendour. The tone poem Isabella -
based on the eponymous poem by Keats - combines cool internal
rigour with a warm Romantic blush. It has a strong narrative
too; this murderous tale may be as hot-blooded as a Jacobean
tragedy - sans the excessive gore - but it also has moments
of understated beauty that will surprise the unwary.
As for the two short pieces based on poems by the ‘nature
mystic’ Richard Jefferies, they combine Debussian haze
with Mahlerian rusticity, a strange but stimulating mix. The
much earlier Mid of the Night has some of the loveliest
writing here; after the climax at 11:04 there’s a passage
of gentle and sustained purity that takes one’s breath
way. It’s so unexpected and so meltingly played; the sweep
and heft of what follows is even more impressive, and the orchestra
proves it can play with warmth and weight as well as gossamer
lightness. Any longueurs? None to speak of, since Hickox
is so firmly focused throughout. Influences? Dvořák
perhaps, but the general cut of the piece is resolutely - and
unsentimentally - English.
The most memorable journeys are laced with unexpected pleasures,
which is certainly the case so far. That element of surprise
reminds me so much of the music of Britten, Bridge’s most
illustrious pupil. That sleight of hand is even heard in the
Waltonian Dance Rhapsody that opens CD 2. After
that initial swagger, a calming tam-tam crash signals a temporary
change of mood. Hickox springs these rhythms most seductively
and scales the work’s many climaxes to perfection. The
splendid Chandos recording is big and beefy, without being self-consciously
hi-fi. That said, all those perorations - what ringing, stratospheric
brass playing - will give your woofers quite a workout.
Bombastic? Not a bit of it; there’s more than enough imagination
and flair in that wild Rhapsody to puncture any thoughts
of pomposity. If you like Ravel’s La valse then
this one is for you. The five entr’actes to The Two
Hunchbacks, a play by the Belgian Emil Cammaerts, may have
been written for the theatre but they get the full concert hall
treatment here. That said, the Act II Intermezzo and Act II
Prelude sound more at home in the orchestra pit. Once again
it’s all so stylish - the folkish elements of the entr’acte
between Acts II and III are most attractively done - and the
piece confirms Bridge’s ability to switch between genres
with ease. These entr’actes are good fun, but the larger-than-life
presentation is a tad overpowering at times.
Changes are afoot in the elliptical writing of Dance Poem;
colours are more daring and rhythms more sinuous. Could one
characterise it as more svelte, more European? Perhaps; the
writing seems much more lucid - penetrating, even - although
Bridge’s enthusiasm for big, crunching tuttis is still
very much in evidence. I’m less persuaded by the rather
bluff Norse Legend, an orchestration of a piece for violin
and piano. No such qualms about his masterpiece, The Sea.
Here the sheer amplitude of Chandos’s recording really
counts, the orchestral dash and spray superbly rendered. At
this point I’ll sneak in a good word for Lan Shui and
the Singapore Symphony, who are every bit as poetic in ‘Moonlight’
and just as elemental in ‘Storm’ (review).
CD 3 gets off to a rousing start with Bridge’s
Coronation March, a rather fine piece of ceremonial music
that’s mercifully short on bluster and long on warmth
and character. Still, it is a march and there’s
more than enough tizz and tingle, not to mention passages of
unexpected gravitas, to keep one listening. By contrast Summer
is a gentle, airy evocation that’s blessed with tunes
of Straussian nobility and breadth. The real surprise here is
Phantasm, a delicate exercise in ghostliness that’s
refreshingly free of the usual clichés. Pianist Howard
Shelley makes the most of Bridge’s economical and arresting
score; now elusive, now eloquent, it’s certainly a piece
to revel in and revisit.
Even more compelling is There is a Willow Grows Aslant a
Brook, Bridge’s brooding lament for Ophelia. Imbued
with a soft radiance - just listen to the gorgeous, rippling
harp figures - the music seems to hover on the very edge of
extinction at times. It’s all played with telling restraint,
and most beautifully recorded. As for the three Vignettes
de Danse, based on four early piano pieces, they’re
delightfully buoyant; this may be ‘light music’,
but Hickox doesn’t hold back in the tuttis. Bridge’s
take on the country dance Sir Roger de Coverley has thrilling
sonority and punch; a haymaker indeed.
CD 4 contains ‘war works’ of one kind or
another. First up, the strangely elliptical concert overture
Rebus was due to be premiered at the 1940 Henry Wood
Proms but the Blitz intervened. It’s a work of great originality,
transparently scored, and Hickox gives it a vigorous outing.
Oration, or outcry, is a direct and unswerving response
to the Great War, its keening cello at the start a powerful
index of loss and suffering. As Paul Hindmarsh points out in
his scholarly booklet notes, Bridge was an emotional pacifist
rather than an intellectual one; which is perhaps why the anger
in Oration seems so personal. Cellist Alban Gerhardt
is an eloquent orator, his playing full of passion and fire.
What is so refreshing about Bridge’s orchestral writing
is that it’s never hackneyed or self-indulgent. Oration
is a perfect example of that powerful sense of purpose, as is
the symphonic fragment of 1940-1941, whose classical lines are
well preserved here. Bridge’s Lament mourns the
loss of friends and their young daughter, drowned when the Lusitania
was torpedoed in 1915. It’s a gaunt little piece, held
together by skeins of pure loveliness; what a remarkable distillation
of grief and tenderness this is, made all the more affecting
by its stark simplicity. The sound of Prayer, his heartfelt
plea for peace, brings choral Holst to mind; it’s similarly
plain and movingly sung, with Hickox and his orchestra in robust
support.
So often in these sets the last disc or two is devoted to bits
and pieces of sometimes peripheral interest. Bridge’s
four-movement Suite for String Orchestra isn’t
one of them; a darkly intense work, whose lyrical outpourings
catch one by surprise, it’s also commandingly played.
The three vocal works, from poems by Herrick and Bridges, are
sung by Roderick Williams; his confident singing in The Hag
ensures he’s easily heard, despite the presence of an
orchestra in full cry. The Bridges settings are more intimate,
but aren’t without surges of barely contained ardour.
As always, the writing is assured, the musical and emotional
effects discreetly done.
The remaining items on CD 5 are interesting, if less
memorable; the two Intermezzi are rather fetching though,
and the arrangements of Sally in Our Alley and Cherry
Ripe, are models of good taste. Come Sweet Death
could so easily sound lugubrious, and the fact that it doesn’t
is down to Hickox’s sensible pace and his way with the
work’s more clottable textures. The revised Sir Roger
offers rather more clarity than the first version, although
some may prefer the sheer heft of the earlier one.
CD 6 shows signs of ‘bittiness’, but there
are several gems among the vocal pieces. Bridge was nothing
if not eclectic in his sources - Rupert Brooke, John Keats,
Padraic Colum and Rabindranath Tagore - and he invariably responds
to their texts with the utmost sensitivity. Philip Langridge
- so splendid in Britten - sings most feelingly in Blow out,
you bugles, rising to glorious, impassioned heights in Adoration.
Some may find he sounds uncannily like Pears at times, especially
in Thy hand in mine. Mezzo Sarah Connolly is generally
pleasing - try the rather Straussian Berceuse - although
there is a waver in her voice that may not please everyone.
That said, her soft singing is exquisite.
The almost Mahlerian Mantle of Blue is both beautifully
scored and radiantly sung - goodness, Connolly’s floated
high notes are spine tingling - but that beat is much too intrusive
in the Tagore settings. Of the orchestral pieces, the Berceuse
has a plangent beauty, its end simply ravishing. As for The
Pageant of London - just one of several world premieres
in this set - it really allows the winds to shine. True, the
opening march isn’t as deft or inspired as Bridge’s
other more discreet examples, but it’s engaging enough.
Chandos have an good track record in the genre, so they certainly
know to capture the thrilling racket of a wind band in full
spate. What a pity the disc ends with the short and rather insipid
Royal Night of Variety.
This has been a rewarding traversal of repertoire that’s
under-represented in my CD collection. That’s where these
reasonably priced boxes - this set can be found online for as
little as £20 - come into their own. Completists will
be happy to have all these discs in one place, and impecunious
buyers will surely be tempted to take a punt at such a reasonable
outlay. Most important, this really is a remarkable legacy,
superbly packaged and recorded in typically rich and resonant
Chandos style.
Under-appreciated music, played with affection and authority;
a box of delights.
Dan Morgan
http://twitter.com/mahlerei
see reviews of individual
discs and this
release by Rob Barnett
Full contents list
CD 1 [75:47]
Enter Spring (1927) [18:36]
Isabella (1906) [18:00]
Two Poems for Orchestra (1915) [12:58]
Mid of the Night (1903) [26:06]
rec. Brangwyn Hall, Swansea, November 2000
CD 2 [72:34]
Dance Rhapsody (1908) [19:16]
Five Entr'actes from Emile Cammaerts's play The Two
Hunchbacks (1910) [12:05]
Dance Poem (1913) [13:48]
Norse Legend (1905/1938) [4:48]
The Sea - suite (1908) [22:08]
rec. Brangwyn Hall, 19-20 September 2001
CD 3 [69:51]
Coronation March (1911) [6:49]
Summer (1914) [10:42]
Phantasm (1931)* [24:21]
There is a Willow Grows Aslant a Brook (1927) [11:19]
Vignettes de Danse (1938) [11:21]
Sir Roger de Coverley (A Christmas Dance) (1922) [4.41]
*Howard Shelley (piano)
rec. Brangwyn Hall, 27 November 2000 (Sir Roger) & 28-29
November 2002
CD 4 [77:01]
Rebus - Overture for Orchestra (1940) [10:44]
Oration (Concerto elegiaco)for solo cello and
orchestra (1930)* [29:17]
Allegro moderato - Fragment of a symphony for string
orchestra (1940-1941) [13:24] (ed. Anthony Pople)
Lament for string orchestra (Catherine, aged 9, 'Lusitania'
1915) (1915) [5:19]
A Prayer for chorus and orchestra (1916-1918)** [17:55]
*Alban Gerhardt (cello)
**BBC National Chorus of Wales
rec. Brangwyn Hall, 13-14 May 2003
CD 5 [68:17]
Suite for Strings (1909-1910) [21:03]
The Hag (1902)* [2:25]
Two Songs of Robert Bridges (1905-1906)* [6:32]
Two Intermezzi from ‘Threads’ (1921/1938)
[8:33]
Two Old English Songs (1916) [7:30]
Two Entr’actes (1906/1936) [6:38]
Valse Intermezzo à cordes (1902) [6:49]
Todessehnsucht (1932/1936) [3:53]
Sir Roger de Coverley (A Christmas dance) (1922/1939)
[4:24]
*Roderick Williams (baritone)
rec. Brangwyn Hall, 3-4 December 2003
CD 6 [61:14]
Blow out; you bugles H.132 (1918)* [5:37]
Adoration H.57 (1905/1918)* [2:55]
Where she lies asleep H.114 (1914)* [3:01]
Love went a-riding H.115 (1914)* [1:40]
Thy hand in mine H.124 (1917/1923) [2:10]
Berceuse H.9 (1901)** [5:06]
Mantle of Blue H.131 (1918/1934)** [2:47]
Day after day H.164(i) (1922)** [4:55]
Speak to me, my love! H.164(ii) (1924) [5:56]
Berceuse H.8 (1901/1902/1928) [3:23]
Chant d’espérance H.18(ii) (1902) [03:40]
Serenade H.23 (1903) [2:51]
The Pageant of London; Suite for Wind Orchestra H.98
(1911) [15:08]
A Royal Night of Variety H.184 (1934) [1:27]
*Philip Langridge (tenor)
**Sarah Connolly (mezzo)
rec. Brangwyn Hall, 23-24 October 2004
BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Richard Hickox. 