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Benjamin Godard (1849-1895)
Concerto for violin and orchestra, Op 29 (ca. 1875, orch. Martin Yates 2021)
En plein air: Suite de cinq morceaux for violin and orchestra, Op 145 (ca. 1893)
Scènes écossaises for oboe and orchestra, Op 138 (1892)
Suite de trois morceaux for flute and orchestra, Op 11 (ca. 1889)
Trois morceaux for orchestra, Op 27 (ca. 1875)
Sergey Levitin (violin), Christopher Cowie (oboe), Anna Noakes (flute)
BBC Concert Orchestra/Martin Yates
rec. 2021, Watford Colosseum, London, UK
DUTTON EPOCH CDLX7399 [82]

Until just a few years ago, if you were listening to any music by Benjamin Godard, you were probably at the end of a pier and the palm court ensemble were playing the Berceuse de Jocelyn – Angels Guard thee. Godard was a prolific composer – one of the works on the current disc has the opus number 145 – fated to be remembered if at all for just that one rather lovely but sentimental piece. However, recent years have seen various labels excavating the mountain of music he left behind and it begins to be possible to gain a more accurate sense of Godard’s place in the musical pantheon. I must admit that I have not engaged much with this process of rehabilitation so I was interested to hear this new disc from Dutton mainly focussing on works for soloist and orchestra. One disc I do know and would warmly recommend is of three violin concertante works recorded by Chloë Hanslip on Naxos. Hanslip is a superb player who not only has the technical address but understands the essentially elegant romanticism of this music. She includes Godard’s most effective violin work the Concerto Romantique Op 35 (Aaron Rosand also performed this work wonderfully on an old Vox recording).

The success of his Op 35 meant that Godard did not return to an earlier Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Op 29 that he had fully written in piano score. It is this work that conductor Martin Yates has orchestrated here for its first recording. Yates is excellent at understanding a composer’s idiom and creating a soundworld that is authentic but not simply pastiche. The work is very much in the style of French violin concerti of the 19^th century – think Vieuxtemps or Charles de Beriot – this is in three fairly modest movements; allegro/ andante/ allegretto moderato and runs for a total time around twenty six minutes. The highlight is the central Andante which Yates has orchestrated very effectively as a kind of “guitar serenade”. The solo violinist in this and the following Suite – En plein air is Sergey Levitin. Levitin is concert master of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and he plays quite beautifully throughout. The technical level of the concerto is relatively modest in comparison to the big Romantic violin concerti but Levitin is completely at ease with the work both technically and idiomatically. I really cannot praise the execution of this concerto enough – but when you listen to the predominantly later works that follow it on the disc you begin to realise quite why Godard never returned to the unorchestrated work. Simply put, he does what he does best but better in the later works. Godard’s contemporary strength has proved to be his historical weakness. He was quite happy to produce attractive music of easy appeal that never challenged existing taste or convention. Once those conventions had moved on, Godard’s music was left rather becalmed; skilfully wrought but passé. The five movement En plein air; Suite de cinq morceaux for violin and orchestra Op 145 is a case in point. These are genuinely lovely – more interestingly orchestrated and with the occasional harmonic side-slip and memorable melody than the concerto. Of the five movements, three are predominantly lyrical, the fourth a rustic dance with the closing movement a moto perpetuo La feé du hallier. As a suite they are nicely contrasted but for 19^th Century concert purposes it would be easy to excerpt as few or as many of the movements as required. The highlight is the central En regardant le ciel [looking at the sky] which is probably as close to profundity as Godard ever got – this is certainly worth hearing and playing and it receives a genuinely touching performance here. The whole suite runs to just around 18:22 which makes for awkward concert programming in the 21^st century but pretty much ideal commercial classical radio fodder.

Briefer still at 13:32 but absolute gems are the Scènes écossaises for oboe and orchestra Op 138. Again this is a suite of contrasting movements – three this time – played quite ravishingly by another Covent Garden principal Christopher Cowie. The “Scottish” element is all but absent but again it is in the lyrical song-like passages that Godard’s melodic and harmonic gift shines through. The opening Légende pastorale lilts in a gentle compound time with the orchestral accompaniment kept disarmingly simple but effective. Cowie’s playing is just gorgeous and belies the fact that this work is receiving its first recording (as is all the music on this disc except for the three flute morceaux). The concertante oboe repertoire is not so awash with works that a piece of this instant appeal and beauty should be easily overlooked but until now so it seems. The central movement is also quite charming – a flowing waltz with the title Sérénade à Mabel. Again this is ‘simple’ music in the best sense of the word and the performers play it with the perfect balance of subtle expression and unmannered affection. The closing movement is a Marche des Highlanders. These are rather well-mannered highlanders of the sort you imagine the Victorians would approve. It makes for a good if rather modest contrast to the preceding movements. A central more passionate section introduces a bardic harp part and a slightly theatrical/superficial brief climax. This movement does rather reinforce the conclusion that Godard is at his strongest in his lyrical music.

The disc is completed by two further sets of three morceaux. The first are for flute and orchestra and follow the same format of contrasting music within a fairly brief – 13:45 – time frame. The soloist Anna Noakes plays well with the finest most appealing music again reserved of the slow music of the central Idylle (Quasi adagio, molto tranquillo). The closing Valse is enjoyable energetic. Curiously the back cover of the Dutton disc claims that only this closing Valse has been previously recorded with – as mentioned above – all the other pieces on this disc receiving world premiere recordings. However, this entire flute suite of morceaux appears on a Chandos disc entitled La flûte enchantée with Susan Milan accompanied by Richard Hickox and the City of London Sinfonia. Good as this new Dutton recording is, Milan on Chandos is better preferring more flowing tempi in all three movements and playing with a greater flair and more capricious freedom. The final group of three morceaux are for orchestra alone and are early works written when Godard was just in his mid twenties. I can imagine this was a favourite of 19^th Century Spa orchestras – this is light music in the best and most literal sense; well-crafted, attractive but undemanding. The central Solitude is again the highlight with a melodic line whose harmonic twists and turns are more unexpected than one has come to expect of Godard. Again this is played with delightfully hushed simplicity by the BBC Concert Orchestra. The closing Par les sentiers is gracefully balletic and makes for a fairly gentle envoi to this disc.

Running to 82:26 this is an exceptionally generous and well planned, skilfully played and beautifully recorded disc. Dutton’s engineering is in their trade-mark sophisticated SA-CD multi-channel/stereo sound. I listened to the SA-CD stereo layer which was very good. The playing of the orchestra is every bit as refined and musically aware as we have come to expect of the BBC Concert Orchestra. This is not the most technically or musically demanding disc for the orchestra to perform but it is still not easy to play with the style and appropriate finesse displayed here. A lot of the credit for this must go to conductor Martin Yates who has a genuine feel for this style of music. This is the third volume of music by Godard released on Dutton – I have enjoyed this disc so much that I have ordered the two earlier volumes.

Nick Barnard