Howard BLAKE A Month in the
Country; Violin Concerto "The Leeds"; Sinfonietta for 10 brass instruments
.
Christiane Edinger (violin) English
Northern Philharmonia conducted by Paul Daniel ASV
CD DCA 905
If you like lush, Romantic music, look no further. This
is a magnificent, accessible concerto from the composer of the music
for the highly successful animated film of The Snowman. It is
the sort of music that any film producer would give his eye teeth for
- dramatic, heroic, atmospheric and lyrical with beautiful soaring melodies
but above all it is resolutely tonal. It was commissioned by Leeds City
Council for the Leeds 1993 City Centenary, hence its title, although
judging from Howard Blake's own CD booklet notes, there is no programme.
It is absolute music to be enjoyed in its own right; nonethless, one
is occasionally tempted to guess at some extra musical influence - for
instance, the a robust passage for brass in the lengthy first movement
that might describe the forthright but dependable Yorkshire personality.
Christiane Edinger rises, with aplomb, to its technical challenges,
especially in the bravura third movement with its quadruple stoppings,
pizzicati and dazzling broken chords. Daniels provides a thrilling and
sensitive accompaniment. The sound throughout this programme is excellent.
For the 1986 Euston Films/Channel 4 film A Month
in the Country, Blake wrote a sympathetic score which ideally suited
this story of two former soldiers coming to terms with the horrors of
the Great War amidst the serenity of the English countryside. This suite
for strings contrasts lyrical, pastoral music recalling Warlock, Vaughan
Williams, Delius and Finzi (yet never swamping Blake's own melodic style)
with other movements suggesting soldiers' trudging marching figures,
and the despair and waste of war.
The Sinfonietta for brass instruments (1981)
is a brilliant and colourful work with an imposing Maestoso first movment,
a techically innovative and demanding Andante and a vivacous Presto.
Recommended
Reviewer
Ian Lace
(CD cover shows the Victoria Town Hall, Leeds)
