William WORDSWORTH (1908-1988)
Orchestral Music, Volume 4
A Spring Festival Overture, op.90, (1970) [8:13]
Symphony No.7 “Cosmos,” op.107, (1980) [24:48]
Jubilation: A Festivity for Orchestra, op.78 (1965) [11:33]
Confluence: Symphonic Variations, op.100 (1976) [14:45]
Līga Baltābola (violin: Confluence)
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra/John Gibbons
rec. 2021, Great Amber Concert Hall, Liepāja, Latvia
TOCCATA CLASSICS TOCC0618 [59:21]
This present CD brings William Wordsworth’s Symphonic count to seven out of eight; only Symphony No.6 is missing, but for the record, nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5 are available on Lyrita discs and nos.4, 5, and 8 have been previously issued on the Toccata label. An outstanding biographical study of the composer by Paul Conway is available on these pages.
I am grateful to the superb liner notes provided with this CD as I relied on them heavily for this review.
I began with the oldest piece on this disc: Jubilation: A Festivity for Orchestra, op.78 which was finished in the autumn of 1965. Sadly, the liner notes give no indication of where and when the premiere was given but I did find a reference to a concert from Glasgow, broadcast on Radio 3 on 17 January 1971. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra was conducted by James Loughran. Jubilation “works out” several themes introduced at the beginning. We hear fanfare music, Scotch snaps, a lively tune on the violins and a lyrical melody for oboe, and all these are subject to considerable development. Unsurprisingly, this gnomic and diverting piece comes to an enthusiastic conclusion. The orchestration here is a masterclass in instrumental colour, with especially vibrant writing for the brass.
A Spring Festival Overture was composed in late 1970. It was commissioned by the Pitlochry Festival Society Ltd., and was duly dedicated to the Pitlochry Festival Theatre, and its director, Kenneth Ireland, OBE. Wordsworth explained that the title was “intended to convey a dual meaning”: the celebration of the 20th birthday of the Festival Theatre and the “music itself is intended to represent the feeling of new life thrusting upward in the season of Spring.” Structurally, the overture is in expanded ternary form. The slow opening represents “the first stirrings of spring” in the lovely county of Perthshire. The faster central section explores ideas “foreshadowed” during the introduction and leads to a more exuberant and even fervent in mood. The slower, more introverted mood returns, and the listener can look out for the distant cuckoo calls played on the clarinets. The overture ends with a misty coda followed by a sforzando chord. Much of this musical exploration is Romantic in tone, without any nods towards modernity or the avant-garde. Wordsworth wrote that “It is my hope and intention that the style of the work is sufficiently lyrical to hold no problems for the ordinary music-lover.”
Confluence: Symphonic Variations, op.100 was completed in 1976. The liner notes explain that it was commissioned by the governors of the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness to mark its opening. This multi-purpose theatre, cinema and arts venue is located on the banks of the River Ness. The venue has subsequently been rebuilt. The premiere was given on 15 April by the Scottish National Orchestra under the direction of Sir Alexander Gibson. The title clearly implies the “coming together of things.” Whether this be a river, musical themes or some other “joining” is not stated. The progress of the variations reflects an ever more colourful expansion of the opening material. The highlights for me of these variations are some of the magically orchestrated poetic sections. Their lyricism is counterbalanced by march like motifs and a fugal passage that build up to the conclusion. Overall, this is an approachable, if occasionally challenging piece. It deserves a valued place in the orchestral repertoire but somehow, I doubt that it has been performed often since its premiere.
The Symphony No.7 was another Eden Court commission to celebrate the renewal of the venue’s sound system. The interesting thing about this work is that Wordsworth used a pre-recorded tape, in honour of this technical development. The composer recalled that around the time when he was planning the symphony, the BBC broadcast a television programme about Albert Einstein. Two quotations “particularly struck” him. Firstly, “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious; it is the source of all art, and he who cannot experience it is already half-dead” and secondly, “What really interested me is whether God had any choice in the creation of the world.” (From Wordsworth’s typed programme note). These two philosophical thoughts “helped to shape the work, and to provide the title “Cosmos.”
The easiest paradigm for approaching this powerful symphony is to note the two main musical themes: a bass moving slowly in fourths and fifths, and a contrasting four-note theme in adjacent notes.” Thus said, the entire symphony consists of “continuous variations” on these subjects. In case the listener is worried about the tape, and the possibility of musique concrète, there is no need to panic. The recording simply provides two slowly repeated chords for strings. This is used at four key points in the symphony’s growth: first, heard quietly before the orchestra enters, it then makes a loud appearance before the “sostenuto” middle section. There is another quiet entry before the music fades into the coda, and finally, just before the concluding bars. The liner notes point out that “Wordsworth’s inventive approach to scoring is given full rein. No iteration of the main material ever uses the same instrumental combination.” This, I think, is what gives this piece its strength and appeal. It seems as if the Cosmos is constantly evolving, expanding in ever changing patterns and moods. It celebrates the abundance of the Creator’s energy.
Other critics have noted how the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra have “Wordsworth’s music completely in their bloodstream and sound as if they have been playing it for decades.” I cannot fault the playing in any way. As these are all “first recordings,” it is not possible to compare them with anything. Certainly, the performances of all four compositions strike me as competent, sympathetic and commanding.
As noted above, the liner notes are superb. They give all the information that is required to appreciate this music. Conway has successfully contextualised this repertoire into the composer’s life and times. There are the usual biographies of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra and their conductor for this present Wordsworth cycle, John Gibbons.
I look forward to further issues in this series, with, hopefully, the missing Symphony No.6. John Gibbons has told me that it has never been performed. Perhaps, A Highland Overture and the Two Scottish Sketches for small orchestra could also be included.
William Wordsworth moved to Kincraig, Inverness-shire in 1961, he remained there for the remainder of his life. Like Kenneth Leighton and Ronald Stevenson, he can be regarded as an “honorary” Scottish composer. It seems remarkable that there is currently a lack of interest in Wordsworth’s oeuvre, especially in his adopted country of Scotland. Surely, one of the great Scottish orchestras could adopt his cause, instead of playing the usual potboilers and crowd-pullers. It is just possible that their audiences may come to enjoy his music. Meanwhile, this Latvian orchestra does him proud.
John France
