Celebrating the centenary of John Ruskin
The King of the Golden River
Music for Tenor and String Quartet
Sarah RODGERS (b.1953)
The King of the Golden River
*
Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958)
On Wenlock Edge†
Edmund RUBBRA (1901-1986)
Amoretti - Five sonnets by Edmund
SpenserAve Maria Gratia Piena - Two Medieval
Songs*
Sir Arnold BAX (1883-1953)
O Mistress Mine*; My Eyes for Beauty Pine*
(*premier recordings)
Richard Edgar-Wilson (tenor),
Coull Quartet, James Lisney †
(piano)
SOMM SOMMCD 222 [74:54]
Sarah Rodgers setting of John Ruskin's famous children's story, The King
of the Golden River, is a substantial 29-minute work cast in three
movements. The story, a morality tale, concerns three brothers working in
a secluded, richly fertile valley hemmed in by mountains with its high river
descending over an imposing waterfall. The older brothers, Hans and Schwartz
are mean and grasping, while the youngest, Gluck, is fair and giving. They
are put to the test by South West Wind who devastates their valley, after
he suffers the hostility of the two elder brothers. When Gluck's figuratively
decorated drinking mug is melted down for its gold, it releases The King
of the Golden River. He tells Gluck that the River will turn to gold if three
drops of Holy water are cast into it. If anybody should toss in unholy water,
however, they would be turned to stone, which is what happens to the two
elder brothers after they refuse water to an old man, a child and a dog.
The generous Gluck gives water to all three and his holy water returns the
valley to its former glory.
Although there is much to admire in this composition, I felt disappointed
with the instrumental writing: sometimes evocations could have been sharper
and characterisation and drama more intense. This is definitely not the case
in Rodgers' shimmering depiction of "The Golden River fell in a column of
pure gold" and in the scene where South West Wind makes his vengeful return.
The evocation of "The room was full of water and by a misty moonbeam the
brothers could see the gentleman 'You'll find my card upon the kitchen table!
- And remember I will never call again'" is tingling enough but unfortunately
the mood is dashed by a feeble evocation of the resultant desolation and
despair. Perhaps the Coull Quartet needed to invest some more attack and
contrast in their playing? Richard Edgar-Wilson's voice has an appealing
timbre and his delivery is confident and firm.
On firmer, more familiar ground, this performance of Vaughan Williams's On
Wenlock Edge is excellent. Edgar-Wilson and the Coull players
excel themselves, and the piano playing of James Lisney is well-nigh perfect
- listen to his wonderfully expressive bell figures in Bredon Hill; jubilant
then mournful, their weight and timing beautifully judged. The Coull Quartet's
gales in 'On Wenlock Edge' are chill and sharp indeed. Edgar-Wilson alternates
plaintive, turning to indignant questions with assertive then half-apologetic
answers in a more than usually characterful 'Is my team ploughing.' 'Bredon
Hill' the centrepiece of the cycle impresses strongly, a most moving rendering.
The two short pieces by Bax were presumably inspired by his torrid love affair
with Harriet Cohen. Both 'O Mistress Mine' from Shakespeare's Twelfth
Night and Robert Bridges 'My Eyes for Beauty Pine' have important roles
for violin in sweet demeanour. The Shakespeare setting trips merrily along
while the Bridges has passion mixed with languor - two beautiful and richly
subtle settings.
The Rubbra settings of Edmund Spenser's sonnets are faithful to the spirit
of their period and are both beautiful and moving if, with the exception
of the more light-hearted skipping Fresh Spring, rather mordant. Ave Maria
Gratia Plena is Rubbra's pairing of two songs written 30 years apart
- 'O my deir Hert' a simple yet haunting setting of a medieval text, and
the later 'O Excellent Virgin Princess' a more complex yet no less satisfying
setting.
Another enterprising album from SOMM that deserves to succeed
Reviewer
Ian Lace
