ENGLISH MUSIC FOR PIANO DUET
Lord BERNERS (1883 - 1950)
Valses Bourgeoises
Fantaisie espagnole
Trois morceaux
Constant LAMBERT (1905 - 51)
Overture
Trois pièces nègres pour les touches
blanches
Alan RAWSTHORNE (1905 - 71)
The Creel
William WALTON (1902 - 83)
11 Duets for Children
Philip LANE
(b.1950)
Badinages
Peter Lawson and Alan
MacLean
Recorded in the Princess Hall of The Cheltenham Ladies College,
1994
ALBANY TROY 142
[67.38]
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This is a delightful disc; it brings together some excellent but comparatively
rarely heard music by four highly individualistic composers. Philip Lane,
who also wrote the helpful booklet notes for the disc, is the least well
known, and it's interesting to notice that he was born in the year of Berners'
death, and a year before that of Lambert. The fact that Lane's piece is so
strongly related to their music in style gives the programme a pleasing unity.
The first three works on the disc, all by Lord Berners, demonstrate that
he was so much more than simply a gifted dilettante. The French influence
is clear in the Valses Bourgeoises; the third one, Strauss, Strauss
et Straus, is a superb piece of pastiche, very close to Ravel's La
Valse, though without the sinister undertones. The title of the first
of the Trois Morceaux, Chinoiserie, acknowledges its deliberately
artificial orientalism. We have here three brilliant parodies of so-called
'national' styles - Chinese, Austrian, Russian - and the writing for the
piano is delicious in its resourcefulness. The last one, Kasatchok,
is virtually a mini Danse Sacrale.Lambert's Overture is a relentlessly
contrapuntal piece, which eventually became an orchestral work. It sounds
convincing in this medium, which allows the linear writing to be heard with
the utmost clarity. The Trois pièces nègres pour les
touches blanches (Three Black Pieces for the White Keys) are much
more relaxed and relaxing, with a strong jazz influence in the Aubade.
The Siesta has, as you might expect, Spanish overtones, while
the concluding Nocturne is irresistibly Latin American in inspiration.
The full title of the Rawsthorne work is The Creel, Suite for piano duet
after Izaak Walton. Thus each of the very brief movements describes a
fish; the grand first movement gives us the 'mighty Pike', followed by a
quicksilver fugue, reminiscent of Shostakovich, for the Sprat. The dreamy
third movement describes the queenly Carp, while the fourth captures the
'Leap and Summersault of the Salmon'. Tiny, unassuming pieces of deceptive
artistry from a much undervalued composer.
The Walton Duets for Children are essentially teaching material, but
are nevertheless attractive in their melodious simplicity. In fact these
and the Rawsthorne make an excellent foil to the sophistication and sarcasm
of Berners and Lambert. Lane's breezy Badinages make an entirely
appropriate conclusion to this cunningly devised and highly entertaining
disc.
Lawson and MacLean duet superbly, obviously enjoying themselves yet meticulous
in ensemble. The recording is ideal, except for Track 19 in the Walton pieces,
where the very beginning of the first note has been cut off - a shame. Also,
there are no timings anywhere on the cover or in the booklet, which is difficult
to explain. Other than that, a disc to treasure.
Gwyn Parry-Jones
