Graham Whettam’s Concerto Drammatico
for cello and orchestra is actually a reworking-with-extension of his
earlier Cello Concerto written in 1962 and first performed
in 1981 by Robert Cohen with the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Timothy Reynish. At that time the piece was in two predominantly
slow movements described by the composer as scenas for cello
and orchestra. In 1998 the composer slightly revised the original scenas
and added a new Scherzo to be framed by the slow Scena and Ultima
Scena, as the slow movements have now been renamed. After listening
to this recording of Concerto Drammatico, I looked through
my "sound archives" and unearthed the tape of the broadcast
performance of the 1962 Cello Concerto. Rehearing it after
many years convinced me that the 1962 work was a quite impressive piece
of music and a musically satisfying work in its own right. The inclusion
of the newly written Scherzo rather widens the emotional scope of the
original work which was mainly a meditative, elegiac, if at times angry,
piece in which carefully placed, powerful climaxes provide dynamic contrast.
In its present form, Concerto Drammatico retains the emotionally-charged
expressive power of the original while adding more dramatic contrasts
through the inclusion of the Scherzo. In any form, however, Concerto
Drammatico is a powerfully gripping piece of music and one of
Whettam’s greatest achievements. A wonderful live performance by Martin
Rummel for whom Whettam also wrote some solo pieces.
Whettam’s Sinfonia contra timore of 1962,
his earliest acknowledged symphony, is actually his fourth symphony.
(The first three symphonies written in the 1950s were discarded by the
composer as was an early Oboe Concertino, though the latter
was performed at a Proms Concert.) The piece is dedicated to "Bertrand
Russell and all other people who suffer imprisonment or other injustice
for the expression of their beliefs...". (At that time, i.e. at
the heart of the Cold War and in the heat of the Cuba crisis, Bertrand
Russell was imprisoned for inciting people to civil disobedience.) However,
this is no programmatic piece; rather a man’s reactions to the world
events, and thus a deeply personal statement evoking violence and injustice
(another form of violence), sadness, despair and ultimately some renewed
optimism in Man’s common sense. Whettam nevertheless chose to express
his innermost thoughts in purely abstract, symphonic, universal terms.
The first movement acts as a menacing prelude leading into a nervous,
agitated Allegro molto – Con energia incisa launched by one of
Whettam’s favourite formulas: unison horns and trumpets ushering in
a powerful theme. This gives way to a violently energetic dance that
moves along unabated till a mighty glissando heralds the final
slow movement - actually two slow outer sections framing a central Scherzo.
The opening of the symphony is recalled and a massive crescendo
unleashes the final Allegro deciso. The mood is not unlike that
of the first movement. The music pauses in a slower section redolent
of the introduction before resuming its initial drive hurling the work
to its defiant conclusion. The present 1975 performance by the Leipzig
Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Günter Blumhagen is simply
superb and no wonder that it led to the writing of Sinfonia Drammatica,
completed in 1978 and first performed that year by the present conductor.
Whettam is a born individualist going his own way regardless
of any trendy fashion. He is his own man throughout and sees that his
music communicates through its sheer expressive power. Both pieces in
this release are wonderful examples of Whettam’s powerfully expressive
and deeply human music. I have no reservation whatsoever in recommending
this release that puts Whettam’s music back "on the map" which
it should never have deserted. I now hope that we might soon have a
recording of Sinfonia Drammatica.
Hubert Culot
See also review
by Lewis Foreman
Visit Redcliffe Recordings
Martin Rummel (vlc); Sinfonia
da Camera, Urbana, Illinois/Ian Hobson;