Although the name of
John Hawkins will be new to many he
is a composer with a substantial body
of work to his credit. His 1980 Sea
Symphony, the work on which his
reputation chiefly rests to date, has
been broadcast on more than one occasion.
This Meridian release is the first disc
to be solely devoted to his music and
is therefore particularly welcome, showing
him to be a composer of sound technique
with a clear sense of craftsmanship.
Hawkins’ principal
teachers were Elizabeth Lutyens and
Malcolm Williamson, although it is perhaps
to the latter that his music is closest
stylistically. The language is broadly
rooted in tonality whilst not shying
away from the use of dissonance where
the dramatic context of the music dictates.
In Voices from the Sea, the song
cycle that Hawkins wrote immediately
following his Sea Symphony, there
is also a feeling of the presence of
Britten at times, notably in the string
writing and the dramatic sweep of the
melodic lines, but the music is no less
effective for it and Hawkins shows that
he is able to create a sense of atmosphere
that is very much his own.
The six poems used
were selected by the composer from submissions
to the annual poetry competition of
The Seafarers Education Service, each
reflecting differing aspects of life
at sea and being wide ranging in their
dramatic breadth and subject. Scored
for tenor and strings, this live recording
is of the first performance in April
1985 and Martyn Hill is on fine form,
giving strong, colourful and vivid accounts
of all six songs.
The eight remaining
works are all for more modest chamber
forces and range from the solo oboe
in Disturbed Nights, to various
combinations of strings and piano. Indeed,
a glance through Hawkins list of compositions
reveals that works for strings form
an important thread through his output.
This is no doubt partly due to his close
collaboration with violist Paul Silverthorne
and double bassist Duncan McTier. McTier
has probably done more for the solo
double bass repertoire than any other
player and Worlds Apart, commissioned
by him in 1996, is an inventive, virtuoso
showpiece that exploits the many differing
facets of a much underestimated solo
instrument. Here Hawkins succeeds not
only in displaying the technical possibilities
of the instrument but also in creating
a compelling sense of musical drama.
McTier figures again in Waiting:
Tango, this time in duet with Paul
Silverthorne whose largely lyrical viola
line is beautifully played in an enigmatic
miniature that once again places the
double bass in an unfamiliar yet effective
role as musical protagonist.
Of the other works
for strings, Gestures, for two
violas, is a dramatic, virtuosic duo
of an intensity that defies its relative
brevity. In contrast Quietus,
for string trio, begins elegiacally
but soon develops into a concise, lyrically
charged single movement that provides
further evidence of Hawkins dramatic
gestural abilities. Shadows,
adds piano to viola and double bass
and is a response to a poem by Ursula
Vaughan Williams, proceeding atmospherically
from rippling, mysterious piano figurations
and transforming itself into a central
waltz before returning to the twilit
world of the opening bars. Brief
Encounters is a terser affair, slightly
more astringent in its three fleeting
movements and imaginatively utilising
the textural contrasts of the solo viola
and flute.
The Variations
for piano is the most ambitious of the
works after Voices of the Sea
and also the longest at just under twelve
minutes. The eight highly contrasting
variations on the opening chordal theme
culminate in a passacaglia, with Hawkins
effectively negotiating the various
transitions from the nostalgic to the
occasionally violent through which the
music passes on its journey. Disturbed
Nights for solo oboe, shows a very
different use of variation form, a cumulatively
intense response to an initial lullaby
like theme that takes as its starting
point a parent’s increasing desperation
for its child to sleep. Hawkins here
makes considerable demands on the soloist
and Christopher O’Neal reciprocates
with playing of impressive technique
and lyrical charge.
Hawkins’ music is not
marred by unnecessary flamboyance but
rather distinguished by its innate sincerity.
All of these works, whether small or
large in scale, are emotionally involving
and impressively measured in their expression.
Proof that he is capable of sweeping
gesture on a larger scale is evident
in Voices from the Sea. I have
heard few contemporary song cycles that
capture both beauty and austerity as
vividly.
Christopher Thomas
Hubert Culot
has also listened to this disc
At a little over twenty
minutes, Hawkins’ song cycle Voices
from the Sea is by far the most
substantial work here. In 1980 the Marine
Society commissioned Hawkins’ large-scale
orchestral work Sea Symphony
which drew many favourable comments
at the time of its first performance.
The composer wanted to follow it with
a vocal piece, also inspired by the
sea. The director of the Seafarers Education
Service suggested a recently published
anthology of entries to its annual poetry
competition Voices from the Sea.
The composer selected six poems for
his song cycle. These poems in which
sailors reflect on their feelings when
at sea offered considerable scope for
musical characterisation, always clearly
evoked but never overdone by the composer.
Loneliness at night, longing for home
and the often harsh realities of a sailor’s
life are vividly translated into music,
in turn dreamy, sad, dramatic or bittersweet,
in which the sea – as in Britten’s Peter
Grimes – is always present,
if at times in the background. I was
particularly impressed by the third
movement Crow’s Nest and the
fourth movement Home is the Sailor,
the latter depicting a wreckage but
ending with a deeply moving coda. The
whole cycle is a beautifully varied,
contrasted, and often moving achievement
that does not pale when compared to
Britten’s orchestral song cycles. The
superb string writing often brings Britten
but also Grace Williams to mind, but
none the worse for that. Quite the contrary,
and one cannot but wonder why this magnificent
piece of music is not heard more often.
The sound of the live recording of the
work’s first performance is quite satisfying
indeed, and the performance itself is
excellent.
All the other pieces,
for various instrumental combinations,
are much shorter but never lightweight.
In fact, the Variations
for piano is a minor masterpiece in
its own right and a quite substantial
piece of music that should appeal to
any pianist willing to add an accessible
modern work to his/her repertoire.
There are not that
many substantial works for double bass
and piano, so that Hawkins’s sizeable,
often virtuosic Worlds Apart
is a most welcome, worthwhile addition
to this instrument’s rather scant repertoire.
Disturbed Night
for solo oboe is another set of variations
in all but the name, and yet another
fairly substantial work in much the
same league as Britten’s Metamorphoses
and Francis Routh"s Tragic
Interludes.
Most other pieces are,
as already mentioned, rather shorter.
Some of them are written for unusual
instrumental forces such as the bittersweet
Waiting: Tango (for viola
and double bass), the short suite of
three concise, contrapuntal movements
Brief Encounters (for
flute and viola), the superbly crafted
miniature Shadows (for
viola, double bass and piano) and Gestures
(for two violas) which is a concise
work of some virtuosity. The final item
Quietus for string trio
based on Hawkins’ earlier viola piece
Urizen was written for
a concert in memory of Silverthorne’s
wife Mary. This beautifully moving miniature
provides this varied and appealing selection
of Hawkins’ beautifully crafted music
with a peaceful, moving conclusion.
Hawkins’ sincere, honest
and impeccably written music is clearly
the work of a distinguished musician
who obviously has things to say and
who knows how to say them in accessible,
communicative terms likely to appeal
to larger audiences without ever compromising
or writing down to them. Well worth
looking for.
Hubert Culot
see also
review by Rob Barnett
Martyn Hill (ten)