I must admit that I did not know that Peter Dickinson had composed
such a large output of organ music before receiving this generously
filled release. These works were composed between 1953 and 1999,
thus spanning his whole composing career although there has been
a rather long gap between
Paraphrase I (1967) and
Blue
Rose Variations (1985) and then
Millennium Fanfare (1999).
One must also mention the Organ Concerto (1971) recorded by Jennifer
Bate with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Atherton
(EMI, now re-issued on
Albany)
and
Fanfares and Elegies (1967 - organ and brass),
the latter remaining unrecorded at the time of writing.
Most of the pieces are fairly short and consist in the fairly
traditional preludes, postludes and toccatas that one often finds
in such repertoire. However, there are two substantial works
here that by far exceed the organ loft:
Blue Rose Variations written
for Jennifer Bate in 1985 and
Paraphrase I composed
in 1967.
It would be idle to go into many comments about most of these
works. Suffice to say that the earliest works, roughly from the
very early but attractive
A Cambridge Postlude (1953)
up to the
Meditation on “Murder in the Cathedral” (1958),
may still be regarded as being in a fairly traditional mould
although Dickinson’s personal touch may already be detected
here and there in these early works. The lively
Toccata of
1955 has become a favourite of mine for the music is full of
rhythmic vitality and joyful energy that sometimes bring the
late William Mathias to mind. These early works, however, are
all superbly crafted and some of them have become popular. On
the other hand, I find it hard to understand why the three
Preludes
on Gibbons’ Songs have never been published and
apparently rarely played. They make a fine triptych that repays
repeat hearings. In 1958 Dickinson went to New York for three
years and was then in touch with many American composers who
may have had some influence on his music-making.
Study
in Pianissimo (1959) is the only organ work that he composed
in the States. The music uses elements of serial technique and,
thus, contrasts with the earlier works that still belonged to
the so-called cathedral tradition. Even so, Dickinson never became
a strict serialist in any way. Later works, too, keep moving
from that tradition by incorporating elements that Dickinson
might have gleaned from Messiaen. The
Three Statements may
also be singled out for they display some more formal freedom
inherited from improvisation.
A few words need to be said, too, about the more substantial
works, of which
Paraphrase I is the earliest composed
in 1967 and based on a motet
John (1963) to words
by Thomas Blackburn. It consists of ten short sections of quite
contrasted character. MacDowell’s piano piece
To
a Wild Rose seems to have exerted some fascination on
Peter Dickinson who composed (at least) three pieces based on
it:
Blue Rose (1979 - piano),
Wild Rose Rag (1985
- piano) and the substantial
Blue Rose Variations composed
for Jennifer Bate. In this fairly recent work Dickinson’s
full maturity is given free rein. These variations inhabit hugely
contrasted moods and atmospheres, sometimes turning the organ
into a barrel organ. “Variation 6 has been regarded an
orgy of secularity invading the once sacred organ loft” (Peter
Dickinson). This might also be said of several other variations.
Paraphrase
I and
Blue Rose Variations are
major works that definitely deserve to be heard more often.
This well-filled release concludes with Dickinson’s latest
organ work
Millennium Fanfare written for Keith
Bond at Aldeburgh Parish Church. The music is partly based on
the opening chords of Dickinson’s Organ Concerto and on “trumpet
passages based on the musical letters found in the name Aldeburgh”.
This is a brief but imposing and at times rather terrifying work.
Need I say that Jennifer Bate plays superbly throughout this
programme? She had already been associated with some of these
works and was the dedicatee of
Blue Rose Variations,
so that her readings always strike the right balance between
immaculate organ playing and superb musicality. One has to keep
in mind that she is also a far from inconsiderable composer in
her own right. Some of these recordings were made in 1982 at
St James’s Muswell Hill and still sound remarkably well.
By the way I cannot remember whether they were originally released
then or not.
Peter Dickinson’s organ music is superbly crafted but also
quite varied and attractive so that this generously filled release
should appeal to anyone willing to explore some more recent,
though by no means intractable organ music. Definitely not for
organ buffs only.
Hubert Culot