One of the joys of my younger life was singing, in a small vocal
group, music from all periods. I especially enjoyed the 20
th century
English partsongs we sometimes were allowed to perform. I particularly
remember Moeran’s
Under the Greenwood Tree (the
first of the
Song of Springtime) and
The Sailor and
Young Nancy which was my introduction to this composer’s
choral music. It was, however, some time before I actually heard
any of it! Hearing the Revolution Records LP (RCB 7) of the Proteus
Choir, under Vernon Handley, in English choral music, which included
the Moeran set, was an ear-opener and it whetted my appetite
for more of the same. But it was much later still that I heard
his choral masterpiece,
Phyllida and Corydon. I feel sure
that this CD will whet many appetites for this now lesser-known
side of English music.
The composition of partsongs, and larger choral works, was undertaken
with glee by English composers, not least because they knew of
the large number of amateur choirs in the UK and that scores
would be purchased, making money for the publisher. If the composer
hadn’t sold his copyright outright these would bring in
royalties for him. From George Macfarren, who wrote some rather
good Shakespeare settings in the middle of the 19
th century,
through Coleridge-Taylor, Havergal Brian to Herbert Howells and
beyond, English composers have revelled in writing for massed
voices and this delightful disk gives us a brief view of some
of the fruits of their labours.
Moeran is the best known composer represented here and it is
good that we have not only the wonderful
Songs of Springtime,
but also six other pieces ranging from folksong arrangements
to settings of Elizabethan verse, four of which are première
recordings. The small (23 voice) choir is the perfect size for
this music, for it is intimate, as too large a vocal group would
obscure the individual lines. The singers’ enjoyment of
this music is obvious for they bring a bounce to the pieces and
there is a good variety of timbre and tone between each work.
I did enjoy the two humorous folksong settings, which are too
often given as throw-away things, but here, heard in the context
of other choral music by Moeran, they emerge as something rather
special. Little polished gems of settings. The arrangement of
the movement from the orchestral
Serenade is particularly
pleasing.
Both Arthur Benjamin and Edgar Bainton are almost forgotten men
these days were it not for a handful of pieces -
Jamaican
Rhumba by the former and some choral pieces by the latter
- although Chandos, and others, have recorded some of Bainton’s
orchestral and chamber works which are well worth investigating.
Benjamin was a fine pianist, he taught Britten at the RCM, and
he is credited with giving the British première of
Rhapsody
in Blue, although there is a claim that this distinction
fell to Billy Mayerl. Oddly, both men spent time in the Rühleben
camp in Germany during the First World War - Bainton because
he was visiting Bayreuth and was arrested as a male enemy alien
of military age and was interned. Benjamin was in the Royal Flying
Corps and was shot down over Germany and captured. After the
armistice Bainton became the first Englishman to conduct the
Concertgebouw Orchestra, in two programmes of English music.
There is one other point of interest with regard to the two composers.
Benjamin was an Australian who came to London to study and remained
here, apart from the Second World War which he spent in Canada,
whereas Bainton, in 1933, accepted the directorship of the New
South Wales State Conservatorium of Music (now known as the Sydney
Conservatorium of Music) and spent the rest of his life in Australia.
Benjamin’s
Three Mystical Pieces are brief, but
very telling. The first is rather Baxian, but the other two show
a restraint and a more individual voice. I can well imagine that
these were very popular during the years preceding the Second
World War.
Bainton’s contributions all date from the time before he
moved to Australia and they are, in some respects, fairly typical
of the kind of choral music which was being written at the time,
yet there is something about these works which lift them above
the norm. It’s that indefinable something which one can
feel but it’s impossible to quantify. These pieces have
that, whatever it is! You can taste it as you listen to the music.
The final work is by a man whom most wouldn’t even think
of as a composer. A conductor - yes; one of the best this country
has produced but whose career was cut short by ill health. A
man of whom Sir Adrian Boult said, “There was no one to
touch him, in my opinion; he'd have gone a very long way, if
he had lived.” Except he couldn’t go a long way for
he died of tuberculosis at the early age of 45. Had he lived,
he would have taken over the helm of the Hallé Orchestra
in 1943 and British musical history would have been quite different.
The
Witches’ Sabbath is a setting of Ben Jonson and was
Leslie Heward’s first published work. Despite its title,
it’s quite a charming work, with no surprises. This is
a fine example of partsong writing and it is lovely.
This is a superb CD which should go a long way to reminding many
just what a joy choral music, and singing, is, and what a wealth
of music there is for a capella chorus by British composers.
The performances are very good and the acoustic, if a little
dry, is bright and clear. The notes are good and there are full
texts printed in the booklet. At a fraction under 50 minutes
the disk could be accused of short measure but there is quality
here and that matters. Please don’t miss this exciting
CD.
Bob Briggs
see also review by John
Quinn
City Chamber Choir of London/Stephen
Jones 
