This re-issue forms part of the Chandos label’s new commemorative
Hickox Legacy series marking the fifth anniversary -
in November 2013 - of the untimely death of conductor Richard
Hickox.
Sir George Dyson achieved so much in his life and never allowed
his Northern working class roots to hold him back. He won a
scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music (RCM) where
he became a Stanford pupil. Subsequently he became a master
at Winchester, Rugby and Wellington public schools and was appointed
as professor of composition at the RCM. In 1937 Dyson was made
Director of the RCM. During the Second World War Dyson kept
the RCM open and functioning, even sleeping in the building.
I recall Herbert Howells reminiscing that on one occasion during
a terrible night in the blitz Dyson slept in the College basement
with several other academics including the violinist Albert
Sammons and the baritone Topliss Green. Dyson was knighted in
1941 and made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
in 1953.
Commencing in the late 1920s with In Honour of the City
the 1930s proved a highly productive time for Dyson in the field
of works for voices and orchestra. Among Dyson’s most
notable scores are The Canterbury pilgrims (1930), St
Paul's voyage to Melita (1932), The Blacksmiths (1933)
and Nebuchadnezzar (1934). Even the massive Quo Vadis
that Dyson completed in 1948 was actually started in 1937.
It is often said that The Canterbury Pilgrims is Dyson’s
best known work. In fact that accolade must surely go to the
RAF March Past written in short score by Sir Henry Walford
Davies. Dyson expanded and orchestrated this in 1919. In Dyson’s
sacred choral music may lie his most played scores: the Evening
Service in D (Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis),
Let All the World in Ev'ry Corner Sing and I Will
Worship. Some of his organ scores are regularly heard in
church services.
Dyson gained prominence although today his music, which is mainly
available on record, is rarely heard in performance. Orchestra
artistic directors and managements are circumspect about putting
Dyson works on a concert programme. After all, this is an English
late-Romantic known more by reputation rather than heard concert
experience. Take away a handful of scores and we would hear
nothing of Dyson’s music. This is a situation sadly all
too common nowadays with Dyson’s English contemporaries.
This re-issued Chandos double disc set launches out with At
the Tabard Inn from 1943/46. It was designed as an overture
to The Canterbury Pilgrims and is based on tunes from
the score. Hickox is in his element with elfin music that develops
into a dramatic romp. At 2:59 (CD1, track 1) a tender episode
steeped in reflective stillness could easily have been written
for a film and reminded me of John. Williams’ Star
Wars. An exuberantly glowing passage at 6:00 is evocative
of Slav folk music rather in the manner of Mussorgsky and Borodin.
A highlight is the affectionate episode at 8:14 (CD1, track
1) with its sweeping lyrical writing redolent of Rachmaninov.
Point 9:19 (CD1, track 1) heralds the return of the elfin music
and this develops into a colourfully dramatic caper. Given its
quality, in particular the uplifting impression it leaves, one
wonders whyAt the Tabard Inn isn’t played more
often.
The Canterbury Pilgrims (1930) is a setting of words
by Geoffrey Chaucer. It was introduced in 1931 at the Winchester
festival. The title of ‘cantata’ or ‘oratorio’
doesn’t really describe the score. It’s better thought
of as a series of musical character portraits. The Prologue
featuring folk-infused music is notable for its attractive oboe
and clarinet figures. At 1:19 (CD1, track 3) angelic women’s
voices intone “When that April with its showers sweet”
and at 5:36 (CD1, track 3) baritone Stephen Roberts enters with
the words “Befell that in that season on a day”
so beautifully in tune with an impressive oaken timbre. In Section
II The Knight a brass outburst in the opening measures
introduces the mixed chorus singing dramatically “A
Knight there was, and that a worthy man”. This reminded
me of the mood of ‘The Sea Symphony’ by Vaughan
Williams, a fellow student of Dyson’s under Stanford at
the RCM. At times the blustery drama of it all brings echoes
of the ceremonial Parry to mind; he too was a professor and
later director at the RCM. Section III The Squire a musical
depiction of the knight’s young and stylish son. It is
capably sung by tenor Robert Tear. The next pilgrim is The
Nun in Section IV, a picture of the finely attired and bejewelled
Prioress Madame Eglantine. Performed by the women’s choir
there is an affecting part for soprano radiantly sung by Yvonne
Kenny. There’s a dramatic and moving entry for the mixed
choir at 6:59 (CD1, track 6). Sung by baritone Stephen Roberts,
Section V The Monk comes across as a Friar Tuck character.
He could have conveyed more variety of tone. Curiously the opening
strongly reminded me of Hollywood movie themes such as the Bernard
Herrmann score to the Hitchcock thriller North by Northwest.
Described as “shabby” in Section VI The
Clerk of Oxenford is a representation of a learnèd
character who wears threadbare clothes. The conclusion is highly
dramatic before the music fades into the distance. Section VII
is The Haberdasher and his Fraternity. The Merchant is
scored for tenor and mixed chorus. This is a group of men representing
craftsmen’s guilds together with a self-important and
possibly none too likable Merchant sporting a stylish forked
beard. Scored for baritone Section VIII is The Sergeant of
the Law. The Franklin is an influential society figure of
some wealth and status in the legal profession. With Dyson’s
mainly dark textures one gets a sense that the two characters
are not entirely trustworthy. Section IX The Shipman
for mixed chorus convincingly depicts this pilgrim as a salty
seafaring character steering his vessel through squally waters.
The tone of the music in Section X The Doctor of Physic
suggests that he is a difficult personality to like. This self-appointed
expert of astrology is portrayed by dark-hued and unsettling
writing. Singing with real aplomb, tenor Robert Tear is expressive
and highly convincing. We encounter bluster and good humour
in Section XI The Wife of Bath - an affluent and cosmopolitan
woman. Soprano Yvonne Kenny is fluently impressive as the serial
wife - a magnet for five previous husbands who all left their
valuable estates to her. Weighty and atmospheric music for tenor
and mixed choir feature in Section XII The Poor Parson of
a Town. This intelligent man of the cloth is quite complex
and is represented by some richly textured music. Set in the
hostelry the Tabard Inn Section XIII L'envoi is scored
for tenor and mixed choir. Each of the Canterbury pilgrims is
invited by the inn-keeper to tell a story. He starts with the
knight. The opening of the Prologue is briefly repeated
and the work ends with a short part for off-stage horn - a bidding
farewell.
With the exception of a small number of sacred pieces Dyson’s
first major choral score is In Honour of the City. Described
by Dyson as a fantasia for chorus and orchestra this setting
of words by William Dunbar was composed in 1927/28. Dyson greatly
admired the work of Dunbar the Scottish medieval poet who was
associated with the court of James IV of Scotland. In Honour
of the City of London gives the poet’s rather glorified
view of the royal and most sovereign city of London including
many a goodly knight, velvet gowns, chains of gold, and delectable
high-born ladies of the nobility. All this colourful characterisation
clearly appealed to the Halifax-born composer. Dyson interpolated
into the score an idealised sense of the River Thames flowing
though the city, the famous bridge and the Westminster chimes
- which incidentally didn’t appear in London until 1859
some three-hundred and fifty years after Dunbar’s verse.
The choir and orchestra admirably surmount Dyson’s rather
congested writing. I was impressed by the hearty ebullience
and committed choral singing with the massed voices sounding
pleasingly secure. Again in the writing it is not difficult
at times to hear the sound-world of early Vaughan Williams,
Dyson’s contemporary at the RCM.
Recorded in 1996 at the Blackheath Halls, London, Richard Hickox
has been provided with clear and well balanced sound. To cap
what is a well presented release I can report that full texts
are included together with an informative and interesting essay.
Impressively performed and recorded this re-issued Chandos double
CD setmakes indispensable listening for lovers of late-Romantic
English music.
Michael Cookson
see also reviews by Rob
Barnett and John
Quinn
Yvonne Kenny (soprano); Robert Tear (tenor); Stephen Roberts (baritone)
