John ANTILL (1904-1986)
Corroboree: Suite from the Ballet (1946) [24:43]
Alberto GINASTERA (1916-1983)
Panambi - Ballet Suite Op.1 (1934-7) [12:41]
London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Eugene Goossens
rec. Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London, August 1958
EVEREST SDBR 3003 [37:24]
I first heard John Antill’s Corroboree on the car radio
whilst driving in the beautiful East Lothian countryside. In spite of
the disparity between my pastoral surroundings and the vibrant ‘lurid
primitivism’ of the music, I found the score challenging, captivating
and quite frankly a masterpiece. I could not understand then, nor can
I now, how this music is virtually unknown: it seems unbelievable that
the ballet itself is not in the repertoire of the major companies.
Antill based his music on a live corroboree which he had witnessed as
a child at Botany Bay. He made researches into Aboriginal music over many
years, finally producing the present score in 1944. This was first heard
in a concert version conducted by Eugene Goossens two years later. It
was first danced as a complete ballet by the National Theatre Ballet.
That was on 3 July 1950 with the composer conducting the Sydney Symphony
Orchestra.
There is a rival version of Corroboree which demands our attention:
James Judd conducting the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra on Naxos
8.570241. This has the advantage of being the complete score, with
two additional movements, ‘Spirit of the Wind’ and ‘Rising
Sun’. Cuts made to the other movements are restored. In fact, Judd’s
reading nearly doubles the length of the work. Also included on this Naxos
disc is Anthill’s Outback Overture. Yet the privilege of
owning Goossens’ interpretation is too good to miss. It succeeds
in balancing a thoughtful reading of the many quieter passages with the
pulsating, primitive energy of the driven movements. The result leaves
the listener exhausted and not a little scared at the end of the ‘Procession
of the Totems’. Certainly, Goossens' account makes it clear
why Corroboree was regarded as a ‘defining’ moment
in the self-awareness of Australian music. It is a conceit to categorise
this music as an Australian Rite of Spring – Antill has
accurately captured the ‘essence’ of a real live Corroboree,
even if he uses ‘Western’ musical syntax to express it. Yet,
for the listener who has not heard the work, the Stravinsky allusion is
a good rule of thumb.
The liner notes for Corroboree are extensive, giving a detailed
plot of the ballet as well as the composer’s own analysis of the
recorded movements.
I do not know much about the Argentinean composer Alberto Ginastera or
his music. However, based on this present performance of the Panambi
ballet suite, it is hard not to be seriously impressed. Especially when
one realises that this score is his Op.1. Everest has presented the Suite
which represents about a quarter of the entire ballet.
The composer was only twenty years old when he wrote Panambi
which is based on a South American Indian legend. The Suite was first
heard on 27 November 1937 in Buenos Aires. The entire ballet was performed
some three years later.
The suite reveals the composer’s skill at synthesising a variety
of musical styles, including impressionism in ‘Moonlight on the
Parana’ and a ‘sophisticated primitivism’ in the ‘Dance
of the Warriors’ and the ‘Invocation of the Powerful Spirits’.
This Goossens recording is a perfect introduction: for those who wish
to hear the entire 40 minute work, it is available on Naxos
8.557582 with Gisele Ben-Dor conducting the London Symphony Orchestra.
Alberto Ginastera is one of a long line of Latin American composers including
Villa Lobos from Brazil and the Mexicans Carlos Chavez and Silvestre Revueltas
who demand our attention, yet are surprisingly rarely heard in the United
Kingdom.
The listener must not be concerned with the apparent lack of minutes on
this disc: it is a budget CD selling at under £6. The production
is exactly as it was in 1958. Apart from the unavoidable fact that these
are ballet suites and not the entire works, there is nothing I can fault
in this exciting re-release. The sound is unbelievable for nearly sixty
years of age, Goossens' conducting is masterly and the orchestral
playing of these exacting works is superb.
John France
Survey of Everest re-issues: Rob
Barnett
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