An outline of the composer may be of interest to listeners who have not
come across his music before. David Dubery was born in Durban in South
Africa. In 1961 he came to live in the United Kingdom in his mother's
hometown of Manchester. From a very young age Dubery composed music but
studied formally at the Northern School of Music in Manchester between 1963
and 1971. He studied piano with Eileen Chadwick and Kendall Taylor. Dubery's
composition teacher was Dorothy Pilling. Much of his musical activity has
been in broadcasting and for the stage where he has worked as a solo
pianist, accompanist, vocal coach, musical director and teacher of piano and
voice. From a compositional point of view he is quite definitely a
miniaturist although his
Quarteto Iberico is certainly no
bagatelle. He is particularly interested in writing for the voice and has
written many songs. Dubery has contributed music for the theatre including
an American-styled musical
Love Line. His musical language is
immediately approachable but can also be challenging to the listener.
The longest work on this new CD is the fine above-mentioned
Quarteto
Iberico (Los fantasmas de los tiempos pasados): 'Ghosts of Times Past'
which was composed in 2005 and reworked in 2013. This string quartet is
conceived in four movements, each having a 'picture postcard' title. Dubery
has noted that his interest in Spanish music began when he was still living
in South Africa where he witnessed Antonio and his Dancers at the Alhambra
Theatre in Durban. It was not until some years later that he visited the
places that his youthful dreams had nurtured. The four movements are
entitled (in English): 'The Dancer in the Square', 'In the Maria Luisa Park,
Seville', 'The Beggar Man in the Gothic Quarter' (of Barcelona) and
'Carnival'. The musical language of this work holds no terrors. In fact, it
is 'intentionally accessible, tonal and impressionistic.' There are nods to
a variety of composers that Dubery has come to admire - de Falla, Granados,
Albeniz, Piazzolla and Rodrigo.
The liner-notes provide a detailed 'programme' for each movement which
can give a literary and topographical impulse to the listener's
experience. However, this is not necessary: it is sufficient to note that
this work is inspired by the sunshine, occasional drama and edginess, and
the charismatic characters of the Iberian peninsula. I tend to regard each
of these movements as a kind of aide-memoire that the composer has written
for himself. If the listener wishes to share these impressions well and good
- if not, just enjoy this vibrant, well constructed, sun-drenched score. It
is one of the most delightful 'modern' string quartets I have heard in a
while.
The main proportion of this CD is devoted to a number of David Dubery's
songs. Four complete cycles are included as well as the early 'Full Fathom
Five' from Shakespeare's
The Tempest. Interestingly, this
lugubrious version won an important composition prize in 1965. I guess that
Holst and Britten are the models, but it is a delight in its own right.
It is good to see the song-cycle
Observations recorded here.
These settings of Walter de la Mare's
Rhymes and Verses for
Children include some poems which do not appear to have been set
before. The cycle was completed in 1979 but was later revised. These songs
are composed in a vibrant style that reflects the mood of the text. Poems
include 'The Barber's', 'The Old Sailor', 'Esmeralda', 'The Window', 'Done
For' and 'The Promenade 1880'. They cover a wide range of experience and
emotion, including 'noise and bustle', shopping in the rain and the
'question' of hunting.
Dubery has noted that these songs often 'reveal musical theatre
influences' from a time when he was writing for that medium. However, do not
for one moment think that these little works of art are in any way
'Lloyd-Webberian' - they are much cleverer. Dubery has managed to balance
innocence with subtlety in a very successful 'song cycle' that deserves to
be in the repertoire. They are beautifully and imaginatively sung by
Adrienne Murray.
The poet Douglas Gibson has clearly caught David Dubery's imagination.
Gibson was born in 1912 and wrote much of his best work whilst working in
the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford during the Second World War. He had been
allocated this position by the courts as he was a conscientious objector.
Many of Gibson's poems reflect a deep interest in nature and a largely
'pastoral' interpretation of the landscape.
The opening song-cycle presents three of Gibson's poems: 'Swans in
Flight', 'Lizard' and 'A Memory'. The first and last songs feature a
beautifully written flute obbligato. One of the characteristics of Dubery's
vocal music is his ability to indulge in subtle word-painting. In the first
song we hear undulating music which depicts the swans in flight. There is a
clever musical reference to the Lizard's darting tongue in the second. The
final song is, as the composer suggests, 'Schubertian'. The accompaniment
conjures up the 'rhythm of the rails' as the singer recalls a memory as seen
from a carriage window. At the end of this song, the mood changes to an
almost Constant Lambert-ian blues riff. Altogether a superb set of
songs.
The second song-cycle featuring Douglas Gibson's poems is the
Housman-sounding
Time will not Wait. These settings date from 1982.
Dubery suggests that this work is conceived as a 'sonata for voice and piano
in three movements'. These songs major on the passing of time in a passive
landscape where little appears to happen. There is a sense of stasis here
that leads the listener into the poet's dream-world. Only occasionally does
passion break forth - 'the way the clouds are blown . [clouds] that now
slide down the wooded hill' or the dramatic opening and closing of the
eponymous song.
Four other songs are included on this CD. They are grouped here as
'Nightsongs'. They are all meditations on evenings during the year and also
have a flute obbligato. 'One Night in December' is an exquisite version of
the beloved carol 'Away in a Manger'. The second and third songs are further
settings of Douglas Gibson. 'The Evening in April' is an enchanting number
that perfectly balances flute, singer and soloist. It is dedicated to the
author/composer Antony Hopkins. 'June Evening' is a lugubrious number that
explores the beauty of creation in the countryside: 'there is genius here /
In the delicate hand / That traced these exquisite pastels across the sky.'
The flute takes on the persona of birds in flight. The final song in this
ad hoc group is Thomas Hardy's 'An August Midnight'. It is
dedicated to the composer Peter Hope. The song imagines the great poet and
novelist at his desk and the various insects that are attracted to his desk
lamp. 'A Longlegs, a moth, and a Dumbledore (bumble bee). While 'mid
my page there idly stands / A sleepy fly, that rubs its hands.' The thought
provoking element of this poem is the realisation that 'God's humblest,
they! ... They know Earth-Secrets that know not I.' It is an idiomatic
setting of what is one of my favourite Hardy poems.
The performance by the singers James Gilchrist and Adrienne Murray are
superb. The composer is a remarkably sympathetic pianist and the flautist
Michael Cox brings a magic to the two song cycles that include an obbligato.
Finally the Cavaleri Quartet gives a well-balanced and convincing
performance of David Dubery's Iberian adventures. The liner-notes by the
composer are detailed and include valuable biographies of all the
participants.
This is a worthy disc of attractive music that demands to be explored
slowly. There is nothing here that is particularly challenging or difficult
to grasp on a first hearing. Each song is a perfect example of the
composer's art. The advertising for this CD suggests that the composer is
one of the 'leading exponents of the new lyrical post-modern music in
Britain'. David Dubery writes music that is in the trajectory of all that is
best in English song - Ireland, Britten and Finzi. Yet there is an
individual element that ensures that his music is never parody or
pastiche.
John France
