The Stanford Legacy
Charles Villiers STANFORD (1852-1924)
Clarinet Sonata Op.129 (1911, arr. viola by Henry Waldo Warner, 1919) [19:14]
Rebecca CLARKE (1886-1979)
Viola Sonata (1919) [23:00]
John IRELAND (1879-1962)
Violin Sonata No.1 (1908-09, rev. 1917/1944, arr. viola by Martin Outram) [26:01]
Martin Outram (viola)
Julian Rolton (piano)
rec. July 2015, Wyastone Hall, Monmouth
NIMBUS NI6334 [68:15]
This Nimbus album titled The Stanford Legacy consists
of sonatas by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and his pupils Rebecca Clarke
and John Ireland at the Royal College of Music. Only the Clarke sonata was
originally written for the viola; the other two are arrangements of, respectively,
clarinet and violin sonatas.
Stanford’s legacy stems mainly from his work as composition professor
at the Royal College of Music (RCM), where he and his contemporary Parry were
the major influences in British music for almost half a century as composers,
conductors, teachers and academics. The importance of Stanford’s role
as an educator is quite remarkable and his significant list of students includes
Hamish MacCunn, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Frank Bridge, Herbert Howells, Ivor
Gurney, E.J. Moeran, Rutland Boughton, Gustav Holst, Rebecca Clarke, John
Ireland, Arthur Bliss, Leopold Stokowski and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
A prolific composer, Stanford wrote in many genres, including seven symphonies
and ten operas. He is often described as the ‘Father of English Choral
Music’, being principally remembered today for his contribution to sacred
choral music in the Anglican tradition. Stanford, an admirer of the music
of the Romantic German/Austrian tradition, often programmed the music of Beethoven,
Schumann and Brahms in concert programmes he conducted. As a composer, Stanford’s
tonal and conservative music is often described as Brahmsian, containing as
it does a well-designed lyricism crammed with colour.
The opening work on the disc is the Stanford Viola Sonata, which
Harry Waldo Warner (1874-1945) arranged with Stanford’s permission from
the Clarinet Sonata, Op. 129. Stanford completed the score at the
end of 1911 and it lies between the widely admired Songs of the Fleet
(1910) and the Symphony No. 7 (1912). The Clarinet Sonata
is evocative of Brahms’s autumnal clarinet-based chamber scores, written
between 1891/94, which Stanford much admired. The arranger Waldo Warner was
both a composer and viola player who trained at the London Guildhall School
of Music. As a composer, he won fifth prize in the 1905 Cobbett Competition
for a Phantasy String Quartet. As a violist, Warner served for a time as first
viola in the New Symphony Orchestra and was a member of the renowned London
String Quartet during 1908/29. I feel the music works considerably better
as a Clarinet Sonata than in its guise as a Viola Sonata,
although it’s still an attractive piece. The opening movement, an agreeable
Allegro moderato, feels like a tender song of summer sun that at
times gives the feeling of having to run for cover during rainstorms. Entitled
Caoine, a Gaelic lament, the central movement, marked Adagio
(quasi fantasia), contains music of considerable introspection with
an undertow of melancholy maybe reflecting the pain of parting. Headed Allegretto
grazioso, the concluding movement has a serious edge, an intense yearning
quality tinged with sadness.
Rebecca Clarke, a contemporary of Vaughan Williams and Holst, studied for
a short time at the Royal Academy of Music before enrolling at the RCM under
Stanford between 1907/1910. A viola player who studied privately with Lionel
Tertis, Clarke was one of the first female professional orchestral musicians
when in 1912 she played in the Queen's Hall Orchestra under Sir Henry
Wood. In chamber music Clarke was notable, appearing as a viola soloist and
a member of chamber ensembles. As a composer of mainly songs and chamber music,
there was some critical success afforded to Clarke in her lifetime. In 1919
Clarke’s Viola Sonata just failed, by the patron’s casting
vote, to win first prize at the prestigious Elisabeth Sprague Coolidge Chamber
Festival in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Sadly, Clarke was unable to sustain
what she called her “little whiff of success.” In 1939
she returned to the USA before the outbreak of war and ended up staying in
the country for the rest of her life. In 1944 Clarke married the Scottish-born
James Friskin, who had also been a Stanford pupil.
The Viola Sonata commences with a substantial movement marked Impetuoso.
Restless and passionate, there is a strong Celtic influence imbued in the
writing. In the short central movement, Vivace, I relish the jaunty,
colourful dance-like rhythms, which repeatedly change, providing a near exotic
feel. Marked Adagio, the lengthy closing movement contains a mysterious
yearning quality with a slightly perfumed air. The players impressively build
an aching intensity before finding more relaxing episodes of respite. There
are several accounts of the Clarke Viola Sonata in the catalogues
and I find the most rewarding that by Tabea Zimmermann and Kirill Gerstein,
recorded in 2010 at Cologne on Myrios Classics. Impressive, too, is the engaging
1993 recording from Paul Coletti and Leslie Howard on Hyperion Helios CDH55085.
Also praiseworthy is the 2004 Wells Cathedral School account from Philip Dukes
and Sophia Rahman on Naxos.
As a pupil of Stanford, John Ireland stated that their relationship was often
fraught and that he considered his teacher’s methods harsh at times.
Ireland certainly came a long way from his early days at the Royal College
of Music (1897-1901) when in 1898 his great master said to the then very young
student, “All water me bhoy and more water than Brahms… Study
some Dvořák for a bit and bring me something that isn’t like Brahms”
(‘Charles Villiers Stanford’ by Paul Rodmell, Ashgate 2002). The
rebuke clearly worked, as the product was Ireland’s composition of the
precocious and charming Sextet for clarinet, horn and string quartet.
Walter Willson Cobbett (1847-1937), an amateur musician and wealthy businessman,
created in 1905 a crucial impetus for chamber music composition in England
that led to the establishment ‘Phantasy’ chamber music competitions
and commissions. Ireland’s breakthrough was winning the 1909 Cobbett
Competition for a Sonata for Violin and Piano with his Violin Sonata
No. 1. Designed by Ireland in conventional sonata form, Martin Outram’s
arrangement for viola and piano works extremely well. The sonata opens with
an Allegro leggiadro which is enthrallingly written, at turns inquisitive
and contemplative. Next comes a Romance, predominately mellow and
agreeable in quality. The concluding movement is a vibrant Rondo
that reveals Ireland’s rebellious streak. Of the competing accounts
of Ireland’s First Violin Sonata, I have long admired the spirited
playing and captivating quality produced by Yfrah Neaman and Eric Parkin,
recorded back in 1972 at St. John’s, Smith Square, London on Lyrita.
The Stanford Legacy album was recorded at Wyastone Hall, Monmouth
with the engineering team for Nimbus providing realistic clarity and well
balanced sound. Martin Outram has written the booklet essay, which is interesting
and informative.
Quite splendidly played by Martin Outram and Julian Rolton, lovers of English
music will be in their element with this release of viola sonatas.
Michael Cookson
Previous review:
Jonathan Woolf
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