Sir Charles Villiers STANFORD (1852-1924)
String Quintet No. 1 in F major, Op. 85 (1903) [28:02]
String Quintet No. 2 in C minor, Op. 86 (1903/4) [30:16]
Three Intermezzi for cello & piano, Op. 13 (1880) [8:11]
Benjamin Frith (piano)
Members of Dante and Endellion Quartets
rec. October 2018, Turner Sims, Southampton, UK (Intermezzi); November 2019, St. Nicholas Parish Church, Thames Ditton, UK (Quintets)
SOMM RECORDINGS SOMMCD 0623 [66:45]
Earlier this year, the Somm label completed its acclaimed series of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford’s eight string quartets released across three volumes. Staying with Stanford’s chamber music, Somm now focuses its attention on his pair of string quintets coupled here with his Three Intermezzi for cello and piano. Both that work and the String Quintet No. 2 and the Three Intermezzi are receiving their first recordings and a debt of gratitude is owed to all concerned for producing this album.
Both of Stanford’s parents were from prominent Anglo-Irish families and were accomplished amateur musicians. Dublin had a thriving classical music scene and from an early age Stanford, a pianist himself, would have heard dizzying quantities of first-class music, attending recitals, orchestral concerts and opera largely in Dublin but also during occasional family trips to London (his first when he was aged ten). Typically, Stanford would have attended performances of works by composers such as J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann and the operas of Donizetti, Meyerbeer, Verdi et al. The influential Stanford family made the acquaintance of a number of the international musicians who were performing in the city.
It might be useful to look at those particular influences on Stanford and the importance that fostering relationships played in the music world. A primary source of stimulus for Stanford was the German Romantic tradition, notably the works of Wagner and Brahms, which was extremely prevalent in British music circles. This was the music he wanted to learn from, be associated with, and to promote. When playing Stanford’s chamber music, including this pair of string quintets, I strongly sense the influence of the lyricism, intensity and passionate expressiveness of the Austro-German masters. Stanford undoubtedly realised that Brahms was steadily becoming one of the most prominent voices in Europe with what was then ‘new music’. Carl Reinecke in 1869, conducting the premiere of Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem (in its final form) at Leipzig, helped to establish the German’s reputation as one of the foremost composers of his generation.
In 1873, Stanford was appointed organist at Trinity College although he was technically still an undergraduate. Next summer, for his holiday Stanford chose to attend the Schumann Festival in Bonn where he met Brahms and, amongst others, the Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim. A mover and shaker in the music world, Joachim had formed his own highly successful string quartet in 1869 and was a regular visitor to Britain. Resuming his education Stanford pertinently selected Germany for his study, namely, the Conservatory of Music, Leipzig (1874, 1875) with Carl Reinecke and later the Hochschule, Berlin (1877) with Friedrich Kiel. For over forty years Stanford and Joachim were firm friends, except for a falling out in 1883 lasting four years. It could be said that Joachim served as a personal mentor to Stanford just as Mendelssohn had been to the young Joachim.
His formal education completed and back from Berlin, his horizons suitably broadened, Stanford was active conducting and programming Cambridge University Musical Society (CUMS) recitals and concerts. Not surprisingly, as conductor Stanford’s the majority of programmes at the CUMS contained music by leading figures of German Romanticism such as Wagner - Stanford had attended Bayreuth in 1876 - Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms. Notable performances included Schumann’s oratorio Paradise and the Peri, also both of Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem and his Symphony No. 1 in C minor in its British premiere conducted by Joachim. An added advantage of CUMS recitals and concerts was that they served to provide Stanford with welcome opportunities to schedule his own music. In 1877 at Cambridge University, Stanford had successfully petitioned to confer Brahms with an honorary Doctorate in Music but Brahms was unwilling to travel to Cambridge to receive it. Stanford’s career progressed significantly when in 1883 he was appointed professor of composition and conductor of the orchestra at the newly opened Royal College of Music (RCM). In 1887, Stanford was elected as professor of music at Cambridge and in 1902 he was awarded a knighthood. From 1885-1914, RCM opera productions staged at various London theatres enabled Stanford to conduct a considerable number of operas, mainly German-language works with some Italian and French, and also his own operas. Brahms’s music continued to be a major influence on Stanford and while on holiday with his wife in 1886, he visited Brahms at his Vienna home and again in January 1896 in Berlin.
The earliest of the three-chamber works on the album is the Three Intermezzi. Stanford wrote the original score for his clarinettist friend Francis Gilpin who performed the pieces with the composer at the piano in 1880 at a popular concert of the CUMS. Publisher Novello believed there would be no demand for the clarinet score so, as an alternative for publication, Stanford grudgingly adapted the clarinet part for the violin. In addition to the original score with clarinet and the published violin score, a version with a cello part is also available. Recordings of the work in both the clarinet and violin versions are extant and here Richard Jenkinson and Benjamin Frith give the first recording of the cello and piano version.
Brahms had written two string quintets the first in 1882 and the second in 1890, so it comes as no surprise that Stanford himself wrote a pair of string quintets. Either by coincidence or emulation, the first quintet of each composer shares the same F major key and both have three movements. In addition, the second quintets, although in different keys, share the same four-movement plan. Stanford scored his String Quintet No. 1 in F major, Op. 85 with the standard instrumentation of pairs of violins, violas and a cello. Completed in Malvern in 1903, the quintet was not published in full score but in parts which were sent to Joachim in Berlin, yet there is no confirmation that it was actually performed there. Early the next year, a performance was given by the Kruse Quartet with second violist E. Tomlinson at a Popular Concert at St. James Hall, London. This is not the first recording of the F major Quintet - I have the 2004 recording by the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet with violist Garth Knox on Hyperion which is just surpassed by this new Somm release. Incidentally, from the parts Dr. Colleen Ferguson has provided an edition for this recording.
The opening movement of this F major score is an Allegro which has immediate appeal, the players giving a squally character to the writing. There is both a sense of anticipation and an undercurrent of yearning. Marked Andante, the central movement attracted attention in its day for its incorporation of traditional Irish music with a theme described as a Lament. I don’t hear this writing as an expression of anguish or sorrow; it is predominantly warm, comforting and lyrical music where nothing jars an effect achieved beautifully by the players. Unexpectedly bursting on the scene at point 1:55-3:17 is a central section of angst, but this is soon put behind and forgotten. A device not uncommon for Stanford is what sounds like a short, recurring quotation first heard at point 6:10 from Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera at the beginning of Act 1, Scene 2, Ulrica’s witchcraft scene. Concluding the score is a fascinating Allegretto - Allegro movement, an amalgam of an agile and scampering Scherzo and Finale using a theme and set of variations. The sudden change of mood at 4:58 from carefree and relaxed to one dark hued with shafts of foreboding is striking. It is sometimes suggested that there is a reference to Smetana’s String Quartet No. 1 ‘From My Life’. The music is most uplifting, becoming ever more excitable as the players make an impulsive dash for the finishing line.
Receiving its first recording here, the String Quintet No. 2 in C minor was written by Stanford as a gift to mark the occasion of Joachim’s Diamond Jubilee of touring Britain, which fell in 1904. The quintet exists in its manuscript score together with a set of parts that Stanford sent to Joachim for its premiere given at the Berliner Singakademie in 1904. Unlike the F major quintet which was published in parts, this C minor score never was published and Jeremy Dibble undertook the editing for this recording.
Using conventional scoring, the quintet opens with an Allegro molto moderato ma energico, the lengthiest of its four movements. Played with real understanding the undulating, rather blustery writing ranges from distinct melancholy to a surfeit of determined energy. Here, Stanford quotes a motto theme from Haydn’s String Quartet, op. 76/2 known as the ‘Fifths’. In the Andante a ‘minuet’ theme forms the basis for a set of variations. Here Stanford’s writing is so pleasing to the ear, calm overall with a tinge of sorrow in the undertow. Short at three and a half minutes, the Allegro molto (Scherzo) movement is described by Dibble in the notes as ‘will-o'-the-wisp’, an approach typical of Stanford. To me the players evoke a scene of spirits from Celtic faeryland leaping, dashing and darting in the twilight, somewhat in the manner of a J.B. Yeats poem. A calm, yet cautious introduction to the Finale. Adagio - Allegro giusto shifts quickly to denser, weightier writing. With the music constantly moving, the players provide a display of excitable activity as if wanting to settle but being unable to do so.
The performances from these experienced players are certainly high-calibre and one senses the professional satisfaction they gain from performing such worthy works. The level of expression and unity the players achieve is never in doubt. Worthy of note, too, is their impeccable intonation and the tone of their instruments is simply exquisite. Only represented in the Intermezzi, yet making a valuable contribution, is pianist Benjamin Frith, who is coordinates tightly with cellist Richard Jenkinson. For the recordings St. Nicholas Parish Church, Thames Ditton is used for the quintets and Turner Sims, Southampton, for the Intermezzi. Credit is owed to the production/engineering team of Siva Oke and Paul Arden-Taylor for achieving impressive clarity and balance. Stanford biographer Professor Jeremy Dibble is the author of the exactingly researched booklet essay which is equally informative and straightforward.
These are quite beautiful works, and it is hard to believe that two of them have had to wait until now to receive their first recordings. Reaching the most rigorous performance and recording standards, this is a highly rewarding release.
Michael Cookson
Previous reviews: Stephen Greenbank ~ John Quinn
Performers
Benjamin Frith (piano)
Dante Quartet members:
Krysia Osostowicz (1st violin)
Yuko Inoue (viola)
Richard Jenkinson (cello)
Endellion Quartet members:
Ralph de Souza (2nd violin)
Garfield Jackson (viola)
