This is a superb introduction to the music of American
composer Phillip Rhodes. Born into "a family deeply rooted in the traditions
of the Appalachian mountains", Rhodes' works are steeped in his musical
upbringing, incorporating and often radically transforming many references
to the folk music of his indigenous rural locale. These in turn are
often descended from the English, Scottish and Irish traditions. Lovers
of the folk music of these islands and those composers (VW, Holst, Moeran
etc.) who also drank heavily from that particular wellspring of inspiration
will find much here to both delight and comfort.
My previous favourite on the Centaur label was a disc
of Charles Ives' string quartets and the opening work here can fully
withstand comparison; the Love Song in particular is six minutes
of sheer beauty, a set of variations on Black Is The Colour of My
True Love's Hair, which brings to mind Wayne Barlow's idyllic Winter's
Past. Fiddle Tunes appears both here and later in its reworked
guise for violin and synthesised strings, again invoking folk tunes
(this time Blackberry Blossom and Teetotaller), with a
"quote", enthusiastically explained in the composer's notes, from The
Rite of Spring. It has to be said though that most of the music
on this disc evokes not Russian or even Appalachian springs but ones
rather closer to home.
The recording of Mountain Songs is much older
than the remainder of the disc and features the talents of celebrated
soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson. The texts are traditional but the music,
other than Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah, is Rhodes' own. All
of this cycle is seldom less than great but Jehovah is a towering
achievement. A million miles from the tub-thumping setting we know from
performances on Songs of Praise, and by Welsh male voice choirs
etc., this version is a spine-chilling Gaelic lament. It is the most
outstanding piece on an outstanding disc and demands to be heard - to
call it transcendent is not an exaggeration. After this, Fiddletunes
(No. 2), for violin and synthesised strings has a lot to live up
to and doesn't quite manage it but Rhodes has another tour-de-force
waiting at the end of the disc. Reels and Reveries is again,
to these ears anyway, a masterpiece - from the Coplandesque hoe-downs
to the Vaughan Williams style modal and pentatonic meditations and the
exuberant finale, in which the orchestra gamely sings verses from Cluck
Ol' Hen(!), this performance, coughs and all, recorded live by WNIM-FM
radio station, documents the existence of something very special.
If, like me, your ideal soundworld lies somewhere in
the mid-Atlantic, between, say, Roy Harris and E.J. Moeran, then you
will cherish the majority of the music contained herein. I cannot recommend
this highly enough.
Neil Horner
Veblen String Quartet
¹