John Downey was a child
in Chicago in the days of World War
Two. He attended De Paul University
and the Chicago Music College. He studied
with Rudolph Ganz and the legendary
Vittorio Rieti. He won a Fulbright Scholarship
to study in Paris for eight years working
with Honegger, Milhaud, Messiaen and
Nadia Boulanger and living in the Latin
quarter of that city. I have never understood
the Americans’ fascination with Paris.
The difficulty I have
with this composer is that he is stylistically
all over the place. He has been influenced
by jazz and that is all well and good
but in his works he does not know whether
he wants to be a jazz composer, a serious
composer and if that whether he wants
to be melodious and conventional or
avant-garde. This reveals an insecurity
and immaturity. He has no voice of his
own. If he wants to write jazz, let
him do so. If he wants to write serious
melodic conventional music, let him
do so. If he wants to write in a more
avant-garde idiom, let him do so, but
please not all styles within the same
piece. It is like having beef stew with
strawberries and cream incorporated
in it.
The other curious thing
about Downey's works is that they all
start well and then develop into ordinariness
or something less commendable. If Declamations
were half the length I would love
it. If Jingalodeon were seven
minutes long, I would love it.
Declamations has
a beautiful opening with extended flute,
clarinet and horn solos. The music is
not declamatory but rather ethereal
and cantabile. It is tonal and presents
no problems aurally. It is wonderfully
written both for solo instruments and
for the orchestra, with stunning brief
percussive interjections. So far, so
good. We have musical logic and the
orchestral playing and the sound is
first class. In fact it has to be said
here and now that Geoffrey Simon's conducting
is truly superb. I have not heard him
give a bad performance. Declamations
continues with an extraordinary climax
which leads to a brief scurrying and
a sublime horn solo with shimmering
strings. Even the gentleness has a restlessness
and the music seems to hint at a blues.
For discerning readers
how did the blues begin? What is their
origin? It is not something that has
existed for about 150 years only. If
you know your music you will find a
blues in Beethoven although it is not
called that as such.
Downey achieves a warmth
and humanity in this music but then
the problems start. The music begins
to be merely padding but we have not
failed yet. At 6. 57ff there is some
sumptuous music and the music heads
towards a sinister climax. Geoffrey
Simon has marvellous control here. Metal
chimes herald the next section with
' underwater' harp music such as you
find in Bernard Hermann's film score
Beneath the 12 mile reef. But
now the problem. Where is the music
going? Effects and gimmicks are introduced
and the music has lost its way. It is
confused and meanders aimlessly. There
is , eventually, a brief climax and
the last two minutes are quite exciting.
There are worrying
features in the Discourse. The
harpsichord has comparatively little
to do. For most of the time it is non-existent
or lost in the texture. Leon Goossens
told me once that the oboe is a lady
and should be treated as such. In this
piece she is a witch with chanting incantations
and the use of multiphonics makes her
out to be a ............... Well, you
can supply the word. The material of
this piece is not very memorable and
the use of strings only is not well
conceived as the music usually sounds
dull. It is only when pizzicato effects
arrive that there is some relief from
musical intensity. The bending of oboe
notes does not belong in this piece
since it is not of an advanced style
because basically the piece presents
itself as a conventional piece. The
question of the music's purpose and
direction arises again. The harpsichord
cadenza is out of place and the work
ends in further disappointment.
Jingalodeon is
curious incorporating a jazz band in
what sets out to be a serious piece.
This combination does not work although
I admire Rolf Liebermann's Concerto
for jazz band and orchestra and partly
because he sets out his intentions at
once. Downey shows us that jazz music
is so diverse from a symphony orchestra.
It is that beef stew with strawberries
and cream in it again! Jazz music is
often raucous and improvised and therefore
not controlled or contained, being indeterminate
and lacking in organisation in complete
variance with a classical score. Nonetheless
Downey's piece has a popularity in America,
I understand. Again, it begins well
but when the jazz group enters after
metallic percussion and celesta the
music is crude and banal. A lovely viola
solo only serves to show that class
music does not belong in the vulgar
world and it indicates that this string
player is in the wrong piece. There
is a long mysterious section which is
yet another stranger. There are solos
for violin and flute but where is the
music going? It has no logic but is
like an untidy patchwork quilt. Then
Frankenstein appears and Jingle Bells
is abused, hence the title. This is
dreadful music, absolutely awful. The
composer does not know what side he
is on, whether he is a Unionist or a
Confederate, a Yankee of a Johnny Reb.
There is no doubting
the amazing skill and talent of Gary
Karr, the dedicatee of the Concerto
for double bass. But for him to learn
a work lasting just over half a hour
which is a poor work and hopelessly
flawed seems to be the wrong use of
his time and talent. Many of the observations
I have made on the previous pieces also
apply here. There are other worrying
features. The third movement is under
90 seconds long. Too short for a symphonic
work? Maybe, but the other movements
are too long and the music, while good
in parts, is just as episodic.
John Downey is clever
and gifted and I am truly sorry to say
these things. I hope he graciously takes
on board what I say here and finds a
logical style and leaves the strawberries
and cream out of what could be a tasty
beef stew!
David C F Wright
Han de Vries (oboe) 