Graham Waterhouse was
born in London. He studied composition
with Hugh Wood and Robin Holloway, and
cello with Maria Kliegel. He now lives
a double life as composer and performing
cellist. His present output includes
a Cello Concerto and a good deal of
chamber music. What we have here is
a selection of works for string orchestra
and for wind ensemble.
The early Jig,
Air and Reel Op.9 is based on
sketches dating back to university days,
but fully worked-out fifteen years later
(in 1997). Each of the three movements
is based on a traditional folk song:
Sir Roger de Coverley (England),
Star of the County Down (Ireland)
and Devil among the Tailors (Scotland),
the whole amounting to a superbly crafted
and delightful miniature of the kind
that should find its place in any forthcoming
British String Miniatures release
(ASV and/or Naxos should consider it).
Incidentally, will I be the only one
to feel that the Irish tune Star
of the county Down sounds like a
variant of Dives and Lazarus?
Celtic Voices Op.36/1
is another such work overtly alluding
to British or Scottish folk music, though
without quoting any folksong. Its companion
piece Hale Bopp Op.36/2
sits between the lighter and the more
serious side of Waterhouse’s output.
It opens with wide-spaced chords suggesting
some other-worldly atmosphere and ends
with a treble voice singing How brightly
shines the Morning Star, accompanied
by a string quartet. Though shorter
and, on the whole, less astringent,
this lovely piece may compared to Georges
Lentz’s Caeli enarrant...III
(available on Naxos 8.557019, reviewed
here some time ago).
On the other hand,
Chieftain’s Salute Op.34a
and Sinfonietta Op.54
are more serious works. The string writing
is more astringent often bringing Bartók
to mind. The Sinfonietta
is a substantial work in four concise
movements often displaying considerable
energy and considerable muscular string
writing (particularly so in the first
and fourth movements). The second movement
Adagio ma non troppo reminded
me of parts of Grace Williams’ beautiful
Sea Sketches. The short
Scherzo, however, is more overtly folk-inflected,
and pays tribute to folk fiddle music.
Waterhouse’s Sinfonietta
belongs to the great tradition of British
string music, and does not pale when
compared to similar works by Britten,
Tippett or Rawsthorne. Chieftain’s
Salute Op.34a, scored for Great
Highland Pipe and strings, is – make
no mistake – a deeply serious work,
miles away from the folksy romp one
might have expected. The musical idiom
is as astringent as in the Sinfonietta,
and the Highland Bagpipe is treated
with much respect. It is not used merely
for added instrumental colour, as was
the case in Maxwell Davies’ delightfully
funny Orkney Wedding with Sunrise.
It is a real partner in this virile,
rousing piece of music, which I enjoyed
enormously.
Waterhouse’s father
was the bassoonist William Waterhouse;
the sound-world of the wind instrument
holds no secret whatsoever for him.
Mouvements d’Harmonie Op.29
for wind nonet was first performed on
the occasion of the 60th
birthday concert of the composer’s father.
It is a fairly straightforward ABA structure
cast in a rather more austere idiom
than the works for strings, but nevertheless
quite attractive. Hymnus Op.49
for 13 winds was originally conceived
for church use on the Sunday following
All Souls’ Day. The music is – appropriately
so, I think – generally more homophonic,
and is mostly based on a hymn-like theme
restated three times in the course of
the piece. The three restatements are
interspersed with two short interludes,
the second of which (a rhythmic figure
of staccato semiquavers) combines with
the chorale, providing a scurrying accompaniment
to the concluding grand restatement
of the chorale. The piece ends with
a short restatement of the opening material,
viz. some austere chords, at times reminiscent
of Stravinsky’s Symphonies pour
instruments à vent.
All these pieces are
superbly played by all concerned, and
this portrait provides the best possible
introduction to Graham Waterhouse’s
well-written and attractive music. This
is music that can be delightfully simple
as well as rather more demanding. It
definitely repays repeated hearings.
Incidentally, this
is the second disc devoted to Waterhouse’s
music (hence the figure 2 on the front
cover). Portrait 1 devoted to
some of Waterhouse’s chamber works was
released a couple of years ago, and
will be reviewed shortly.
Hubert Culot
Endymion Ensemble 