Two excellent performances
of rarely heard works. Walton's Wise
Virgins is a transcription of works
by Bach commissioned by Lambert for
the Vic-Wells ballet, of which Lambert
then was the director. Lambert selected
the works himself - drawn mainly from
the cantatas - which Walton then scored.
Here, three movements which were almost
immediately lost in a tour of Holland,
have been sympathetically reconstructed
by Philip Lane. Although it was a trend
at that time to arrange and orchestrate
Bach (and Handel), it is nonetheless
most disconcerting (particularly for
a devoted Bach lover) to hear his works
set for full orchestra, with instruments
such as the harp playing a prominent
role. It is questionable that taking
music out of the context for which it
was written is a good idea, and I found
that with every one of these transcriptions,
the music sounded out of place and just
"wrong". Although Walton's transcriptions
are not as overblown as some, such as
Stokowski's, Schoenberg's, and even
Elgar's (Prelude and Fugue), to my mind
(admittedly puritanical in this respect!),
they still do a great injustice to Bach.
Walton manages to completely remove
the beauty and the spirituality of Bach's
music and trivialises the masterpieces,
rendering them solely pleasant tunes.
This is exemplified perfectly in the
awful third movement - an adaptation
of What God hath done, is rightly
done, where an originally momentous
sacred work is recast as something infuriatingly
frivolous and superficial, with silly
Gilbert and Sullivan-esque twiddles
after every phrase. To my despair, there
is later a reprise of this most irritating
of movements! The ballet is otherwise
fairly monotonous with the exception
of the boisterous but inconsequential
Ah! How Ephemeral! (a most ephemeral
track!). The playing is of a high standard,
as one might expect from the BBC Concert
Orchestra under Barry Wordsworth. There
is some impressively nimble brass playing,
and as a whole, the performance is sympathetic
although fairly restrained.
I must admit to sheer
delight, however, when the Walton ended
and the Lambert began. The basis of
the ballet Horoscope is, as its name
suggests, an astrological one, and the
music represents the struggle between
the opposed signs of Leo and Virgo,
and the eventual union of a couple through
their shared moon sign of Gemini. Horoscope
is available in its Suite version on
a couple of recordings - an outstanding
version on Hyperion with Lloyd-Jones,
and another commendable one on Chandos
with Bryden Thomson conducting. This
is the premiere recording of the full
version, and is a real treasure. The
opening movement, Palindromic Prelude
is very reminiscent of Holst and Walton
with driving, energetic rhythms and
brilliant use of percussion and syncopation.
The incandescent second moment, Dance
for the followers of Leo holds fleeting
reminiscences to Vaughan Williams’ Job
and to Holst's Perfect Fool and could
almost be taken from one of these in
places. Saraband for the followers of
Virgo, as would be expected, is more
lyrical, an almost stereotypical English
Idyll, and the dreamlike Man’s Variation
is Delian in character. Panache bursts
forth from the Woman’s Variation, and
the Valse for the Gemini demonstrates
clearly the elegance of the score and
Lambert's consummate grasp of orchestration.
This is followed by a powerful Pas de
deux, and the work concludes with a
dramatic Invocation to the Moon and
Finale of almost symphonic dimensions.
All the movements of
Horoscope are like exquisite miniatures,
all very different in mood and character,
with unusual, interesting and exciting
orchestrations throughout. The BBC Concert
Orchestra was obviously the perfect
choice as being uniquely suited for
this work, given their experience, which
transcends the strictly classical, and
has ventured into both light music and
film music. This work at least needs
to be back in the repertoire, and despite
the appalling Wise Virgins, I would
recommend this CD to any English music
lover, or admirer of ballet music, just
for the radiant and irrepressible Horoscope!
Em Marshall
see also
review by Jonathan Woolf
BBC Concert Orchestra/Barry Wordsworth