I’ve been a great admirer
of the music of Herbert Howells for
many years. However, in common with
many other people, I suspect, I’ve known
him chiefly as a composer of church
music and for his vocal and orchestral
output. So this admirable CD, made in
association with the Herbert Howells
Society, is extremely welcome.
As the distinguished
critic and commentator Michael Kennedy
has observed in a typically perceptive
phrase, "In English music of the
20th century Herbert Howells
lurks on the boundary between greatness
and immense talent." I don’t think
that any of the music here recorded
could be classified as "great"
– unlike Howells’ Collegium Regale
canticles or his masterpiece, Hymnus
Paradisi. However, there’s a great
deal of splendid craftsmanship and genuine
melodic inspiration to admire and enjoy
here.
The earliest work,
the Prelude for Harp, is perhaps
the least memorable. Indeed, Andrew
Burn relates in his most interesting
notes that when a student harpist played
it through to Howells in 1973 he couldn’t
remember writing the piece. It is, as
Burn says, "a haunting miniature,
full of modal melancholy" but I
don’t find there’s anything exceptional
about it.
The Rhapsodic Quintet
is much better. Cast in one movement,
there is a good deal of strong music
early on as well as some more puckish
material. The best music, to my mind,
comes in the last four minutes or so
when the mood becomes slower and much
more reflective. This passage is well
described by Andrew Burn as "a
closing paragraph of rapt, serene beauty."
To my ears it’s gorgeous and unmistakeably
English. The whole piece, in which Howells
integrates the clarinet splendidly with
the strings, receives an assured and
sympathetic performance from Robert
Plane and his colleagues.
The third Violin Sonata
followed four years later. As Paul Spicer
points out in his biography of Howells
the second sonata had been received
rather coolly by critics at its première
in 1919 and Howells withdrew it. Arguably,
therefore, the composition of a successor
was something of an act of courage.
The piece is dedicated to Albert Sammons
(did he ever play it, I wonder?) and
it was the fruit of a visit to Canada
where Howells was inspired by the sight
of the Rocky Mountains. The music certainly
seems to evoke wide open spaces and
grand vistas, especially in the first
and last of its three movements. The
first movement has many generous lyric
impulses and also a good deal of strong
rhetoric. It’s easy to imagine Sammons,
with his big tone, playing this music.
The short, pithy middle movement alternates
passages where the violinist is required
to play pizzicato with others
where the bow is employed. I must confess
that I found this movement to be less
inspired. The finale is bracing and
is strongly projected by Phillippe Honoré,
very ably supported by Sophia Rahman.
At the end Howells reprises the material
with which the first movement began.
In summary, this is a very interesting
piece and it is well served by the present
performers.
The Clarinet Sonata
was written for Frederick Thurston.
Andrew Burn conjectures that the piece
may be a reworking of an earlier sonata
for oboe, which Howells had withdrawn
following criticism by Leon Goossens.
The first of the two movements opens
with a long, rhapsodic theme for the
clarinet over gently undulating piano
figurations. From around 1’50"
the music has greater vitality. There
are several lovely, lyrical episodes
but, like the Rhapsodic Quintet,
this is music with backbone. The second
movement is very energetic, with driving
percussive rhythms. For much of the
movement the piano part is characterised
by stamping rhythms over which the clarinet
part is flamboyant and extrovert. I’ve
not experienced anything like this in
what I’ve heard of Howells’ output.
Around 7’20" we encounter a much
more reflective passage, introduced
by the piano (beautifully played here)
and answered, with equal feeling, by
the clarinettist. There’s one final,
extrovert flourish to finish the work
emphatically.
The short Near-Minuet
may have been intended as the middle
movement of the sonata. If so, I think
Howells was right to discard it for
it breaks the tension. However, by programming
your CD player you can insert this movement,
as I did once to experiment, and see
what you think.
The members of mobius,
an ensemble new to me, play all these
pieces extremely well and with fine
feeling. They are recorded in good sound
and, as I’ve said, Andrew Burn provides
informative notes which introduce very
well music that will be unfamiliar to
most listeners. This illuminating CD
casts fresh light on a composer who
was much more than a writer of church
music. I enjoyed it very much and I
strongly recommend it to fellow enthusiasts
for English music.
John Quinn
see also reviews
by Rob
Barnett and Terry
Barfoot
mobius (Robert Plane, clarinet; Alison Nicholls,
harp; Sophia Rahman, piano;*Phillippe Honoré
and Lucy Gould, violin; Ashan Pillai, viola; Josephine
Knight, cello) 
