The much prized Lyrita
catalogue consists of recordings of
British music in predominantly critically-acclaimed
performances and universally admired
recordings. Lyrita sadly disappeared
from the scene for a considerable time.
Now re-launched, the catalogue is taking
shape and I am aware of the first batch
of thirty-seven re-releases, three of
which are recordings of the music of
Gustav Holst.
For many non-specialist
listeners the music of Gustav Holst
almost exclusively centres around his
magnificent Suite The Planets
(1914-1916). Some may know a few other
scores such as: The Hymn of Jesus
for chorus and orchestra (1917);
the opera The Perfect Fool (1923),
and the orchestral scores St. Paul’s
Suite (1913); Egdon Heath
(1927) and maybe also the Two Suites
for Military Band (1909). I’ll wager
that few will have much knowledge of
the works that are included here, the
Scherzo and the Japanese Suite
being the two scores that I am least
familiar with.
This disc consists
of all six of the Holst recordings that
Sir Adrian Boult made for Lyrita. Three
of the scores: A Somerset Rhapsody,
Beni Mora and the Japanese
Suite come from near the beginning
of Holst’s career; A Fugal Overture
was composed in his middle years and
the two scores Hammersmith and
Scherzo from near the end of
his life.
A Fugal Overture
was written by Holst in 1922 mainly
from his desk in the sound-proof room
at St. Paul's Girls' School in Brook
Green, Hammersmith. The first performance
was given at the Royal Opera House in
Covent Garden when it was pressed into
service as the overture to Holst’s opera
The Perfect Fool. The score to
A Somerset Rhapsody uses melodies
from folksongs collected in Somerset
by Holst’s friend Cecil Sharp. The work
was first performed in 1910 at the Queen’s
Hall in London with the New Symphony
Orchestra conducted by Edward Mason.
Beni Mora was conceived as a
result of Holst’s holiday to Algeria
in 1908. The three movement work is
scored for large orchestra and was premièred
by the composer in The Queen’s Hall,
London.
Hammersmith was
originally a commission for Military
Band and is a product of a creative
phase towards the end of Holst’s life.
The score is evocative of the part of
London with which Holst felt a strong
affinity. Adrian Boult gave the first
performance of the orchestrated version
in London in 1931. The Scherzo movement
for orchestra was all that remains of
the Symphony that Holst was planning
in 1933-34. The first performance was
given in 1935 by the BBC Symphony Orchestra
under Boult, who pronounced that the
score was, "fiendishly difficult
to play." Holst actually interrupted
his work on his mighty The Planets
in 1915 to compose the Japanese
Suite. The Suite consists
of four short dances that were written
at the request of a Japanese dancer
Michio Ito who had been appearing at
the London Coliseum and wanted a work
based on ancient Japanese melodies.
The conductor Sir Adrian
Boult was a prominent figure in English
musical life and an advocate of English
music at home and abroad. He was a friend
of Holst and in 1919, on request from
the composer, conducted the first performance
of part of The Planets. On this
disc Boult and his players display remarkable
technical prowess and refined musicianship.
In A Fugal Overture Boult’s reading
is robust and ardent with a fine spectrum
of colours. A Somerset Rhapsody is
given a thoughtful interpretation that
I found enchanting. Boult and the LPO
provide a tense and unsettling mood
to the First Dance of Beni
Mora. I loved the way the Chester-born
conductor is so light and delicate in
the allegretto; the mantra-like
motif in the closing movement creates
an hypnotic effect. In Hammersmith
Boult and his London orchestra provide
a sparse and bleak atmosphere in the
prelude that depicts the River
Thames. The scherzo is given
an exuberant reading with a sense of
a ghostly stillness that concludes the
score.
Boult and his Philharmonic
players are in sparkling form with the
moody and fiery Scherzo for Orchestra,
a work that never seems able to rest.
In the Japanese Suite Boult
proves an invigorating and refreshing
guide and his LSO respond with enthusiasm.
In the Prelude - Song of the Fisherman
the reading is dreamy and languid
and I loved the robustly dramatic Ceremonial
Dance. The performers give a light
and delicate, almost child-like account
of the Dance of the Marionette and
the Song of the Fisherman is
evocative of a Mendelssohnian seascape.
The impressive Dance under the Cherry
Tree is elegantly and respectfully
performed. The finale - Dance of
the Wolves is depicted with threat
and aggression.
Lyrita were noted for
excellent, clear and well balanced sound
quality and that’s exactly what the
listener gets here. The authoritative
notes by Michael Kennedy add to the
appeal.
Michael Cookson
see also review
by Colin Clarke
for
details
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult
