Good to welcome back the Beulah label
and their reissues of some the finest
mid-20th century vintage
recordings including the classic Anthony
Collins recordings of the Sibelius symphonies
with the London Symphony Orchestra (1952-1955).
Beulah previously released
some of the contents of this DVD on
videotape but without the items recorded
by Dame Myra Hess and Dennis Brain.
Pictures and sound in the new format
seem to be enhanced.
For MusicWeb’s more
elderly reviewers this release offers
a nostalgic trip back into the more
leisurely, more innocent days of the
mid-20th century. I well
remember first seeing the Crown Film
Unit’s The Young Person’s Guide
to the Orchestra and Steps of
the Ballet in the Physics Lab of
West Bridgford Grammar School, Nottingham
as a fifteen-or-so year old schoolboy,
and a member of the school’s lunchtime
film club.
Britten’s Variations
and Fugue on a theme by Purcell
is, of course, an ideal vehicle for
that elegant conductor, Sir Malcolm
Sargent to show off the compass of all
the different instruments in the sections
of the orchestra. I say ‘all’ but in
fact it is almost all because the woodwind
section is not completely explored;
I realise that such a detailed exploration
might have overbalanced the exposition
and the composition. However as an introduction
to classical music it must have inspired
countless children of the late 1940s
and early 1950s.
The Steps of the
Ballet is particularly interesting
because it shows composer Arthur Benjamin
at work on the ballet music and conferring
with its choreographer. It is very infuriating
that the ballet remains nameless throughout
the film; I would be delighted to hear
from any Benjamin enthusiast who can
name this ballet. Robert Helpmann’s
articulate commentary explains the steps,
positions, attitudes etc of the dances
and covers such terms as pirouette,
cabriole and pas de bourrée
as well as the scenery, costumes
and music for the production.
The two Myra Hess films
are well known but it is nice to see
the complete Mozart concerto film for
the insight it gives into London in
the years of World War II. The young
orchestra - no women - is all in uniform;
it’s the orchestra of the Royal Air
Force Band. The rapt audience - again
many in uniform some quite clearly carrying
gas masks - includes the then Queen
Elizabeth. As in the Beethoven recital
film, they audience sits in a National
Gallery bereft of pictures - they had
been safely removed to a secret location
outside the capital. Dame Myra Hess
delivers a robust yet poetic reading
of the Beethoven Sonata.
The Dennis Brain/Denis
Matthews recital film is absorbing too
– it commences with Brain discussing
the attributes of the French Horn and
comparing it to the much less sophisticated
horn played in Beethoven’s day. Enjoying
this short film, we are reminded just
how much the world of music lost when
Dennis Brain was killed at such a tragically
early age in a road accident.
An absorbing nostalgic
trip back to the 1940s; but more than
that it is a very good tutorial for
newcomers to orchestral music and to
the ballet.
Ian Lace
Len
Mullenger
- Was it not composed for the film Steps
of the Ballet and does not exist in
its own right as a ballet?
Ian Lace - Absolutely right -
but I wondered if this ballet was ever
developed and staged or the music developed
further, published and recorded?
But I did feel that it was infuriating
that the ballet iwas given no name surely
an oversight in the production of the
film - because one is left in the air
so to speak especially when so much
care is taken to explain everything
else about the production of Steps of
the Ballet? One might argue that giving
it a specific name might detract from
the essentials purpose of the film to
explain all the facets of creating a
ballet - but personally I would not
be convinced by such an argument. I
am no expert on Arthur Benjamin so that
is why I pose(d) the question. Seems
a pity that the music would be used
only transiently in this manner. Composers
are usually more canny but then I suppose
there is the question of copyright ???
BEULAH
DVD YB35 [75:00] 
