The piano was central
to Ireland's creativity and in this
set we hear one of the composer's prime
interpreters, Eric Parkin, eliciting
subtlety and poetry.
Decorations is
a suite with the faery chiming of Island
Spell, the Pierrot calm of Moonglade
and the energy-flinging conflagration
of Scarlet Ceremonies. The simplicity
of The Holy Boy comes as a relief
after the curdled tension of Undertone
and Obsession. Prelude in
E flat is a later work than the Four
Preludes and its bell-slow progressions
seem always to turn away from triumph.
Both Rhapsody and Ballade
have a defiant jaw-set and an aggression
that, among his orchestral works, makes
me think more of Mai-Dun than
The Forgotten Rite. Merry
Andrew, by contrast, is playful
in the manner of similar pieces by Moeran
and Bax. The London Pieces are
character vignettes and Summer Evening,
the first item on CD2, is less adventurous
than the London Pieces. The Sonata
is in three movements and is instinct
with the vigour and the supernatural
atmosphere of Chanctonbury Ring to which
Ireland had been introduced by the composer
Christopher a Becket Williams. This
time the second and third movements
do indeed reek of the strange bleached
and misty poetry of The Forgotten
Rite. The glum yet expectant carillon
of the opening of the third movement
is typical - a green invocation. Amberley
Wild Brooks, a place not that far
from Chanctonbury and Pulborough is
a springtime delight of a tone poem.
Equinox has some of the dynamism
of Scarlet Ceremonies and The
Fire of Spring. There are moments
when it seems to look to the more demonstrative
Rachmaninov Preludes. The Sonatina
starts CD 3. Its central quasi
lento is amongst the most bleak
creations in British music. The outer
movement, especially the finale with
its splintery equinoctial showers and
storms, provides a welcome contrast.
Ballade and Legend for
piano and orchestra are brothers under
the skin. There is about these works
a granitic hardness and a joy in bass
sonority that is trance-like in its
concentration; certainly so in Parkin's
hands in the 1970s. February's Child
is back to the blissful joy of Amberley
and Merry Andrew. Month's
Mind speaks of a longing or desire
for the unattainable - for communion
with the dead. Greenways starts
with The Cherry Tree which links
with Housman and continues through Shakespeare's
sad Cypresses - a mood into which
Ireland fell with little encouragement
- potently expressive writing. The
Palm and the May looks to celebration
as evoked by Nash. Finally we come to
the extended 20 minute suite, Sarnia.
The first of the three pieces is Le
Catioroc. This is music of Machen's
long heavy silence. In a May Morning
is not quite the sunlit romp that
is Amberley Wild Brooks but through
its evident calmness it shares the contented
joy of that piece. Its marine Swinburnian
swell and flight are joyously put across
by Parkin.
John Lenehan (Naxos)
and Daniel Adni (EMI) have all essayed
Ireland discs but none of theirs are
as consistently successful as this.
I have not heard the Parkin remakes
on Chandos (Chandos CHAN 9056 9140,
9250). It also remains to be seen how
this Lyrita set will compare with the
set to be issued later next year: the
1960s monos of Ireland by Alan Rowlands
which include works such as Ballad
of London Nights not offered in
Parkin’s Lyrita set.
The masterly notes
by Christopher Palmer combine factual
precision with sensitive literary and
biographical context.
Rob Barnett
Reviews of other Lyrita releases
of John Ireland
SRCD.240
Ireland Tritons/The Forgotten Rite
SRCD.241
Ireland Legend/Overture Satyricon
SRCD.242
Boult conducts Bridge and Ireland
SRCD.2271
Ireland Chamber music
SRCD.2261
Ireland Songs
Ireland
Trust website
for details
Eric Parkin (piano) 
