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Charles Villiers STANFORD (1852-1924)
Clarinet Sonata, Op.129 (1911) [18:44] (1)
Fantasies Nos. 1 and 2 for Clarinet and String Quartet, (1921,
1922) [11:39; 14:37] (2)
Three Intermezzi for Clarinet and Piano, Op.13 (1879) [8:06]
(3)
Piano Trio No. 3, Op.158 ‘Per aspera ad astra’ (1918)
[20:59] (4)
Robert Plane
(clarinet) (1, 2, 3), Gould Piano Trio (Lucy Gould (violin)
(2, 4), Alice Neary (cello) (2, 4), Benjamin
Frith (1, 3, 4); Mia Cooper (violin) (2), David Adams (viola)
(2)
rec. 17-19 December 2006, Potton Hall, Westleton, Suffolk,
England. DDD NAXOS 8.570416 [74:05]
As part of the ‘British Chamber Music’ series Naxos continue
their Stanford survey with this attractive release. Four
of the scores feature the clarinet and there’s what seems
to be a world première recording of the Piano Trio No.3.
The high quality of Stanford’s
writing continues to shine like a beacon. My MusicWeb colleague Christopher
Howell has also reviewed this
disc.
Stanford and his contemporary Parry were the major influences
in British music for almost half a century as composers, conductors,
teachers and academics. The importance of Stanford’s role
as an educator is quite remarkable and his considerable list
of students includes: Ralph Vaughan Williams, Frank Bridge,
Herbert Howells, Ivor Gurney, E.J. Moeran, Rutland Boughton,
Gustav Holst, Rebecca Clarke, John Ireland, Arthur Bliss,
Hamish MacCunn, George Butterworth and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
Although the prolific Stanford composed in many genres he
is often described as the ‘Father of English Choral Music’ being
principally remembered for his contribution to sacred choral
music. He
is frequently at his very best in his settings of canticles,
hymns, anthems and services and in the organ works all composed
for the Anglican Church. These scores are amongst the finest
of their type and are still frequently performed in Anglican
cathedrals around the world.
Stanford, a lover of the music of the romantic Germanic/Austrian
tradition, especially admired Gluck and Schumann and often
programmed
the music of Brahms and Beethoven in concert programmes.
Following the Great War there was an adverse reaction to
music from composers associated with the Victorian and Edwardian
eras. The established names now had to compete with the growing
enthusiasm for progressive composers such as Schoenberg,
Berg, Webern and Stravinsky. Music had rapidly ‘moved forward’ and
the English late-romantics of Stanford’s generation had been
marginalised.
His tonal and conservative music is often described as ‘Brahmsian’;
a well-designed lyricism crammed with colour. Still composing
music in the manner of an earlier era, the music, with the
exception of his sacred works, slipped into virtual obscurity;
so too the music of his contemporaries Parry, Elgar, Mackenzie,
Sullivan, German and Bantock. Now after a century we are
able to re-evaluate their work for its intrinsic appeal and
quality rather than for the dynamic of the era in which it
was written.
Overshadowed by the distinction of his sacred choral and organ
works and by the orchestral music, Stanford has only recently
become
associated with the field of chamber music. He composed an
impressive total of eight String Quartets between
the years of 1891 and 1919. There’s also a large body of
miscellaneous chamber scores. He seemed to take the responsibility
of writing for the chamber music genre very seriously as
he was almost forty before commencing work on his first String
Quartet;although he had by this time composed
half a dozen chamber works for a variety of other instrumental
combinations (see my reviews of Stanford’s quartets and quintets on
Hyperion).
The opening score on the disc is the substantial Clarinet
Sonata,
Op.129, a work evocative of Brahms’s autumnal clarinet-based chamber
scores written between 1891 and 1894 (see note below). It
was completed at the end of 1911 and lies between the writing
of the widely
admired Songs of the Fleet, Op. 117 (1910) and the Symphony
No. 7, Op. 124 (1912). Stanford dedicated the three movement
work to clarinettists Oscar W. Street and Charles Draper;
there is also a version for viola and piano. The opening,
an Allegro moderato,is interpreted like a
song of summer sun that at times gives the feeling of having
to run for cover during rainstorms. The central movement
titled Caoine, marked Adagio (quasi fantasia)
contains music of considerable poignancy. The concluding
movement Allegretto grazioso has a serious edge, tinged
with sadness.
Cast in three movements the Fantasy No 1 for Clarinet and String
Quartet was composed in 1921 and was possibly intended
for performance by Royal College of Music students. The
brief opening movement Allegro moderato alla marcia is
confident and robust with martial episodes. The central
movement has a yearning quality; perhaps Stanford was indulging
his nostalgic longings for Ireland. The highly appealing
finale is a vivacious and playful Allegro - elfin
and Mendelssohnian. Stanford quotes a motif at (0:17-0:21)
that I am familiar with but I cannot identify. Such is
the quality of the writing that one begs to know why this
score is not part of the standard repertoire.
The Fantasy No 2 for Clarinet and String Quartet, also in three
movements, was completed in 1922 and is contemporaneous with
the Irish Rhapsody No. 6 for violin and orchestra,
Op. 191. Opening with an Allegretto piacevole the
Brahmsian feel persists in this relatively light and undemanding
movement. In the peaceful Adagio the players educe
slight undertones of foreboding. The score ends with a rather
unmemorable Quasi presto movement that includes a
repeated woodwind motif.
Stanford’s Three Intermezzi for Clarinet and Piano, Op.13 from
1879 share a similar composition date to his grand opera The
Veiled Prophet of Khorassan and was premièred at a Cambridge
University recital. The Intermezzo No.1 marked Andante
espressivo is given a bright and fresh interpretation
suggestive of the great outdoors with a lively but short
central section. The players provide a playful and rumbustious
romp with the Intermezzo No.2 an Allegro agitato.
The short central Tranquillo has a somewhat serious
character. The Intermezzo No. 3 - an Allegretto
scherzando - is a bubbly score with conspicuous piano
writing.
The Piano Trio No. 3, Op.158 bears the title ‘Per aspera
ad astra’ and is cast in three movements. Completed
in 1918 shortly after the Irish Rhapsody No. 5 in G
minor, Op. 147, the score honours the memory of friends
lost in the Great War. It opens with an Allegro moderato
ma con fuoco in which the Gould Piano Trio convey a
sense of hectic activity bordering on the frenetic. Two
main themes dominate the movement, the first brisk and
snappy; the second yearning. Again one is strongly reminded
of the sound-world of late Brahms. Possibly the tender
central Adagio reflects Stanford’s sorrow over the
casualties of the Great War. In the closing movement marked Allegro
maestoso e moderato the Goulds communicate a convincing
sense of optimism with episodes of considerable joy; makes
one wonder if Stanford was reflecting on happier times.
The coda brings the score to an exciting conclusion.
Clarinettist Robert Plane continues to impress, demonstrating
his impeccable musicianship with an especially agreeable
and
glowing timbre. I have attended several of Plane’s recitals
in collaboration with the Gould Piano Trio. They are one
of a handful of elite ensembles currently on the music scene
that I have seen go from strength to strength.
The
booklet notes by Keith Anderson are interesting and informative.
However, I noticed that a rather dreary cover photo has been
picked from an image library which I hope is not a sign of
a new artwork policy. Come and see me for a superb original
watercolour dated 1911 that would have looked perfect on the
cover. The impeccable playing and good sound quality on this
Naxos release should continue to endorse the resurgence of
Stanford’s chamber music.
I
hope that Naxos will now turn towards other rarely heard British
chamber music. There are evidently amongst Sir Hubert Parry’s
mature works a String
Quartet in G (1880) and a String Quintet in E flat (1909)
which are crying out for recording. Furthermore, it was said
that Stanford was greatly impressed by the chamber scores from
his star/favourite pupils Charles Wood and James Friskin. Other
projects could include emulating the lead of the Chandos,
Marco Polo and Dutton Epoch labels with further recordings
of chamber music from Sir John Blackwood McEwen,
Joseph Holbrooke and Cyril Scott. From amongst the many worthy
candidates it is about time that the chamber music of another
Stanford pupil, Sir Eugene Goossens received reassessment.
British
composers on Naxos page Note
In an Indian summer of creativity near
the end of his career, Johannes Brahms wrote the: Trio
for clarinet (viola), cello
and piano, Op. 114 (1891); the Quintet for clarinet (viola) and
strings, Op. 115 (1891) and two Clarinet (Viola) Sonatas,
Op. 120 (1894). All the scores were composed especially for Richard
Mühlfeld, the popular virtuoso
clarinettist whose playing had been an inspiration to the
aging Brahms.
Stanford Biographies (see reviews)
‘Charles
Villiers Stanford’ by Paul Rodmell. Publ: Ashgate. Aldershot
(2002) ISBN 1-85928-198-2.
'Charles
Villiers Stanford. Man and Musician’ by Jeremy Dibble. Publ:
Oxford University Press (2002) ISBN 0-19-816383-5.
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