At last something like
justice is being done on record to the
music of Malcolm Williamson. Chandos
and Naxos have given us orchestral and
choral works, and the present disc fills
out the former in more than satisfactory
manner. We still await the operas, in
particular "Our Man in Havana"
and "The Growing Castle",
to say nothing of reissues of "The
Happy Prince" and "Julius
Caesar Jones". Perhaps these will
follow if the present disc has the success
it deserves. It is wholly involving
from start to finish, with music of
immense freshness and vitality.
The Organ Concerto,
dedicated to Sir Adrian Boult, straightaway
shows the composer’s ingenuity in solving
the somewhat intractable problem of
balancing and scoring for organ and
orchestra. It starts with an introductory
cadenza for timpani on the notes ACB
with interjections by harp and organ,
followed by an explosive movement making
much use of the brass. The slow movement
is dominated by the strings and the
last movement, after an organ cadenza,
uses all sections of the orchestra.
The composer comments in his useful
notes that "the first performance
was received with enthusiastic abuse
by the more conservative elements of
the British organ world for being too
venturesome, by Baroque enthusiasts
for its use of the romantic organ, and
by some critics for not being sufficiently
venturesome". Now that the Concerto
is nearly half a century old these comments
seem to be wholly missing the point
of a work of such an individual character.
We are not so well off for good modern
organ concertos that we can afford to
neglect this one. Unsurprisingly this
performance by the composer conducted
by the dedicatee makes the most of the
piece, helped by a clear and full recording.
The Third Piano Concerto
is just as individual. It starts with
a toccata mixed with a typical lyrical
Williamson tune, followed by a scherzo,
slow movement and riotous dance. This
Concerto too managed to cause consternation
in some listeners when it was first
performed, perhaps because it seemed
to belong to neither the conservative
nor the more progressive groups into
which composers had gathered themselves
at that time. Again, heard after such
a long period, what strikes this listener
immediately is its vitality and imagination.
Even if there may be a suspicion at
times that the composer was more prolific
in ideas than he was prepared to polish
or refine them, it is best simply to
accept this as a characteristic of his
musical style. Otherwise we deny ourselves
a whole world of fascinating and enjoyable
invention. Again the performance and
recording show the music to its best
advantage.
The Sonata is the least
immediately attractive piece on the
disc, but it is short and repays repeated
listening, as indeed does the whole
disc, which is one of Lyrita’s most
valuable and enjoyable reissues. As
I have said earlier, I hope that it
will lead to many further issues of
other parts of this immensely prolific
composer’s output.
John Sheppard
see also review
by Rob Barnett
Lyrita
Catalogue
for details 
* Malcolm Williamson (organ) 
