Jottings on Eric Fogg’s
Sea Sheen by John France
My
first introduction to Eric Fogg was
in a second-hand bookshop in Llandudno.
It was back in the early nineteen-seventies.
Mr. David Hughes had what amounted to
a veritable Aladdin’s cave of books
and music in his large rambling shop.
I recall that much of the sheet music
was kept in a cupboard towards the rear
of the premises. There must have been
literally tons of old scores, Victorian
parlour songs, Novello choral editions,
anthems, organ pieces - and Sea-Sheen.
I cannot recall how much I paid for
it, but it was probably about 10p. It
was the cover that attracted me: I guess
that I had just been introduced to Vaughan
Williams’s Sea Symphony and probably
felt that any piece by an Englishman
about the ‘sea’ must be of interest
and importance.
When I returned home
from my holiday I suppose I must have
played through the work on the piano.
I cannot have played it well, for it
is actually quite difficult – I would
guess about Grade 7. Yet I felt that
there was musical worth here: I was
reminded of both Delius and Debussy.
One of the chords stuck firmly in my
mind and I cribbed it for an Intrada
for organ which I was writing at that
time! Sea Sheen was one of those
many works that I hoped would be recorded,
but I doubted if I would ever hear it.
It was eventually forgotten about, filed
in the loft and life moved on.
I recently wrote an
article about Eric Fogg’s admirable
Bassoon Concerto and as a part
of the research for this I mugged up
on the precious few written articles
about the composer. I had not realised
that Fogg was a Mancunian: neither had
I known that he had been an associate
of Walter Carroll. Carroll is a name
that is well known amongst pianists
for his excellent ‘teaching’ material.
Furthermore he was involved with music
making in Manchester – both amateur
and professional. And then I recalled
that my grandfather had known Carroll
between the wars. So there was a (vague)
family connection. It certainly sparked
my interest in the music of the largely
forgotten Eric Fogg.
Finally I read Lewis
Foreman’s article ‘Fogg out of the Mists…’
published in the Manchester Sounds
journal where he writes:- "It is
unfortunate that so many of Fogg’s orchestral
works seem to be lost, but his facility
in orchestral writing contributed to
the survival of one or two pieces which
were occasionally heard on BBC radio
programmes of lighter music until quite
recently and which, if not great music,
are charming and worthy of revival;
among these may be singled out the short
tone poem Sea Sheen."
Eric Fogg was born
in Manchester in 1903. He served as
a boy chorister at the Cathedral after
which he entered the organ loft of St
John’s, Deansgate (now demolished).
His first formal music lessons were
with his father, Charles H. Fogg – who
was organist to the Hallé Orchestra.
After this valuable instruction he studied
with Granville Bantock in Birmingham.
As a teenager Fogg was precocious and
prolific: he had written his Op. 57
before turning eighteen. However his
first significant achievement was in
1919 when he won the Cobbett prize with
his Dance Fantasy for Piano and
Strings. By his 21st birthday,
Fogg was working for BBC Radio in Manchester-
initially as a pianist (Keyboard Kitty!)
and latterly as one of the ‘uncles’
of Children’s Hour. He involved himself
with musical enterprises at all levels
in that city – both amateur and professional.
Latterly he succeeded Archie Camden,
the bassoonist (to whom he dedicated
his Bassoon Concerto) as the
conductor of the Manchester Schoolchildren’s
Orchestra.
In 1934 Fogg moved
to London to take up a post as director
of the BBC Empire Orchestra.
Five years later he was killed
by a London Underground train at Waterloo
tube station. He was on his way to Brighton
where he was to marry for a second time:
an open verdict was returned.
Fogg’s catalogue was
considerable and includes works for
orchestra, the stage and chamber music.
Unfortunately with few recordings and
even less opportunities to hear his
music in the concert hall it is hard
to evaluate his musical style. However
it is fair to say that his early works
were influenced by Stravinsky whilst
his later pieces owe more to Granville
Bantock and Richard Strauss and perhaps
William Walton. Lewis Foreman writes
that Fogg’s music was received with
a degree of hostility. On the one hand
critics felt that was too ‘modernistic’
and on the other that he did not wholeheartedly
encompass ‘modernism.’ He could not
win.
Virtually none of Eric
Fogg’s music is played today. There
was a recent revival (BBC Philharmonic
Orchestra and the Leeds Choral Society
25 March 2006) of his major choral work
The Seasons which was successful.
The Bassoon Concerto is in its
own way a minor revelation, yet considering
the paucity of concerted works for this
instrument it has not become a regular
feature in the concert hall.
An interesting note
appears in the Musical Times for 1 May
1920. The author highlights the achievements
of the Manchester School of Dramatics
and wonders when the city will match
this in music. He mentions a number
of composers including Messrs. Edmondstone
Duncan, Agate, Isaacs, Foulds, Baynton-Power
… and Eric Fogg. He notes that on the
30 March of that year the British Music
Society had organized a meeting which
was addressed by Mr. Leigh Henry. The
topic of this lecture was the musical
compositions of the seventeen year old
Eric Fogg: during the meeting some twenty
five of the young composer’s works were
given! The most successful number performed
was the Phantasy for cello and
piano (a work surely ripe for revival).
Even more pertinent was a concert given
some four nights later by the Sunday
League where Sea-Sheen (piano
version) was performed along with a
Ballade in C# minor by Baynton-Power.
Sea Sheen may
not be a major work within the context
of British music, yet there is an attractiveness
about it that transcends any debate
on its inherent ‘worth.’ The first question
to address is the classification of
the work. Is it ‘light’ music or was
it a genuine attempt to write a significant
tone poem? Historically there is little
to go on. At present, so little information
is available on Fogg that it is not
possible to construct any kind of ‘compositional
history.’ Furthermore we do not understand
how he regarded this work within his
oeuvre. Yet we do know that Sea-Sheen
was an early composition – it was written
before his study with Bantock. It is
possible that the present work is the
same as the Idyll heard at Bournemouth
on 24 March 1919. As such it was composed
when Fogg was sixteen or seventeen years
old.
The musical score has
survived as a piano-conductor edition
along with orchestral parts. This suggests
that is was seen as repertoire for the
smaller, provincial orchestras – such
as at Hastings or Llandudno. This could
conjure the image of Sea Sheen
being played alongside such works as
Kettelbey’s In a Persian Market
or maybe selections from Edward German’s
Merrie England. It would appear
to preclude the work from the more exalted
concerts halls and more serious repertoire.
However, two notices in the Musical
Times show that Sea-Sheen was
played in exalted company. A concert
given in Harrogate on 22 June 1922 included
Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony,
Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto in F
and Tchaikovsky’s Overture on the
Danish National Anthem. Concertgoers
at a special evening concert in Bath
on 30 Jan 1932 heard to Strauss’s Till
Eulenspiegel, Gershwin’s Rhapsody
in Blue, Howell’s Procession
and Stravinsky’s Second Miniature
Suite. Hardly selections from the
shows!
The full title of the
work is Sea-Sheen: An Idyll. The
score is dedicated to a certain Arthur
Sadler and carries the first four lines
of a poem by John Wilson, also known
as Christopher North:-
"It is the
midnight hour – the beauteous
sea
Calm as the cloudless
heaven, the heaven discloses,
While many a
sparkling star in quiet glee,
Far down within
the watery sky reposes."
The tone poem is effectively
a meditation on these lines. Naturally
the composer does not try to match the
music to the words in every way. It
is mood music- in fact it is fair to
say that in a number of passages Fogg
has written in an ‘impressionistic’
style. The work opens with a short undulating
phrase before the main ‘sea’ theme makes
its first appearance. It is quite a
broad tune but without any pretension
to ‘a limitless heaving breast.’ Yet
it is immediately answered by a gorgeous
phrase which will largely dominate the
work: it is both romantic and tender
in its flowing contour. This is followed
by a third critical element of this
piece – the impressionistic misty bridge
passage. This surely has Delius or Debussy
as its model. Then the piece comes to
an effective stop. Fogg wisely repeats
this first section virtually unchanged
before changing the mood to the central
‘meno mosso’ music. This is slightly
more intense than the opening material
and suggests movement as opposed to
stillness; change as opposed to rest.
Interestingly Fogg balances this phrase
with a figure that well suggests seabirds-
without being naively descriptive. This
section does not really climax: it just
gently swells. Soon the music enters
a second interlude before a recapitulation
of the opening theme. All the elements
are present: the sea itself, the romance
and the impressionistic touches. The
work comes to a full close with a swirl
of arpeggios on the harp.
Sea-Sheen demands
our attention for a number of reasons.
Firstly it is an attractive example
of a miniature tone poem. Fogg manages
to balance the poetic inspiration of
this music with a directness of expression.
Secondly, the scoring is quite exquisite.
It is hard to imagine that this subtle
impressionistic work issued from the
mind and pen of what nowadays would
be called a teenager or ‘yoof.’ Thirdly,
every note counts: there is clarity
in both the texture and in the instrumentation
that is impressive. Fourthly, Fogg uses
an economy of material, yet does not
struggle to maintain interest. And lastly
the music never sinks into cliché
or crass sentiment.
It is easy to play
‘spot the influence’ with Sea-Sheen
– yet it is a pointless exercise. It
is perfectly reasonable that a composer
creating ‘sea music’ will nod towards
Claude Debussy, Frederick Delius or
even Frank Bridge. Yet this is not a
pastiche work: Fogg uses his models
with skill and invention and reserve.
The final test of any
piece of music is: Does it move the
listener? Now unless I am unusual, it
certainly does. It is a near-perfect
‘tone picture’ of the ocean at night.
And for my money it is an English sea-
very possibly Morecambe Bay?
The work deserves to
be in the repertoire and have more than
just an occasional airing on the radio.
The only available recording on Dutton
does justice to the composer’s intention.
The mood of Sea-Sheen is very
different to Fogg’s Bassoon Concerto
which was composed in 1930. That work
is more in the style of Walton than
Delius. Yet both works are consistent
and show the composer as a consummate
craftsman. Finally, included on the
above mentioned CD is the short orchestral
evocation Merok – which is a
musical picture of a tiny village in
Norway. It was written some ten years
after Sea-Sheen and is an equally
perfect miniature.
Certainly Eric Fogg
was a great loss to the musical world
of Manchester in particular and British
Music in general. Who is to know what
heights he would have scaled if he had
not had such a tragic end?
John France
December 2007
Bibliography
Lewis Foreman: Fogg
out of the Mists…’ Music & Musicians
xxxviii/1 (1989-90) September, pp.8-10:
Eric Fogg 1903-1939 Manchester Sounds
Volume 4 2003/2004 pp.121-133.
Articles in Grove,
The Times and the Musical Times
CD Programme notes
DUTTON CDLX 7196 [Lewis Foreman 2007]
Discography
Orchestral
Works Eric FOGG (1903-1939) Sea Sheen:
an idyll (1920) Merok (1929) Eric CHISHOLM
(1904-1965) Symphony No. 2 ‘Ossian’
(1939) Trevor HOLD (1939-2004) The Unreturning
Spring – a song cycle to poems by James
Farrar. Op.3 (1961-63) BBC Concert Orchestra
conducted by Martin Yates, Gavin Sutherland
and Vernon Handley. DUTTON CDLX 7196
Purchase
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English
Bassoon Concertos: Eric FOGG (1903-1939)
Bassoon Concerto (1930) John ADDISON
(1920-1998) Bassoon Concertino (1998)
Peter HOPE (b.1930) Bassoon Concertino
(2000) Arthur BUTTERWORTH (b.1923) Summer
Music (1985) Graham Salvage, bassoon
with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted
by Gavin Sutherland (Butterworth conducted
by composer) ASV CD WHL 2132
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Crotchet
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