When I first saw the
advert for this CD I assumed that it
was the ‘sweepings up’ from the floor
of the Lyrita studios: it was all the
bits and pieces from their vinyl pressings
that could not find a home elsewhere.
Yet two things made me modify that view.
Firstly I know that there is a vast
amount of material awaiting re-release
(the mono recordings of Jacob, White,
Ireland and Wordsworth, for example)
and secondly, as I listened to this
CD I realised that it made a fine introduction
to Musical Britain. I remember as a
child books called the ‘Boy’s Guide
to’ … Field-craft, Trains, Racing Cars
et al. Perhaps this, in a more PC age,
could be referred to as the "Individual’s
Guide to British Music"?
The CD opens with a
piece that was written when Great Britain
was a ‘land without music.’ The Galop
is probably the most famous excerpt
from Michael Balfe’s best known opera:
The Bohemian Girl. And of course
it was once a Tommy Beecham ‘Lollipop’.
Perhaps Balfe’s twenty-nine operas do
not signify in the early 21st
century when compared to G&S, Tippett
or Benjamin Britten, but in his day
he was a seriously popular composer.
And Ireland – Balfe was born in Dublin
- was at that time part of the United
Kingdom!
I usually baulk at
excerpting from Elgar’s Enigma Variations.
My exception is the annual outing of
Nimrod at the Cenotaph: I can
forgive anything in those circumstances.
So I suppose I am not really happy about
one short variation being given here.
Yet here it is - Dorabella which
follows on from Nimrod and is
a complete change of tone, mood and
emotion. We hear the ‘stammering lightness’
and ‘merry chatter’ of Elgar’s helper
and admired Dora Penny. It is a lovely
piece that actually does stand alone
… just about … although I feel that
it is much more telling and effective
following that great Beethovenian variation
in the complete work.
And how often do we
hear the P&C March No.5?
Even enthusiasts of ‘Grunge’ cannot
have avoided ‘Land of Hope and Glory’
in their lives’ journey. But how many
know the other four (five)? I guess
most people over the age of thirty-five
will recall No. 4 in G being
played as the recessional at the Prince
and Princess of Wales’s wedding. The
rest are little known and rarely heard.
But please note that this late - it
was composed four years before Elgar’s
death - march is rather good. And the
interesting thing is that most of us
come to it afresh. It has not accrued
the baggage - good, bad and indifferent
- of being an alternative National Anthem
played at the Proms.
I am not an opera fan,
but I have always loved The Walk
to Paradise Garden by Fred Delius.
I know the opera A Village Romeo
and Juliet and realise that it has
a tragic context in that work. However,
I got to know the piece on an old Beecham
release of Delius orchestral works on
Decca Eclipse and have had my own programme
for this work ever since! So I suggest
that listeners dump the libretto and
see this piece as a nature poem – descriptive
of whatever landscape or mindscape moves
them most.
Percy Grainger is a
rare personality. He wrote a vast amount
of music that is little played these
days. I am not a fan of his, yet I do
appreciate that he was probably a wayward
genius. And a few of his works do have
the capacity to move me: most I find
entertaining. The majority of listeners
will know his ubiquitous Country
Gardens which was arranged for just
about every instrumental combination
possible. Yet Shepherd’s Hey
and the Immovable Do presented
here deserve greater popularity. The
latter piece was inspired by a leaking
harmonium which continually sounded
a ‘high C’ throughout the performance
of whatever Grainger was playing. Shepherd’s
Hey is based on the folk tune ‘The
Keel Row’. Incidentally, the score was
dedicated to Edvard Grieg. Both miniatures
are worthy additions to the repertoire
and would make excellent encores - if
given the chance.
Our musical exploration
moves back to Ireland. This time it
is the second movement of Sir Hamilton
Harty’s fine Irish Symphony –
subtitled The Fair-Day. Most
people will associate Harty with the
Hallé Orchestra which he conducted
between 1920 and 1933. Yet he was also
an accomplished composer who wrote not
only the present work but a wonderful
piano concerto, a violin concerto and
a number of other excellent pieces.
Fortunately, most of these were released
on Chandos a number of years ago and
are still available. Additionally, Naxos
has contributed their recordings of
the Symphony and the Piano Concerto.
Harty is a composer well worth investigating.
The present piece is a fine evocation
of a ‘Fair Day’ in Ireland that must
have been familiar to the composer as
a young man. Look out for the fiddler
tuning up and the fine reel!
Everyone knows that
Peter Warlock was a pseudonym. His real
name was Philip Heseltine. He took the
name of Warlock after some involvement
with occult mysteries after time spent
in Ireland during the Great War. More
often noted for his superb songs, Warlock
composed a mere handful of works for
orchestral forces – including An
Old Song, the Serenade for Frederick
Delius and the Capriol Suite.
Best known in its string orchestra incarnation,
this latter work was originally given
as a piano duet. Latterly it was arranged
for full orchestra – this is the version
we hear on this CD. The Suite
is based on tunes found in an antique
dissertation called ‘Orchesography’
which was supposedly penned by a certain
‘Capriol’. The programme notes inform
us that the Suite was rejected
by a number of publishers: this is hard
to imagine since we now regard the work
as one of the minor masterpieces of
20th century music. Apparently
Warlock sold the work for a mere 25
guineas!
Lord Berners’ real
name is much more impressive – Gerald
Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson: it sounds as if
it were straight out of a P.G. Wodehouse
novel. He was an artist and a ballet
producer whose day-job appeared to be
that of a diplomat. Moving in the rarefied
atmosphere of the Sitwells it is not
surprising that he was an eccentric.
The Triumphs of Neptune
was conceived by Sacheverell and eventually
became a successful feature for the
Ballets Russes. The Hornpipe
does not press on to the limits of musical
invention, but it is attractive and
does justice to its nautical origins.
It is well worth discovering other music
by this fascinating, if somewhat odd,
composer.
Gustav Holst’s St
Paul’s Suite surely needs no introduction
or recommendation to readers of these
pages. Yet sometimes it is easy to forget
that this work comes from the same pen
as The Planets. The work
is conducted here by the composer’s
daughter Imogen: to my ear it is one
of the best recordings of this work
in the repertoire. It is a Suite
that must be listened to in its entirety
and not excerpted.
The last piece is a
major masterpiece. Along with Tippett’s
Double Concerto and Elgar’s Introduction
and Allegro it is one of the most
important essays in string writing in
British musical literature. The Tallis
Fantasia is a work that seems to
gather up the whole tradition of England
– its landscape, its literature and
its religion. It is impossible to listen
to this work without being aware of
the whole sweep of history – both musical
and otherwise. In one sense it is a
timeless work, yet in another it is
as much a part of twentieth century
music as Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue
or Berg’s Violin Concerto. The Fantasia
is a visionary score which marked its
composer out as a major figure in the
British musical scene.
Most cognoscenti of
British music will have all these works
in their CD collections. This release
is a bit of a pot-pourri. Yet
consider this. It is good to take the
opportunity of listening to a variety
of pieces played end to end - now and
again; it reminds us of our whole musical
heritage. And lastly if you know anyone
who is edging towards an appreciation
of the native music of the British Isles
– this is the present for them. In either
case – Buy it!
John France
See also review
by Rob Barnett
for details
LYRITA SRCD336 [72.15] 
