Much as we must be
grateful to Lyrita for making available
the British Council sponsored recordings
from the Argo catalogue I do occasionally
wish that the original couplings had
been retained, for, on this disk, the
intense seriousness of the Maw Sinfonia
sits uncomfortably beside the lighter
brass works.
The Sinfonia
was Maw’s first major orchestral work
after Scenes and Arias, written
for the Proms in 1962, and it almost
immediately followed the large scale
1st String Quartet
– I wonder if Lyrita has any plans to
re–issue the Aeolian Quartet recording
of that fine piece which it made for
Argo (ZRG 565)? Maw has always been
a master of the large scale, the most
famous example being Odyssey
(recorded by the CBSO and Simon Rattlem
on CDS 7 54277–2), but the 1st
Quartet is a 40 minute one movement
structure and this Sinfonia (a
title which might imply something small
scale) plays for over half an hour.
But this is no matter for Maw is a composer
who has something to say – indeed, he
often has a lot to say – and he has
the technical ability to say it and
make it interesting and compelling.
Starting with a, somewhat,
gloomy duet for clarinets, the first
movement grows in concentration and
after some quiet ruminations, and some
very colourful writing for woodwind
and horns, bursts into a fast section,
full of scurrying strings, but Maw is
nothing if not a lyricist and the horns
carry the burden of thematic argument
almost throughout this section. This
is tense and closely argued music, non–tonal
in language, but not atonal, but with
a big romantic feel to it – the orchestration,
for a small ensemble (positively Mozartean
in its compliment of 2 each of flutes,
oboes, clarinets, bassoons and horns,
with doublings on piccolo and cor anglais,
and strings) is very rich and sumptuous.
The middle slow movement, named Threnody,
has a march–like feel to it, and it
never wavers in its lamentation. Despite
a brief solo for violin towards the
end there is little respite from the
incessant despair, until the finale
crashes in and launches into a lop–sided
country dance! After a restrained middle
section the music gains momentum and
rushes to the end with the horns to
the fore. It’s a fine achievement and
it’s good to welcome such a fine and
well wrought work back into the catalogue,
especially in such a strong and well
thought out and played performance.
Where would so much British music of
this period have been without the dedicated
advocacy of the late Norman del Mar?
The brass works which
follow Sinfonia, fine works though
they are, are overshadowed by the great
strength of Maw’s work. John Addison
is best remembered for his many film
scores – Pool of London (1950)(a
particular favourite of mine), Reach
for the Sky (1956) (the biography
of Douglas Bader, who was the composer’s
brother-in-law), The Charge of the
Light Brigade (1968), to name but
a few, the title music for the Angela
Lansbury sleuthing TV series Murder
She Wrote, and the ballet suite
Carte Blanche which was a favourite
of Beecham (his live performance of
08 November 1959 is available on BBC
Legends BBCL 4012-2); Addison’s own
recording, with the Pro Arte Orchestra,
is available on EMI CDM 7 64718–2. The
Divertimento is an early piece
and is full of the Music Hall, let’s
not forget that he memorably wrote the
music for John Osborne’s play The
Entertainer. It’s a jolly little
piece.
John Gardner’s Theme
and Variations, another early work,
and was the first 20th century
work ever broadcast on the BBC by the
PJBE! As with so much of Gardner’s work
there’s a strong humorous element –
the tango variation, in particular,
is an hoot! It’s well laid out for four
players (no tuba) and is wonderfully
entertaining, though it’s not without
its serious side. Recently there have
been issues of two of his Symphonies
and other orchestral works so, at last,
we can start to get to grips with his
large output. About time too!
Stephen Dodgson is
related to Lewis Carroll, (real name
Charles Dodgson), and is his closest
living relative to have the surname
Dodgson. His Sonata is a short
and cogently argued work with serious
intent – terse working out of material,
two dark slow movements – the first
one muted – and a lighter scherzo, third,
movement and finale, which balance the
serious pieces but keep the nature of
the work as a searching exploration
of sonority.
These are very fine
performances from the PJBE and it’s
a timely reminder of the work of three
great musicians who are no longer with
us – Philip Jones, Ifor James and John
Fletcher.
The sound throughout
is marvellously clean and clear – what
good original material there was to
work with! The notes, by Paul Conway,
are good and detailed and my only quibble
is that the brass works weren’t placed
first on the disk for the weight and
seriousness of the Maw deserves to be
left alone at the end. But full marks
for this enterprising series of re–issues.
Bob Briggs
see also review
by Rob Barnett
English Chamber Orchestra/Norman del Mar
and the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble (Philip
Jones and Elgar Howarth (trumpets), Ifor
James (horn), John Iveson (trombone) John
Fletcher (tuba)) 
