The Fringes of the Fleet
John ANSELL (1874-1948) Overture: Plymouth
Hoe [7:29]
Sir Edward ELGAR (1857-1934) The Fringes of the Fleet
(The Lowestoft Boat [3:58]; Fate's Discourtesy [3:31]; Submarines [2:40];
The Sweepers [3:27]; Inside the Bar [2:30]); Big Steamers [3:04]
John IRELAND (1879-1962) The Soldier [2:34]; Blow
Out, You Bugles [3:04]
Sir Edward ELGAR (1857-1934) Elegy for Strings [4:31]
Haydn WOOD (1882-1959) A Manx Overture - The Isle of Mountains
and Glens [7:59]
Sir Edward GERMAN (1862 -1936) Big Steamers [2:58]
John ANSELL (1874-1948) Overture: The Windjammer [8:27]
Haydn WOOD (1882-1959) March: Elizabeth of England [5:05]
Roderick Williams, Nicholas Lester, Duncan Rock, Laurence Meikle, (baritones).
Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra/Tom Higgins
rec. All Hallows Church, Gospel Oak, London, 9-10 May 2009 DDD
SOMM SOMMCD243 [61:26]
This superb disc of music from the First World War period opens with John
Ansell’s Overture Plymouth Hoe. Light-hearted and jaunty, the piece
draws upon popular nautical melodies, has a moving and lyrical middle section
and ends with a rousing inclusion in Rule Britannia – a most appropriate
and promising start to the CD.
The most significant work is the first fully professional recording for over
ninety years of Elgar’s Fringes of the Fleet, here in a new performing
edition by Tom Higgins, in which performance practices gleaned from manuscripts
and Elgar’s own 1917 recording have been added to the score. The recording
also includes the additional fifth song, Inside the Bar, to words by
Sir Gilbert Parker - since Kipling had, for reasons likely to do with the
fact that his son had gone missing in the war, withdrawn his support for the
project to the extent that he actually banned further performances. It is
an excellent – if at times rather genteel - performance – Roderick Williams’s
rich, powerful, resonant voice suits the piece perfectly, and he is extremely
well accompanied by his fellow baritones and the orchestra. Fringes of
the Fleet is followed by an arrangement for four baritones (also by Tom
Higgins) of Elgar’s setting of Kipling’s Big Steamers. This is a real
gem – the arrangement most attractive, and the performance impressive. Higgins
has also taken it upon himself to arrange Ireland’s two songs for orchestra,
which are here given premiere performances. The other premiere recording on
the disc is Haydn Wood’s A Manx Overture – The Isle of Mountains and Glens
- a sparkling piece, played here with tremendous vivacity and spirit.
Another ebullient setting of Big Steamers, this time by Elgar’s contemporary,
Edward German, precedes another nautical overture by Ansell - Windjammer
(19th century slang for a sailing ship). A spry and dashing piece, it
again includes folk-song references, most notably and touchingly, Shenandoah.
Some of the works on the disc are unremarkable, but all work well in a carefully-compiled
programme of both lighter and more serious war music. This version of Fringes
of the Fleet is certainly a welcome addition to the catalogue – and the
disc has the further benefit of including an extremely sensitive and poignant
performance of Elgar’s Elegy for Strings. All in all, well worth a
listen!
Em Marshall
Well worth a listen! ... see Full Review