|
|
alternatively
CD:
AmazonUK
AmazonUS
MDT
Sound Samples and Downloads
|
David BOWERMAN
A Fantasy Idyll
Fanfare [1:43]
Improvisation On Little Cornard [5:32]
Spiritual Fantasy [5:58]
Two Shakespeare Settings
I Know A Bank [2:15]
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? [3:03]
An Equal Music [2:12]
An Island Fantasy [5:34]
Promenade [6:46]
Chorale Prelude On The Old 100th [3:10]
O Sleep, O Gentle Sleep [2:46]
Snowflake [2:44]
Nocturne [4:34]
Remembering Jacqueline [6:11]
The Three Seasons Fantasy
Indian Summer [4:45]
Arctic Winter [5:43]
Spring Fantasy [3:47]
Improvisation On Guiting Power [5:12]
Adrian Woodward, Claire Helsdon, Katie Hodges (trumpets), Mark Wardell,
Dr Andrew Earis (organists), The Gould Trio, Anna Leese (mezzo),
Felicity Lott (soprano), Graham Johnson, Stephen De Pledge, Jakob
Fichert, Benjamin Frith (pianists), Diana Galvydyte, Ittai Shapira
(violinists), Alice Neary (cello), Daniel Pailthorpe (flute), Emily
Pailthorpe (oboe)
rec. Champs Hill, July 2007, January 2009, March 2009, May 2009,
July 2009, August 2009, October 2009 and at Chichester Cathedral,
January 2008, St Martin in the Fields, July 2009, and the Royal
Academy of Music, December 2007
CHAMPS HILL RECORDS CHRCD005 [72:44]
|
|
David Bowerman is well-known to many as a patron of the arts,
possessing, as he does, a fine concert hall which is often in
use for recording sessions. This disc proves that he is also
a decent composer, with an ability to turn out works that are
interesting and pleasant on the ear.
The disc commences with Fanfare for three trumpets and
organ. Written for the opening of the Chichester Flower Festival
in 2008, it is simply sheer aural pleasure and gets the disc
off to a superb start. It is followed by another work for organ,
Improvisation On Little Cornard (better known as Hills
of the North Rejoice), here played proficiently by Andrew
Earis. The ensuing Spiritual Fantasy is a short collection
of Negro spiritual melodies for violin, cello and piano, with
jazzy overtures. The piano here sounds a little on the hollow
side, but the cello in particular is pleasingly resonant – an
excellent performance from the Gould Trio. The Two Shakespeare
Settings, I Know A Bank and Shall I compare thee to a
summer's day? are in the Roger Quilter tradition (although
it is perhaps invidious to compare any other songs to those
by that peerless master craftsman). Bowerman here presents himself
with quite a challenge, setting, as he does, poems that have
been set by some of England’s greatest composers. Yet he rises
to the occasion – the songs are good, as is the performance
from Anna Leese and Stephen de Pledge, the latter proving himself
to be a sensitive accompanist, with a very unobtrusive piano
line. They are followed by another song, An Equal Music¸
to words by John Donne.
The chamber works that follow are also pleasant pieces, and
receive good performances - An Island Fantasy for violin
(Diana Galvydyte) and piano (Jakob Fichert), inspired by the
island of Antigua, and its waves, streams and beaches; Promenade
for cello (Alice Neary) and piano (Benjamin Frith), and Nocturne,
later on on the disc (Frith and Neary again).
The Chorale Prelude On The Old 100th
again invites comparison – this time with Vaughan Williams,
and Bowerman doesn’t come out of it too badly. The Two Songs
O Sleep, O Gentle Sleep and Snowflake are good,
although some of the vowels appear to have been given an American
twang by Felicity Lott, which rather puzzled me.
Remembering Jacqueline is the most passionate, heart-felt,
individual and characterful work on the disc and is virtuosically
played by Ittai Shapira, while the next work, the Three Seasons
Fantasy, is the most substantial. The opening movement,
Indian Summer is atmospheric and evocative, whilst Arctic
Winter has a touch of Sibelius about it. The disc ends with
another organ improvisation, this time on Guiting Power,
and I wonder whether Bowerman is perhaps most at home writing
for organ. Yet all of these are assured works, and Bowerman
– and the artists who have played so well on this disc – must
be commended for his efforts.
Em Marshall
|
|