Another straight reissue from Naxos. This time of an Olympia-sourced
disc recorded just over a decade ago. All of the performers
and production team are hugely experienced so this disc wears
its quality lightly like a favourite coat. Of the seven composers
represented five are still alive but this is very much the friendly
face of contemporary music. Authenticity in performance is further
guaranteed by the fact that six of the eight works were premiered
by the soloist here – John Turner – in their recorder form.
All are in multi-movement suite or concerto/concertino form
and in turn the majority of the movements could be termed miniatures.
With the exception of the Gregson Three Matisse Impressions,
which adds a harp and percussion, and the Pitfield Concerto
which adds percussion, the accompaniment is for strings
alone. The strings are drawn from the excellent Royal Ballet
Sinfonia and are deftly directed – again with exception of the
Gregson which the composer conducts – by their long-term associate,
Gavin Sutherland.
A not wholly unreasonable charge of ‘sameness’ could be levelled
at this disc. Indeed it is a programme which I feel benefits
from dipping into rather than a concentrated seventy-three minute
listen. One thing that did strike me though is how certain of
the composers here were able to write in an instantly identifiable
manner even with such specific, even limited, instrumental resources.
Philip Lane’s Suite Ancienne opens the disc. Lane appears
elsewhere on the disc as the arranger of the Malcolm Arnold
work and as the disc’s producer. This - and the Bullard Recipes
- are the most overtly ‘light’ pieces of music; here the
former belying its origin as incidental music for an open-air
pageant in Bath. Deliberately written in a pastiche style this
is a pleasant if rather inconsequential curtain-raiser. I liked
the second movement [track 2] Courtly Dance the most.
Lane has made something of a speciality of arranging Malcolm
Arnold’s music and his version of the Arnold 1953 Sonatina
is very successful. This is a perfect example of a composer
being able to be true to his very personal voice while writing
for an instrument that was by definition outside his normal
experience. As with so much Arnold there is an uneasy subtext
to the superficially lyrical music. The accompanying string
parts are relatively sparse and the harmonic shifts – although
far from radical – are far less predictable than in some of
the works offered here. As elsewhere, John Turner plays with
a coolly chaste tone and fluent technique. Lane’s orchestration
throughout is thoroughly idiomatic and totally convincing to
the point you forget it is not an original piece of work. In
this version it harks back to the same composer’s Sinfoniettas
or perhaps most closely – literally given its opus number of
39 – the little played Oboe Concerto. I never cease to marvel
at the emotional weight that Arnold is able to invest in music
of even the slightest form.
Naxos have been pretty good to Thomas Pitfield. Aside from the
two works featured here – the only composer with more than a
single representation – they have recorded a disc of his two
piano concertos. Likewise the Sutherland/Royal Ballet Sinfonia/
Lane alliance have recorded a Concert Overture originally
on ASV. The concerto here constitutes the longest single work
and is a model of craftsmanship and it shows up the quality
of the orchestral playing – it offers some lovely nimble and
deft playing. Apologies if that sounds like I’m damning it with
faint praise but it strikes me that for all the fluent and appealing
writing it simply lacks the musical personality of the works
that sit either side of it. For me the discovery of the disc
is the Gregson Three Matisse Impressions. This is a work
where each of the three movements feel ‘bigger’ than their brief
time-frames. Gregson uses the extra colour of the harp and percussion
sparingly but to telling effect. Listen to the very opening
Pastoral [track 11] where hanging string chords over
harp arpeggios instantly create an atmosphere that has been
absent from all the other music on the disc to this point. The
use of percussion adds to the archaic, slightly mysterious landscape.
Turner plays beautifully expressively here as well. The whole
work has a limpid sense of aptness in terms of scale and content
and style. Apparently it was originally written for recorder
with just piano accompaniment. However this version sounds so
very right I cannot imagine the composer does not now see this
as the preferable form for the work.
David
Lyon’s disc in the Marco
Polo ‘British Light Music Series’ was one of the unexpected
highlights of that collection of recordings with the horn concerto
there a real find. His Concertino recorded here contains
many of the same virtues of that disc. He is a composer who
is able to write music which syncopates and swings without artifice
or affectation. Rhythmic side-slips are a natural part of his
musical vocabulary as is a slightly jazz-inflected bluesy harmony.
The central nonchalant Rêverie [track 15] is a delightful
example of the latter and it benefits hugely from a perfectly
judged performance from the Royal Ballet Sinfonia – cool and
classy without lacking engagement. Thomas Pitfield’s second
contribution to the disc are the three brief Nautical Sketches.
My favourite movement here is the central Meditation on Tom
Bowling [track 18] if only to hear this very beautiful tune
in a context that is anything except the Last Night of the
Proms. Here, the counter-melodies weave around the recorder’s
rendition of the famous tune giving a distinctly modern twist.
The closing Keel Reel is another excellent example of
the neat and tidy distinction of all the playing – great fun.
Ian Parrott’s Prelude and Waltz was written when the
composer was eighty-one and again is a weightier work than the
title alone might imply. The Prelude has an angularity
and a terseness that sets it apart – and makes a welcome differentiation
from the lyrical good humour of much of the rest of the programme.
The main theme of the following Waltz came to the composer’s
wife in a dream. Parrott is able to let the melody and harmony
slyly slip away from the obvious just enough to ensure individuality
and character. For much of the time the recorder part ornaments
the main musical argument which is carried by the strings. That
said, this is the only work to contain a series of mini recorder
cadenzas before the opening prelude material returns. I can
only assume that the work represents a fairly minor chip off
a greater block that consists of some five symphonies and four
operas but it does encourage me to seek out more substantial
works from this composer’s pen.
The CD closes with Alan Bullard’s Recipes. Another very
well crafted work it takes the neat – albeit not original –
conceit of giving each movement culinary titles which leads
to each brief piece assuming a ‘national’ character. I feel
rather churlish for not rising to the good humoured wit of the
work. I guess I find the ‘joke’ of a blues on recorder sounds
stilted rather than funny and even if it were funny would I
want to return to it repeatedly – probably not. That being said
the closing movement Fish and Chips provides the performers
with an excellent encore crowd-pleaser rounding the disc off
in scintillating manner and reminds us once more of the quality
of the players involved.
A quick word about the understatedly excellent engineering and
production which keeps Turner’s recorder(s) in a realistic perspective
without overly recessing the accompanying strings. It is much
harder to achieve this kind of natural balance than it might
first appear. Add Turner’s illuminating notes and a couple of
lovely pen and ink illustrations from Thomas Pitfield and you
have a thoroughly engaging CD. If you have collected the other
series of English concertos on ASV
or the Marco Polo Light Music Series mentioned above this disc
neatly complements either.
So a very warm welcome back to this disc – which is a gently
life-enhancing potter through the less demanding pathways of
the repertoire for recorder and strings.
Nick Barnard
John Turner (recorder)
