Edward GREGSON (b. 1945)
Music for Chamber Orchestra (1968) [23:27]
Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra (1978) [15:41]
Goddess (2009) [9:40]
Stepping Out (1996) [3:13]
A Song for Chris (2007) [17:59]
Peter Moore (trombone); Guy Johnston (cello)
BBC Concert Orchestra/Bramwell Tovey
rec. Watford Colosseum, 1-3 March 2010. DDD
CHANDOS CHAN 10627 [70:30]
Edward Gregson is a versatile and prolific composer who may be particularly
well known and appreciated for his imaginative works for wind and brass bands.
That said, the three Chandos discs (CHAN
10105; CHAN
10478) mainly devoted to some of his numerous concertos show that he is
also a successful composer of orchestral music. One of his earliest orchestral
works, if not his first substantial score for orchestra, is the Music
for Chamber Orchestra completed in 1968 when the composer was a mere
twenty-three year old. It is dedicated to his teacher at the Royal Academy
of Music, Alan Bush. It might be regarded as a sort of chamber symphony although
the title and some of the music rather points towards Bartók’s Music for
Strings, Percussion and Celesta. The Bartók model clearly shows
through in the fugal introduction of the first movement. Other influences
such as Hindemith and Shostakovich may be spotted here and there, but the
music already displays remarkable assurance. The second movement is a lively,
fleet-footed Scherzo with some fugal writing again. The slow movement is a
somewhat more serious affair. The Finale is a lively rondo with a jolly, jaunty
main theme. This is clearly a young man’s work, ambitious while still showing
some of his influences. I found it wholly convincing.
Composed some ten years later, the Trombone Concerto is clearly
a fully mature work. It is compact and is in one single movement, albeit falling
into several contrasted sections. The slow introduction states some basic
material on which much of the ensuing music is based. It leads into a series
of varied episodes in which the trombone’s agility and lyrical voice are exploited
in turn. After an imposing climax the music calms down in a slow lyrical section
followed by the soloist’s cadenza, at first unaccompanied, later joined by
the orchestra. It thus bridges into the final section that dances along until
it stops rather abruptly. A brief restatement of the very opening is capped
by a brilliant final flourish. The soloist’s part is quite demanding although
it does not call for any “modern playing tricks and gimmicks”. Peter Moore
is a fine player technically and musically who has the full measure of the
music.
Two Pictures for String Orchestra was not originally conceived
as a true diptych since Stepping Out was composed in 1996 and
Goddess in 2009. Goddess, inspired by a painting
of Dorothy Bradford in whose memory the work was composed, is a beautiful
and moving elegy with an eloquent part for solo viola. The chiming climax
is somewhat reminiscent of Vasks or Pärt. Stepping Out, of which
this is the second recording (the first is on Chandos CHAN 10105), is a short,
dashing work of great energy which the composer rather jocularly describes
as “John Adams meets Shostakovich, with a bit of Gregson thrown in”. Anyway
this short work is the perfect encore for any concert of string music and,
as such, deserves a permanent place in the repertoire.
A Song for Chris for cello and chamber orchestra was composed
in memory of Christopher Rowland, a friend and colleague of the composer.
Christopher Rowland was a member of the Fitzwilliam String Quartet who – among
other things – recorded the first complete set of Shostakovich’s string quartets.
The composer mentions that “the ghost of Shostakovich looms large throughout
the concerto in more ways than one”. These words need some explanation, some
of which will be heard in the music itself. The work opens with a brooding
meditation by the soloist alone. At first somewhat fragmentary the music coalesces
as it unfolds. It then opens into the second section Intermezzo in
which the composer weaves the start of Shostakovich’s Third String Quartet
(composed in 1946, the year Rowland was born). A short cadenza-like passage
leads into the third section Toccata-Scherzo in which echoes from Shostakovich’s
First Cello Concerto may also be spotted. This ends with a forceful timpani
tattoo leading into the final section Song in which a simple melody,
already heard in various guises earlier in the work, soon builds in intensity
before reaching its optimistic close. A Song for Chris is a
deeply moving and strongly expressive work as well as a highly personal statement
on the composer’s part. I am in no doubt that this is the finest work in this
release. Guy Johnston plays with committed intensity and superb technique.
This is a work that definitely should be in any cellist’s repertoire.
This release is the worthy successor to the earlier volumes, be it for the
high quality of the playing, the very fine recorded sound and – most importantly
– the quality of the music itself. I hope that more will follow soon. In the
meantime I cannot but recommend this release most heartily.
Hubert Culot
see also review by Brian
Wilson
A worthy successor to the earlier volumes. Splendid works in excellent performances
and superb recording.