William WORDSWORTH (1908-1988)
Orchestral Music - Volume Two
Piano Concerto in D minor, Op. 28 (1946) [23:07]
Three Pastoral Sketches, Op. 10 (1937) [17:59]
Violin Concerto in A major, Op. 60 (1955) [38:33]
Arta Arnicane (piano)
Kamila Bydlowska (violin)
Liepāja Symphony Orchestra/John Gibbons
rec. 2019, Liepāja , Latvia
First recordings
TOCCATA CLASSICS TOCC0526 [79:41]
The reviews of Volume 1 of this series (by John Quinn and myself) expressed hopes for a quick release of Volume 2. Toccata Classics obliged. We now get two of Wordsworth’s three concertos – there is also one for cello – and his earliest acknowledged orchestral work. For those unfamiliar with Wordsworth’s music (see an excellent article by Paul Conway), this volume might be the best place to start: it demonstrates the variety of his compositional styles.
The Three Pastoral Sketches are more substantial than their title might suggest. Aside from their intrinsic musical value, it is interesting to see Wordsworth’s mature style almost fully developed but still combined with elements of the English pastoral tradition. The first sketch, Sundown, contains elements of Sibelius and Vaughan Williams, leading to an impressive chorale-like central section. The middle sketch, The Lonely Tarn, is perhaps the best, as well as the most individual, perfectly descriptive of its subject, featuring an fine part for solo cello and an evocative coda. Slightly less imposing is Seascape – Sibelius makes an appearance – but the composer’s use of the smallish orchestra required is the real interest here.
Wordsworth wrote his Piano Concerto just after the Second World War, between the first symphony (on Lyrita, see review, review, review) and second symphony (also on Lyrita, see review). The concerto was intended as an abstract work. The composer confessed, however, that while composing it he was thinking of the powerlessness of the individual in the modern world. The piano represents the individual and the orchestra the crowd; after much struggle the piano gets the orchestra to collaborate. The concerto is in five continuous sections. The introductory Poco adagio section leads to an Allegro feroce in which the main thematic material is presented by the orchestra. Ferocious it is, and it may remind some listeners of George Lloyd’s Piano Concerto No.1, Scapegoat, although written long before that work. The piano responds to the orchestra and the two develop the main material, leading to the beautiful but troubled Adagio cantabile. This central slow movement demonstrates even more imaginative handling of the concerto’s thematic material. It becomes steadily more emotional but with the brittleness of the second movement still lurking. There is a clever transition to the second Allegro feroce, which is even more intense than its predecessor, but the piano returns with increasing confidence, and in the Coda the piece ends with the piano and orchestra in accord.
The Violin Concerto, written almost ten years after the Piano Concerto, demonstrates a very different side of Worsworth’s personality. Lyricism is foremost. The concerto is in the classical three movements but mostly eschews traditional violin pyrotechnics. In the first movement two distinctive themes, one initiated by the orchestra and one by the soloist, are developed with great skill and wonderfully orchestrated. Most impressive are a fugal section based on the first theme and the recapitulation, with a prominent part for vibraphone. In the second movement, the music starts with a very far-away feeling and then a ballade-like middle section, slightly reminiscent of Bax, before the violin finally trails off into the introduction to the third movement. After a more urgent-sounding continuation of the music from the slow movement, a portentous theme is presented, augmented by percussion in a manner reminiscent of Shostakovich, a composer whom Wordsworth admired, and developed with increasing seriousness until a coda that summarizes both the work’s warmth and its seriousness.
As in Volume 1 of this series, John Gibbons derives a completely idiomatic sound from the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, especially in the important area of orchestral detail. Gibbons is also to be commended for his control of the orchestra and especially for the subtlety of his interpretations. Pianist Arta Arnicane plays her solo part with great finesse and attention to the emotional program. Violinist Kamila Bydlowska delivers an exemplary performance of her concerto, bringing out the beauty of the solo part without neglecting the underlying seriousness. As I said earlier, this is an excellent disc if one wants to become acquainted with Wordsworth’s music. Those who are already devotees will be waiting eagerly for the release of Volume 3.
William Kreindler
Previous review: Brian Wilson
