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STEWART HYLTON EDWARDS (1924-87) by Jeremy Taylor

Heaven knows, the Caribbean has its compensations: warmth, sunlight, blue sea, white sand, fine rum, great music. But if you happen to be a composer of "classical" music, that might not be enough, unless of course you turn to reggae symphonies and calypso oratorios. The work is one thing - the desk at the window overlooking the ocean, manuscript paper rustling in the trade winds - but how to get the music heard in a region where symphony orchestras and trained soloists are thin on the ground?

So imagine a tall, aristocratic-looking Englishman in the garden of his beach house at Balandra, on the sunlit, windswept, north-east coast of Trinidad, Carnival's own country. He has been in the Caribbean for nearly 30 years; he has written symphonies, concertos, chamber music, choral music, instrumental and vocal music. He has made a living as a teacher, a soldier and a businessman. Hardly any of his music has been performed since he came to the Caribbean - only a few short pieces sung by a leading local choir, the Marionettes. But now, at long last, a British string quartet is on its way to play his major chamber works for the first time.

It is early morning, dew still on the ground, and he is mowing the beach house lawn, making everything ready for these long-sought guests. It's going to be a turning point; première performances, and his mind is full of other performances to come, the possibility of long-delayed hearings and recognition. But the grass is wet; he fails to see the cable of the electric mower. And suddenly the story is over before it has begun.

That happened to an English composer called Stewart Hylton Edwards in 1987, just before the Rasumovsky Quartet was due to head for Heathrow with his string quartets in their suitcases.

It can be hard enough for an established composer to get a hearing in London. But there are scores of other composers for whom the breakthrough onto concert stage and CD has never come, and whose names remain unknown to the musical public, no matter how good the music is or how bulky the catalogues of their work become.

Stewart Hylton Edwards was one of them, hoping for a breakthrough, even though his base was 5,000 miles away. He almost managed it. In 1986, Sir Charles Groves conducted his First Symphony at the Guildhall School of Music in London, unleashing a whole new phase of compositional excitement in its creator. The Rasumovsky's visit, highlighting the two String Quartets, was supposed to lead to more British performances; a Viola Concerto had been dedicated to the Rasumovsky's leader, Christopher Wellington. But when the Quartet finally did play in Trinidad, after a year's delay, it was more of a requiem than a breakthrough.

Hylton Edwards spent this entire working life outside England, and pursued several careers, often in parallel: he taught music, he became a soldier, he wrote and broadcast about music, he worked for local companies. But above all, he was composer whose output included four symphonies, piano and viola concertos, two string quartets and a substantial body of chamber, choral, vocal, orchestral and piano music. Like that of many other English composers, the music does not fit easily into fashionable packages; bit it is well crafted, international in outlook, indebted to Walton and Shostakovitch, passionate and confident.

Whether anything would have turned out differently had Hylton Edwards stayed in England instead of living his life abroad, who knows? Born in Streatham, London in 1924, he studied at the Guildhall until his life was turned upside down by the war; he joined the Marines, took part in the D-Day landings, fought in the South-west Pacific and reached the rank of Captain. After the war, he returned to the Guildhall, studying composition under Benjamin Frankel and Orlando Morgan; but he had been through too much to settle back into conventional studenthood.

In 1948, he took a job teaching music in Johannesburg, dropping off his First Symphony on the way to the airport (it won the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize). He became a prolific writer and broadcaster, and produced a steady flow of music, including chamber and choral works, and piano music for Julius Katchen, Louis Kentner and Sidney Harrison. He won the van Riebeek Tercentenary Prize for his Second Symphony; his Sonata for cello and piano was played at an ISCM concert.

In 1957 he moved to Canada as a Senior Lecturer in Music at Dalhousie University and Head of the Theoretical Department at the Maritime Conservatory of Music. In Canada, he produced his Piano Concerto, Second String Quartet and a series of orchestral pieces.

But he was restless in Canada and in 1959 took a job as Director of Music at St Mary's College, a leading Catholic boys' school in Port of Spain, Trinidad. He liked Trinidad, teaching a generation of calypso-lovers about the excitement of classical music and became a Trinidad and Tobago citizen almost at once. But his life was soon turned upside down again; the country's Independence from Britain was just around the corner, military experience was much in demand, and he left St Mary's to help found the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment, in which he served as a Major for seven years until 1969.

After that, he found it hard to get back to composition. He took jobs in personnel management and industrial relations, playing the role of a successful Caribbean businessman. He wrote poetry, much influenced by his Catholicism and the work of Gerald Manley Hopkins; he published his collected poems under the title "A Fool of Time" in 1975, followed by "The Wilderness" (1978), "The Unborn" (1979), "Lyntonwood" and "Aulder Mill" (both 1982), and the posthumous "The Toco Road" (1991). He also wrote two novels (unpublished) and an autobiographical account of his years with the Trinidad and Tobago army, "Lengthening Shadows" (1982).

But eventually he was able to settle back into his music. He revised his Viola Concerto in 1976, and in the early 1980s he really found his voice again. From 1983 there was a rapid flow of new work, including a series of chamber works and two more symphonies, and there was every sign that he had found a new vein of creative energy. With new performance possibilities opening up, it seemed that at last the breakthrough was coming…

Hylton Edwards is a distinctive voice in mid-century English music, and almost completely unknown. After he died, it was impossible even to find a home for the original scores in England; they are now in the library of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, where they can be studied by any serious musician or student (copies of some of the major works are held by the British Music Information Centre and the Guildhall). But for that fatal morning at his beach hut, there would almost certainly be twice as much of it to study. Even so, it deserves a hearing.

© Jeremy Taylor

THE RECORDED LEGACY: THE FIRST SYMPHONY AND THE QUARTETS by Paul Conway

Stewart Hylton Edwards' Symphony no 1 was his first major work in any genre. It was written in Rudgwick, Sussex and also in Hunstanton, Norfolk from 30th October 1947 until 15th December 1947 when he was picking up the threads of his musical life at the Guildhall School of Drama after demobilisation from the Royal Marines in 1946. The work was entered at the last moment for the Royal Philharmonic Prize (in the first year of the Society's Annual Awards) and won First Prize in the Guildhall Division. It received its world première performance in South Africa in 1953: the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Enriqué Jorda. The symphony had to wait until 6th June 1986 for its European première at the Guildhall School of Music when Sir Charles Groves conducted the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra. Cast in three movements, the symphony is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in B flat, two bassoons, four horns in F, three trumpets in B flat, two tenor trombones, one bass trombone, timpani (tuned to F, A flat and D flat), side drum, bass drum, cymbals, glockenspiel and strings. The overall timing of the work in performance is around twenty minutes.

The first movement is a bright and attractively melodic five-minute Allegro con spirito. It begins quietly with a dotted rhythmic figure in the strings over which the solo flute gives out the first subject, a flowing and wide-ranging theme. This first subject is interrupted by portentous brass chords which feature again later in the movement. The heart of the movement (and the whole work) lies in the gorgeously Romantic second subject, a sweeping Mahlerian theme first heard on first violins soaring over the rest of the string section and later taken up by flutes and oboes at figure C. Its opulence and searing intensity vaulted over dark harmonic shifts superficially places the yearning second subject in the same sonic arena as the "big" theme from Malcolm Arnold's Fifth Symphony. Arnold once described his theme as a deliberate cliché but, in the Edwards symphony his big theme is unabashed and devoid of irony which renders it all the more moving. I dwell on the theme because it can lay claim to being the most memorable invention in the whole work. A third subject is introduced on lower strings at figure D, bringing the exposition to a close. The development section ruminates on all three of the exposition's subjects but the second subject soon dominates, emerging even more sumptuously scored, in full orchestral dress. At figure J, a fugato on pizzicato strings is set in motion which builds to a largamente climax. The recapitulation is brief and the movement ends triple forte, exuding the confidence of youth.

The most notable feature of the central Adagio is its unusual time signature: 7/2 time. Its undulating legato theme proceeds stealthily entirely in crotchets and quavers. The movement starts pianissimo on upper strings. A winding, wistful cello theme begins and this melody takes over the movement to the extent that it is virtually monothematic. The woodwinds assume the theme and then the strings. Tremolo strings lead to a cymbal-led fortissimo largamente climax from which the movement does not fully recover. An oboe introduces a theme over alternating horn chords which strongly suggests the influence of the "Sunday morning" movement from Britten's Peter Grimes Four Sea Interludes (the opera was then only two years old!). The Adagio ends in nostalgic mood as the main theme is fragmented and burrows down the string section as triple piano solo divided strings taper off into silence.

The concluding Allegro con fuoco is in a driving 9/8 and is occasionally hectoring in tone. The strings introduce the first subject proper which has distant echoes of Walton and Shostakovitch. The movement calms down for a tranquillo passage. An exotic combination of woodwind and glockenspiel leads to an episode where the first violins and cellos play in strict cannon. A largamente climax for strings ensues. The last half of the movement is dominated by two distinct figures: the first is a slurred sequence of quavers, the second a relentless repetition of three dotted quavers followed by an accented crotchet and then a staccato quaver. This last obsessive rhythm takes over on the last page of the score and the symphony ends somewhat abruptly with a sforzando triple forte tutti chord. A cymbal crash resounds after the rest of the orchestra has faded away.

Stewart Hylton Edwards' First Symphony is clearly the work of a young man, full of vigour, optimism and joyful relief at the end of war and a return to the world of music. A comparison with the contemporaneous first symphony of John Gardner serves to emphasise the latter's greater melodic and rhythmic resourcefulness but it should not be forgotten that the Edwards Symphony is the work of a 24-year-old composer. Having a largamente climax to all three movements could be just too much of a good thing (the marking also appears in the first movement of his Symphony no 2 and must have been a favourite). Nonetheless, the first symphony is certainly not without its attractions (notably the splendidly opulent second subject of the first movement which stayed in my head long after I had finished listening to the piece). Influences on the style of the work include Walton, Britten and Shostakovitch (an unremarkable set of role models for the year 1947). Stewart Hylton Edwards' Symphony no1 contains many fine things and studying it made me want to hear the later symphonies of the composer's maturity. The scores of all four symphonies are to be found in the British Music Information Centre in London. I hope they will not languish there unperformed for much longer.

The String Quartet no 1 (1951) is dedicated to the composer's wife, Patricia. It was first performed privately before a small group of the composer's friends in Johannesberg by the De Groote Quartet. Three days later, they repeated the work in a relay by the South African Broadcasting Corporation in 1952. The opening Andante con moto juxtaposes serene passages and more agitated staccato sections marked scherzando which only coalesce in the concluding bars. So dominating is the opening angular and ruminative motif first heard mezzo piano on the viola that it subsequently recurs in various forms throughout the whole work. The Grave second movement is more conventional in its overall design but has a disturbing character. Instruments are mainly grouped in pairs and move in regular crotchets and minims within these pairs in a slow fugue so the effect is like a vaguely familiar hymn tune played out of synch. The movement gains in intensity and rises to one held sforzando note. A speeded-up version of the first movement's opening theme lies behind the skittish central third movement marked Allegro scherzando e tempo di marcia. Material from the previous movement returns, even more distorted and an intense climax ensues before the Allegro scherzando's skittish opening theme returns but the listener is now suspicious of its overtly jocund nature. There is a throwaway pizzicato ending. The brief and broodingly atmospheric Andante con moto fourth movement which utilises material from the work's opening theme leads directly into the lively and jazzy Allegro vivace Finale. The main theme from the second movement returns to quell the high sprits and the work ends with an extended reworking of the quartet's opening theme in contemplative mood and slows down to a delicate triple piano pizzicato C major plop. The work lasts about 17 minutes in performance.

The String Quartet no 2 (1958) was written in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and exudes a newly found confidence in the composer manifested in a more advanced style. Edwards sounds very comfortable in his musical language which, though hardly avant-garde is sufficiently complex and strong to demonstrate an awareness of the achievements of other mid-20th Century quartet writers such as Shostakovitch and Bartok. The Allegro moderato first movement, for example, contains a long-breathed second subject which ranges more widely than any of the material in the first quartet. The stealthy Scherzo third movement begins muted and contains a Trio section as light as air. Overall the tone of the second quartet is virtuosic with a particularly impressive lengthy cadenza-like passage for first violin. The work is cast in four movements and lasts just over eighteen minutes. Perhaps because of its tougher language this quartet did not achieve the success of its predecessor and unfortunately, Stewart Hylton Edwards never returned to the genre again.

As a substantial appendix to the quartets, the eleven-minute Sonatina for violin and viola merits consideration. The Sonatina was completed in 1984 for two members of the Rasumovsky Quartet: Frances Mason and Christopher Wellington. It is based on a theme from the Second String Quartet which is stated at the beginning of the initial Largo and developed in the ensuing Andante cantabile. The second movement is a light-hearted scherzino in 12/8 time constructed on a whirling ostinato figure. The Adagio third movement takes up the musical argument the Largo left off whilst the Finale begins with the Largo theme and develops a two-part fugue which gains in momentum and complexity as the piece progresses. After a brief reference to the opening theme, the work arrives at a vehement conclusion. Interesting as a rare recorded example of the composer's late period (although he was still only in his sixtieth year), the Sonatina shows Edwards had an abundance of creative energy which went on to manifest itself in his last two symphonies.

The frustratingly few extant recordings of the works of Stewart Hylton Edwards (none of them professionally made) serve to remind us of the extent of his talent and the tragedy of its premature silencing. His total neglect since his death is undeserved and it is scandalous that works such as the Piano Concerto, Viola Concerto and the Third and Fourth Symphonies have yet to receive their premières. The first two symphonies merit a revival and the British chamber repertoire would undoubtedly be enhanced by the occasional programming in concerts of at least one of the works considered here.

© Paul Conway 03/00

CASSETTE

A cassette has been prepared containing performances of Symphony no 1, the two string quartets, the Sonatina for Violin and Viola, Variations on an African theme, Three Carols, The Birds and Chanticleer. Copies are lodged at GSM and BMIC. Master held by Sanch Electronix, Trinidad and Tobago (868) 663 1384 (contact: Simeon Sandiford)

CATALOGUE OF MUSICAL WORKS

SYMPHONIES

Symphony no 1
Movements: Allegro con spirito; Adagio; Allegro con fuoco
Date: 1947
Duration : 17 minutes
Instrumentation: Double woodwind, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, cymbals, glockenspiel and strings
Awards: Royal Philharmonic Society Prize 1948
Premiere: SABC Symphony Orchestra/Edgar Cree, 1950
Performances: Guildhall School of Music, 1986 (Guildhall SO/Sir Charles Groves)
Location: UWI, BMIC, GSM


Easter Symphony (Symphony no 2)
Movements: Moderato; Allegro scherzando; Andante; Allegro molto
Date: 1951. Completely rewritten Trinidad 1985/6. Original Symphony no 2 (1948, premiere SABC SO 1948) was withdrawn, though scherzo was reused.
Duration: 22' 30''
Instrumentation: Double woodwind plus piccolo, cor anglais, double bassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, harp, timpani, percussion and strings
Awards: 2nd prize, van Riebeck Tercentenary Festival
Performance: Recorded 1953, SABC
Location: UWI, BMIC
Note: Separate movements marked II Allegro scherzando, Habitavit in Nobis (5m, 1948 rev 1951) and III Grave, Fulget Crucis Mysterium (5m, 1951) are probably survivals from original Symphony no 2


Symphony no 3
Movements: Allegro vigoroso; Lento; Scherzando; Allegro energetico
Date: Trinidad, 1985-6
Duration: 22' 30''
Instrumentation: Double woodwind, cor anglais, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, harp, xylophone, cymbals, triangle, side and bass drums, glockenspiel, timpani, piano and strings
Performance: Unperformed
Location: UWI, BMIC


Symphony no 4
Movements: Allegro molto; Adagio; Minuet and Trio; Allegro con fuoco
Date: Trinidad, 1986/7
Duration: 25 minutes
Instrumentation: Double woodwind plus piccolo, double bassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, harp, organ ad lib, glockenspiel, celeste, xylophone, bass and side drums, cymbals, triangle, timpani and strings
Performance: Unperformed
Location: UWI (including 19 pages of notes, sketches), BMIC


CONCERTOS

Piano Concerto
Movements: Andante espressivo; Allegro moderato - Presto; Grave; Allegretto
Date: 1957-58
Duration 24' 30''
Instrumentation: Double woodwind, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, cymbals, strings
Performance: Unperformed
Location: UWI (2 bound full scores, 2 bound piano scores, sketches), BMIC


Viola Concerto (1976 version)
Movements: Allegro vigoroso; Allegro scherzando; Grave; Allegro con spirito
Date: Original version 1952. Revised 1957. Revised Trinidad 1976.
Duration: 17-20 minutes
Instrumentation: Double woodwind, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, cymbals, strings
Premiere: SABC/Letty Vermocnck
Dedication: Christopher Wellington (1976 version)
Location: UWI (2 full scores, 1 piano score, 1 set orchestral parts), BMIC
Note: Ms and amendments to solo part held by Christopher Wellington, London


OTHER ORCHESTRAL MUSIC

Adagio (A Threnody)
Date: 1948: based on slow movement of original Symphony no 2)
Duration: 9 minutes
Instrumentation: Double woodwind, 4 horns, 1 trumpet in C and 2 in B flat (or 3 in B flat), 3 trombones, timpani, cymbals, strings (rewritten for strings and horns)
Performance: SABC recording 1950
Dedication: Fl.Sgt.Pilot D B Edwards (RAF)
Location: UWI (3 bound scores, 1 set parts), BMIC


Fanfare for brass
Date: 1951
Instrumentation: 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani
Duration: 1' 45''
Commission: Central Committee, Jan van Riebeck Tercentenary Festival
Location: UWI


Scherzo: Trivia
Date: 1951-56: originally scherzo of Symphony no 2
Duration: 5 minutes
Instrumentation: Double woodwind, 4 horns, strings
Premiere: SABC SO/Edgar Cree, 1951
Performance: BBC 1952, SABC 1953 and 1955; SABC recording 1952
Location: UWI (1 bound and 1 unbound score)


Overture, Bank Holiday
Date: 1956; revised 1957, 1960
Duration: 7 minutes
Instrumentation: Double woodwind, cor anglais, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, harp, timpani, cymbals and strings
Premiere: SABC SO/Edgar Cree, 1956
Dedication: Edgar Cree and the SABC Symphony Orchestra
Location: UWI (2 bound scores, 1 set parts), BMIC


Suite: Four Shakespearean Characters
Movements: Puck (Scherzo); Pavane for the dead Ophelia; Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Burlesque); Henry V (Passacaglia)
Date: 1956
Duration: 16 minutes
Instrumentation: Double woodwind, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, cymbals, whip, tambourine, harp and strings
Location: UWI


Overture, Chiaroscuro
Date: 1957: based on the last movement of Easter Symphony
Duration: 5' 30''
Instrumentation: Double woodwind, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, harp, timpani, cymbals and strings
Performance: Unperformed
Dedication: Patricia Hylton Edwards
Location: UWI (1 bound, 1 unbound, 1 set parts), BMIC


Five Folk Idylls
Movements: Norfolk; Mayden Lane; Komati; Krymekaar; Runnymede
Date: 1984 (revision)
Duration: 22 minutes (13, 2, 2, 2, 2' 15'')
Instrumentation: Solo oboe, string orchestra
History: Based on songs; arranged for oboe and piano 1953 as Four Folk Idylls (excluding Norfolk); arranged for oboe and strings 1984 as set of five. Norfolk written 1944, arranged for strings 1946; Mayden Lane 1948; Krymekaar 1951, dedicated to Willem Burger; Komati 1948; Runnymede melody 1944
Dedication: Patricia Hylton Edwards
Performance: Original 4: Tom van Dongen, SABC 1953, SABC recording 1960. Lrymekaar: Saline Koch/SABC 1951, SABC recording 1960. Norfolk: Guildford Cathedral, UK, 1946/47: Kathleen Riddick String Orchestra
Location: UWI (oboe/piano and oboe/strings versions except for Komati, oboe/strings only; extra copy of Norfolk; solo part of Mayden Lane), ILAM (3/4 oboe/strings, 3 arr. For voice/piano and oboe/piano)


CHAMBER MUSIC

String Quartet no 1
Movements: Andante con moto; Grave; Allegro scherzando e tempo di marcia; Andante con moto ma non troppo; Allegro vivace
Date: 1951
Duration: 17 minutes
Dedication: Patricia Hylton Edwards
Awards: First Prize SABC van Riebeck competition 1951
Premiere: de Groote Quartet, Johannesburg, 1952 (SABC)
Performances: SABC, de Groote Quartet, 1952; Port of Spain, Rasumovsky Quartet, 1988
Location: UWI (with 1 set parts), BMIC, Rasumovsky Quartet, UK.


String Quartet no 2
Movements: Allegro moderato; Adagio; Scherzo and Trio (Allegretto scherzando); Rondo (Allegro vigoroso)
Date: 1958 (original String Quartet no 2, 1953, withdrawn; scherzo revised for this version)
Duration: 18' 15''
Premiere: Port of Spain 1988 Rasumovsky Quartet; UK Premiere at Prema Project, Iley, Gols, 9 December 1988
Location UWI (with 1 set parts, sketches); BMIC; Rasumovsky Quartet, UK.


Andante religioso
Quartet movement
Date: 1953
Location UWI (with parts)


Variations on an African Theme
Date: 1953
Duration; 6 minutes
Instrumentation: Reed trio (oboe, clarinet, bassoon); piano arrangement made later
Premiere: November 1953, Johannesburg Reed Trio
Performance: BBC, August 1954
Dedication: Johannesburg Reed Trio
Location: UWI (2 scores, 3 set parts), ILAM (with parts)


Nimuze: an African melody
History: African melody used as one of Three Airs for Cello and Piano 1958 (qv), then in violin and piano arrangement, harmonica and strings arrangement (qv), flute arrangement for Sir Arthur McShine, Trinidad 1976 (lost)
Date: Unknown
Duration: 3 minutes
Instrumentation: Violin and piano
Publication: Vantage Press, New York
Location: UWI


Introduction, Pastorale and Allegro
Unaccompanied oboe, 1953, 5 minutes, recorded SABC 1960
Fantasy on an African Theme
Date: 1955
Instrumentation: Harmonica, strings
Dedication: Larry Adler
Location: UWI, ILAM (scores incomplete)


Contrasts
Movements: Allegro vivace; Andante con humore, Allegro scherzando
Date: 1955
Instrumentation: Reed Trio
Dedication: Johannesburg Reed Trio
Location: UWI (with parts)


Three Airs for cello and piano
Titles: A French Air; An African Air (Nimuze); An English Air
Date: 1958
Duration: 6 minutes
Dedication: Patricia Hylton Edwards
Performance: Betty Pack and SABC broadcast, Johannesburg
Ms: Patricia Hylton Edwards
Location: UWI


Sonatina for violin and viola
Movements: Largo - Andante cantabile; Allegro vivace; Adagio - Largo; Allegro vivace
Date: 1983-84
Duration: 11 minutes
Premiere: Port of Spain 1988, Rasumovsky Quartet
Dedication: Frances Mason and Christopher Wellington
Location: UWI (2 scores, 2 set parts)
Note: Could be a rewrite of lost Sonatina, premiere ISCM in Johnnesburg, "rewritten 1985"


Partita for Wind Octet
Movements: Andante con moto e humore; Lento piacevole; Allegretto scherzando; Tempo di marcia; Lento appassionato; Allegro energico e con brio
Date: 1987
Duration: 19 minutes
Instrumentation: 2 flutes, oboe, 2 B-flat clarinets, 2 bassoons, French horn in F
Performance: Unperformed
Location: UWI (with second copy missing last movement and with 2nd oboe part)


Sonata for cello and piano
Movements: Allegro con spirito; Adagio; Allegretto ma non troppo e scherzando
Date: 1987
Duration: 19' 30''
Premiere: ISCM, London, date unknown
Location: UWI (with solo part)
Note: Could be revision of lost 1954 sonata, dedicated Betty Pack, premiere 1954


Clarinet Quintet
Movements: Allegro energico; Andante; Andante scherzando e con humore; Allegro energico
Duration: 21 minutes
Date: Trinidad, July 1987
Location: UWI (2 scores, plus sketches), BMIC


Piano Quintet
Date: Trinidad, 1987
Movements: 1 (remainder of work incomplete)
Location: UWI


CHORAL MUSIC

Carol: The Birds
Date: 1945
Instrumentation: SATB and organ
Scores: Marionettes Chorale, Trinidad
Performances: Port of Spain 1985, 1987 (Marionettes Chorale)
Location: UWI (2 scores plus arrangement for voice and string quartet)


Three Carols
Movements: I Sing of a maiden; Adam Lay Ybounden; There is no Rose
Date: 1950
Duration: 4 minutes
Instrumentation: SA and piano/organ
Dedication: Noel Iverson and choir of St John's College
Publication: Augener 1950
Performances: Port of Spain 1986 (Marionettes Chorale)
Location: UWI, BMIC, GSM


Motet: Be still and know that I am God
Date: 1950
Voices: TTBB unacc.
Dedication: Noel Iverson and the choir of St John's College, Johannesburg


A Dream of Fair Women (Five Victorian Portraits)
Song cycle for SATB unaccompanied
Movements: Margaret; Isabel; Maud; Medeleine; Claribel
Date: 1951
Location: UWI (2). BMIC, GSM


Three Easter Carols
Voice and oboe 1953; SABC 1953
Lost


Anthem: Give us the wings of faith
Date: 1954
For: SATB, organ
Location: UWI


A Union Day Cantata
Movements: Prelude and chorus; soprano recit. And aria; chorus; baritone recit. And aria; chorus and orchestra chorale; finale (soloists, chorus, orchestra)
Date: 1954
Duration: 22 minutes
Instrumentation: Double woodwind, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, harp, timpani, cymbals, chorus; soprano, baritone and cello soloists
Premiere: SABC Concert Orchestra/Anton Hartmann, May 1955
Awards: First prize, SABC Choral Festival 1954
Performances: 1955, 1957
Location: UWI (1 bound, 1 unbound)


The Toco Road
Date: Trinidad, 1984
Duration: 8 minutes
For: SATB and piano
Dedication: Marionettes Chorale (commission)
Location: UWI (2)


Carol: Chanticleer
Date: Trinidad c. 1985
Duration: 2 minutes
Dedication: Partricia Hylton Edwards
Performances: Port of Spain 1986, 1987 (Marionettes Chorale)
Location: UWI (4), GSM


PIANO WORKS

English Country Scenes
Date: 1950
Publication: Augener 1951 (six pieces "fingered for small hands")
Dedication: Charlotte, Mark and Beatrix-Ann
Location: UWI (3), BMIC


Suite for Piano
Movements: March; Canzonetta; Minuet; Romance; Rondino
Date: 1953
Publication: Augener 1954
Location: UWI, BMIC


Two Etudes
Date: 1953
Dedication: Adolph Hallis
Publication: Augener 1954
Location: UWI (2), BMIC, GSM


Two Aquarelles
Date: 1953
Dedication: Julius Katchen
Publication: Augener 1960
Location: UWO (2), BMIC, GSM


Three Etudes
Date: 1957 (based on scrapped sonata for violin and viola)
Dedication; Sydney Harrison
Lost


Sonata
Date: 1960-61
Dedication: Sydney Harrison
Withdrawn; material used for Symphony no 3, 1986


Variations on an African Theme
Date: Unknown; arrangement of 1953 piece for wind trio (qv)
Duration 6 minutes
Dedication: Louis Kentner
Publication: Augener 1960
Location: UWI (2), BMIC


SONGS

Three songs for voice and oboe
Titles: All in the morning; Love is come again; Gabriel's message
Date: Unknown
Location: UWI


The Burning Babe (Carol for solo treble and piano)
Date: Unknown
Location; UWI


Four songs for soprano and piano
Titles: Trust no too much; Remember; Good morrow to the day so fair; Vertue (Sweet Day)
Date: 1949
Dedication: Sophie Wyss
Performance: Saline Koch, SABC
Location: UWI (3), GSM


Three songs for Children
Date: 1950
Source: Unfinished opera
Songs: The Blacksmith's Song; Poodles; Princess Poodle's Song
Dedication: For Charlotte, Mark and Beatrix-Anne
Location: UWI


Two songs for bass voice and piano
Titles: The Vision; You and I
Date: 1953
Dedication: Sir Colin Garnett
Location: UWI (with extra copy of The Vision)


Song: Why should there be Two? From "The Firstborn" (incomplete)
For: voice and harp/arr. for piano (low voice)
Date: 1953
Performance: National Theatre, Johannesburg 1953
Location: UWI


I have desired to go
Date: 1956
Dedication: Annie Lamprechts
Location: UWI


Two songs: Wysme die Plek; Diepe Rivier
1955; fp. Saline Koch SABC 1960
Lost


INCIDENTAL MUSIC

Incidental Music to Twelfth Night
Movements: Overture; Illyria music; If Music be the Food of Love; Caper music; O mistress Mine (song); Come away Death (song); Exit of players; When that I was (song)
Date: 1952
Instrumentation: harp, strings quartet; flute and oboe solos
Premiere: National Theatre, Johannesburg 1953 )over 100 performances)
Dedication: South African National Theatre Organisation
Location: UWI (bound copy; extra copy of the 3 songs)
Also wrote Incidental music to: Abraham, my love (1953, lost); Prometheus (1953); Hamlet (1954, lost); Macbeth (1954, lost)

JUVENALIA

Includes: Sea picture for piano (1936-37); Four Preludes for harpsichord (1937); Sonatina for piano (1938); Piano sonatina (one-movement) (1940): Romance (1941, violin and piano; 1st prize (Lord Mayor's), Guildhall School Composition 1941 (with solo part); Suite for Strings (1941; dedicated to H Watkins Shaw); Idyll for Strings (1944-46, 9 minutes)


LOCATION OF MATERIAL

UWI: Main Library, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Tel: 868 662 2002 ext. 2132. Fax: 868 9238
BMIC: British Music Information Centre, 10, Stratford Place, London W1N 9AE. Tel: 0171 499 8567 (selected copies)
GSM: Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Barbican, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DT. Tel: 0171 628 2571. Fax: 256 9438. Materials held in Library (selected copies)
ILAM: International Library of African Music, ISER, Rhodes University, Grahanstown 6149, South Africa. Tel: 0461 318557. Fax: 24411 (selected copies)
This is taken from a list compiled by Jeremy Taylor, 6 Prospect Avenue, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Tel: (868) 622 3821; Fax: (868) 628 0639 in September 1991.
Updated 02/92, 12/93, 03/96 and 05/97

©Jeremy Taylor

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