Music history has furnished us with many examples of composers
who either through enthusiasm or necessity have pursued other
career paths that preceded or ran concurrently with musical activities.
Borodin was a professional chemist, Rimsky-Korsakov was an officer
in the Imperial Russian Navy and Miaskovsky a military engineer.
In the UK Wilfred Josephs was a dentist before taking up composition
full time, whereas Denis ApIvor was a consultant anaesthetist
who found the time to write over a hundred works.
To this illustrious group we can now add the name of John Ellis,
who retired in 2002 after a professional life as a consultant
paediatrician. In addition to his medical work, Ellis found time
to play organ and piano, eventually obtaining the ARCO under the
tutelage of William Morgan of Bolton Parish Church. Much of Ellis’s
music is for the church: anthems, cantatas and especially organ
music. Despite coming late to composition there is not a hint
of the novice. These two volumes from Divine Art attest to the
composer’s skill and subtle originality. Although broadly tonal
the music shows considerable variety harmonically, ranging from
the modally expressive to the quartal piquancy of Hindemith. Modulations
happen by sleight of hand; the pivot chords provoke marvel, whilst
melodies are plastic, limpid and show the influence of plainsong.
Works in variation form dominate the first disc which is a
welcome reissue of a Dunelm recording made by Jim Pattison in
2000. When Ellis is not making modally inflected melodies of
his own he is borrowing them from plainsong and hymnody in order
to create sets of variations, hymn preludes and meditations.
In doing so he is carrying on a tradition that goes back before
the time of Bach. That such melodies can constantly be renewed
in this way is a testament to a timeless beauty that can capture
the imagination of each new generation of composers. Take Ellis’s
Variations on ‘Veni Creator Spiritus’, an absolute
gem of a work that he wrote in 1999. The peerless melody inspires
an array of delightful textures and ingenious working out, culminating
in a maestoso closing chorale. In a sense this work encapsulates
what I love about Ellis’s music: its fluidity, its ease of skill,
its quiet surprises, its occasional grandiose outbursts. Another
piece that shows many of these qualities is the short three
movement Suite in A from 1998. Here the composer’s harmonic
ingenuity is to the fore and it is most enjoyable to hear allusions
to the harmonic worlds of Vaughan Williams (parallel triads),
César Franck (chromatic inflections) and Billy Mayerl (added
note chords in the finale) yet within the context of a relatively
‘light’ piece. Of the more dramatic pieces on volume 1, the
Allegro and Passacaglia stands out for its bold thematic material
and its imposing structure. Here the allusions might be to Marcel
Dupré and although the music sounds fine on the restored Glyn
and Parker organ of 1730 (renovated by Sixsmith and Sons, 1996)
at St. Anne’s Church, Manchester, it would be interesting to
hear Allegro and Passacaglia on a Cavaillé-Coll or the William
Hill organ (renovated by J.W. Walker and Sons, and more recently
Geoffrey Coffin) at York Minster, an organ whose gothic splendour
thrilled me in the awesome 4 CD set of Francis Jackson’s music
on Priory. However the St. Anne’s organ is a lovely and powerful
instrument; the latter quality can be heard to good effect in
the Finale-Fantasia on Orientis Partibus. Hymn tunes
play an important part as starting points for pieces in John
Ellis’s organ oeuvre; no doubt such works are for use during
contemplative moments of church services. In one case however
dark thoughts enter; the Coventry Carol Meditation is
sombre and disturbing with the well known tune planted in a
bed of slowly revolving dissonance; a moving response to the
words of the carol – ‘Herod the King, in his raging, Charged
he hath this day; His men of might, in his own sight, All children
young, to slay. Then woe is me, poor Child, for Thee, And ever
mourn and say; For Thy parting, nor say nor sing, By, by, lully,
lullay.’ Ellis has made a small masterpiece with this meditation.
Volume 2, which is a new recording for Divine Art by Jonathan
Haskell, features organ music that John Ellis has written within
the last ten years. The extensive and authoritative notes chart
the history of the fine instrument at Bolton Parish Church,
one that Ellis must know well from his time with William Morgan.
The original organ is a Samuel Green instrument of 1795 with
new work by Grey and Davison (1852), William Hill (1880) and
further additions since. It is fitting however that the first
piece on the disc, Variations on Picardy, begins with
the French 17th century melody being played on one
of Samuel Green’s original stops from 1795. Ellis has not lost
his fascination for old melodies and hymn tunes; a lovely example
is the Passion Chorale, a setting of the Lutheran hymn, ‘O Sacred
Head’. Here is quiet contemplation amid searching harmonies.
Veni Creator turns up again in this volume; this time
it is given a gracefully leaping dance step. It is easy to hear
why the composer loves this ancient melody as it seems to bring
forth much inspiration from him. There are some substantial
works here that use themes that are entirely Ellis’s own. The
relentless Toccata from 2002 is splendid; its 3+3+2 additive
rhythm propels the music joyfully as themes loom up from the
pedal board. The texture suggests Widor but the music is very
much Ellis. In the Three Pieces for Organ, Ellis demonstrates
his kinship to the shape and speech rhythm of plainsong without
actually using plainsong melodies. His melodic structures are
infused with resonances of the Gregorian style, most noticeably
in the opening Interlude. Here are also chromatic byways that
recall Howells. The following Recessional has delightful
Tippett-like syncopations and at the climax what I take to be
the new 2008 clarion makes an appearance, landing on an added
ninth at the final chord. It’s a thrilling effect. The concluding
Meditation makes use of a beautiful clarinet-type stop.
It is an improvisatory piece that allows the organist to conjure
up many curious sounds during its flowing meander with even
a diversion into almost atonal territory. The major work on
the disc is the Organ Symphony from 2009. It is surely
one of the best organ works of recent decades; bristling with
confidence in the inevitabilities of its own style. The rhetorical
opening carries all before it in a tumult of bold rhythmic gestures
and flamboyant decoration. Here Ellis throws down the gauntlet
to the great past-masters of organ composition and is not found
wanting. The first movement seems to grow organically, no pun
intended, sprouting ever more growth as it goes. This improvisatory
feel does not in the least lead to formal laxity; the material
is handled with great control and economy. It would require
an entire essay to properly give the prospective listener an
idea of this work, so these brief words will have to suffice.
After the opening movement in the free fantasia style described
above, a brief and fleeting scherzo appears. A moto perpetuo,
it temporarily tries to dispel the deep conflicts of the first
movement. The slow movement is rapt, intense, with that Howells-like
ruminative quality again. The harmonies underlie and point the
contour of the long melodies over them. During the journey a
calm radiance is almost achieved at times but the overwhelming
mood is of a searching regret. The finale is a passacaglia
whose theme begins in the treble and proliferates downwards.
Highly chromatic at first, the music reaches a hard one resolution
as blazing dissonant chords crown the work, before the final
defiant octave unison.
John Ellis has found two marvellous champions of his music
in Ronald Frost and Robin Walker. Their playing is first rate
and they both bring out many colours and contrasts in their
use of different registrations. Most importantly they clearly
believe in the music and give it their all. The recordings are
excellent and the notes include extensive biographical details
and complete specifications of the organs. I like the way the
stops of the Bolton Parish Church organ have been assigned dates
so that the reader can chart the growth of the instrument through
the ages. The discs are both very reasonably priced and lovers
of organ music should not hesitate to purchase them, they will
not be disappointed. I look forward to hearing more of John
Ellis’s music in the future.
David Hackbridge Johnson
Gary Higginson has also listened to volume 2
I should begin by repeating immediately the same declaration
I made in my review
of the first volume of John Ellis’s Organ music, recorded
at St.Anne’s Church Manchester (Divine Art DDV 24141): he was
a friend of mine and a erstwhile colleague in the ‘Lakeland
Composer’s Group’ for several years. We knew each others music
and his style is very familiar to me. This is the third commercially
available disc of his works. Very sadly John died in April this
year (2010) and we have lost a wonderful musician. As an organist
based in the Manchester area he concentrated on organ music
but there are also several choral pieces. He was a man of a
quiet and unassuming nature. One of his last works saw him moving
in new directions. It was an elegant Flute Sonata which was
premiered in Kendal in May 2009.
Volume 1 was re-released last year on the Divine Arts label
and this present volume was devised with the organ symphony as
its climax and focal point. The first work is typical of Ellis:
it is a set of Variations on Picardy, otherwise
known as the early medieval hymn ‘Let all mortal flesh keep
silence’. Each variant explores differing tonal qualities of
the rich and beautiful organ in Bolton Parish Church. The composer
knew the instrument so well. Each imaginative delving into the
tune ends with something strong and decisive.
I remember hearing John play his lively Scherzo-Fantasy.
Brief and reminiscent of Langlais, it is in a flowing compound
time. To quote the booklet notes, it was inspired by Bach’s
Fugue No 4 from Book 2 of the Well Tempered Clavier.
The Festive Voluntary does what is says on the tin and
has a bright almost out-of-doors feel which reaches a strong
and exuberant climax.
The Two Hymn-Tune Preludes may, especially at the beginning
of the first, remind some people of Howells. The first - Passion
Chorale - is suitably sombre and even improvisatory being based
on ‘O sacred head’. It is slightly lacking in character. The
next - Veni Creator - is a reminder that there is a fine set
of variations on this famous plainchant on volume 1; this playfully
weaves the chant around a rhythmic counterpoint.
A happy and flowing Toccata follows. This is a canon
and is in continuous quavers building to a fine climax. The
ensuing Minuet is paired with it and is quite
up-beat and perhaps not as “dream-like” as the booklet writer
(who may be the performer himself) would have us believe.
Tonality is key to Ellis’s music but in the first of the Three
Pieces for Organ the opening Interlude is ambiguous and
achieves a thoughtful, questioning atmosphere. It has long melodic
lines which are passed between the hands. The second, ‘Recessional’,
is described, rather enthusiastically in the booklet as “explosive”.
In its use of fanfaring fourths it has a Mathias-feel although
is, in its middle section, much more lyrical and searching.
The longest of the three is the closing and rather amiable,
‘Meditation’. It is quite similar both in speed and tonality
to the first piece.
In case you thought that Ellis could only compose miniatures,
and then only pieces based on already conceived ideas, the organ symphony should dispel your concerns instantly. In the weeks
before he died he sent this CD to our Lakeland Composer’s March
meeting and we listened intently. It is a work he had, in his
extraordinary modesty kept very quiet about. The first movement
which carries the most weight is a dramatic Fantasia and seems
to be immediately on a different plane from much of Ellis’s
other music. Its opening discords create a searching and passionate
atmosphere. It would be a difficult to analyse so I won’t attempt
it as it’s so free in form. The all too brief second movement
is marked Scherzo and is Toccata-like. It ends in a final rushed
flourish of exultation after searching around for direction.
The Adagio is in a sort of ternary form with a mysterious first
section which has a sinuous and delicate melody often projected
over oscillating, tonally ambiguous triads. The B section has
a little more movement and determination which reaches a choral
climax linking back to the opening. The finale is a Passacaglia.
This chromatic and slithery line, stated first in treble, grows
through ten repetitions into a fine climax having been taken
on a journey into various surprising and sometimes disturbing
areas. Without a doubt this is John Ellis’s masterwork and the
more I have heard it the more it surprises and amazes me. Any
organist interesting in something new and challenging should
track it down. Robin Walker is a marvellous advocate.
The accompanying booklet is a model of its kind. It possesses
succinct but useful comments on the music as well as biographies
of both the composer and performer. They also feature in the
good quality coloured photographs in the centre-fold. There
is photograph and history of the organ along with its detailed
and vast specification. Robin Walker handles the instrument
superbly. When he is not making CDs he is Director of Music
at St.Mark’s Florence!
Gary Higginson
see also review of Volume 1 by
Gary Higginson
[John Ellis passed away earlier this year.]
Ronald Frost (organ) 
