English
composer John Ireland’s (1879-1962)
songs have been recorded several times in recent decades, but mostly by
men. So it’s interesting to hear 32 of
his songs all sung by soprano April Fredrick,
and accompanied by a great Ireland pianist, Mark Bebbington. The
collection opens with one of Ireland’s most interesting and individual
settings, which also gives the CD its title – ‘Earth’s Call’. It is
particularly in the accompaniment that Ireland, an accomplished pianist
himself, creates unsettling uncertainty, which evokes the ambiguity of the text
beautifully. Inevitably with so many
songs, many quite short, some stand out more than others. It is the more substantial pieces that have
more time to make a significant impact, such as the atmospheric and sultry ‘Tryst’, and the moving yet slightly
disturbing setting of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s ‘The One Hope’, in which the writer hopes that death will finally
bring him peace. In the cycle setting
poems by Christina Rossetti, ‘Mother and
Child’, one might expect additional weight of meaning from a female
voice. But perhaps because the songs are
all quite slight, each one barely a minute long, they suffer alongside the more
substantial fare on offer here and lack the necessary import (although
Bebbington brings out the lilting, rocking piano part beautifully in ‘Baby’). In contrast, Songs Sacred and Profane contains more variety and interest, with the
depth of ‘My Fair’ (again, with a
striking piano accompaniment) and the ironically brittle ‘The Scapegoat’ contrasting with the poignant simplicity of ‘The Salley Gardens’. An interesting curiosity is the set of Variations sur ‘Cadet Rouselle’, a
popular French song, with the composition of the accompaniment to the 12 verses
being shared equally amongst Ireland and fellow composers, Bridge, Bax and
Goossens. Ireland’s use of canon in
Verse 8, and the glassy effects in Verse 9 are actually possibly the two
strongest contenders here. Fredrick has
a beautiful, clear voice, which suits the clarity and precision of Ireland’s
settings. A greater variety of tone and
shade would add more intensity to the darker songs, with perhaps a little more
sensitivity at the top of the range, but overall her performances are
consistently commanding. Bebbington’s
mastery of Ireland’s tricky piano accompaniments throughout is exemplary. An enjoyable set, with strong performances of
some real gems here. Ireland, J. 2014. Earth's Call: Songs for soprano and piano. April Frederick, Mark Bebbington. Compact Disc. Somm SOMMCD 0137.
Despite
being highly thought of in his lifetime by composers such as Bach and Handel, Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) is
often overlooked.In a way, his vast
output (well over 3000 compositions) was part of the problem – as a result,
relatively few works have been embraced by the performing canon in the way that
those of Vivaldi, Handel and of course Bach have been.Telemann’s set of Six Sonatas for Violin were composed in Frankfurt in 1715, dedicated
to Prince Johann Ernst, Duke of Saxony, also a talented composer and
violinist.All the sonatas have four
movements, contrasting slow and fast tempi, often drawing on dance forms such
as the courante, sarabande and gigue.Yet despite this formulaic construction, Telemann produces great
variety, and in particular in the faster movements makes great use of
unexpected harmonic turns (note the first Allegro of the fourth sonata, and the
Gigue in the fifth).These are not great
virtuosic showstoppers – Telemann was more focused on melody and harmonic
interest than extrovert demonstrations of technique.Yet they make for enjoyable listening, and
the lack of extremes of technique reveal Telemann’s imaginative harmonies more.Violinist Stephan Schardt is joined here by Elisabeth Wand (cello) and Sonja Kemnitzer (harpsichord).Schardt,
ex-leader of Musica Antiqua Köln, has also written informative notes on the
sonatas and their background, and his in-depth knowledge also shines through
his playing.I would have liked perhaps
slightly more dynamic contrast between and within movements, but otherwise
these are lively performances.The disc
is completed with an Ouverture from Telemann’s periodical ‘Der getreue
Music-Meister’ (‘The faithful music master’), an educational collection of
twenty-five lessons for singers and instrumentalists. Overall, an enjoyable collection, performed
with style and enthusiasm. To win a copy of this CD, email me atnbclassical@hotmail.co.uk- draw at end of October (UK only). Telemann, G. P. 2014. Violin Sonatas, Frankfurt 1715. Stephan Schardt, Elisabeth Wand, Sonja Kemnitzer. Hybrid Super Audio Compact Disc. MDG 903 1835-6.
And
something unusual to finish with this month – a string quartet, the Marcolini Quartett, playing Mozart’s opera, Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro). In the centuries before recording, it was
commonplace to produce arrangements of popular orchestral works and operas to
allow amateur players to hear and play the favourites of the day in their own
homes. Often looked down upon today,
these arrangements actually provided a great way to disseminate the music, but
also, Thomas Irvine argues in the CD notes, this meant that people had a
different relationship with the music by playing it rather than just passively
listening. The Marcolini Quartett play
the Overture and arrangements of 19 arias and ensemble pieces from the opera,
all arranged anonymously in 1799. The
material has been held in the archive of a Benedictine monastery in Austria, the
Cloister Melk (or Melk Abbey), for over two hundred years.
Presumably some talented monks played the music themselves for their own
entertainment, and perhaps for their brethren.
The Marcolini Quartett have appropriately recorded the music in the very
resonant Cloister Melk, on period instruments.
So if you love the music of the opera, but are happy to experience it in
a completely new way, this is worth checking out. The Marcolini Quartett perform with great
spirit, and you don’t have to contend with costume changes, mistaken identity,
long lost parents or people jumping out of windows landing on flowerpots… Mozart, W. A. 2007. Le nozze di Figaro, Bearbeitung für Streichquartett. Marcolini Quartett. Avi 8553046.
(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared inGScene, September 2014)
Requiem Fragments (BBC
commission, world première)
It would have been Sir John
Tavener's 70th birthday this year, and presumably the BBC's
commission of Requiem Fragments was originally intended to mark that
anniversary at this year's Proms. In fact it was one of the last works he
composed before his death in November last year, and was dedicated to The
Tallis Scholars, who performed it on Monday, conducted by Peter Phillips, along with Ikon of Light,
which they recorded 30 years ago. Their landmark recording of the work
was also re-released earlier this year (read my review here), and that release
also included The Tallis Scholars singing Tavener's The Lamb (more of this later), conducted by Tavener himself.
The Tallis Scholars line-up has
gone through considerable changes in recent times, with many newer voices
joining the group. I wonder whether all these new voices have had chance
to 'bed down' just yet, as the ensemble in Ikon
of Light was at times surprisingly less secure than the smooth, blended
sound we are accustomed to hearing from them. Despite the fact that
tuning was impeccable, they also took a note from the strings between several
sections of the work - unnecessary as the tuning was bang on, but perhaps
another indication that the ensemble were not 100% confident in this opening work.
Ikon of Light is a
striking work, with many of the key elements that would become Tavener's
hallmarks throughout his career. The first of these is evident in the
opening section, Fos I, where he
contrasts short sections for string trio (performed here by members of the
Heath Quartet) with sudden, loud chords from the choir, on the single word, Fos ('light'). In their original
recording, The Tallis Scholars gave these bright, illuminating chords real
shine and edge, but on Monday night, some felt a little tentative, particularly
from the top soprano voices, which characterised the performance overall,
unfortunately. However, there was some impressive singing here too, particularly
from the two low basses in the Mystic
Prayer to the Holy Spirit, as the subterranean bass drones frequently
ground the increasingly complex invention in this long central section.Tavener also shows his fascination with
palindrome in this work, both small and large scale, as seen in the overall
symmetrical structure of the work.When
the Fos chords return towards the end
of the work (Fos II), the voices
seemed more secure and confident, although still without the power and bite of
the original recording.
However, for their performance
of Requiem Fragments, The Tallis
Scholars, separated into two choirs, seemed suddenly much more secure and at
home. Tavener was inspired here by Josquin's complex 24-voice Qui
habitat, with its intricate canon structure.Requiem
Fragments is not as complex, but there is still considerable use of canon,
particularly in the settings of the Hindu words Manikarnika (a Hindu shrine and place of cremation) and Mahapralaya (the total reabsorption of
everything into the one Divine Being, at the end of the Universe). In
contrast, the earlier fragments, setting short parts of the Requiem text, are
much simpler, although there is use of strict canon here between the two
choirs, so that although the harmonies are very simple, almost Romantic in
their lushness, Tavener still creates dissonance and effective layering of
sound. This richness is also matched in the writing for the string
quartet, and the Heath Quartet produced a remarkably full tone to avoid being
swamped by the singers.The sections for
string quartet also use canon, and they are joined by two trombones at key
points, particularly effective in the climactic settings of Atma ('Supreme reality and supreme
self') and Sanctus. After this, Manikarnika begins with a lone soprano voice (exquisitely sung by
Carolyn Sampson, who by now had crept into the organ loft way above the singers
on stage), gradually joined by the choir in canon.Tavener’s ability to produce something
sublime out of seemingly simple beginnings is what marks out certain of his
works as masterpieces, and this is definitely one of those works.When the opening Requiem aeternam setting returns, closure is hinted at, but the
final unresolved chord left hanging in the air felt like a fitting tribute to
the enigmatic composer no longer with us.
Following the original
scheduled programme, as part of the nationwide LIGHTS OUT event, the lights
were dimmed and prommers lit small electric candles, whilst actor Samuel West
joined the stage to recite Wilfred Owen’s Anthem
for Doomed Youth. The Tallis
Scholars, joined by Carolyn Sampson, then gave a heartfelt rendition of
Tavener’s The Lamb, followed by Sam
West reciting the attributed words of the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward
Grey, on the eve of Britain’s entry into the First World War, ‘The lamps are going out all over Europe…’ A moving and effective end to a reflective
and atmospheric evening.
Viola
player Barbara Buntrock and pianist Daniel Heide have released an intriguing
set of three works, all composed in 1919.
First, the Sonata by Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979), for which
the composer won joint first prize in the Sprague Coolidge competition, sharing
the position with Ernest Bloch
(1880-1959), whose Suite for Viola
and Piano is also here. They are
separated on the disc by the Sonata, Op.
11 No. 4 by Paul Hindemith
(1895-1963). The Clarke Sonata is a
beautiful piece, unusual in that its emotional heart is a slow third movement. There are elements of Vaughan Williams and
Debussy here, but Clarke definitely has a voice of her own. Sadly she left her studies at the Royal
College of Music due to an inappropriate proposal from a professor and being
thrown out by her father, and struggled to get her music taken seriously, even
having to use a male pseudonym at times.
When she won the competition, rumours spread that her piece was actually
by Bloch, as it couldn’t possibly have been composed by a woman. She more or less stopped composing in the
fifties after her marriage, but left a fine body of chamber, vocal and choral
works which is gradually gaining the recognition it deserves (Check out the Rebecca Clarke Society for more). The Hindemith Sonata by comparison is a
darker work - there are still the late Romantic touches here, as well as hints
of Debussy, but Hindemith’s drier, complex harmonic language is emerging too.
The final work on this disc is the Suite by Bloch. Unlike many of his works which draw on Jewish
traditional music, Bloch’s main influence here is Java and the Far East. Over these three works, all composed in the
same year, there is a huge range of styles and soundworlds, which Buntrock and
Heide capture well. Buntrock produces
beautiful warmth in the Clarke, a greater edge to her sound in the Hindemith,
and brings out the ethereal exoticism in the Bloch, with Heide providing strong
accompaniment throughout. Highly recommended.
Next,
live performances from the Ensemble Epomeo, and members of the Orchestra of the Swan, conducted by Kenneth Woods.First, the Ensemble Epomeo
(with which Kenneth Woods plays the cello) and friends perform Verklärte Nacht (‘Transfigured Night’)
by Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951) in
its original string sextet version.Schönberg later orchestrated the work, and it became one of his most
performed works.Unlike his later music,
it is tonal, although highly chromatic, with a late Romantic stamp, and a
strong Wagnerian flavour.The orchestral
version is extremely lush, but the sextet version, whilst obviously pared down
in texture, actually has a greater intensity.The poem by Dehmel which inspired the work is about a woman who walks
with her lover in a moonlit forest, and confesses she is pregnant by another
man.Her lover ultimately forgives her
and the intensity of their love and the beauty of the moonlight brings them
together.In this live recording, there
are some occasional background noises, and in fact noises from the players
themselves at time, with some rather heavy breathing in places.However, they capture the build of intensity
in the music, and one can sense that this must have been a captivating
performance to experience live.Despite
the relative containment of the sextet version, the climaxes could take more
passion, but otherwise this is an exciting performance.The disc continues with another chamber
version of a work better known as an orchestral piece.Brahms
(1833-1897) originally scored his Serenade
Op. 11 for wind and string octet, then expanded it to a nonet, before fully
orchestrating it in the version known today.Brahms destroyed the original chamber version, but Alan Boustead
reconstructed it, and here it is performed by members of the Orchestra of the
Swan.Another enjoyable live
performance, combining sensitivity and warmth in the Adagio, spirit and fun in
the second Scherzo, with a rousing gypsy-infused Finale.The wind players in particular stand out for
me in this lively recording.
Montreal
based group VivaVoce, conducted by Peter Schubert have recorded motets
based around Scenes from the Gospels,
by composers including Josquin,
Palestrina and Gombert.As an ensemble, they produce a very clear,
pure and even sound, which is perhaps less resonant than the fuller sounds of
English ensembles we are more used to, such as The Sixteen and The Tallis
Scholars.They aim for a beauty of
overall sound, I think, rather than inflecting the music with significant expression.This works better for me in the more
rhythmically interesting pieces, such as Domine,
si tu es by Nicolas Gombert (1495-c.1560), or In illo tempore stabant by Adrian
Willaert (c.1490-1592), but the longer, soaring lines of Palestrina’s (1525-1594) In diebus illis left me wanting more
depth to the sound.However, there is
great variety in their programme, and a composer new to me was Michele Pesenti, or Michael of Verona (c.1470-c.1524),
whose Tulerunt Dominum meum contains
some beautiful word painting, taking the sopranos souring upwards on the word
‘spes’ (‘hope’), before bringing us back down to earth at the end.To win a copy of this CD, email me at nbclassical@hotmail.co.uk - draw at end of August (UK only).
