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My name is Ben Hogwood, editor of the Arcana music site (arcana.fm)

On Record: Richard Deering – Parry: Piano Music (Heritage Records)

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Parry
Piano Sonata no.1 in F major (1876)
Piano Sonata no.2 in A minor (1878)
Sieben Charakterbilder (1872)
Five Miniatures (pub. 1926)

Richard Deering (piano)

Heritage Records HTGCD140-141 [two discs, 87’15’’]
Producer/Engineer: Paul Arden-Taylor
Recorded 15 July 2023 at Wyastone Concert Hall, Wyastone Leys, Monmouth

written by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

Heritage continues its coverage of unfamiliar British music with this set featuring much of the music for solo piano by Hubert Parry, representative of those earlier years when his immersion in the Austro-German tradition was being leavened with a more personal vein of expression.

What’s the music like?

Although he had essayed two sets of shorter pieces in the late 1860s, Parry’s large-scale piano works come from the following decade. The First Piano Sonata owes a debt to Beethoven but also Mendelssohn and Weber, the eddying restraint of its first movement finding contrast with the capricious charm of its scherzo or wistful poise of its Andante. The finale duly heads from a pensive introduction to an elegant Allegretto that, in turn, finds greater animation in its coda. Modest in scope, the whole piece has a limpidity and understatement which is most appealing.

The Second Piano Sonata, if not that much longer, none the less leaves a greater impression – not least as the influences of Schumann and Brahms are more evident. The opening Allegro features a Maestoso introduction that recurs after the development and in the coda to deepen this music’s ingratiating manner, then the Adagio touches on deeper or even darker emotions. The ensuing Scherzo is more rhythmically incisive than its predecessor and while the finale is marked Allegretto, it builds to a decisive close – the introductory music again in evidence.

Before either of these sonatas, Parry composed a set of studies entitled Charakterbilder but with the intriguing subtitle Seven Ages of Mind, which suggests an evolving concept akin to several of Schumann’s collections. The Dreaming of a whimsical Prelude is followed by the impetuosity of Learning then the histrionics of Passion. The trenchancy of Striving precedes the eloquence of Longing then the elation of Triumphing, and though the final Adagio is untitled, its mood of inward rapture might well be thought of as being Fulfilling.

Parry soon went on to write a notable Piano Concerto and engaging Theme and Variations, but little further for the solo instrument until late in life. Published posthumously, the Five Miniatures likely emerged over a quarter-century – the initial Sleepy having an affecting charm complemented by the winsomeness of A Little Christmas Piece then wry humour of Capriccio. Greater profundity is hinted at in the ensuing Pause before this sequence reaches its close with the bittersweet resignation of Envoi – most delicate of miniatures.

Does it all work?

It does. Parry was still in the process of finding his own voice (which, as can be heard from his later choral and orchestral works, was a distinctive one) when writing this music, which should not detract from the technical finish and emotional warmth in much of what is heard here. It helps that Richard Deering brings out its salient qualities through playing responsive to the composer’s idiomatic if stylistically undemanding pianism, as rendered on a Steinway D which clarifies a preponderance of ‘middle range’ keyboard sonorities and passagework.

Is it recommended?

It is. The sound has all the clarity and perspective expected, and there are useful background notes by Lisa Hardy. A follow-up release featuring the Theme and Variations, along with the three sets of Sonnets and Songs without Words and the Schulbrede Tunes, would be welcome.

Listen

Buy

You can explore purchase options for this album at the Heritage Records website. For more information, click on the links for performer Richard Deering and for the Hubert Parry life history

Published post no.1,981 – Tuesday 17 October 2023

In concert – Musicians of the English Symphony Orchestra / Kenneth Woods: Blown Away – Doolittle, Gál & Dvořák

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Musicians of the English Symphony Orchestra / Kenneth Woods

Doolittle Woodwings (2018, arr. 2021)
Gál Divertimento for Wind Octet, Op. 22 (1924)
Dvořák Serenade in D minor, B77 (1878)

Henry Sandon Hall @ Royal Porcelain Works, Worcester
Saturday 14 October 2023 (4pm)

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

Entitled Music for Humans, the coming season from the English Symphony Orchestra promises a wide array of pieces such as focus on what can be achieved through the art of communication and, conversely, what can result when that communication breaks down. This afternoon’s concert enabled the ESO woodwind (along with some of its brass and a couple of its strings) to come into its own with a varied programme as featured music from a regular ESO collaborator, one whom the orchestra has often championed and one who ranks among the greatest of any era.

It may have originated as a wind quintet, but Woodwings by Emily Doolittle (from Halifax, Nova Scotia and now based in Glasgow) proved no less effective when recast for 10-strong wind ensemble (with cello and double-bass) – songs and calls of nine Canadian birds heard over five characterful movements. These range from the playfully assertive Bobolink, via the inwardly plaintive Hermit Thrush and the quizzically engaging Winter Wren, to the cumulatively arresting Snow Goose then a Night Owls finale whose freeform evolution makes for an intriguing and enticing pay-off. First played by the ESO in Kidderminster just over two years ago, it once again provided an appealing concert-opener and certainly bodes well for the 2024-25 season, when Doolittle becomes the ESO’s Composer-in-Association.

The success of his Divertimento was a notable marker for the burgeoning career which Hans Gál enjoyed during the earlier inter-war period, and it remains among the most personable of his chamber works. ‘Intrata’ affords a keen indication of what is to come with its juxtaposing of the martial, hilarious and confiding, proceeded by the capricious exchanges of Pagliazza (inspired by the eponymous tower in Florence?) then the wistful interplay of Cavatina with Gál’s handling of wind sonority at its most beguiling. The mood turns towards the whimsical in the by no means genteel humour of Intermezzo grazioso, before the piece is rounded off with those varied character-portrayals of Pifferari – its title alluding to a group of itinerant musicians playing upon a variety of pipes, and thereby bringing matters to a diverting close.

Although less often performed than its earlier counterpart for strings, Dvořák’s Serenade for Winds (plus cello and double-bass) is arguably more indicative of where his genius lay. The martial theme of its opening Moderato is leavened by a ruminative poise that comes into its own with the minuet-like successor, its felicitous contours duly finding contrast through the animated gaiety of its Presto trio-section. The ensuing Andante is undoubtedly this work’s emotional heart – its eloquence redolent of Mozart in its understatement but also intimation of more ambivalent emotion in the ominous central stage or bittersweet fatalism at its close. From here the final Allegro steers an impulsive but also lilting course through to a climactic restatement of the march theme, then on to a coda that ends the work in exhilarating fashion.

In this judiciously balanced selection, ESO woodwind was heard at its most stylish in music whose appeal belies its technical challenges for individuals and ensemble alike. Next month the orchestra heads to Malvern for an imposing double-bill of Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich.

To discover more of the English Symphony Orchestra’s 2023/24 season, head to the English Symphony Orchestra website. Meanwhile click on the names for more on conductor Kenneth Woods, composers Emily Doolittle and Hans Gál, and the Royal Porcelain Works venue

Published post no.1,980 – Monday 16 October 2023

In concert – Jenebah Kanneh-Mason, CBSO / Andrew Gourlay: Coleridge-Taylor, Rachmaninoff & Wagner

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Jenebah Kanneh-Mason (piano), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Gourlay

Coleridge-Taylor Ballade in A minor Op.33 (1898)
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 (1900-01)
Wagner arr. Gourlay Parsifal Suite (1877-82, arr. 2017-18)

Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Thursday 12 October 2023 (2.15pm)

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

A regular collaborator with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra over recent seasons, Andrew Gourlay returned to Symphony Hall this afternoon for a varied programme of music from the late nineteenth-century and one where his input extended to more than conducting.

The resurgence of interest in Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s music continues apace, his Ballade a success at the Three Choirs Festival and no less an effective concert-opener today. Gourlay drew a keen rhythmic impetus from its outer sections, while making the most of the surging melody that comes between before it returns to dominate the closing pages. What (if anything more specific) this piece might be about remains uncertain, but its undeniable impulsiveness of expression carries all before it, not least in so vibrant and committed a performance as this.

Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto has never been more ubiquitous than it is today, and it takes a performance of some distinction to experience it afresh. That was not the case here, even though Jeneba Kanneh-Mason certainly contributed pianism of a high order – elegance of touch combined with crystal-clear articulation as made those more understated passages a pleasure to behold. What it lacked was greater projection elsewhere – piano all but inaudible at the climax of the first movement, despite Gourlay reining in orchestral dynamics – or that sense of the work as a long-term, cumulative entity. Intimate and confiding, the Adagio was the undoubted highlight and though the scherzando sections of the finale lacked a degree of incisiveness, the ‘big tune’ was eloquently rendered when it returned as a fervent peroration.

Overall, if this was a performance not quite the sum of its best parts, it confirmed this latest addition to the Kanneh-Mason dynasty is shaping up as a pianist with whom to reckon – as was demonstrated by her capricious take on Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in A flat major Op.23/8.

Symphonic syntheses from Wagner’s music-dramas (latter-day equivalent of those ‘bleeding chunks’ beloved of an earlier generation) have enjoyed something of a vogue in recent years, though Gourlay’s Parsifal Suite feels both more modest and more successful in its ambitions.

Writing in the programme, the conductor explained his concern had been to draw this opera’s numerous orchestral passages into a continuous as well as a cohesive sequence, with no need for ‘outside’ linking material. This he achieved by reordering those seven sections in question such that one segued naturally into the next. Thus the Prelude to Act One – opulent but never portentous – was followed by the Good Friday Music from Act Three, its beguiling pathos a perfect foil for the anguished Transformation Music from Act Three then the desolate Prelude to Act Three; now finding its continuation in the volatile Prelude to Act Two, before dramatic and musical equilibrium is restored with the Transformation Music from Act One – its stately progress here making possible the Finale to Act Three with its serenely enveloping catharsis.

Certainly, anyone deterred by the formidable length and gravitas of the complete opera will find Gourlay’s suite conveys its essence – not least as rendered with such poise and insight by the CBSO, in excellent shape prior to touring Germany and Switzerland later this month.

You can read all about the 2023/24 season and book tickets at the CBSO website. Click on the artist names for more information on pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason and conductor Andrew Gourlay, and for more on composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Andrew Gourlay’s recording of the Parsifal Suite is available through Orchid Classics, and can be listened to below:

Published post no.1,979 – Sunday 17 October 2023

On Record – Dot Allison: Consciousology (Sonic Cathedral)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The solo renaissance of Dot Allison continues, the singer – once of the much-loved dance outfit One Dove – releasing her second solo album in two years.

Allison actually began the album back in 2021, as previous opus Heart-Shaped Scars was being released. The song Double Rainbow was the first to be completed, and Consciousology – described by its author as ‘an imagined voice of a conscious universe expressed through music’.

The album has grown to be just that, taking the electrical activity of a plant and translating it into pitch – a ‘botanical session player’, as Allison labels it, to sit alongside the talents of guitarist Andy Bell and the London Contemporary Orchestra, heard in arrangements made by Hannah Peel.

What’s the music like?

Allison’s vocal has a beautiful fragility on the surface, but is supported by an instrument of deceptive strength beneath. Her hushed tones are ideally complemented by string arrangements made once again by Hannah Peel, who shows an instinctive understanding of the balance between the two, so that the words can be clearly heard at all times.

The London Contemporary Orchestra play like a dream, matching Allison’s feathery vocal on the gorgeous Shyness of Crowns, which slides into Unchanged, whose dreamy guitar from Andy Bell gains in strength as it progresses.

Bleached By The Sun features more exquisite word painting, the sighing strings and whispered vocal painting a heat-soaked, drowsy scene, while Moon Flowers is similarly enchanted.

Unchanged has impressive inner strength, while Bleached By The Sun has delicate multitracked vocals, in something of a fever dream, and is complemented by winding string contours. Moon Flowers is an enchanting song, as is Mother Tree – shot through with slightly psychedelic effects on percussion and harp.

Meanwhile inner strength comes to the fore on Double Rainbow, and Weeping Roses forms a pictorial coda in the company of sleepy guitar and piano accompaniment.

Does it all work?

It does, thanks to Allison’s enchanting voice, which harks back to some of the memorable folk-inflected voices of the 1960s and 1970s. The impression remains that she has more power available should she need it, but these songs are beautifully sung as they are.

Is it recommended?

It is. Consciousology will take its listeners to a place far from where they actually are, its dreamy textures and contours providing enchantment and, ultimately, escapism.

Listen

Buy

Friday music – Grieg: In Autumn

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If you live in the UK it will not have escaped your notice that the weather is shifting away from summer and into autumn. That change has already taken place with marked effect in Scotland of course, but now London and the south (where Arcana is based!) are caught up in the wind and the rain.

Autumn does, of course, inspire a great deal of creativity as composers and songwriters respond to the season – and this rather charming early piece by Grieg is one such example, the concert overture In Autumn Op.11, published in 1865. Here it is conducted by Neeme Järvi: