Category Archives: Orchestral

On Record – BBC SSO & BBC SO / Sir Andrew Davis – Naresh Sohal: The Wanderer & Asht Prahar (Heritage)

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Naresh Sohal
Asht Pradar (1965)
The Wanderer (1982)

Jane Manning (soprano), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (Asht Pradar), David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra (The Wanderer) / Sir Andrew Davis

Heritage HTGCD135 [77’36”] English text included
Remastering Engineer Paul Arden-Taylor

Broadcast performance from BBC Studios, Glasgow on 6 January 1973 (Asht Pradar); live performance from Royal Albert Hall, London on 23 August 1982 (The Wanderer)

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

Heritage issues what will evidently be an ongoing series of archival releases devoted to the music of Naresh Sohal, taken from BBC sources and featuring performers who championed his work over a career whose achievement is not reflected in the availability of recordings.

What’s the music like?

Although he came belatedly to the UK, Sohal (1939-2018) rapidly made up for any lost time when arriving in London in 1962 (further biographical detail can be found in the booklet note for this release and on the composer’s website). Within three years, he had produced his first major (and latterly his first acknowledged) work. Asht Prahar then had to wait until 1970 for its premiere (at the Royal Festival Hall conducted by Norman Del Mar), but it attracted much favourable attention and led to another hearing three years on – the performance featured here.

Taking its cue from the Indian sub-division of the day into eight temporal units (four each for day and night), Asht Prahar unfolds its eight sections as an unbroken continuity. The sizable forces are, for the most part, used sparingly yet resourcefully; as too the deployment of such devices as quarter-tones, along with influences of Ravel and Stravinsky, in music that makes a virtue of its pivoting between East and West. Cyclical if not necessarily cumulative, its final and longest ‘prahar’ brings wordless soprano and orchestra into tangible and haunting accord.

By the time that The Wanderer received its premiere, Sohal had a number of major works to his credit and rationalized his musical idiom accordingly. Setting an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poem in which the male protagonist speaks movingly and often despairingly of his isolation – both physical and spiritual – after the death of his lord, the work divides into two large parts that expand on the narrative’s emotional import. Such ‘‘existential bleakness’’ is intensified by omission of the poem’s last lines with their invoking a specifically Christian consolation. Despite its more than 50-minute duration, there is nothing discursive or unfocussed about The Wanderer’s content. Much of its text is understandably allotted to the baritone, whose austere character is complemented by darkly rhetorical choral passages while offset by an orchestral component with much soloistic writing (notably for flute) in a texture the more involving for its restraint and its strategic use of colour to define specific incidents or emotional responses. Nor is this an opera-manqué, the work succeeding admirably on its inherently abstract terms.

Does it all work?

It does, allowing for the fact that Sohal is not seeking any overt fusion between Occident and Orient, but rather attempting to forge a personal idiom influenced by both while beholden to neither. Both these performances bear out his convictions, Jane Manning adding her ethereal presence to Asht Prahar and David Wilson-Johnson bringing evident compassion to his more substantial role in The Wanderer. Both works benefit from the insightful presence of the late Sir Andrew Davis, whom one regrets never had an opportunity to record them commercially.

Is it recommended?

It is. The sound of these broadcasts has come up decently in remastering, lacking only the last degree of clarity or definition, and Suddhaseel Sen contributes informative annotations. Those looking for a way into Sohal’s distinctive and alluring sound-world need no further incentive.

Listen & Buy

For purchase options, you can visit the Heritage Records website

Published post no.2,451 – Thursday 20 February 2025

In appreciation – György Kurtág at 99

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by Ben Hogwood Picture of György Kurtág (c) Filarmonia Hungaria

This is a post in honour of the remarkable composer György Kurtág, celebrating his 99th birthday today.

You can read about his work with baritone Benjamin Appl in an interview published on Arcana last week, but to get some appreciation of Kurtág’s remarkable music, here are a few pointers:

It is perhaps a bit restrictive trying to listen to Kurtág’s music via a YouTube link, so if you can find a widescreen system to play Grabstein für Stephan on then I fully recommend it. Following the score will show just how imaginative his orchestration is, and how compressed and concentrated the music becomes.

Meanwhile the Microludes, for string quartet, encapsulate Kurtág’s economical and pinpoint style, pieces whose every move and aside is critical to the whole.

One of my favourite live experiences was watching Kurtág and his now late wife Márta play exquisite duets at the Wigmore Hall for the composer’s 80th birthday. It was like eavesdropping on a private conversation between two intimately connected souls, no more so than when they were playing Kurtág’s own arrangements of J.S. Bach:

Published post no.2,450 – Wednesday 19 February 2025

On Record – Corelli Orchestra / Warwick Cole – William Hayes: Instrumental Music (Heritage Records)

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William Hayes
Harpsichord Concerto in G major (c1740)
Harpsichord Concerto in D major (1755)
Concerto Grosso in D major (1758)
Concerto Grosso in G minor (1758)
Trio Sonata in E minor (1775)
The Fall of Jericho – Sinfonia (c1750)

Corelli Orchestra / Warwick Cole (harpsichord)

Heritage HTGCD134 [74’]
Producer Simon Heighes Engineer Paul Arden-Taylor

Recorded February 2010 at Prince Michael Hall, Dean Close School, Cheltenham; July 2018 at Church of St Philip and St James, Cheltenham

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

The Heritage label adds yet another enterprising release to its expanding catalogue with this representative selection of instrumental music by William Hayes (1708-1777), idiomatically rendered by the Corelli Orchestra and its founder director, the harpsichordist Warwick Cole.

What’s the music like?

The most substantial works are two harpsichord concertos. That in G major is notable for the close-knit interplay between soloist and strings of its lively initial Allegro or the deft humour of its closing Minuetto, but it is the central Andante which leaves the strongest resonance – its intricate solo part (with two elaborate cadenzas) and its plangent expression both anticipating the ‘Sturm und Drang’ inclinations of a subsequent generation. That in D major (derived from an organ concerto) follows a not dissimilar trajectory, its buoyant and harmonically questing Allegro followed by a brief yet affecting Adagio for the soloist unaccompanied then a finale that takes in a wider expression than its Tempo di Menuetto marking might indicate. Equally effective are those transitions for soloist then strings as afford this work its overall continuity.

Taken overall, the six concerti grossi are Hayes’s most substantial legacy to the instrumental domain. That in D major duly alternates Andante movements of subdued pathos with Allegro movements in which this composer’s much-heralded contrapuntal facility is to the fore, while that in G minor owes its larger scale to the ruminative Larghetto which, preceded by a wistful Affetuoso and coursing Allegro then rounded off by a lilting Pastorale, is a sure pointer to the Classicism that lay ahead. It may be the shortest piece featured here, but the Trio Sonata in E minor (itself the final contribution to a set of six) is overall even more most forward-looking as it unfolds from a pathos-laden Adagio, via an incisive Allegro (which is pointedly marked ‘staccato’) followed by a gravely eloquent Largo, to the gracefully elegant closing Grattioso.

That just leaves the Sinfonia to the oratorio The Fall of Jericho which was likely the largest work Hayes completed. More than a mere curtain-raiser, this substantial piece begins with a purposeful Andante notable for trenchant oboe writing – as also the Largo into which it leads and whose plaintive melodic line makes it an aria in its own right. There follows an Allegro of deftly propelled impetus, then an Andante such as provides overall balance in terms of its undulating gait. A performance of the complete work can also be obtained at Fall of Jericho

Does it all work?

Yes, and not only viewed within its aesthetic remit. Acknowledged during his lifetime as one of the few English composers able to hold his own against Handel, Haynes (who dominated academic life at Oxford for three decades) left an output whose scope is evidently in advance of its size. Historically significant for being on the cusp between Baroque and Classical eras, his work is always appealing – not least given the poise and finesse of the Corelli Orchestra, an ensemble whose ‘authentic’ credentials never draw attention away from its music-making.

Is it recommended?

Indeed, and not least with annotations by Simon Heighes (no doubt recalled by some readers for his insightful reviews in International Record Review), whose book The Lives and Works of William and Philip Hayes (Garland Press: 1995) is the standard study about this composer.

Listen & Buy

For buying options, you can visit the Heritage Records website

Published post no.2,444 – Thursday 13 February 2025

In concert – Elizaveta Ivanova, BBC Symphony Orchestra / Vinay Parmeswaran @ Maida Vale: Carlos Simon, Ibert Flute Concerto & Prokofiev Seventh Symphony

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Elizaveta Ivanova (flute, below), BBC Symphony Orchestra / Vinay Parameswaran (above)

Carlos Simon Fate Now Conquers (2020)
Ibert Flute Concerto (1932-33)
Prokofiev Symphony no.7 in C# minor Op.131 (1952)

Studio 1, BBC Maida Vale Studios, London
Tuesday 4 February 2025 (2:30pm)

by Ben Hogwood Photo of Vinay Parameswaran (c) Roger Mastroianni, courtesy of The Cleveland Orchestra

For this concert linking seventh symphonies, the BBC Symphony Orchestra made their first public appearance with conductor Vinay Parmeswaran.

They began with music from Vienna via America, Carlos Simon effectively remixing the second movement of Beethoven’s Symphony no.7 and applying some fresh paint of his own. The piece was inspired by an entry Beethoven made into his journal in 1815, and takes its lead from “the beautifully fluid harmonic structure” of the symphony’s second movement, Simon composing “musical gestures that are representative of the unpredictable ways of fate”. Though Beethoven’s structure could still be glimpsed, it was viewed through music incorporating the language of Sibelius, Copland and John Adams to create a relatively familiar but ultimately thrilling orchestral vista. Simon’s development of the material was enjoyable to witness, though the sudden end felt underpowered in context. Nonetheless, here is a composer to investigate further.

Ibert’s Flute Concerto is one of the instrument’s calling cards from the 20th century, though is heard in concert rather less than it could be. Here it was performed by Elizaveta Ivanova, a flautist recently recruited to the BBC New Generation Artists programme and making her first appearance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. She brought to the piece a welcome freshness, rising to the challenge of Ibert’s virtuoso solo part while including stylish phrasing and thoughtful dialogue with the orchestra. The graceful second movement Andante is the emotional centre of the concerto, and recalls the equivalent movement in Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major in its beauty and softer-hearted sentiments. This was in vivid contrast to the outer movements, whose syncopations took the music closer to New York rather than Paris, Ibert’s cosmopolitan style enjoyed by the reduced BBC SO forces as much as by the athletic soloist. A fine performance, and a welcome revival for a composer whose colourful orchestral music and abundant melodies are a tonic.

Melodies, bittersweet or otherwise, are at the core of Prokofiev’s late Symphony no.7, written the year before his death. In a short interview section Parmeswaran implied the work was ‘softer’ than its predecessors, but there were no shrinking violets to be found as the second movement reached a juddering conclusion. Here Prokofiev’s attempts to write a competition winner, simultaneously pleasing Stalin, were affected by his own personal angst, for he was living in poverty at the time.

The weighty bass of the first movement and graceful cello theme of the third movement, marked Andante espressivo, were indicators of the emotional range of the symphony, but the biggest tune, heard from the full orchestra, was the second theme of the first movement, a soaring and winsome melody that returns to crown the final movement. Under Parmeswaran’s affectionate direction it was beautifully judged, though he was careful to ensure the final word in the symphony carried equal impact, the strange ticking of the percussion indicating the creeping passage of time. The symphony ended as it should, its smiling countenance compromised by a frown.

Listen

This concert was recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3. A link will appear here when that becomes available.

Published post no.2,433 – Wednesday 5 February 2025

Arcana @ 10… Musical moments: Christopher Rouse’s Organ Concerto

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Credit: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty

As part of Arcana’s 10th birthday celebrations, we invited our readers to contribute with some of their ‘watershed’ musical moments from the last 10 years.

David Gutman writes:

This is a peculiar time for music and politics but perhaps it’s been that way for longer than we think.

Christopher Rouse, my favourite ‘living composer’, has been dead since 2019 and is rarely played in the UK but we’re continuing to discover ‘new’ works by him online and on disc. Rouse began as an academic evangelist for rock music as it was understood in the 1970s but took his ‘classical’ calling seriously enough to take an unfashionable stand: “I’m not going to talk about rock ‘n’ roll any more. It doesn’t need my help. It’s not that I no longer like that music, but I feel the wagons have been circled, and I’m going to stick with my high-falutin’, élitist, dead white European male brethren and, if necessary, go down fighting.”

His Organ Concerto of 2014 appeared only last year in a Naxos collection of American Organ Concertos played by Paul Jacobs. The Rouse is the highlight, his usual wildly eclectic mix, only around 20-minutes in length and traditional in form but pugnacious in content, whether tonal or atonal. There is also drumming. Its central Lento, which hostile critics have already misheard as ‘sentimental’, is another of the composer’s heartfelt meditations on the nature and acceptance of grief. This matters as we age (this listener is 67 ½) while the finale’s return to consonance and affirmation despite noises off is not just for show. It moved me very much. Rouse wrote the piece ‘the old-fashioned way’ with pencil and paper, on a table.

You can listen to the whole piece on Tidal below – the Rouse is tracks 5 – 7:

Published post no.2,430 – Monday 3 February 2025