In concert – The Bach Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra / David Hill: Delius, Blackford & Walton

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Amy Carson (soprano), Harry Jacques (tenor), Christopher Purves (baritone), The Bach Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra / David Hill

Delius The Song Of The High Hills (1911)
Blackford La Sagrada Familia Symphony (2022, world premiere)
Walton Belshazzar’s Feast (1931)

Royal Festival Hall, London
Thursday 8 May 2025

Reviewed by Ben Hogwood Pictures (c) Chris Christodoulou

This imaginative concert presented three British works telling stories from overseas, their reach extending to Norway, Spain and Babylon respectively.

Although born in Bradford, Frederick Delius spent much of his life abroad, living in America and then France – from where he would visit Norway for many a summer holiday with his wife. One such vacation in 1911 inspired him to write The Song Of The High Hills, a continuous sequence in three sections for wordless choir and orchestra capturing the mountain plateau, or ‘vidda’, that they found on their walks. Images from the plateau were shown on a screen behind the chorus as they performed.

Musically the work draws from Grieg and Debussy (his Nocturnes in especially) but inhabits a world all of its own, Delius achieving an unusual, rapt stillness when describing the high plains. David Hill, a long time exponent of his music, marshalled a strong performance, albeit one that didn’t quite sustain the rarefied atmosphere of the central section. It did cast quite a spell, mind, thanks to a beautiful oboe solo from Timothy Rundle on the approach, and some superbly controlled singing from The Bach Choir, headed by soloists Amy Carson (soprano) and Harry Jacques (tenor). The climax of the middle section was bolstered by three timpani, before the orchestra returned us to base camp. Speeds were on the fast side, but the Philharmonia Orchestra gave consistently luminous textures.

London-born composer Richard Blackford has shown considerable flair when writing for orchestra, and this was immediately evident in the world premiere of his La Sagrada Famila Symphony. Completed in 2022 and already recorded on the Lyrita label, it is a musical response to a 2019 encounter with Gaudí’s vision, concentrating on three great facades of the building – Nativity, Passion and Glory.

Blackford’s symphony was rich in colour but also vividly descriptive, his responses matched by an accompanying film, directed by the composer. Nativity began with awe-inspiring salvos from the brass but grew into a more intimate study, with elements of Hindemith and Berg in the orchestral writing, before a propulsive passage threw off the shackles. Passion was the emotional centrepiece, a vivid study in the brutality of the Good Friday story. Grotesque elements were emphasised by sudden closeups of Josep Maria Subirachs’s sculptures, their drawn expressions reflected in the music. The death of Christ was especially notable, marked by a solo of moving eloquence from cellist Martin Smith, then a sharp cry of dismay from Mark van de Wiel’s clarinet.

Glory was less obviously jubilant than might have been expected, mystical and reverent, but again it was an accurate response to the imagery as the film briefly went inside the massive structure. Blackford’s imagery danced in the listener’s mind on its own merits, with the thrilling surge at the end, bolstered by the organ, reminiscent of Messiaen or Scriabin. David Hill secured a fine performance from the Philharmonia, bringing the splendour of Gaudí’s cathedral to the concert hall. The emphatic finish brought with it a reminder of the building’s likely completion in 2026, a mere 144 years after construction began!

A British choral classic followed in the second half. Belshazzar’s Feast was initially denounced by Sir Thomas Beecham (a Delius fan, coincidentally) but Walton’s cantata has become a popular occasion piece. It is a vivid account of Babylonian decadence, before a human hand appears, writing on the wall of the banqueting hall to prophesy Belshazzar’s downfall. David Hill applied expert pacing to the storytelling, the Bach Choir on top form as the tension grew, spilling over into the exultant Praise Ye section. The paeans to the Babylonian Gods were starkly thrilling, contrasted by the terrifying unison shout of “Slain!” at Belshazzar’s death. The Philharmonia were superb, too, offstage brass bringing widescreen sound from either side of the stage and the percussion giving brilliant descriptions of the elements – iron and wood especially.

When the writing on the wall began, an ominous hush descended on the choir, the orchestra spreading a macabre chill through the hall – before the triumph of the closing pages, the Israelites free at last. Baritone Christopher Purves was a fine soloist, narrating the events and capturing the mood throughout. With 220+ in the choir, our ears were ringing long after the concert had finished, a timely reminder of a ruler whose inflated ego had brought about his downfall. Could there be any parallels in today’s world, I wonder?

For details on the their 2024-25 season, head to the Philharmonia Orchestra website

Published post no.2,529 – Saturday 10 May 2025

In concert – Quatuor Danel: Shostakovich & Weinberg #10 @ Wigmore Hall

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Quatuor Danel [Marc Danel & Gilles Millet (violins), Vlad Bogdanas (viola), Yovan Markovitch (cello)]

Weinberg String Quartet no.14 in B flat minor Op.122 (1978)
Weinberg String Quartet no.15 in G flat major Op.124 (1979-80)
Shostakovich String Quartet no.14 in F sharp major Op.142 (1972-3)

Wigmore Hall, London
Tuesday 6 May 2025

by Richard Whitehouse Photo (c) Marco Borggreve

Quatuor Danel’s interrelated cycle of string quartets by Shostakovich and Weinberg reached its penultimate stage this evening, and a programme with two of the latter composer’s most oblique such pieces heard alongside what is the most accessible of the former’s late quartets.

Second in a quartet of quartets written in the years after Shostakovich’s death, Weinberg’s Fourteenth Quartet continues straight from the sombre equivocation of its predecessor. Its five continuous movements never progress systematically as lurch forwards from an edgily austere first movement, by way of a moodily impassive successor, then on to a scherzo and intermezzo that are not so much elusive as gnomic in character; prior to a finale where any attempt at overall synthesis gradually subsides to leave only the wanly resigned conclusion. An ending, moreover, whose fatalism feels the more dismaying as it withdraws into virtual silence, as if Weinberg’s self-communing may well be a defence or even escape. As with its successor, his replacing tempo headings with metronome markings only abets obfuscation.

The Fifteenth Quartet might appear relatively less stark in outcome yet is certainly the most radical of all these works in formal design. Its nine mainly brief movements are interpretable in various ways – but a speculative sonata design is implied by the aggressive ‘development’ of the central three movements as framed by respectively angular and thrusting ‘transitions’; surrounded in turn by a two-stage ‘exposition’ of almost secretive inwardness which is itself balanced by a ‘reprise’ whose incrementally more direct expression facilitates that eventual, albeit tenuous sense of closure. Other approaches are entirely plausible, though there was an undeniable culmination imparted to those middle movements as the Danel steered its secure course through this fascinating if always disconcerting instance of Weinberg’s later maturity.

After such obliquities, the seeming directness of Shostakovich’s Fourteenth Quartet was the more affecting, though nothing should be taken at face value at this stage of its composer’s creativity. Allusions to earlier works (his own and others) abound and while the presence of serial elements is reduced next to its predecessors, sparsity of texture ensures a distanced or remote feeling even when this music is at its most active. As is true for most of the opening Allegretto, its lilting poise increasingly fitful as it nears a regretful if still inquisitive close.

By contrast, the central Adagio finds this composer at his most inward and confessional; its content allotted for much of its course to first violin and cello, so affording an austerity into which the eloquence of the ‘Angel Serenade’ by Gaetano Braga is a reminder Shostakovich was at time considering an operatic treatment of Chekhov’s story The Black Monk. The final Allegretto initially brings a more impetuous discourse, but this elides seamlessly into a coda whose pale radiance essentializes the work’s home key in a leave-taking of acute poignancy.

As always, the Danel gave its collective both here and in those miniatures which served as a welcome encore: two pieces from Prokofiev’s Visions fugitives, arranged for string quartet by Sergey Samsonov with a sensitivity for those piano originals as was nothing if not idiomatic.

You can hear the music from the concert below, in recordings made by Quatuor Danel -including their most recent cycle of the Shostakovich quartets on Accentus:

For more information on the final concert in the series, visit the Wigmore Hall website. You can click on the names for more on composer Mieczysław Weinberg and Quatuor Danel themselves.

Published post no.2,528 – Friday 9 May 2025

Switched On – Various Artists: InFiné Ambient (InFiné)

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What’s the story?

InFiné have been extending their reach with a clutch of interesting digital compilations of late, including Club InFiné and InFiné Rewind 2024.

The French label is largely known for its experimental strands, but they have a far musical reach – as this cosmopolitan ambient collection shows.

What’s the music like?

The mix immediately reaches its goals through the soft beats of Murcof and the beautiful sounds of Brian Eno refracted through the piano of Bruce Brubaker, whose take on Music For Airports 2/1 will soothe any fevered brow. The same can be said for Vanessa Wagner’s piano, Struggle For Pleasure viewed through the hazy viewfinder of GAS.

There are some long form ambient epics here too, in the form of Gaspar Claus with the slightly disquieting Inside, and an epic take on Carl Craig’s At Les from Abul Mogard. Elsewhere Loscil takes the slowly oscillating piano of Murcof x Wagner’s Avril 14th (Aphex Twin), opening it out in timeless widescreen. The track leads seamlessly into Cubenx’s Human Dilemma.

Does it all work?

It does indeed, especially when experienced as a 13-track whole. As a bonus, if you visit the compilation’s Bandcamp page you get helpful biographies of all the ambiently inclined InFiné composers and musicians.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. InFiné know exactly what they’re doing with this compilation, providing aural balm whenever the listener needs it.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,527 – Thursday 8 May 2025

Switched On – Silver Y: In The Depths (Bytes)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Silver Y is the name under which Sicilian instrumentalist and vocalist Laura Caviglia operates.

In The Depths is a concept album ending in death, but its message is more one of meditation than of darkness. In the words of the press release, it “revolves around the theme of identity loss (Rest Home, Shadow, Self), explores the various stages of coma (Stupor, Sopor) and culminates in death (In The Depths). The closing track, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, was conceived as a sort of prayer inspired by the Buddhist mantra of the same name.”

Laura describes it as a way of finding peace beyond suffering, an “alternation of light and darkness that, if truly understood, can be experienced as complete light”.

What’s the music like?

In The Depths was written with three analogue synthesizers, drum machine and MIDI keyboard – so has its roots strongly in electronic music.

Yet with the addition of Caviglia’s vocals it becomes something very powerful and striking, taking a healthy influence from the likes of Cocteau Twins and even more uptempo Massive Attack to complement its subject matter.

As Caviglia says, the light ultimately wins through, but to do this a certain amount of strife has to be experienced. Stupor has impressive presence, but Sopor becomes a twisted, large-scale torch song, an impressive achievement indeed.

In The Depths has a moody beauty before the stately grandeur of the finale, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, provides a moment to gaze upon the stars.

Does it all work?

It does – Silver Y goes deep but comes up with the answers too.

Is it recommended?

Yes – a less beat-driven affair than some previous releases on Bytes, but a compelling one that ends ultimately in a peaceful triumph.

For fans of… Cocteau Twins, Massive Attack, Lush, Spiritualized

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,526 – Wednesday 7 May 2025

English Music Festival – Opening concert on 23 May 2025, with world premiere of Stanley Bate’s Symphony no.2

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From the official press release:

There have been many significant first performances at the English Music Festival’s opening concert over the years and this year sees the BBC Concert Orchestra give the much-anticipated World Première of the Symphony no.2 by Stanley Bate (1911-1959); another outstanding student from the Royal College of Music, whose teachers included Ralph Vaughan Williams, R.O. Morris, Gordon Jacob, and Arthur Benjamin.
 
Stanley Bate’s prolific but vastly neglected output is overdue for re-evaluation and his works although being gradually recorded have yet to find a place in the concert hall. Symphony no.2 op.20 was completed in the spring of 1939, but the work appears to have been withdrawn by the composer without ever having achieved a performance.
 
Bate’s wife and fellow-composer, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, claimed her husband wrote a dozen or more symphonies and thirty or so piano sonatas. Often writing ‘en voyage’, Bate’s idiom can be dramatic and turbulent contrasting with interludes of exuberance, beauty and lyricism.

Anyone who knows Martin Yates’ recordings for Dutton will be familiar with the composer’s work. “Stanley Bate’s Symphony no.2 is, I think, going to be a revelation”, says Martin Yates. “He clearly was influenced by other composers working at the time, but he really did achieve something remarkable and individual with some of his works including this symphony. From the opening it explodes with tension. It is going to be incredible to hear it for the first time as it bursts into the world!”
 
Dedicated “To Mstislav Rostropovich with admiration and gratitude”, Arthur Bliss’ Cello Concerto is scored for small orchestra with the addition of harp and celesta. Heroic in character with ‘Quixotic’ flourishes and a soulful slow movement; according to Bliss, “There are no problems for the listener – only for the soloist!”
 
“The Arthur Bliss Cello Concerto is the most wonderfully crafted work, and I can’t understand its neglect”, says Martin Yates. “I know there is a lot of music that one could say that about, but Bliss really was a consummate musician and this concerto, written very late in his life, has a real lightness, yet depth that is utterly captivating and profound. It has a devastatingly difficult solo part with beautifully balanced orchestrations for a Mozart sized orchestras with the addition of a Celeste.”
 
The two works are performed alongside Ralph Vaughan Williams’ ‘trombone piece’, his Heroic Elegy and Triumphal Epilogue; a student work dating from 1901, which drew praise from his teacher Stanford who, according to the composer’s wife Adeline, chose the title for the piece. It remained unheard until a revival by the recording label, Dutton. Works by Delius and Alwyn complete the programme.

FURTHER INFORMATION AND HOW TO BOOK
 
Tickets are on sale from the website and by means of a postal booking form. Tickets for individual concerts will also be available at the door, subject to availability. Full Festival and Day Passes are also available. Programme and booking information is available on the EMF website

Dorchester Abbey (above) is the venue for the duration of the long weekend with talks taking place in the Village Hall as well as a Festival Lunch (pre-booking required). A dedicated mini-bus shuttle operates to/from Didcot Parkway rail station – bookings should be made via the website on publication of the timetable.

FRIDAY 23 MAY 2025
19:30 Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire
ENGLISH MUSIC FESTIVAL OPENING CONCERT
William Alwyn: The Innumerable Dance: An English Overture
Frederick Delius: The Walk to the Paradise Garden
Sir Arthur Bliss: Cello Concerto
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Heroic Elegy and Triumphal Epilogue
Stanley Bate: Symphony no.2 (World Premiere)
BBC Concert Orchestra
Martin Yates (conductor)
Raphael Wallfisch (cello)

Published post no.2,524 – Tuesday 6 May 2025