Gardiner: Overture to a comedy

Day 127

Henry Balfour Gardiner: Overture to a comedy

Richard Hickox

Balfour Gardiner is known today mainly as the man who put up the funds for the first performance of Holst’s The Planets, and also as the Great Uncle of the conductor John Elliot Gardiner. He was quite an important figure in British musical life for a while, being a member of the so-called Frankfurt Gang, along with composers such as Percy Grainger and Roger Quilter.

The only piece of his I have heard before is the oddly named Shepherd Fennell’s  dance which was once a mainstay of light music concerts.  This overture is slightly more substantial. It starts out in typical British light music style but then expands its musical vocabulary to reflect the influence of Elgar and even Richard Strauss.  It lacks a ‘killer tune’ which would make it truly memorable - as it was it was an attractive listen and I particularly enjoyed the jokey ending where there is what seems to be the closing passage only for the music to start off again briefly with some music from the beginning before finally comes to a resounding end. 

Much of Gardiner’s music is lost and he gave up composing in mid life to concentrate on organic farming. He is only a footnote in musical history but a number of composers - not just Holst - were grateful for his financial support. So he deserves our thanks.

Carter: A symphony of 3 orchestras

Day 126

Carter: A symphony of 3 orchestras

New York Philharmonic Orchestra

Pierre Boulez

I have heard a few pieces by Elliott Carter over the years - I recall a string quartet and the double concerto - but he is not a composer that I have ever got to know in any depth. This symphony dates from 1976 and so is a late work, though ‘late’ is a relative term for Carter, who continued composing beyond the age of 100.

This was a tough piece and I am not sure whether I really enjoyed listening to it. I didn’t have a score and so only could get a very broad over view of the piece.  I can’t say I followed the structure, although it had a quite clear coda with a gradual disintegration broken by a series of explosive chords.  The main attraction of the piece was the textural variety. The orchestra is divided into three distinct groupings (hence the title) and I imagine that in performance the division would be much clearer than on a recording. 

This is the last in this series of American symphonies - it has been a worthwhile experience sampling the work of a number of composers, most of whom I knew by name only. It has been the symphonies which are more European in style that have made the greater impression - I suspect that for an American listener the opposite might well be true.  I am very busy over the next week so I will be listening to some shorter, more lightweight, English orchestral pieces.

Mennin: Symphony no 3

Day 125

Peter Mennin: Symphony no 3

New York Philharmonic Orchestra

Dimitri Mitropoulos

Peter Mennin is one of those many mid 20th century American composers who combined composition with an academic career - In Mennin’s case this included a long period as president of the Juliard School of music. He wrote nine symphonies though the first two were withdrawn (he later allowed performances of the second). This symphony dates from 1946 and was in fact his PhD composition. It seems to have had an immediate impact and was widely performed - this recording dates from as early as 1955.  I thought that it was an impressive work. It was not recognisably American at all but clearly has its roots in the European symphonic tradition. As I have noted several times in this series, Hindemith is clearly an influence but there are also hints of Vaughan Williams and Sibelius. The last movement has very strong overtones of Walton’s first symphony. 

The first and last movement have real energy and a symphonic drive which compelled attention. The middle movement was lyrical with just enough astringency to ensure that it did not become banal - something that not all of the American symphonies I have listed to in the project managed to avoid. I couldn’t find a score to follow the music but I found I didn’t need one to retain my concentration  - unlike some of the other symphonies I listened to recently where without a score to keep my attention. I’d certainly be up for listening to some more of Mennin’s music.

Still: Symphony no 1

 Day 124

William Grant Still: Symphony no 1 Afro-American Symphony

Forth Smith Symphony Orchestra

John Jeter

This is generally reckoned to be the first symphony written by an African-American performed by a leading US orchestra - in this case the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, which gave the first performance in 1931.  As such it deserves respect and recognition, but I must confess I found it rather tedious. It inhabits the same musical world as George Gershwin and I have never been much attracted to his music so perhaps it was not surprising that I had the same reaction to this symphony. It seems to me to have all of the clichés of the popular American jazz-folk style without really absorbing them into a symphonic whole. It did not quite know how seriously to take itself. I can imagine that it is quite fun in a live performance - to see a Banjo playing with a symphony orchestra is a rare sight (though there are some Gershwin pieces that do this) but other than novelty value I don't see this pieces as having any sort of permanent place in the concert repertoire.

Sessions: Symphony no 1

Day 123

Sessions: Symphony no 1

New York Philharmonic Orchestra

Neeme Jarvi

Roger Sessions is another of those American composers whose name I recognised but whose music I have never heard. He has the reputation as a severe serialist but this early work (from 1927) is more neo-classical in style. I enjoyed it immensely. The outer movements are wind dominated and the idiom and sound seemed close to that of Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments, written only a few years earlier. I don't know whether Sessions would have had any opportunities to hear the Stravinsky: the score was not published until much later. There are also hints of Copland, not least in the rhythmic complexities. The slow movement is surprisingly lyrical and I thought that it was highly effective - the harmony was largely tonal but with some 'rough edges'. Altogether the piece made a very positive impression and I am keen to hear more of Sessions' work, though I expect that some of the later pieces will be much tougher nuts to crack.

Hovhaness: Symphony no 2

Day 122

Alan Hovhaness: Symphony no 2 Mysterious Mountain

London Symphony Orchestra

John Williams

Alan Hovhaness is  another composer who I was aware of but have no recollection of hearing anything of. I think I first came across his name because of his piece and God created great whales which featured recordings of real whale sounds - that had a certain notoriety in the late 1960s. Also his record label advertised. almost every month it seemed, in the pages of Gramophone, which I have been reading continuously since I was about 16.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this music - if anything I anticipated some ‘new age’ sounds in the spirit of Tavener or Argo Pärt (though those composers came a generation later). So I was surprised at how English the whole thing sounded.  Listened to cold I think that you would guess that much of it was by Vaughan Williams - indeed the string chords which open the peice and return several times seem an almost straight lift from the Tallis Fantasia. The allegro string writing in the second movement - almost entirely on white notes - would not be out of place in one of those characteristic string orchestra pieces that early to mid 20th century English composers seem to have a real affinity for, though I don’t think that any of them would have been happy with such a narrow harmonic pallet.

I think that the best description of the piece is ‘inoffensive’ - it was quite pleasant to listen to but didn’t seem to have much to really make you sit up a listen. I got the sense that the composer was able to operate on auto pilot and turn out this sort of thing by the yard.  This is one of 67 numbered symphonies by the composer , whose opus numbers go up to 434. I don’t think that there is any possibility that I will make listening to the whole cycle a priority.

Schuman: Symphony no 3

Day 121

William Schuman: Symphony no 3

New York Philharmonic Orchestra

Leonard Bernstein

William Schuman was just a name to me - as far as I know I have never heard any of his music. This symphony, written in 1941, seems to be regarded as one of his finest symphonies (he wrote 10, though two of them were withdrawn) and I have to say that I found it to be a very impressive work.  It is in two movements, each of which are in two parts, so in reality it is a four movement symphony.   Thought there are certainly American influences here it seemed more rooted in European tradition that the other mid 30th century symphonies I have been listening to over the last few days. Some of it recalls Hindemith and there were hints of Sibelius but also of Walton - certainly some of the ferocious string writing has a kinship with Walton's first symphony.  

The first movement, in particular, was gripping and leads to a tremendous climax with some superb brass writing. Perhaps the second movement is not quite on that level - the toccata second part did seem to drift a little and I couldn't quite see what he was doing at some points. But overall this was a really good piece and one which I would be keen to hear again.  Indeed I would like to explore the other symphonies in the cycle - if there are anything like as good as this one then they will be rewarding listening.