Flourish for Glorious John
Fantasia for piano and orchestra
The Steersman
The Future
Lucy Crowe soprano
Jacques Imbrailo baritone
Andrew von Oeyen piano
BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Martin Yates conductor
Dutton CDLX 7411
This is an interesting (well, in parts) addition to the recorded library of VW’s music, and the music is unfailingly recorded and played.
Martin Yates has been busy completing and editing two relatively early choral works, which for reasons which may be guessed, were put in the ‘bottom drawer’. As an aside, I have to say that I thoroughly approve of the modern practice of attempting to finish incomplete works for posterity, whether the parts missing are from skullduggery (Schubert 8) or premature death (Bruckner, Elgar, etc). In fact, I get very annoyed that the various performance interests seem to be unaware or totally uninterested in presenting valid completions. (Rant, end of.)
As the major works here – The Steerman and The Future – Mr Yates has had access to sufficient material, and he is significantly informed about VW’s early style and general practices. Thus, the results are beyond doubt convincing.
The Steersman is a real find. It sets a haunting poem by Walt Whitman for baritone, female chorus and orchestra. It is thought that this was considered as an additional slow movement for the Sea Symphony, but it was realised that this would make an already lengthy work too long (and further ignore that fact that there would be far too much slow music). What I find so haunting is the use of the seven-note rising and falling ‘motto’ theme which occurs in another early work The Solent, as well as the Sea Symphony, and the ninth symphony at the end of VW’s life.
The Future, a setting of a poem by Matthew Arnold Is much lengthier at 33 minutes. For devotees this will be found intriguing enough, but my suspicion is that the reason VW apparently lost interest in it is that its contemporaries – Toward the Unknown Region, The Tallis Fantasia, and of course the Sea Symphony, have far more electrifying and memorable invention. The music just seems to chunter on without much happening or drama. However, here the soprano Lucy Crowe is quite outstanding with her beautiful, pure and focussed voice.
The Fantasia for piano and orchestra Is the earliest piece on the disc (1896-1902) and has already been recorded. There are debts possibly to Brahms and early Rachmaninoff, but frankly the music does not sound much like the VW we know and love.
The 59-bar long Flourish for Glorious John was written for Barbirolli to mark the opening of the 100th season of the Halle Orchestra – a Pièce d ‘occasion of course, and I expect the recipient was quite pleased with it.
Review by Geoffrey Atkinson