Ian Venables, Gerald Finzi, Ivor Gurney & Arthur Bliss
Chu-Yu Yang violin
Eric McElroy piano
SOMM 0700
Having recently reviewed the Naxos issue of Gurney’s songs, it is a pleasure to re-encounter the excellent Eric McElroy, now with a splendid chamber partner, in further first recordings by the composer. These seven little pieces all date from around 1909, before Gurney’s studies with Stanford. They were most probably played first by the Hunt sisters, who were such a support to him in his early years.
While inevitably slighter than his later works, they do not pretend to be anything other than miniatures designed to please immediately, and their palpable outside influences – principally Elgar, MacDowell and (in the case of the Humoreske), Grieg – only add to the overall charm.
Finzi’s Elegy is stronger meat: outwardly pastorally innocent, internally more troubled. This warm rendition focusses on the contrapuntal influence of Bach, with which the piece is suffused. Bliss’s Sonata is a fresh, passionate affair in one movement, much praised by Howells, and undoubtedly the principal item on the disc.
It was recently described by Paul Spicer as ‘about as far from the avant-garde Bliss we know so well and which was waiting in the wings only a very short time away. This really was the last gasp of English pastoral Romanticism from his pen.’ The work suits Yang and McElroy eminently, and their fine performance has been well-captured in a clear recording.
It now becomes apparent how careful has been the programming of this disc. Bookending these works are two scores by Ian Venables, to whom the CD is offered as a celebration of his 70th year. This is an apt and welcome homage, since Venables’ own language is so indebted to those of the composers represented in this stage of their development.
His luxurious Sonata, recast from a similar work for flute and piano, certainly works well enough in its current guise, and Venables has found two understanding executants. The Three Pieces are lighter fare, closer to Gurney’s bonnes bouches.
This is not the place to analyse Venables’ style further, since it is immediately obvious that (as with his similarly gifted contemporary, John Jeffreys) he has chosen to work largely with harmonies and forms of past decades. In following this path, Venables has not been helped by certain writers with heavy axes to grind who would elevate him above Schubert and Britten, never mind aligning him with those he genuinely admires.
Especially on such a celebratory occasion, it is best to be thankful for music that is gratefully written and makes an immediate connection with the listener, while leaving posterity to take care of itself. The performances throughout are highly accomplished and finely recorded, and the issue will doubtless give much gratification.
Review by Andrew Plant