Peter Cigleris clarinet
John Andrews conductor
London Mozart Players
SOMM CD 0722
On the surface these works might appear to be unlikely bedfellows but, despite the big stylistic contrasts they were all being composed possibly within a few months of each other. Swain in 1947, Finzi in 1948/9 and ApIvor probably in 1946-7.
The Finzi Concerto for Clarinet and Strings is, of course, a classic and it gets a strong and sensitive reading here although the Lyrita recording with John Denman playing the solo you might think takes some beating. This new version takes longer over the slower sections of the finale which I like, otherwise its tempi are just that little quicker which also works well.
Freida Swain’s work is fully entitled ‘Lumina naturi’, Concertino for clarinet and string orchestra and (one) horn. It falls into three movements. The first is subtitled ‘Pastoral’ but I am not sure why as for most of its six-and-a-half minutes it is energetic and thrusting. Many years ago, men would have been surprised that this was composed by a woman! Equally dire is a comment made by Eric Blom that her….’music somewhat resembles John Ireland’s but is without his technical and emotional complications’.
Perhaps the middle movement a Lento movimento may be Ireland-ish but it is harmonically quite different and often very searching in its tonality. Indeed, it has a very British feel, even a pastoral one. Movement three murmurs its opening idea in an Allegro assai tempo. The first two movements are headed by quotes from The Old Man of Visions, (Algernon Blackwood) and the last from May Day Eve with its ‘everlasting winds streaming by with clouds’, all very evocatively conveyed.
You will struggle to find any other music by Denis ApIvor on CD. He was born in Ireland in 1915 but, and this close to my heart ,he was chorister at Hereford Cathedral where his father was canon. Amongst his teachers was Alan Rawsthorne. His Concertante for clarinet, piano and percussion Op 7a is a highly original conception and you might hear Rawsthorne in the harmonies, certainly, Bartok and possibly Hindemith but it’s a personal voice which shines through.
The outer movements have great energy, the finale being almost a ‘perpetuum mobile’ and the middle one seems to me to be a rather ghostly tango with its constant 3+3+2 rhythmic backdrop with some fascinating colouristic effects. All in all, this is a piece well worth exploring.
Peter Cigleris is a brilliant advocate of this, music and the performances are excellent on all accounts. The recording is clear and with an ideal sense of space.
Review by Gary Higginson