Peter Sheppard Skærved violin/viola
METIER MEX77148
Rather like the loose group of ‘Lyrita composers’ one day we may refer to the ‘Toccata symphonists’ thanks to that label’s heroic achievement in showcasing a group of major but largely sidelined British composers. David Hackbridge Johnson stands out as a musical polymath – instrumentalist, vocalist, jazz soloist and improviser, composer of over 600 pieces including 16 symphonies and three operas, one of which has just enjoyed a triumphant revival at Welsh National Opera. (There’s also his work as a teacher, poet and highly erudite essayist – does he ever sleep?)
This Metier CD features solo music written specifically for the featured soloist, and for a specific 1641 instrument (the oldest viola in England) – initially for a series of concerts in some of London’s most venerable churches. The 36 pieces take their inspiration from a wide range of sources, including railways, Playford’s 1651 Dancing Master, C.18th gossip, and life in contemporary Tooting! Rather than try to describe them all let me select a few highlights.
Maybe start with the first set or the last. Three Disused Stations opens with a Graingeresque ‘arrival platform humlet’ and though not strictly onomatopoeic I am sure that beneath the folksy wistfulness I heard some distinct chugging sounds. These tributes to three Beeching victims nicely realise their poignant poetry. Alternatively, the final nine vignettes are inspired by a 1709 volume of The Tatler- surely a musical first – with epigraphs read aloud by the composer. These are all brief and immediately communicative; none more so than the haunting The occasion of her melancholy.
In between come a series of suites and preludes in which you may hear echoes of the rococo, of baroque and pre-baroque, and even a hint of hardanger: music by turns plain or ornate, tonal, semi-tonal, semi-improvisatory (though not shapeless) – and featuring yes, actual tunes. If occasionally there is a whiff of dry pastiche, for the most part the music bursts with life, expressive rather than merely virtuosic, and if not all thirty-six tracks immediately yield their secrets their brevity invites an instant second or third audition.
The performances are (unsurprisingly) jaw-droppingly fine, while the recorded sound perfectly captures the rich complex tones of both instruments: the outstanding booklet comprises twenty-two packed pages of fascinatingly arcane notes.
An hour of solo string music might not be the ideal entry to any composer’s world – maybe start with the mighty 9th Symphony, or its accompanying orchestral Motets; but if it is your introduction then it will be to one of the most profligately inventive and richly-stocked musical minds of our time.
Review by Kevin Mandry