This week we head to much more familiar pastures, in the shape of a record I’ve seen often over many years, and have finally decided to listen to properly! This classic Lyrita LP recorded in 1968 contains works by three early 20th century composers, often thought of as being quintessentially ‘English’, despite their more international connections. The names Arnold Bax and E.J. Moeran certainly bring to my mind a certain type of gentle English folksiness, while I’ve heard some of Holst’s music described as being like a procession through a landscape. Often derided as mere ‘cowpat music’, I’ve always had a nostalgic soft spot for some of these pastoral composers, and even though unfamiliar with these particular pieces, I settled in for what I expected to be a fairly predictable and comfortable afternoon of listening.
My expectations were confounded from the beginning. Holst’s Fugal Overture is rhythmically vital, like Jupiter or even A Short Ride in a Fast Machine by John Adams, with it’s opening fanfares and pulsating patterns. It is on the surface quite an austere work, Bach-like in it’s rigorous working out of the various themes, and rarely utilising the large Romantic orchestra available – indeed, much of the piece feels chamber-like in it’s delicacy. And yet, as in Jupiter, there is ebullient joy and lyricism just beneath the surface of this brief and brilliant work.
Bax’s November Woods is a more substantial and lushly-scored work, very impressionistic in nature with some truly evocative moments. Not unlike Lyadov’s The Enchanted Lake it is quite episodic, with long, languid passages juxtaposed with brief glimpses of light – in fact, quite like a walk through windy, autumnal woods. However the piece has enough dynamic exoticism and harmonic variation to ensure that this never feels like a cold, wintry trudge.
The life of E.J. Moeran was one of early promise, never quite fulfilled. Injured in the First World War, he later shared a house with Peter Warlock, losing much of his early impetus to an alcohol-fuelled Bohemian lifestyle. Despite re-establishing his career as a composer, his later life was blighted by alcoholism and he died prematurely, leaving behind an unfinished second symphony. We are however left with a number of fine works (including the Cello Concerto, written for his wife Peers Coetmore) that hint at a great compositional talent. His Sinfonietta, featured here, is a good example. He used the term ‘sinfonietta’ rather than ‘symphony’ to reflect the fairly light and good-natured quality to much of the music, which utilises folk songs in a very integrated and successful way. There is real virtuosity in his contrapuntal writing, which is dense at times without being turgid – as the sleeve notes point out, good balance is vital when performing this work. As with the Holst, joyful rhythmic vitality is very much the order of the day – and once again ebullient hints of Jupiter can be heard in the finale. Altogether, this was an unexpectedly fine and happy piece of music.
Sir Adrian Boult conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in superb performances of these works. Anyone with the impression of Boult as a rather stuffy, unemotional Englishman will be surprised by the range of colourful, dynamic and exciting playing that he draws from this on-form orchestra. Having recently read a biography of Boult I know that he could be a temperamental man, rather at odds with his public image, but perhaps well suited to portraying these minor masterpieces of English music.
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