Arnold: Clarinet Concerto No. 1 and Other Works (CD Review)

by Ryan Ross

 

Arnold: Commonwealth Christmas Overture Op. 64; Concerto No. 1 for Clarinet and Strings Op. 20; Divertimento No. 2 for Orchestra Op. 24/Op. 75; Larch Trees, Tone Poem for Orchestra Op. 3; Philharmonic Concerto for Orchestra Op. 120; The Padstow Lifeboat Op. 94A (March for Brass Band Arranged 2001 for Orchestra by Philip Lane). Michael Collins, clarinet; BBC Philharmonic; Yuri Torchinsky and Zoë Beyers, leaders; Rumon Gamba, conductor. Chandos CHAN 20152

 

As its fine liner notes by Mervyn Cooke state, this disc presents a “well-chosen selection of miscellaneous works” from across Malcolm Arnold’s orchestral output. The claim that these can be “just as revealing” as the better-known symphonies seems debatable, but the music recorded here certainly does offer much interest and appeal, every bit exhibiting the composer’s unmistakable stamp of character. These uniformly lively performances of them bespeak a spirited advocacy. On the whole I found this disc to be another successful example of Chandos’s ongoing and most welcome commitment to Arnold’s oeuvre. 

 

For those not familiar with the state of Arnold’s reception among critics and historians: the merits of his music, not to mention his historical place, are still contested. Advocates like me emphasize his melodic gift, stellar orchestration, blurred genre lines, and the sense of excitement he creates in relying upon these factors plus repetition, contrast, and variation to craft his forms. Detractors wedded to German (and especially Beethovenian) notions of ‘proper’ structure have found his music deficient. If you’re inclined to the latter camp, probably nothing I say here will win you over. But if you’re open to enjoying Arnold’s music on its own terms, I predict that this disc will please, if not delight. 

 

The recording begins and ends with its two most accessible works: the Commonwealth Christmas Overture and The Padstow Lifeboat march. It is a pity that the overture could not be included on Chandos’s previous disc of Arnold overtures (CHAN 10293), featuring the same orchestra and conductor. But as that disc runs to 75:43, the omission was probably unavoidable. In any case, the present overture (commissioned by the BBC to mark the 25th anniversary of King George V’s 1932 Christmas broadcast) shows Arnold’s priority of reaching mass audiences. He explicitly stated that its purpose was to fit into an atmosphere of families listening after dinner while their children play. Such knowledge could soften the impression of the work’s initial themes’ repetitions perhaps just starting to wear out their welcome by the end, despite being leavened by the jaunty Caribbean middle section. This issue is not a factor in the well-proportioned Padstow Lifeboat march, here effectively orchestrated by Philip Lane from the original band score. As an entry point to Arnold’s music, it’s as good a piece as any: tuneful, humorous (with the repeated foghorn effect), and just the right length.

 

To my sensibility, the best renderings on the disc are of three works, at least two of which are likely to be less familiar: the Clarinet Concerto No. 1, the Divertimento No. 2 for Orchestra, and the Philharmonic Concerto for Orchestra. While not as famous as its successor (much owing to that work’s “Pre-Goodman Rag” finale), the youthful clarinet concerto recorded here is engaging and already displays Arnold’s hallmark of building first-movement structures around an appealing, interspersed tune. The performers take things relatively quickly on the whole, which I think works in the music’s favor. The technically-sharp, articulative Michael Collins simply beats the available competition as soloist. He’s my new favorite interpreter. 

 

The Divertimento No. 2 of 1950 had a checkered history after its initial performance and was later revised. This is a vivid little creation that fully displays Arnold’s genius as an orchestrator. Not surprisingly, it was first composed for a youth orchestra; the themes and their recastings give off a feeling of childlike fantasy, which Gamba and the BBC Philharmonic duly bring off. The autumnal Philharmonic Concerto has a darker aesthetic, even though it shares with the lighter-hued Divertimento a chaconne-form finale. There is depth of feeling here, especially in the slow movement – one of Arnold’s best. And again, the performance is top-notch; easily the equal of its alternatives. 

 

This leaves the fascinating and underrated tone poem Larch Trees, the auspicious product of a 22-year-old composer already known as a brilliant trumpet player. For once, I do not think Gamba’s brisk approach is entirely conducive. Here is a work of delicious atmosphere, an homage to Sibelius (among a few others) in which Arnold proves himself quite capable of creating his own sonic world of natural mystery. Inferior though it may be in other respects, Mark Stephenson’s interpretation with the London Musici on the Conifer label (CDCF 211) runs nearly three minutes longer, allowing the listener to better savor music that shouldn’t be rushed. 

 

On balance, though, this is a wonderful disc, with even a quicker-than-I’d-like account of Larch Trees contributing to an overall success. The sound is clear and vibrant. The repertoire and performances invite re-listening. While we wait (let’s hope not in vain) for some of these works (especially Larch Trees, the Divertimento, and the Philharmonic Concerto) to be heard live in concert with the frequency they deserve, there is much to be thankful for here. 

Franck and Vierne: First and Last (CD Review)

by Karl Nehring

Franck and Vierne: First and Last. Franck: Grande Pièce Symphonique, op. 17; Vierne: Symphonie No. 6, op. 59. Christopher Houlihan, organ. Azica ACD-71356

 

The subtitle of our first album is “French Romantic Organ Symphonies.” Judging from that subtitle, and as you might guess from the fact that the two compositions are sufficient to fill an entire CD, these are both substantial compositions. Sharing his inspiration behind the album, the American organist Christopher Houlihan (b. 1987) begins his liner note essay by observing “The era of French Romantic symphonic organ music is bookended by the work of two composers, César Franck (1822-1890) and Louis Vierne (1870-1937).  Among this oeuvre, there are probably no two pieces that better represent the trajectory of this style than Franck’s Grande pièce symphonique and Vierne’s Symphony No. 6 – essentially the first and the last French Romantic organ symphonies.” Music lovers may well be familiar with Franck from his work in other genres, such as his symphony, chamber music, or piano music; perhaps some might even recall that he was in fact an organist, so are not surprised that he also wrote music for that mighty instrument. For many music lovers, though, the music of Vierne is much less well-known, for he specialized in music for the organ, for which he composed six of these organ symphonies. Both pieces on the program truly are grand works, the Franck in six movements and the Vierne in five. Perhaps because Vierne was the true organ specialist, it is the Franck piece that will most likely sound the more “symphonic” to the majority of classical music listeners, while the Vierne will sound more like what they would expect organ music to sound like.  

Holst:The Planets (CD Review)

 by Karl Nehring

Holst: The Planets. Daniel Harding, Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerische Rundfunks (Bavarian Radio Choir and Symphony Orchestra). BR Klassik 900208 

Gustav Holst’s The Planets, familiar to most music lovers through its many recordings over the years (we all have our favorites, many of us more than one), was composed between 1914 and 1916. Its seven movements comprise musical portraits of the seven known planets of Holst’s time, but based more on astrology and mysticism than astronomy and scientific fact. Each "planet" can be seen as a kind of tone poem. The unusually informative liner notes point out that Holst had originally given the suite the certainly less colorful title, Seven Pieces for Large Orchestra. (As splendid as the music is, it is hard to imagine that it would be as popular as it is today with that title.) According to the background press release information that accompanied this release, the work had not been performed by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for almost three decades when British conductor Daniel Harding (who, fascinatingly enough, is also a commercial airline pilot) brought it back to Munich’s concert audience in February, 2022, when this live recording was made. 

20th Century Masterpieces for Two Pianos and Orchestra, Vol 2

 20^th Century Masterpieces for Two Pianos and Orchestra, Vol 2. Pierre Max Dubois: Concerto Italien for Two Pianos and Orchestra; Roy Harris: Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra; Arthur Benjamin: North American Square Dance Suite for Two Pianos and Orchestra; Walter Piston: Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra; Quincy Porter: Concerto Concertante for Two Pianos and Orchestra; Morton Gould: Dance Variations for Two Pianos and Orchestra. With Kirk Trevor/Slovak Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra; David Amos/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonic Society of Moravia  MS 1652 (2 CDs)

by Bill Heck

Huh? There are 20^th century works for two pianos and orchestra? (Never mind whether they all are masterpieces.) Who knew? Well, it seems that Joshua Pierce and Dorothy Jonas knew, as they had previously released a Volume 1 and now have moved on to Volume 2, reviewed here.

The brief but interesting program notes accompanying this 2-CD set nicely describe the confluence of factors that moved contemporary composers to write for the combination of dual pianos and orchestra at all, the factors being interest in the neo-Baroque and the revival of piano duos. The notes also hint that some of these works had to be rescued from obscurity by Jonas and Pierce (and others) – and given this sample, we can be happy that they did.

Mozart: String Quintets Nos. 3 & 4 (CD Review)

by Karl Nehring

Mozart: String Quintet No. 3 in C K.515; String Quintet No. 4 in G minor K.516. Quatour Ébène (Pierre Colombet & Gabriel Le Magadure, violins; Marie Chilemme, viola; Raphaël Merlin, cello); Antoine Tamestit, viola. Erato 5054197213328

 

Probably the string quintet that is the most familiar to the majority of classical music enthusiasts is the String Quintet in C major (D. 956) by Schubert. That quintet differs from these by Mozart, however, in that it is scored for string quartet plus an extra cello, while the Mozart quintets find the string quartet being augmented by an extra viola. How Quatour Ébène chose to add this particular violist (Antoine Tamestit) to form a quintet to play this music with them for this recording is explained in the liner notes by their cellist, Raphaël Merlin: “Little did we know when we signed up for the 2004 string quartet competition, that among the contenders  for the other three disciplines (flute, harp, and viola: inevitably evocative of Debussy and French music in general), we would be meeting our future regular collaborators at these, the Olympics of music… At an age when everything seemed possible, imbued with this newfound autonomy, we found in Antoine a young viola maestro: today still, he remains an enlightened and generous collaborator, a true beacon for our quartet. And it was in Mozart’s Quintet K.516 that our friendship was sealed – that eternal reference work, a measuring stick, a meeting place, a place of pilgrimage.