Neville Dilkes Conducts English Music, Vol. 2

Neville Dilkes' first LP of English music was popular around these parts, so here is the second volume. It was released in early 1972, so it was probably recorded in 1971 - possibly at the same sessions that produced the earlier album.

For this set, the conductor again chose 20th century composers, all of whom were inspired by early music or folk song. George Butterworth returns, joined by Walter Leigh, Peter Warlock, John Ireland and E.J. Moeran.

Neville Dilkes

As with the previous record, the critics were pleased. Here is Edward Greenfield in The Gramophone: "An enchanting collection, every item of which I warmly commend to lovers of English music ... If anything the playing on this second disc from the English Sinfonia is even better than on the first with warm, firm string tone. The recording is vivid and involving in the same way as before, though not surprisingly the harpsichord is balanced very far forward in the Concertino ..."

Walter Leigh

The LP begins with perhaps the least familiar music of all the pieces recorded - the Harpsichord Concertino by Walter Leigh, a highly skilled composer killed in the Second World War at age 36. The work is an utter delight, blending neo-classicism with a pastoral influence in the gorgeous Andante. Pace Mr. Greenfield, but I do not think Dilkes' fluent harpsichord playing is too loud, nor do I agree that the Andante is taken too slowly.

The Holy Boy, a carol, is perhaps the best known work by John Ireland (1879-1962). Originally for piano, it exists in 16 different arrangements by the composer and others Here it is found in the 1941 version for string orchestra.

George Butterworth

Butterworth is represented by his two English Idylls. As Greenfield wrote, they "are less elaborate than the more famous tone poems which Dilkes included on his earlier disc of English music but they reflect a completely uninhibited approach to folk-song, a simple joy in morning - fresh melodies played as often as not on the orchestra's nearest relation to a pastoral reed-pipe, the oboe."

Peter Warlock

From another short-lived composer, Peter Warlock (Philip Heseltine), who lived from 1894-1930, we have his sparkling Capriol Suite of dances, inspired by Renaissance music. This captivating music is perhaps his most popular work, although his best is probably the haunting song cycle The Curlew on Yeats poems. It has appeared here in the recording by Alexander Young and instrumentalists, which is newly remastered. Constant Lambert's recording of the Capriol Suite can be found here.

John Ireland and E.J. Moeran

E.J. Moeran (1894-1950) was a friend of both John Ireland and Peter Warlock. On this LP, we have his Two Pieces for Small Orchestra. The first, Lonely Waters, elaborates on a Norfolk folk song. Its companion, Whythorne's Shadow, takes inspiration from a work by the Elizabethan composer Thomas Whythorne. In both cases, the source works are transformed greatly by Moeran's artistry.

This is another well-recorded and absorbing release from the English Sinfonia and Dilkes. Next in this series is their recording of Moeran's Symphony in G minor.

LINK

Neville Dilkes Conducts English Music, Vol. 1

The conductor Neville Dilkes, who died recently aged 94, did not make many records, but the ones he did fashion are widely admired both for their performances and their sound.

This is his first record, dating from 1971, where he led his own group the English Sinfonia in 20th century music by George Butterworth, Hamilton Harty, Frank Bridge and Arnold Bax.

Neville Dilkes

Dilkes formed the English Sinfonia as the Midlands Sinfonia in 1961, eventually locating it in Nottingham, although the ensemble played throughout the Midlands. The Sinfonia is still is existence, although it now performs in Chesham, near London. The Sinfonia's website does not mention Dilkes or his passing, as far as I can tell.

The Gramophone's critic Edward Greenfield was pleased by the LP: "The performances are immensely enjoyable, bound as they are by the obvious warmth and enthusiasm of the players, and presented with rich and immediate sound." He does, however, complain about the string tone, which is, as he mentions, is not always ideally sweet and precise.

Hamilton Harty

The first side of the LP contains lighter music, starting with composer-conductor Hamilton Harty's seldom-recorded John Field Suite of 1939, a tribute to the Irish composer who lived from 1782-1837. The work begins with an bouncy polka, moderating to a lovely nocturne and waltz, followed by a lively rondo.

Arnold Bax

The first side is completed by what might be Arnold Bax's cheeriest work, the Dance in the Sunlight, one of his Four Orchestral Pieces of 1912-13.

George Butterworth

The second side begins with the two best known works by George Butterworth, who died in the First World War - the orchestral rhapsody A Shropshire Lad of 1911 and the idyll The Banks of Green Willow of 1913. The latter in particular is now well-known. Both of Butterworth's pieces make skillful use of folk song, with A Shropshire Lad also being inspired by A.E. Housman's poetry.

Greenfield's view: "Neville Dilkes's interpretations are urgent, even thrustful, and though no doubt some Butterworth devotees will prefer something more contemplative, I must say that this approach quickly had me sympathising."

Frank Bridge

Frank Bridge has the indignity of being best known as Benjamin Britten's teacher, but he was a composer of atmospheric, evocative works such as There is a Willow grows aslant a Brook, prompted by Queen Gertrude's description in Hamlet of the death of Ophelia. This work contests with The Banks of Green Willow for the finest music on the LP. It is haunting.

"Bridge's There is a Willow grows aslant a Brook is the subtlest and most difficult of the pieces here," wrote Greenfield, "and it receives the finest performance, a formidable challenge well taken."

As usual with these posts, the download includes the review quoted above; also, an article on Dilkes from the same magazine and year. A second post will include Dilkes conducting more music by Butterworth along with compositions by Walter Leigh, Peter Warlock, John Ireland and E.J. Moeran.

LINK

Robert Tear in Songs by Vaughan Williams, Elgar and Butterworth

This recording dates from 1979,  somewhat later than my usual time frame. I transferred it for another forum; in the end it wasn't needed there, but I thought it might be of interest to some here.

Robert Tear
by William Bowyer (1986)

I remember being very excited to acquire the LP when it came out. It was the first recording of a favorite work, Vaughan Williams's "On Wenlock Edge," with orchestral accompaniment in place of the usual piano and string quartet. It also included Elgar and Butterworth songs that had not been recorded before. And it featured an artist I much admire, tenor Robert Tear. I wrote about Tear soon after his death in 2011.

Even so, I must admit that this is not one of his best records. I felt that way nearly 40 years ago and my recent audition has confirmed that belief. Tear adopts a declamatory approach to the Vaughan Williams songs. This probably was because of the orchestral accompaniment replaced the usual chamber ensemble. But the inward Housman settings in particular don't benefit from this extrovert manner.

You may disagree with this assessment, of course. Trevor Harvey in The Gramophone thought that Tear "quite rightly brings out its [i.e., the orchestration's] more dramatic quality." (The download includes the review along with EMI's advertisement from the same issue.)

Harvey also was impressed by the Butterworth settings of W.E. Henley, and by some of the Elgar works. He liked Elgar's settings of his own words that were based on Eastern European folk songs,  but was less taken by the composer's settings of Sir Gilbert Parker's poems. All of these are well handled by Tear.

Vernon Handley

The orchestral accompaniments are beautifully done by the City of Birmingham Symphony, conducted by Vernon Handley, an English music specialist. The late analogue recording is fairly good, although the upper strings can be a bit glassy.

Oddly, Tear re-recorded the Vaughan Williams about three years later with the same orchestra and Simon Rattle. Presumably this was to replace the analogue recording with the new digital variety. EMI has reissued the Rattle version more than once, but the Handley recording not at all.

"On Wenlock Edge" in its piano and string quartet guise has appeared here twice before: the first recording with Gervase Elwes (the work's dedicatee), pianist Frederick Kiddle and the London String Quartet; and in a 1953 effort by Alexander Young, pianist Gordon Watson and the Sebastian String Quartet. Both are excellent.

English Songs from Wilfred Brown

The English tenor Wilfred Brown (1921-71) is best known for his recording of Gerald Finzi's "Dies Natalis," which I have cited here before as one of my favorite records.

To my knowledge, Brown did not make other records of similar repertoire. That's why I was so excited to learn of this rare recording, uploaded to another site by my friend David (aka "dances"). It presents Brown in a recital of songs by 20th century English composers, and it is a treasure to those who, like me, love this material.

David, a reader of this site, graciously offered to let me present the record here. I am very grateful for the opportunity.

Wilfred Brown

As noted, Brown is best known for his recording of "Dies Natalis"; he was a friend and associate of the composer, who appears here with three of his settings of Thomas Hardy. Brown was a member of the Deller Consort for some years. He also appeared on recordings of Handel, Purcell, Bach and Haydn, one duo recital with guitarist John Williams and a few other LPs for small labels.

This recital was made for the Jupiter label in 1962. That imprint was apparently started by the business executive T. Wallace Southam, a part-time composer who is represented by two songs on the compilation. One, a setting of "Nemea" by Southam's friend Lawrence Durrell, is quite good.

Beside Finzi and Southam, the other composers represented are Peter Warlock, George Butterworth, W. Denis Browne, Lennox Berkeley, Ivor Gurney and William Walton. Browne, like George Butterworth, perished in World War I. His setting of Richard Lovelace's "To Gratiana singing and dancing" is a high point of the program.

Several of the songs represented have appeared on this blog in other performances. Warlock's "Sleep" can also be found in the Warlock collection from Alexander Young. Butterworth's "Loveliest of Trees," the first song in his first group of Housman settings, "Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad," has appeared here before in the recording by Roy Henderson.

The Walton works comprise his "Three Songs" of 1932. In that group, Walton reset some of the many Façade pieces he composed with Edith Sitwell. These are sung, rather than recited versions that make an interesting contrast to the earlier items, two of which have appeared here before. "Through Gilded Trellises" is contained in the Sitwell-Prausnitz recording of 1949. "Old Sir Faulk" can be heard in the 1929 recording by Constant Lambert and Walton, as well as in a 1950 instrumental version conducted by Lambert, both available via this post.

Accompanying Brown is the excellent Margaret McNamee, who apparently was the singer's regular pianist.

Included in the download are texts of all songs and translations of the two Berkeley items, compiled from web sources, along with a front cover cleaned up from a web source. Good mono sound; David says there doesn't appear to have been a stereo version.

Thanks once again to David for allowing me to make this available here!

Song Settings by Finzi, Butterworth and Vaughan Williams

Gerald Finzi

Recently I have been posting recordings of the Walton-Sitwell entertainment Façade, including the original 1929 version with Dame Edith and Constant Lambert, Walton conducting. That edition came from a LP that also offered the first recordings of two notable sets of English song - Gerald Finzi's Dies Natalis and George Butterworth's A Shropshire Lad. Today I am posting my transfers of that music, together with the initial recording of Ralph Vaughan Williams's On Wenlock Edge - three landmarks in 20th century English song setting.

For Dies Natalis, Finzi set poems by Thomas Traherne, a 17th century poet and clergyman whose work is generally grouped with the metaphysical poets although his writings were virtually unknown until the 20th century. Dies Natalis is in form a cantata, with an orchestral introduction and then settings of four striking poems that convey the wonder and innocence of the newborn child.

Joan Cross

The performance is by soprano Joan Cross and the Boyd Neel Orchestra, dating from October 1946 and January 1947. The legend is that neither the composer nor the singer were happy with the results, and today the set is seldom heard. There is something to that: Cross was a noted actor, but wonder and innocence were apparently not in her artistic arsenal. Still and all, the records are not as bad as one might think. They convey Finzi's gorgeous string writing well, and the singer is sympathetic, clear and in tune.

The full power of Finzi's work would not be displayed on record until 1964, when it was taken up for EMI by tenor Wilfred Brown and the composer's son, Christopher. This remains my own favorite, one I played for myself the night my first child was born nearly 40 years ago.

Gervase Elwes

Both Vaughan Williams and his younger colleague George Butterworth set poems by their contemporary A.E. Housman, drawn from his popular collection A Shropshire Lad. The older composer set six of the poems for tenor, piano and string quartet. The work is here performed by tenor Gervase Elwes, the work's dedicatee, with pianist Frederick Kiddle and the London String Quartet. Elwes and Kiddle both took part in the first performance, in 1909. The recording dates from 1917, and is thoroughly remarkable. Elwes is more declamatory than is the norm a century later. His sense of time is flexible; he and the instrumentalists draw out the concluding "Clun" to powerful effect. It's impossible not to reflect that the sense of loss and impending doom - always implicit in Housman - were especially pronounced during the recording sessions, which took place three years into the horrific first world war.

George Butterworth

Butterworth himself was a victim of the war, killed in the Battle of the Somme in 1916 at age 31. He left relatively few works; notably this collection and the orchestral work The Banks of Green Willow. Both he and Vaughan Williams set Housman's ironic "Is My Team Ploughing?" As you might expect, given their similar styles and close association, the settings have some similarity. Vaughan Williams left out the poem's two stanzas that dealt with football, to Housman's irritation. The composer thought the poet ought to be happy he left out a passage with the clunky couplet "The goal stands up, the keeper / Stands up to keep the goal."

Butterworth set 11 poems from A Shropshire Lad; this is the first set, which strictly speaking is called Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad. The second set, not included here, is Bredon Hill and Other Songs.

Roy Henderson

The present recording comes from 1941, with Roy Henderson, one of the finest baritones of his generation, and Gerald Moore, the most famous accompanist of the time.

The sound on all these issues is well balanced and pleasing - even the Vaughan Williams from a century ago. Using modern tools, it's possible to get good results from many such acoustic recordings, within the limits of their constricted frequency range.