Concertos for Phyllis and Cyril, and Much More

Pianists Phyllis Sellick (1911-2007) and Cyril Smith (1909-74) were long-time fixtures on the English concert scene. Both pursued separate performing and teaching careers following their 1937 marriage while also appearing as a piano duo. That changed in 1956, when Smith suffered a stroke, rendering him unable to use his left hand. 

Subsequently the couple began performing works for piano three hands, eventually leading three leading British composers to prepare works for them to perform. These were collected on a 1970 LP that is the centerpiece of this post.

Also on offer are three other albums. They contain the couple in a 1952 recording of a Mozart sonata for two pianos, and Smith's recordings of the Dohnányi Variations on a Nursery Song and that old stand-by, Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2.

Concertos for Phyllis and Cyril

The three smiling musicians on the cover above are the composer Malcolm Arnold, who conducted this record, along with Sellick and Smith.

Together with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the trio produced this winning LP of "Concertos for Phyllis and Cyril," with two new works and one new arrangement from three of England's best-known composers.

Smith and Sellick introduced Arnold's Concerto for Phyllis and Cyril during the 1969 Proms, where it was quite a success. The brief work, in the composer's most genial manner, is highly engaging. Its finale is written in a sort of 1920's pastiche, which provides a nice segue to the second work on the program, which was actually composed in 1921.

An early work by Arthur Bliss, the Concerto for Piano, Tenor, Strings and Percussion, was written when the 29-year-old was, from the aural evidence, under the spell of Stravinsky's Petrushka. Bliss later reconfigured the work as a Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra. Finally, he worked with Clifford Phillips to produce a three-hand edition specifically for Smith and Sellick. It's quite an enjoyable work.

The longest work on the program is Gordon Jacob's Concerto for Three Hands, again written for the couple, and dedicated to them as the composer wrote, with profound admiration, adding, "in view of what they have achieved in adversity which would have overwhelmed lesser people, this is no empty phrase."

Arnold was a pupil of Jacob, whom he greatly admired. In his autobiography, Arnold observes that "somehow the [Jacob] Concerto never takes flight — well, not completely, because it is too well-made." With Jacob, emotion never took the upper hand, Arnold observed.

Sellick and Smith play as one on this record. Their precision and lovely tone are admirable; so are the compositions, orchestral playing and vivid recording. As Edward Greenfield wrote in his Gramophone review, "[T]he two central characters in this enterprise are both marvelously responsive, reacting warmly to music written or adapted for them."

Music by Mozart and Dohnányi

Seventeen years earlier, Sellick and Smith were recording for EMI's other marque, Columbia, which produced this odd coupling of Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, K. 488, and Ernö Dohnányi's sly Variations on a Nursery Song, which dates from 1914. The latter is a work for single piano (here, Cyril Smith) and orchestra.

The Mozart sonata recording dates from December 1952, and displays the same unanimity of approach and tone heard on the Arnold recording. Phyllis and Cyril apparently were well matched both in music and in marriage.

Andrew Porter in The Gramphone was only mildly impressed, calling the performance "cool and gracefully turned," but "not in any way memorable." However, he reserved his real scorn for the coupling.

Dohnányi's work generally elicits two responses - one, it is clever and delightful; two, it is a bore. Porter was decidedly of the latter view, calling it "a tiresome piece of music," and complaining that Smith doesn't display the panache needed to bring it off.

Well, perhaps, but I will note that Smith's pianism is nicely fashioned and always apposite. Sir Malcolm Sargent and the Philharmonia accompany in this January 1953 recording from Abbey Road.

Smith's way with the Dohnányi must have been popular with the record buying public - this go-round was a remake of a 1944 recording, of which more below.

March 1954 Gramophone ad

The First Variations on a Nursery Song

In 1944, Columbia took Cyril Smith up to the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool for the pianist's first attempt at the Variations on a Nursery Song (or Theme, as it is called here). 

Malcolm Sargent was again the leader of the ensemble; he was then the Liverpool Philharmonic's chief conductor. This February 1944 recording date was just a week before Sargent was knighted.

Sir Malcolm Sargent

Honestly, there is little difference between the two recordings. The Philharmonia produced a more refined sound, but Smith is much the same.

Contemporary reviews were split; some thought Smith was too poker-faced; others thought he was fine. Howard Taubman in the New York Times praised him being "a piano soloist who knows how to play with a light touch." But then the critic was a fan of the work.

I did not include US Columbia LP discmate, a Liszt concerto not with Smith but Witold Malcuzinski.

Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 2

Smith, Sargent and the Liverpool Philharmonic were again collaborators for a June 1947 spin through Rachmaninoff's ever-popular Piano Concerto No. 2.

Cyril Smith

The critical opinions were again divided: some thought that Smith was not a big enough keyboard personality to match up with the powerful Rachmaninoff. But the Gramophone Shop Supplement insisted that "by avoiding the rough and ready pounding found in most of the extant versions, this work can be and is taken out of the doldrums. A reading that combines power with restraint."

My own view is that while Smith plays beautifully, a bit more personality might not have been out of place.

The first two LPs above come from my collection. I've filled out the post with transfers I've remastered from Internet Archive needle drops.

I am sorry that I don't have a solo recording from Phyllis Sellick to offer. However, I can recommend the 1945 recording of William Walton's wonderful Sinfonia Concertante, with Sellick and the composer conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony. The transfer is by my friend Bryan Bishop, aka Shellackophile, done for Internet Archive and available here.

Malcolm Arnold First Recordings

Malcolm Arnold came to the public's attention in 1943 via his overture Beckus the Dandipratt, written while he was the principal trumpet of the London Philharmonic. The first recording of the work was led by Edward van Beinum in 1947, when that fine musician was the LPO's principal conductor. (I believe Arnold was still in the LPO at the time.) There would be no further recordings of Arnold's compositions until 1953. Then there would be several within a few years' time, many of which I've gathered for this post.

During this period, Arnold's music became known for its instrumental color, great contrasts and melody. Some critics even complained that he was not serious enough. That side of his personality would soon show itself, but today we are concerned with the brilliant works that made his reputation in the concert hall, most of them in their first recordings.

The post encompasses two LPs - one devoted to Arnold's music; the other split between Arnold and Benjamin Britten.

Symphony No. 2, Tam O'Shanter Overture

As with Beckus the Dandipratt, Arnold's Tam O'Shanter Overture quickly became popular after the composer conducted its premiere during the 1955 Proms season.

Two recordings quickly followed, one with the composer and the Philharmonia, the other with John Hollingsworth and the Royal Philharmonic. As far as I can tell, these sessions took place on the same day, September 19.

What makes it more unusual is that Arnold had devoted September 17 and 18 to recording Beckus and the Symphony No. 2 with the RPO for Philips. He then left the conducting of Tam O'Shanter to Hollingsworth while he motored across town to record the same work for UK Columbia.

Philips licensed the resulting recordings to US Epic, whose LP is the source of the current transfer. The wonderfully colorful cover illustration above depicts the legend of Tam O'Shanter, as set down by Robert Burns. After a night of revelry, Tam and his horse lose their way and encounter the ghouls depicted on the cover.

John Hollingsworth

This was just the sort of thing to spark Arnold's imagination (and empathy - he was a notorious carouser), and the overture is completely successful, especially in this beautifully recorded interpretation from the RPO and Hollingsworth, a fine conductor who was too little recorded.

But the most notable recording on the album was the first of any of Arnold symphonies - the Symphony No. 2, again a colorful and melodious work, well presented here by the composer and the RPO.

Arnold's conducting of Beckus the Dandipratt is everything one might wish; and again the performance and conducting are excellent.

Some critics were not fully satisfied, however. Writing in The Gramophone, critic and composer Malcolm MacDonald complained that "this constantly faultless presentation of an undeviatingly cheerful mood is perhaps becoming too much the exclusive province of Arnold's music." That would soon change, however; Arnold was to develop a pronounced dark side as a result of alcoholism and mental illness. One biography of him is subtitled "The Brilliant and the Dark," another "Rogue Genius."

Gramophone ad, December 1955

English Dances, Scottish Dances - Plus Britten-Rossini

Previously on this site, I've shared Adrian Boult's 1954 recording of Arnold's justly famous English Dances. Boult conducted the first performance of the first set of dances (there are two) in 1951, but did not record them until 1954.

Robert Irving

In the meantime, Robert Irving, music director of the Sadler's Wells Ballet, had recorded both sets for HMV in 1953 with the Philharmonia. These were released with the incongruous backing of the Les Sylphides ballet music, which made use of Chopin piano works in orchestrations by Roy Douglas.

In 1956, Kenneth MacMillan adapted the English Dances for his ballet Solitaire. Probably spurred by this, HMV reissued the Irving recordings in 1957 (mentioning the Solitaire connection on the cover), adding a new recording of Arnold's Scottish Dances, which the composer had just written for the BBC.

HMV's cover

The discmate for the Arnold works was more compatible this time: Britten's reworking of Rossini into the two suites, Matinées Musicales and Soirées Musicales. George Balanchine had used the music in his 1941 ballet Divertimento.

In the US, the HMV recordings were issued by Capitol, which trumpeted the Britten works on the cover, presumably because he was better known in America than Arnold.

Irving's conducting of the excellent Philharmonia is just fine, and the LP is very successful.

Throughout this period, Arnold was making a name in film music, as well. His scores for The Key, Trapeze and The Inn of the Sixth Happiness are available here.

As usual, the downloads include scans, photos and reviews. The Epic LP is from my collection. The Capitol album has been cleaned up from a lossless needle drop on Internet Archive.

Malcolm Arnold's The Key, Plus Reups

This is the third in a series of Malcolm Arnold's soundtrack recordings, this one for The Key, a 1958 war story that starred Sophia Loren, along with William Holden and Trevor Howard as naval officers competing for her affections. I haven't seen the film, but the cover suggests that Holden wins out.

The Key was not one of Arnold's more elaborate scores, but it does have a simple but attractive theme that appears throughout. Columbia thought enough of it that it had Al Stillman come up with lyrics, and bearded maestro Mitch Miller recorded it for single release. Columbia then added it to the LP. (Mercifully, they did not include the single's flip side, "Rockabye in Beardland.")

Composer Malcolm Arnold (left) and conductor Muir Mathieson flank David Lean
at a recording session

Also prominent in the music mix was a theme Arnold (or someone) called "Chop Suey Polka," which appears as its own cut and also at some length during the "U-Boat Alley" montage. You will not want to have more than one course of this dish, so I have helpfully separated "U-Boat Alley" into several cues, allowing the polka to be avoided.

Then again, some of you may enjoy the tune more than I suspect. If so, I invite you to visit my singles blog, where I have posted a version by a real polka band (not Muir Mathieson's English impostors), that of Frankie Yankovic, who was a Columbia recording stalwart for many years. Yankovic backs the "Chop Suey" number with the "Roseann Polka," a terrific number that shows off his excellent ensemble.

Now a few reups by request - both remastered for much better sound.

Morton Gould - Music of Morton Gould. An early Columbia 45 set presenting Gould conducting his own music and arrangements. He leads the Robin Hood Dell (that is, Philadephia) Orchestra. Features the "Cowboy Rhapsody."

Fritz Lehmann Conducts Brahms, Schumann and Dvorak. Worthy recordings with the Bamberg Symphony and Berlin Philharmonic taken from early DGG LPs.

Malcolm Arnold's Trapeze Score, Plus Reups

It was just about, oh, five years ago that I posted the soundtrack to The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, and promised to follow up with more works from the talented English composer Malcolm Arnold.

Here to make belated good on that promise is Arnold's 1956 score to the Burt Lancaster - Gina Lollobrigida - Tony Curtis circus epic Trapeze.

Malcolm Arnold

Well, half a score anyway. A good part of the listening experience is occupied by "The Entry of the Gladiators," two Sousa marches, and the Blue Danube waltz. This would be well and good except conductor Muir Mathieson apparently wanted his orchestra to sound like a circus band, with raucous results.

To me, bad music is only one of the many reasons not to go to the circus - or to watch circus movies. So I have not seen Trapeze, but I can tell you that it revolves around a love triangle (if such a thing is geometrically possible). As you might guess from the wonderfully vivid cover, the participants are Lancaster, Lollobrigida and Curtis. At least I assume that is Curtis on the endless rope ladder - he looks as much like William Shatner there.

Poor Tony has to watch as Burt and Gina do their mid-air smooching routine. Meanwhile a circus tableau seemingly as imagined by Hieronymous Bosch unfolds far below, with what looks like a Parisian gang fight in the corner.

They don't make record covers like this anymore, nor scores, for that matter, although honestly, this is not one of Arnold's best efforts. His cues are effective enough, but there aren't many of them, and the effect is not as impressive as some of Arnold's other works.

Columbia did not give its best efforts to the sound, either, although I have done my darndest to give the thin sonics some life and heft.

Now on to the reups, leading off with Arnold's Inn of the Sixth Happiness score.

Malcolm Arnold - Inn of the Sixth Happiness. A wonderful early stereo score with Arnold at the height of his powers. Remastered.

Jean Francaix - Concertino, Serenade. The composer is soloist in his delightful Concertino, and Eugen Jochum leads the ensemble in the equally delightful Serenade, in these Telefunken recordings from the 1930s. Remastered.

Eartha Kitt - RCA Victor Presents. The first LP by the vocalist-tigress, with many of her most famous numbers, including "C'est Si Bon." Also the Stan Freberg send up of the latter tune. Remastered.

George Byron - Sings Jerome Kern. Byron was a cabaret singer who happened to be married to Kern's widow. His performances are scrupulous and convincing.

Joe Venuti and Bobby Maxwell. Jazz violin and jazz harp, separately and together in this compilation from mid-century. Remastered.

As usual, the links above go to the original posts, New download links are in the comments, both there and here.

Malcolm Arnold's English Dances

I have had this record transferred for some time, and it came to mind while working on the Sauter-Finegan post of last week. The bandleaders' breakthrough recording of "Doodletown Fifers" reminded me of one of Malcolm Arnold's English Dances (specifically, the fifth), as done here by Sir Adrian Boult and the London Philharmonic.

Aha, I thought - could this be artistic "borrowing" in one direction or the other? But now that I look at the timeline, such a connection is unlikely.

Arnold in 1948

Arnold's English Dances were published in 1950 and 1951. "Doodletown Fifers" was taped in 1952. But as far as I can tell, the Arnold pieces were not recorded until mid-1953, by the Philharmonia Orchestra and Robert Irving.

So while it's possible Sauter and Finegan saw the music or heard a performance of the Dances before their recording date, it's more likely that this is a coincidence.

You are welcome to investigate on your own via the aural evidence contained in this November 1954 traversal of the Dances from Boult and the LPO. I certainly recommend doing so; these are among Arnold's most famous and felicitous pieces, wonderfully memorable items that will brighten your day. The performances and Kingsway Hall sound are very good.

The English Decca cover

The awkward American cover above has good Sir Adrian recoiling from the sight of a chinless Elizabethan maid being courted by a fellow materializing from a pea-green fog. Boult appears to holding a cigar stub or worse; it is actually the handle of his baton. Instead of this strange tableau, the English were offered an image of the composer framed by an herbal garland emanating from England's green and pleasant land below.

Malcolm Arnold's Inn of the Sixth Happiness

I thought I might bring you a few unreissued film scores by the English composer Malcolm Arnold, who died in 2006.

Arnold, who started as an orchestral trumpeter, is perhaps equally well-known for his concert music and his music for the movies. His most famous score is for The Bridge Over the River Kwai.

As Christopher Mowat says in an obituary of Arnold in The Guardian, "his music gave immediate and unconditional enjoyment to performers and listeners alike. It was full of tunes, technically brilliant, extravert, unselfconscious and fun. Occasionally, a darker side to his personality would surface, sometimes in his music or, sadly during several periods, in his mental wellbeing."

Malcolm Arnold

In fact, Arnold was quite a turbulent personality, and some of his later music is desolate. But there is no trace of that in this marvelous score for The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, from 1958. The Swedish Ingrid Bergman stars as a cockney missionary in China, and the main Chinese parts are played by the English Robert Donat and the German Curd Jurgens. The plot involves Bergman leading 50 Chinese orphans to safety in the face of the 1937 Japanese invasion, led by Charles Boyer. (OK, I made that last part up.)

Arnold's music, performed by the Royal Philharmonic led by the composer in this early stereo recording, is varied but entirely delightful. The finest music is during the "Jennie Lawson Passes On" scene, and naturally, that is where my pressing had some issues, which I have patched briefly making use of a separate rip made by a friend of mine. You may notice a few changes in sound during that passage.

More Arnold coming up.