It was in the Spring
of 1971 when I heard on Radio 4 an introduction
to a new work by Alan Rawsthorne; sadly
it was also to be his last. This was
the ‘Elegy’ which Julian Bream premiered.
The continuity announcer commented that
he did not see why modern composers
could not write music that was more
approachable. Rawsthorne died a few
months later and in the November of
that year, I went to the Wigmore Hall
memorial concert. The audience included
the great and the good of that time.
I remember Richard Rodney Bennett, Priaulx
Rainier and Elisabeth Lutyens. I also
remember the music: chamber works like
the masterful ‘Theme and Variations’
for two violins’ and I thought that
it was quite challenging at the time.
Listening to this CD and some other
pieces in preparing this review I cannot
now understand what I, or that BBC announcer
found so difficult. Rawsthorne, it seems
to me lies directly in the path of the
English Romantics except with a distinct
style of his own, a style which owes
something to the leading European composers
of the mid-century like Hindemith and
Stravinsky. He is not dissimilar in
some ways to Arnold Cooke.
This well-filled disc
gives us an opportunity to re-assess
Rawsthorne’s finest works. It is a happy
if belated follow-up to the disc of
the three symphonies (SRCD
291 - review) which came out in
the mid-nineties. Like that earlier
CD this one, with excellent if arguably
now somewhat historic performances,
benefits from audio quality which was
then in the demonstration class and
still sounds superb today.
Thinking of the above
Theme and Variations it’s worth remembering
that it was immediately followed by
the ‘Symphonic Studies’ - also in a
sense a set of variations. Then, just
as war broke out, the 1st
Piano Concerto appeared, thus establishing
the composer’s reputation.
There is an element
of the neo-classical in Rawsthorne,
and that applies to the three movement
1st Concerto with its three
titled movements: Capriccio, Chaconne
and Tarantella. The booklet notes on
this work are by John McCabe from the
original LP. The other writers are Alan
Frank and Hugo Cole. McCabe emphasises
that in his view the second movement
of the 1st concerto is "one
of the loveliest movements in Rawsthorne’s
output". He goes on: "his
achievement in producing a finale so
satisfying and entertaining is remarkable".
Why this work is not a repertoire piece
I really do not know. At 20 minutes
it’s an ideal length for a young pianist
to cut his teeth on. And I haven’t yet
mentioned the joyous first movement
which opens with an arresting rhythm
on the timpani to set everything in
motion.
If the 1st
Concerto is good fun the longer four
movement 2nd is equally memorable,
especially the finale. Malcolm Binns
is really fleet of foot here and in
addition he is expressive. There’s a
little touch of rubato in the Andante
semplice although the orchestral balance
does not always help him. The opening
of the work is the complete antithesis
of the 1st concerto. There’s
that rippling piano feature accompanying
a melody, so very typical Rawsthorne
in its contour, on solo flute, which
is then taken up ‘piacevole’ by the
piano. He works this to a passionate
climax before embarking on a much more
- forgive me - masculine second subject.
He then weaves these ideas together
beautifully.
In the April 2007 Gramophone
a review of this recording claimed that
he had been superseded by the Chandos
recording with Geoffrey Tozer and the
LPO. Well, I have not heard it so cannot
comment, I also find it difficult to
imagine a more memorable recording of
this concerto, in which everything seems
to have been so beautifully thought
out.
It seems to me that
the work of Sir John Pritchard is mostly
lying unrecognized on long forgotten
LPs. Perhaps the time has come to re-assess
his work, particularly with the music
of his contemporaries. I was drawn to
this view when hearing, after some time
away from it, his performance of the
wonderful ‘Symphonic Studies’ in which
Pritchard seems to be in his element.
He has, in this work anyway, a real
feeling for architecture. Now of course
I have heard no other conductor do this
piece; even so Pritchard knew the piece
well, having performed it several times
under the guidance of the composer so
it’s easy to believe that this is the
way it’s meant to go. Its opening theme
is a grandiloquent statement which soon
breaks into a lively Hindemithian type
melody, the strings of the LPO being
in particularly good form. All sections
of the work are tracked. There is some
deft orchestration too. The woodwind
are nicely scored and the ideas are
tossed around rhythmically and expressively.
Its twenty minutes are over without
a wasted note.
The disc is made up
with a smart performance of ‘Street
Corner’: a happy concoction of English
pastoral meets Hollywood, good fun.
Lyrita march on, and
the best of luck to them. They will,
I’m sure, continue in this mission to
bring great music and superb musicianship
coupled with lovely warm recordings
back into circulation. This is a worthwhile
release, fine performances and fine
music which should be better known.
Gary Higginson
See also review
by Rob Barnett
Rawsthorne
Website
for
details
Malcolm Binns (piano) 
