Clive Osgood (b. 1977)
Chamber Works
Lisa Friend (flute), Lynn Arnold (piano)
Tippett Quartet
rec. 2023, St George’s Church, Harrow, UK
Convivium Records CR096 [79]
British composer Clive Osgood is Director of Music and organist at St Bartholemew’s Church in Haslemere, Surrey. He also teaches A-level music at Reed’s School in Cobham, Surrey; lucky pupils! The weekly organ recitals in my town of Bradford draw organists from all over Britain and abroad. I will now keep my eye out for Osgood.
From the first notes, I thought that Osgood is a very inventive composer of winning tunes that promise an enjoyable time. The booklet notes sum up his music precisely. Let me quote, with thanks: ‘Clive’s music is in the classical tradition – injected with elements of jazz harmony and the rhythmic vitality of Latin American music.’ He writes that the piece here are ‘based largely on the compositional frameworks of great 18th-century chamber music’.
I shall be replaying his infectious new string quartet. It leaps from the page right from the off with an almost electric energy that keeps it fairly bouncing along. The second movement, subdued and inward-looking, has a dark edge, but is still deliciously melodic. The last movement has at its core a beautiful melody treated to five variations over almost five minutes. The driving rhythm reminded me of Heitor Villa-Lobos and of Silvestre Revueltas, particularly his Sensemayá.
There follows the four-movement piano quartet. It too begins with an earworm of a driving rhythm. The wonderfully effervescent second movement is a minuet. The central sarabande has a serious and dark heart; the viola, that deeply expressive instrument, plays a key role. An exuberant Gigue completes this lively work.
The incidental music from A Midsummer Night’s Dream for string quartet comes from Osgood’s one-act opera based on Shakespeare’s comedy. It is a neat musical summary of key elements in the opera: fairies, Bottom as an ass, the lovers asleep on the mossy bank, and a raucous dance.
The piano triois a joyous work, suitably celebratory. Osgood wrote it to welcome his first child, Emily, into the world. After a skipping first movement comes a romance with a gentle lullaby at its core, a delightfully simple tune. A lively Presto dances its way to a conclusion.
The short but sweet sonata for piano, violin, cello and flute has, as Osgood writes, a twentieth-century French flavour – maybe Francis Poulenc, Albert Roussel or the ever-playful Jean Françaix.
Tresillo for piano quintet has Latin-American inspiration, perhaps Villa-Lobos. One admires the composer’s abilities when one reads that he fit no fewer than ten variatons into less than five minutes.
The sonata for cello, with a clearly jazz-inspired cello part, has an enjoyably bouncing first movement that makes one smile. Next come a gently rocking second movement and another joyous finale whose lively opening segues into a tune that waltzes its way to its emphatic end.
This thoroughly enjoyable disc ends with a flute sonata characterised by what now seems the central message of Osgood’s works: a celebration of life with few dark corners. On the strength of this programme, I expect he knows how to convey sadness, nostalgia and regret. But he may be most at ease expressing joy and sharing a love of life through his music.
If this review has piqued your interest, listen to the extracts via the link below. The Tippett Quartet’s involvement is a selling point – and they appear to project commitment, admiration and respect for Clive Osgood’s music. Lisa Friend’s ravishing flute playing and Lynn Arnold’s glorious pianism are the cherries on the cake. Recorded in a clear sound, the disc is a wondrous document one might want to play over and over again.
Steve Arloff
Availability: Convivium Records
Contents
String Quartet in A minor (2023)
Piano Quartet in C (2016)
Incidental music from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2017)
Piano Trio in G (2013)
Sonata for Flute, Violin, Cello and Piano (2011)
Tresillo for Piano Quintet (2008)
Cello Sonata in C (2006)
Flute Sonata (2004)
