Dances for Orchestra
rec. 1957-1990
Reviewed from download
Alto ALC1705 [77]
This CD from Alto is a collection of pieces recorded some years ago of dances for orchestra by British composers. The majority of the works are by Malcolm Arnold but it also includes pieces by Warlock, Holst, Elgar and Hamilton. It is released very much within the budget range in terms of price but the performances and sound quality are good.
Malcolm Arnold was an English composer whose prolific output encompassed a diverse array of musical genres. Known for his vibrant tonal style, characterized by lively rhythms, masterful orchestration, and memorable melodies, Arnold created a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, and an extensive collection of chamber music, choral works, and compositions for brass and wind bands. His contributions to the theatre include five ballets commissioned by the Royal Ballet, two operas, and a musical. Arnold is also known for his film scores, having composed music for over a hundred films, including the Academy Award-winning score for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). Throughout his career, Arnold’s works captured the imagination of audiences and performers alike, leaving a lasting legacy in the world of music and beyond. Ninette de Valois, the famous ballet impresario, described Arnold as “the best ballet composer since Tchaikovsky”.
Well known and loved amongst Malcolm’s works are his sets of Dances, inspired by different parts of the British Isles i.e. English (two sets, 1950/51), Scottish (1957), Cornish (1966), Irish (1986) and Welsh (1989). The last two sets, however, are not included on this album. The others on this album were recorded in 1957 conducted by Adrian Boult with the London Philharmonic Orchestra,.
The two sets of English Dances were composed as companion pieces for Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances. The music is essentially English in style, their sometimes melancholy, other times boisterous character suggesting folk-song origins; however, they are pure, unadulterated Arnold. Set 1 begins with an Andantino that’s charming, full of life and light-hearted with the typical expansive Arnoldian melodies. A lively Vivace follows. The Mesto starts slowly with a motif that builds across the orchestra and the result is a rather charming piece. The final Allegro risoluto has a wonderful jig-like feeling. The second set starts with an upbeat dance tune and is marked as allegro non troppo, it remains jolly. The jolly mood is maintained in the con brio. This is followed by Grazioso which starts gently and slowly builds its pace; it is another charming dance piece. Finally, Giubiloso rounds off this set of dances in fine style.
His Scottish Dances remain very popular and are regularly played in concerts throughout the world. The first movement starts with a compelling fanfare like tune. The second movement which is a lively vivace is based on a melody from the score to the film called “The Beautiful Country of Ayr” which leaves the listener with the distinct impression that the bass trombonist had spent too long in the bar before the performance! The third movement is an Allegretto with a lovely, lilting, nostalgic melody; Arnold at his poetic best. The final con brio is fast and dramatic. On this album, they were recorded in 1963 by the Scottish National Orchestra under the baton of Alexander Gibson.
The Cornish Dances were written at a time when Malcolm and his family lived in Cornwall. Each movement represents a different aspect of Cornish character seen, in Arnold’s own words, through the eyes of “a furrener”. The first movement – vivace – contains bold and rhythmic music to which the listener could imagine local people dancing vigorously. Piers Burton-Page in 1994 commented, “The first tune is a “seafaring song of Arnold’s own invention” utilising the “Cornish trick of repetition on a single note”. He observes the “highly independent counterpoint in the lower strings” and the “lurches into a new and often hilariously unexpected key”. The Andantino has a mysterious, oriental type feeling to it. Next we have con moto sempre senza parodia which seems to abandon any attempt at ‘dance.’ In fact this is a Cornish Methodist hymn tune; the religious fervour of the Cornish area maybe being parodied by Arnold here – note the word “parodia” in the name given to it by the composer. The final movement is not unlike Holst’s St Paul’s Suite with its “mixture of march and jig”. There is also a seemingly ‘out of area’ reference to the Yorkshire tune ‘On Ilkley Moor’. A previous review of The Cornish Dances. The piece was recorded for this CD in 1965, conducted by the composer himself with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
The final Arnold work on the CD is Three Shanties for wind quintet, recorded in 1962 by the London Wind Quintet. A previous review can be found here. In the first movement the melody to “What do we do with the drunken sailor?” is played with by the performers; it’s in typical Arnold style – a rather humorous piece. The second movement is the music to “Blow the man down” but played gently and once again with some humour. The final movement exudes fun and is typical of the way that the composer can write engaging music – it has a definite nautical feeling to it.
Peter Warlock’s Capriol suite is a set of dances composed in October 1926 and is probably one of his most popular works. Originally written for piano duet, Warlock later scored it for both string and full orchestras. The suite consists of six movements but the individual movements are very brief – a performance of the suite lasts just over 10 minutes. Warlock said that the inspiration for the music was Thoinot Arbeau’s Orchésographie, which is a manual of Renaissance dances. The Peter Warlock Society on their website tell us “The name of the author, Thoinot Arbeau, was in fact an anagram of his real name, Jehan Tabourot, but since he was a canon of the cathedral at Langres it was probably politic not to publish a work on such a secular entertainment as dance under his own name.”
The movements are:
- Basse-Danse – grand and stately.
- Pavane – a gentle, lilting melody.
- Tordion – starts as the concluding, slighter faster, figure of the Basse-danse. Warlock speeds up Arbeau’s tune and lightens each repetition to that the music until it almost disappears.
- Bransles – the longest movement in the suite, Warlock uses no fewer than five of Arbeau’s tunes, gradually gathering pace until the music reaches its memorable conclusion. It was initially a country round dance that ended up being danced at the court of Charles II.
- Pieds-en-l’air – has a balanced, rhythmic flow with a typical slow Warlock final cadence.
- Mattachins (Sword Dance) – starts with a jolly melody but the second half of the movement is more like Bartok – whom Warlock admired greatly – than the work of a British composer.
The piece was recorded in 1963 by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Alan Barlow. The six movements
We now move onto Elgar whose Three Bavarian Dances is an arrangement for orchestra of three of the set of six songs titled From the Bavarian Highlands recorded here in 1957 by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with Adrian Boult . The original song lyrics were written by the composer’s wife Alice, as a memento of a holiday the Elgars had enjoyed in the autumn of 1894. All three dances are typical of the composer. The work starts with The Dance which is robust and upbeat, the second movement Lullaby has a dreamy melody for the horn and has a rural feeling to it. The final movement The Marksmen is anElgar finale in miniature, lively at first, then broadening and finally quickening to end in a blaze of orchestral colour.
Now Holst provides us with three wonderful Stick Dances – which are English folk dances : Bean Setting, Constant Billy and Rigs O’Marlow. All are short, energetic and fun. They were recorded by the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra under Nicholas Braithwaite in 1990 .
Our final composer, Iain Hamilton, hails from north of the border; he was born in Glasgow. You will find an excellent review of Hamilton’s life and works written by Paul Conway here. His piece Three Scottish Dances are based on well-known tunes to which Robert Burns set some of his poetry. The first dance is Caller Herring, a lively movement with a central section that contrasts with the music of the beginning and the end of it. This is usually followed by ‘Duncan Grey’, an Andante comodo which has the added instruction ‘slow bounce’, an indication of its jazzy feeling, however, it is missing on this album. The third dance employs two tunes: ‘Whistle and I’ll come tae ye’ and ‘My love she’s but a lassie yet’. The orchestral colour is especially vibrant in this dance, which dashes through a variety of keys and includes snare drum and bass drum rolls and trumpet flutter tonguing. This is generally followed by ‘The Lea Rig’ (or The Grass Ridge), which is scored for strings and horn solo only, however that is not included in this release. The set finishes with ‘Gin I were where Gaddie rins’ (Would I were where the River Gaddie runs). The jazziness of the second dance returns with the marking ‘Bright swing tempo’ and there is more than a touch of Malcolm Arnold in the subsequent passage for piccolo pitted against the bassoon. The recording is by Alexander Gibson and the Scottish National Orchestra and was made in 1962.
The album is a great introduction to many of the better-known British composers’ dances.
Ken Talbot
Details
Malcolm Arnold (1921 – 2006)
English Dances Set 1 Op. 27 (1950)
English Dances Set 2 Op. 33 (1951)
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Adrian Boult
rec. 1957
Scottish Dances Op. 59 (1957)
Scottish National Orchestra/Alexander Gibson
rec. 1962
Cornish Dances Op. 91 (1966)
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Malcolm Arnold
rec. 1966
Three Shanties for Wind Quintet Op. 4 (1943)
London Wind Quintet
rec. 1962
Peter Warlock (1894 – 1930)
Capriol Suite (1926)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Alan Barlow
rec. ?
Edward Elgar (1857 – 1934)
Bavarian Dances Op. 27a (1897)
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Adrian Boult
rec. 1957
Gustav Holst (1874 – 1934)
Stick Dances from Morris Dance Tunes
New Zealand Chamber Orchestra/Nicholas Braithwaite
rec. 1990
Iain Hamilton (1922 – 2000)
Scottish Dances Op. 32 (1956)
Scottish National Orchestra/Alexander Gibson
rec. 1962
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