Thomas Pitfield, His Friends and Contemporaries
rec. 2023, St Paul’s Church, Heaton Moor, Stockport, Cheshire, UK
Divine Art DDX 21246 [2 CDs: 111]
Does reading about Renaissance men and women make you feel inadequate, wishing you had made more of your life than you have done? If so, then it would be better to skip the description that follows of the composer featured on these two discs. As the booklet declares, Thomas Baron Pitfield (1903-1999), born in Bolton, was ‘a prolific largely self-taught composer, much-loved teacher, admired artist and engraver, sometime poet, writer, skilled furniture maker and enthusiastic ornithologist’. Well, I did warn you! My feeling was compounded by the fact that over these two discs I was introduced to no fewer than twelve composers who were completely unknown to me, including the titular composer, Pitfield himself. The esteem he enjoyed and still commands, especially as teacher and supporter of his fellow composers and students, is demonstrated by the fact that the set is centred around him and his influence. That, despite there being but three of his compositions among the sixteen works.
The first of the two discs opens with his Divertimento, for oboe and string trio composed in 1966-7 for the then most notable oboist, Leon Goossens. It is a wonderfully tuneful work which has the magnificently expressive oboe soaring above the accompanying trio. The first movement is delightfully sunny, with the sort of beguiling tune that had Hamelin’s children follow the piper on that fateful day in the 13th century. The second, a Pastorale, is quintessentially English in sound, its gentle nature delivered so beautifully by these consummate musicians. The Intermezzo is even more gentle with a reflective edge, with transformations occurring along the way. The work’s Finale is a lively piece in which the composer quotes from an earlier work also dedicated to Goossens. It hopefully made up for Goossens feeling somewhat jealous of another oboist, Evelyn Rothwell, Sir John Barbirolli’s wife, to whom Pitfield had dedicated an oboe sonata. Since Pitfield had already dedicated the Rondo Lirico to him, one wonders what that jealously could reasonably have been based upon.
Next, we have Remember: Scena for soprano, recorder and string quartet, Op 184. It is a particularly powerful and effective work, in which Christina Rossetti’s poem Remember has the dying poet call upon her surviving lover to remember her as she was in life. Reflecting rather on all the good times they enjoyed together, instead of dwelling on the fact that she is no longer there and on any thoughts of her decaying state. John Joubert certainly captures that in his setting.
Along with Joubert, E.J. Moeran was the only other composer whose name I knew across these two discs. This, one of his last completed works, was written for Leon Goossens following his request for an oboe work, and Moeran wrote his Fantasy Quartet while staying in Norfolk in 1946. With a surprising twenty-one tempo changes in its relatively short fourteen-minute length, its folksy character charms the listener. The concept of the fantasy quartet came from the mind of industrialist Walter William Cobbett, who reflected that while literature had its lyric and epic poem, its short story and longer novel and music the symphony, overture and symphonic poem, chamber music was bereft of any other form and could do with a compact one movement work rather than the usual three or four movements. Moeran was only one of a number of composers who responded to the idea, amongst whom were Frank Bridge, Holst, Moeran’s own teacher John Ireland, and Vaughan Williams – and in fact Moeran’s was one of the last who did. The work’s opening sunny disposition is folk-inspired and contrasted with its more serious, even strident episodes, though its overall impression is one of effective and affecting music that remains in the memory long after its conclusion.
Now, Voyager may firstly bring to mind the 1942 film of the same name starring Bette Davis based upon the novel of the same name; however, this work was inspired by the American poet Walt Whitman poem that reads:
Now finale to the shore!
Now, land and life, finale, and farewell!
Now Voyager depart! (much, much for thee is yet in store;)
Often enough hast though adventur’d o’er the seas,
Cautiously cruising, studying the charts,
Duly again to port, and hawser’s tie, returning:
—But now obey thy cherish’d, secret wish,
Embrace thy friends—leave all in order;
To port, and hawser’s tie, no more returning,
Depart upon thy endless cruise, old Sailor!
Several composers have chosen to set to music Walt Whitman’s words and Ernst Hermann Meyer, a refugee from Hitler’s Germany, composed this work for voice and string quartet in Switzerland on his way back to post-war Germany. The poem urges the voyager to go further to seek what life holds in store, but also to prepare psychologically for the end of life’s journey having set his things in order and to feel able to leave without regrets. It is a poignant message for us all and is wonderfully set by Meyer, whose music we should know more of.
The first disc ends with a truly delightful piece by Pitfield entitled Three Nautical Sketches, arranged from the original for recorder and piano by Pitfield’s pupil John McCabe, for recorder and string quartet (whilst another version exists for recorder and string orchestra, see Naxos 8.572503). The recorder seems particularly appropriate to represent English folk dance, with its sound often resembling the penny whistle. Its three parts recall four sea shanties and folk songs, ending with a rumbustious take on The Keel Row.
Disc Two opens with Robin Walker’s Parrottry for recorder and string quartet, which is super-clever in terms of the music and the title. As Walker explains, it was a 90th birthday tribute to composer Ian Parrott (1916-2012). The play on words gives us the composer’s name but in no way seeks to imply that he could be accused of ‘parrotry’ which is defined as “servile imitation and repetition” – far from it, but then Robin Walker ensures he can’t be accused of it either. I found it most interesting to read his explanation in the booklet in which he says “Literal repetition rapidly wears thin (vide Minimalism) …” I couldn’t agree more, and often when I am listening to something by a composer of one of those pieces I inevitably am led to thinking, ‘It’s gone too far; when will this end!?’ To avoid this happening, Walker ensures he steers a musical path between literal and varied repetition having the instruments ‘play out a mixture of the two until – to avoid things getting out of hand, and the likely onset of parrotry – it is time, as it were, to place a cloth over the parrot’s cage’. Brilliantly put in both words and music!
Next comes Jeremy Pike’s Spring, for recorder, harp and string quartet. The composer, whose daughter is the violinist Jennifer Pike, has cleverly taken the letters in John Turner’s name to “create a theme that reflects the various sounds of the season. The music alludes to the conflicting emotions stirred in the months of March and April.” It is a wonderfully melodic piece. Incidentally, recorder player John Turner features as soloist in every one of the nineteen tracks on this second disc, which showcases his extraordinary facility with the instrument.
The following three pieces are short songs by Pitfield’s friends Nicholas Marshall, Anthony Gilbert and John Turner himself. In the first, Lesley-Jane Roger’s voice and the recorder revolve around each other in the most affecting manner. The second, Anthony Gilbert’s last work, expresses both the importance of breath to sustain life and also to power the wondrous sounds that the tenor recorder can produce, as indeed it does here. The final song by John Turner himself is a truly delightful expression of spring in music, in which dancing rhythms evoke relief after the seemingly endless winter.
The Spring Suite by Richard Pantcheff is in five short movements and despite being a contemporary composition (from 2022), it aims to bring to mind early English and European dance suites with their “lightness, space, and movement” as well as demonstrating the range and abilities of soloist and strings. It is highly successful in fulfilling all its stated aims, not least in demonstrating how versatile the recorder is.
There follow three songs set to poems by William Blake, with Stuart Scott quite magically capturing Blake’s wondrous facility with words. Geoffrey Poole’s Seasons of Mist, for recorder and string quintet, the music for which finally revealed itself to the composer after the worst of the restrictions imposed by Covid-19 following what seemed like a virtual writer’s block. The result appears even more celebratory than perhaps first intended, as he puts it in the notes: “The poignancy of transience blended with the promise of renewal, seems to become more intense with each passing year”. It is divided into three sections: November Dawn, which is superbly atmospheric, the double bass particularly adept at creating the sound picture of swirling mist; Bonfire Night, opening with a jolly, dancing interlude filled with the excitement of anticipation is followed by a slower closing section I took to be depicting the dying embers of the fire, and Autumn Leaves, a reflective piece that bids a fond farewell to autumn and the hope that comes with the feeling that ‘spring cannot be far behind’.
Another piece by Thomas Pitfield follows, the first of two lullabies, a beguiling Carol-Lullaby and then Gordon Crosse’s Lullaby (TBP his goodnight), another bewitchingly gentle song. This second disc closes with Christopher Cotton’s Overture for St. Paul’s which is a suitably delightful and positive note to end on. In fact, all the compositions on the two-disc set are overwhelmingly positive in outlook and bleakness rarely, if ever, gets a look in.
As I said at the outset, the set has introduced me to no fewer than twelve new composers, all British, all hugely talented, whose music is outstanding, uber-tuneful and memorable. Seeking out others of their compositions will be a very worthwhile enterprise. The sound is beautifully clear, which enables the mellifluous sound of the recorder to shine through as an instrument worthy of further exploration, reminding us that we don’t hear it nearly often enough. All the players are exemplary in their musicianship and Lesley-Jane Rogers’ soaring soprano voice is crystal clear and a perfect vehicle for the lovely songs included. Altogether, it is a fascinating and rewarding set and a suitable tribute to polymath Thomas Pitfield as well as his many friends and contemporaries with an appropriately inspired selection of works that illustrate their brilliant compositional skills.
Steve Arloff
Previous review: John France (August 2024)
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CD1
Thomas Pitfield (1903-1999)
Divertimento, for oboe and string trio
John Joubert (1927-2019)
Remember: Scena for soprano, recorder and string quartet, Op 184
E J Moeran (1894-1950)
Fantasy Quartet, for oboe and string trio
Ernst Hermann Meyer (1905-1988)
Now, Voyager: Ode for voice and string quartet
Thomas Pitfield arr. John McCabe (1939-2015)
Three Nautical Sketches, for recorder and string quartet
CD2
Robin Walker (b. 1953)
Parrottry, for recorder and string quartet
Jeremy Pike (b. 1955)
Spring, for recorder, harp and string quartet
Three short songs by friends of Pitfield for soprano and recorder:
Nicholas Marshall (b. 1942)
To a Child Dancing in the Wind (words by W.B.Yeats)
Anthony Gilbert (1934-2023)
A Breath for Life (words by “Anthonymus 2023”)
John Turner (b. 1943)
Spring (words by William Blake)
Richard Pantcheff (b. 1959)
Spring Suite, for recorder and string quartet
Stuart Scott (b. 1949)
Three Blake Songs
Geoffrey Poole (b. 1949)
Seasons of Mist, for recorder and string quintet
Two lullabies:
Thomas Pitfield
Carol lullaby, for soprano, recorder and violin
Gordon Crosse (1937-2021)
Lullaby (TBP his goodnight), for soprano, recorder and violin
Christopher Cotton (b. 1947)
Overture for St. Paul’s, for recorder, oboe and string quartet
Performers:
Richard Simpson (oboe); Benedict Holland (violin); Heather Wallington (viola); Jennifer Langridge (cello); Lesley-Jane Rogers (soprano) John Turner (recorder); Victoria String Quartet; Lauren Scott (harp); Alex Jones (double bass)
