Sir Stephen Hough (b. 1961)
Piano Concerto ‘The world of yesterday’ (2023)
Sonatina nostalgica (2019)
Partita (2019)
Sir Stephen Hough (piano)
Hallé Orchestra/Sir Mark Elder
rec. live, 2024, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester (Concerto); 2023/24, St Silas the Martyr, Kentish Town, London (Sonatina, Partita)
Reviewed as download
Hyperion CDA68455 [40]

Knighted in Queen Elizabeth II’s last Birthday Honours list for services to music, Sir Stephen Hough returns to disc in this record for Hyperion of his own compositions featuring, in pride of place, his new Concerto “The world of yesterday”. I have a few examples of Hough’s concert music on my shelves: for Steven Isserlis, he wrote an elegy for cello and orchestra called “The loneliest wilderness”, recorded by BIS, while Hyperion released his String Quartet No. 1 written for and played by the Takács Quartet; MWI assessed the recording on its release (review).

The Piano Concerto received its premiere only in January 2024 and in this second outing at one of Sir Mark Elder’s very last concerts in charge of the Hallé, Hyperion sent a team to Manchester to get it down on tape. It is a fun piece, very different in character to the more serious pieces I cited above. Its origin lay in music for a film set in the Austrian Alps circa 1930. A baroness resident in a castle has commissioned a young American composer to come over and work on the manuscript sketches her sister made of a composition long ago. The baroness believes her sister, now dead was a genius. It turns out the music is rather second-rate and the benefactor unhinged. The composer, realising that he is in fact imprisoned, manages to escape and eventually makes it back to the US with the music.

The film never made it into production but Stephen Hough, like the male-lead in the film, has rehashed his sketches into something quite special. The piece begins with a lyrical soaring prelude in the manner of Copland’s film music; I’m thinking of Our Town. There are two essential themes: a tender, dreamy tune and an ascending figure first heard in woodwinds. In my opinion, Hough makes a little too much of these rising flourishes; there were a few passages where I thought my telephone was ringing! The music is well constructed, though; tonal and immediately likeable. As you would expect, the writing for piano is expertly crafted. It is virtuosic, intricate and gleaming without being showy and vulgar.

After the themes are laid out, the first movement is launched with a big piano cadenza beginning at 2:15. The writing is rhapsodic and the sound is captured very well by the Hyperion engineers. By 5:11 the big chords settle down and the gentle theme returns transformed and naturally phrased. Hough’s mastery of so many idioms of piano writing is clear. At this juncture, I hear the influence of the great jazz pianist Bill Evans.

Track 2 follows without a break and we are in a sultry, free-flowing waltz. As this section proceeds, there are some wonderful opportunities in the accompanying music Hough writes for the orchestra, particularly the winds. It sounds quite difficult for them, actually, but the Hallé are pros and rise to the challenge marvellously. As track 3 begins, the piano has a duet with xylophone and engages in some Romantic piano concerto figurations. Ravel’s La valse is heard by many as a valedictory piece, depicting an end of era period, similar to that which, I believe, Hough was trying to paint in this work. At 1:50 – 2:15, I can hear the influence of this great piece on Hough. As we reach the climax there is a wonderful passage where principal trumpet (Gareth Small, I think) leads in the final statement of the principal theme, supported by some impressive horn playing from that section.

Hyperion title the whole of track 3 as a tarantella but the dance begins only at 5:15. Hough is fantastic here and Elder follows him with style and panache. It is the best part of the work for me, in the great tradition of Prokofiev and Rachmaninov whilst being completely original. 

I was glad to get to know this piece which, being under 21 minutes in duration, never outstays its welcome and is a great way to sample the considerable talents of one of our national treasures. It feels more like a rhapsody for piano rather than a concerto, although I can see why Hough has named it so. His handling of essentially two distinct motifs and his clever development of them as the piece proceeds follows the customs and conventions of the concerto.

The record continues with solo piano music. The tiny Sonatina is light and charming. The Partita which follows is a more substantial piece, but it too carries no heavy burdens and contains some delightful writing for the instrument. If you are expecting a Bach type Partita, you’ll be surprised. Like the concerto, the piece is nostalgic and I mostly hear French influences. Two of the movements are inspired by the Catalan composer Mompou, who Stephen Hough has played for years and recorded memorably. I believe Hyperion will in the future release more piano music from Stephen Hough. He has written quite a lot of it.

For the Piano Concerto and indeed the lovely Partita, this is a very tempting disc. However, I am troubled by the fact that the total timing is only 40 minutes. When I bought only CDs, this short playing time would have put me off, especially as it is a full-price product. The industry is changing and listeners are buying and listening to music in different ways now from how they did twenty years ago. Hyperion, like all record companies have to respond and indeed are doing. There are still many collectors nonetheless who buy the physical product and a forty-minute CD seems short measure for them.

Wouldn’t it have been amazing had Hough coupled his concerto with a programme of Addinsell, Rózsa and the like? True record collectors will of course know what I am getting at here! Hyperion might even have been persuaded to throw in a little Charles Williams and Hubert Bath in, too, for good measure! Hough’s concerto “The world of yesterday” would have been showcased very well in that line-up. As it is, I am very thankful for what we have. The notes are as usual very good and the art-deco cover art very appropriate.

Philip Harrison

Buying this recording via a link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free

Previous review: Dominic Hartley (February 2025)