Anonymous
Balinese Ceremonial Music
Colin McPhee (1900-1964)
Tabuh-Tabuhan (1936)
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Suite from the Ballet The Prince of the Pagodas, Op. 57, (1954-1956, arr. Donald Mitchell and Mervyn Cooke, 1997)
Benjamin Britten, Colin McPhee (pianos) (Anon)
Elizabeth Burley, John Alley (pianos) (Tabuh-Tabuhan)
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin
rec. 1941, New York (anon); January 2003; Watford Colosseum, London
Presto CD
Chandos CHAN10111 [78]

I have very much enjoyed the recent release by the Hallé and their new Principal Conductor, Kahchun Wong of the complete score of Britten’s The Prince of the Pagodas (Hallé CDHLD7565), expertly reviewed here by Mike Parr (review) and John Quinn (review). Excellent as that disc is, I must admit John’s comment in his review that the score can seem a bit overlong struck a chord with me, and in particular his reference to how the Act III character dances interrupt the narrative flow. Philip Reed’s booklet notes for the Hallé recording point out how musically well integrated into the overall architecture of the score the dances are, but whilst that is an intellectual comfort, it doesn’t negate John’s point. One’s mind can begin to wander here when the complete score is experienced as a concert piece.   

Perhaps conscious of this, but in any event aware of the difficulties the length of the score generally might create for concert performance, Britten hoped to create a suite from The Prince of the Pagodas. This never came to fruition. The composer authorised the publication of a sequence of extracts selected by Norman Del Mar, but this is a rather flawed abridgement in that it omits the second act and thereby the crucial ‘Pagodas’ music. In 1997, Britten scholars Donald Mitchell and Mervyn Cooke compiled a rather more satisfactory suite, which includes arguably all the key music from the ballet and preserves narrative integrity (indeed, some of those Act III dances are included here and work well in this context). In 2003 Leonard Slatkin and the BBC Symphony Orchestra recorded that Suite. Now reissued by Presto Classical under licence from Chandos, it’s a vivid, well played, sonically excellent account, that reminds one of what a brilliant orchestrator and natural dramatist Britten was. The Gamelan inspired music of Act 2’s journey in the Pagoda land especially carries all the exotic force and theatrical effect of the full score, perhaps more so here because of the inherently compressed nature of the Suite. Indeed, having heard the Hallé playing the complete ballet and coming shortly afterwards to this disc, I felt no diminution of experience whatsoever, the BBCSO in fine form and Slatkin purposeful and confident in his overall direction of the piece.

The Suite comes in at just over 51 minutes, under half the length of the full score, and as well as serving Britten’s ambition, it also meant that there was space on the CD for other music. So we have first a fascinating 1941 recording made by Britten and Colin McPhee of the arrangements McPhee made for two pianos of three Balinese pieces. McPhee was pivotal in inspiring Britten’s interest in Balinese music, which eventually led to The Prince of the Pagodas. These arrangements are clever realisations of that indigenous music, and, of course, the historical interest in hearing these two performers is considerable. Incidentally, it’s not just in a two piano version that these pieces work well. If you are at all interested in Balinese music and its influence, I highly recommend the recent album Srikandi from Duo Saraswati (Challenge 72986) where, amongst much else of interest, two of McPhee’s transcriptions are very successfully arranged for cello and piano.

Also included on the disc is a fantastic performance from Slatkin and the BBCSO of McPhee’s Tabuh-Tabuhan. The name of the piece refers to different metric and rhythmic forms in Balinese music and McPhee described it as a toccata for two pianos and orchestra. Think of a concerto grosso with the solo group of two pianos, celesta, xylophone, marimba, glockenspiel and Balinese gongs playing with, or sometimes against, the orchestra. It is a highly successful fusion of Balinese influenced music with western classical forms and extraordinarily forward looking for its time. If one didn’t know the music, then I think one would immediately ascribe the first movement to John Adams, with its driving ostinatos and exotically charged melodies. The nocturne is a beautiful, highly evocative interlude before the mesmerising dance infused Finale where Slatkin and the players seem to be having a ball. There is a typically spectacular sounding Mercury Living Presence recording of the piece by Howard Hanson and the Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra, coupled with important Roger Sessions and Virgil Thomson compositions (Decca 00028948526970) which I love, but this Chandos performance is better played and even better recorded. 

I welcome the return of this disc to the catalogue in 2025 then, which I think remains the only recording of the Mitchell/Cooke arrangement of the Britten. The intelligent programming and excellent performances mean this is a highly attractive complement to the new Hallé complete recording.

Dominic Hartley

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