SOME NEW MUSIC.*
AFTER the first performances of his Variations on Three Blind Mice in 1901 Mr. Holbrooke was hailed by the Press as " the Richard Strauss of England." This was typically perverse, for the bluff humour of these Variations is far nearer the spirit of true comedy than Strauss' heavy burlesque. With Strauss at his merriest, in Don Quixote, one is always conscious of the clown with the bladder, while Mr. Holbrooke wears his cap and bells with light-hearted exuberance. However, in his use of the orchestra Mr. Holbrooke obviously carries on the Wagner. Strauss tradition.
The Wild Fowl Fantasyi is scored for Bass Flute, Oboe d'amore, Cor Anglais, Alto and Bass Clarinets, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, and Bass Saxophones, Bass Trumpet, Eupho- nium, and Contra Bass Tuba, in addition to the usual strings, wind, and percussion. This array of instruments is not kept idle, and in a pocket score the thirty and more necessary staves, with notes reduced to the size of pinheads and accidentals running amok in every bar, are by no means easy to read. Yet the effort is worth making. If Mr. Holbrooke's work it sometimes ineffective in the concert room, possibly from want of adequate rehearsal, it is at least interesting on paper. He is always alert and original, and though his effects aro often startling, he does not invent new means of expression when old ones will serve. The Wild Fowl music from his operatic Trilogy, The Cauldron of Anwyn, is among his best work. The Fantasy purports to describe first a wild sea and later the flight of sea-birds. Mr. Holbrooke excels in descriptive writing of this type. After opening with an energetic accompanying rhythm on the strings, the first few pages, adapted rather clumsily from their setting in the opera, seem quite meaningless, until, with a motto allegro fuoco, Mr. Holbrooko unchains his forces. Short phrases are tossed from instrument to instrument against a wild rushing passage on the lower strings. A whirling dis- cordant descent on the wood-wind, followed by a sudden pianissimo, leads to a tutti fff, in which the brass maintains its reputation. A page or so later the " wave " motif (an undu- lating figure in 6-8 time) is announced allegro agilato on the strings. This also works to a climax fff, fades suddenly into a motto • (1) The Wild Fowl : Fantasy from the Children of Don. By Josef Holbrooke. Miniature Scot°. London : Goodwin and Tabb. [2s. 6d. net.]—(2) Brontten Overture. By Josef Holbrooke. Miniature Score. Same publisher and price. —(3) Rena and Mrathsprys. Arranged by Josef Holbrooke. Plano Conductor. fanged 6d. net.] Parte. Po. net.] Same publisher.—(4) Nursery Rhymes. Arranged for Pianoforte Duet by Deunla Arundell. With woodcute by Lionel Penrose. Same publisher. 13s. net.)—(5) Bout. By Arthur Msg. Arranged for Pianoforte Duet., with part ad ltb. for Soprano Voice. Same publisher. [6e. net.] -(6) Nightfall. By Patrick Lindley. For 'Tarlton° Solo, Male Chorus, and Pknoforte. Same publisher. [Dr. net.]—(7) Sonata No. 5 foe Violin and Pianoforte. By Francis J. Morgan. Same publisher. [6s. net.) —48) April N ight. By G. H. Clutsam. Piano Solo. Violin and Piano. Smug Orchestra. Murdoch, Murdoch, and Co. [28. net each.]
leggier°, misterioso, and gives place to the wild-fowl theme. Thenceforward the writing is exceptionally fine. This theme, which occurs in some form or other throughout the Trilogy, is lightly scored for four flutes with a wood-wind accompaniment. It weirdly suggests the harsh, screaming flight of sea-birds passing rapidly into the far distance. In the Coda, appropriately enough, the theme is repeated piic mosso on the strings only, gradually growing higher and fainter until it is lost in a shimmer of sound.
The Overture to Bronwen,' the last of the Trilogy, is interesting for technical reasons alone. Briefly, for those who are not familiar with Mr. Holbrooke's work, the plot of The Cauldron of Anwyn is dominated by a cauldron which has as unpleasant qualities as the Nibelung's Ring. In the first part, The Children of Don, this cauldron is stolen from Hell. It is installed in a Druidic temple, and there plays havoc with every one. In the Third Act, Dylan, the hero, is born. He, it is prophesied (the shadow of the Ring grows stronger), will be the greatest warrior in the world. However, in the second part, Dylan, he is killed at the moment when he threatens to develop into a second Siegfried ; and the other characters, if not already dead, do not survive the fall of the curtain. The third part of the Trilogy, Bronwen, deals with much later events. Metempsychosis is dragged in to fill the stage ; the characters are mostly re-incarnations of those in the two previous parts. The themes in Bronwen are also re-incarnations of previous themes. The overture opens with a quiet Andante. After a few horn calls, a peaceful diatonic theme on the strings divided into eleven parts flows pleasantly enough until it is forcibly interrupted by a modified form of the " wave " motif motto agitato. A melodious Larghetto follows for no particular reason, unless it has some dramatic significance, and then a sturdy Welsh folk tune, Maestoso, is played on the wind accompanied by harps. There is an accelerando, and the overture concludes with a vigorous descending phrase of three notes repeated with increasing fury. In form the Bronwen Overture is illogical. (unless, as we have said, it has a dramatic meaning), but the orchestration is undoubtedly effective.
Mr. Holbrooke, with his Celtic sympathies, was in his element when arranging these Scots tune:' for strings, flute, clarinet, horns, and trumpets. Perhaps a simpler harmonization would have been more appropriate, but Mr. Holbrooke's settings are varied and ingenious. Delightfully humorous are Mr. Arundell's arrangements of Nursery Rhymes,' for pianoforte duet with an easy treble. Rather than put old wine into new bottles in the Grainger-Scott manner, Mr. Arundell has preserved the flavour of his vintage by the simplest of means—the old bottle.
Mr. Bliss is an up-to-date revolutionary. He is not content merely to expand and distort old modes of expression until they fit new ideas, as Mr. Holbrooke does ; he prefers to run the risk of an occasional ludicrous failure in his search for new and adequate means of expression. In the present phase of his development he affects the manner of Stravinsky, with a fresh- ness which is entirely individual. The storm music he wrote for Miss Viola Tree's production of The Tempest is a good example of his method. It is scored for tenor and bass voices, trumpet, trombone, piano, six tympani, side drum, tenor drum, big drum, cymbals, and gong. With this extraordinary collection of instruments he obtains an almost perfect expression of his ideas. The result, as only those who have heard it will know, is an uncanny and terrifying realism. His ROUt,s written last year, could be described as an expressive hubbub. The cover design in colours by the late Mr. Lovat Fraser which adorns this arrangement admirably conveys the riotous movement of the music. Rout is, we might say, an artistic combination of Russian ballet with the clamour of actual carnival. The disjointed and meaningless syllables sung by the soprano skilfully suggest an excited and noisy crowd. The harmonies are daring, the rhythms vital and varied. Exhilaration, vacillating movement, kaleido- scopic changes of colour, are the patent qualities of this music. The cleverness of the orchestration is, of course, lost on the pianoforte, but after the tediousness of much modern work this arrangement is most stimulating. It is not great music ; it is music in the prevailing fashion distinguished alone by earnestness and vitality.
Mr. Hadley's Nightfall' is a subdued and effective work. He has relied too much on the intrinsic qualities of the Aeolian mode for obtaining an atmosphere which one sometimes feels reflects more credit on the mode than on Mr. Hadley. The male voice choruses are well written. The original accompaniment is for flute, pianoforte, and strings. In
Mr. Morgan's Sonata f the few passages of real beauty are surrounded by a mire of commonplace writing. Particularly exasperating, when one considers what his work would have been without it, is his persistent use of the facile diminished seventh chord, with its inevitable associations with third-rate opera. A chord of such over-ripe qualities should surely be sparingly used. Modern harmony abounds in more valuable combinations. - The lyrical middle section of the Sonata has a graceful piano accompaniment. Mr. Clutsam's April Night' is a musicianly and melodious Andantino of a popular type. Such musio, one hopes, will eventually displace the ungram- matical and distreasing music frequently heard in restaurants and cinemas. This will be a step towards higher things.
Previous page
