b
Y
Enterprise in the
concert hall
HE concert heard last Satur-
ting
to
compare Bax’s
-
achieve-
day in the Civic Hall was ment in his fourth Symphony
perhaps the most important one with Stravinsky’s in his Symby the Guildford phony of Psalms, especially -as
‘lever given
Philharmonic Orchestra (or the they were both written at about
Guildford Municipal Orchestra, the same time (1930-31).
to give it its former name). The . It is significant that StravinHandley, sky wrote on the score “composed
VYernon
conductor,
‘brought to the Guildford public to the glory of God and dedica~
major ted to the Boston Symphony
two
time
first
for the
works, each of which gains in Orchestra”—not, you may notice,
dedicated to the Boston Choral
stature on repeated hearings.
Society. Stravinsky is primarily
" This should be made par- an instrumental composer, and
ticularly easy in the case of like Beethoven he treats the
Arnold Bax’s 4th Symphony in voice merely as another instruE flat, as it was recorded in ment. He uses a most unusual
the Civic Hall last Sunday, and combination of instruments to
the disc should be on sale in achieve what he wants: there are
the shops in time for Christ- no strings above the cellos, and
mas.,
no clarinets, but plenty of wind
! This exhilarating symphony, instruments, and two pianos.
‘one of seven written between
BOLD COLOURS
the two world wars, was first
I know of no other piece of
Francisco religious music written this cenSan
in
performed
| under Basil Cameron. It is a tury in which the instrumenta{ work of massive proportions, and tion is responsible for such a
uses a large orchestra including concentrated feeling of despair
in fact the seven and praise. And the despair and
an organ;
{horns, the three trombones and praise are not of the superficial
two tubas
ithe
proved
be “Help me, Lord; thank you God
to
rather too much for the Civic for everything' . variety, nor
‘Hall in terms of sheer volume even straightforward muscular |
cof sound. But Bax never uses his Handelian chorus work, but
r improper reasons: somethng far more meaningful |
fis
i
big
ent. to contemporary society; it is a
rdil
spiritual con-
kind of
:
__fashi
inets, for
the lyrical
despite
sm that imbues the
whole work. =
3
i
- CLEAR FORM '~
There
influences
appear
in
to be
this
many
symphony—
I heard reminiscent snatches of
Dvorak, for example, in the first
Sibelian derivation
movement;
is less obvious, but the finale
a strong flavour of Delius.
has
The Englishry of Elgar and
Vaughan Williams is not here,
sustained
1 between the music
Mass, despite
minor
B
and the
its short duration of 20 minutes.
1 have no doubts about the
ereatness of The Symphony of
go|yti
Psalms, and it may well become
" the
work
by
which futurej.
generations will remember and
venerate Stravinsky. =
The performance was not without faults, but these were minor
The Festival Cholr, in
ones.
tackling their most challenging
piece so far, did a magnificent
job, the men’'s “laudate,” for
instance, in the last movement,
nor the romanticism of 19that the
century German composers, but and the altos’ *“Exaudi”
The
could the symphony have been pbeginning of the work.
at
quite the same without the orchestral ensemble was good
was
balance
the
and
points,
potent influence of early Stravin- most
sky?
A
point
stressed
phonies
that
that
is
are not
needs
to
right, apart from a slight weak-
be ness in the tenors in sore of the
Bax's sym- louder passages.
The other work, which opened
formless in
structure. The programme-notes the concert, wag Boris Blacher’'s
Variations on & Theme of
Paganini, The theme is the
Julian Herbage's proquoted
nouncement: “Bax’s form has
always been clear and based on
a true development of classical
tradition.” This needed saying
again, as this is not at all the
Bax's
of
conception
popular
music.
This music is not obvious or
familiar one used
by -— among
others — Rachmaninov, in his
variations for piano and orchestra. The original statement of
-egy
this theme by solo violin withi- :
out
any
accompaniment
is,
think, a mistake on the com-
stylistically it
predictable, but it is not diffi- poser's part, as
to what
cult to listen to either, and its bears little resemblance
d it
exuberance follows, and unaccompanie
of
weight
sheer
has Brahmsian or
carries all before it. Neverthe- inevitably
ions.
less it needs to be heard more Rachmaninovesque associat
The variations are good fun
than once, and, as it is an explayed.
well
they were
pensive item to put into a con- and
brass is not
cert, most people have never Blacher's use of the
but his rhythms are
subtle,
very
to
getting
had the chance of
know it.
The
performance
was
im-
ingenious and sometimes jazzy.
1 particularly took to a 7/8
variation.
The precision of the
pressive. Bax may be unfash- orchestra was, as usual, of a very
ionable, but if more perform- high order..
‘
ances like this are given, or
The orchestra was led Dby
recorded, he is hound to make William Armon and among many
a comeback before long.
“extrag” were Mary Rivers at the
And audiences do like him; organ and piano, and Kathleen
very Dunn-Davies at the piano and
looking
Handley,
Mr.
weary at the end of the con- the celesta. The concert was the
in the ‘“enterprising”
cert (he was suffering from fourth
flu). was called back by the series to be given, and the first
audience to take a bow no less this season. A programme which
made no ‘‘popular concessions”
It is interesting and illumina- almost filled the hall—C.C.
than five times.
:
|
S=PN
==