United Kingdom Oxford Lieder Festival [4] – Venables, Vaughan Williams: Alessandro Fisher (tenor), William Vann (piano), Navarra Quartet. Holywell Music Room, Oxford, 21.10.2022. (JQ)
Vaughan Williams (arr. Iain Farrington) – ‘Lord, Come Away!’ (from Four Hymns)
Ian Venables – Portrait of a Mind, Op.54 (world premiere)
Vaughan Williams – On Wenlock Edge
This live performance was the final of 4 consecutive lunchtime occasions which the Oxford Lieder Festival has promoted in affiliation with BBC Radio 3 beneath the title ‘Vaughan Williams Perspectives’. It included as its centrepiece a brand new track cycle commissioned from Ian Venables by the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society to have a good time the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the composer’s start.
Fittingly, the brand new work was encased by Vaughan Williams’ personal music however the opening piece was introduced in a brand new guise. Four Hymns was accomplished in 1914 and the work, which is scored for tenor accompanied by both string orchestra or by piano with viola obbligato, was scheduled to obtain its first efficiency – within the orchestral model, I presume – at that yr’s Three Choirs Festival. The outbreak of battle and subsequent cancellation of the Festival enforced a postponement and I feel the premiere lastly came about in 1920. In his e-book The Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Michael Kennedy refers to a 1925 live performance at which Steuart Wilson, the dedicatee of the Four Hymns, sang them in a brand new association for piano quintet. Whether that association was made by VW himself I have no idea, however I imagine that the elements are misplaced. The composer Iain Farrington has made a brand new association for a similar forces and, sizzling off the press, we heard one of many Hymns, ‘Lord, Come Away!’ which units phrases by the English divine, Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667). This is an impassioned prayer which VW set to suitably matching music. Alessandro Fisher, a previous member of the BBC’s New Generation Artists scheme (2018-21), made a direct impression. His ringing voice was ideally suited to the music and I used to be impressed by the readability each of his diction and his tone, qualities which have been to be a function of the entire live performance. The melismatic vocal line was fervently delivered and the highest register of his voice was a specific delight to listen to. He was supported in a great vogue by the Navarra Quartet and William Vann. It appeared to me that Farrington’s reimagining of the accompaniment was totally profitable, and I look ahead very a lot to listening to all 4 Hymns in a forthcoming recording by these artists.
On Wenlock Edge (1909) is amongst VW’s most interesting early achievements. His settings of six poems from A E Housman’s celebrated assortment, A Shropshire Lad rank as among the many most impressed of the very many musical responses to that quantity of poetry. As such, the cycle was a great approach by which to conclude this brief sequence of Oxford track recitals celebrating Vaughan Williams. Just a couple of days in the past I had attended a efficiency of the cycle given by James Gilchrist (evaluate). It was fascinating to check the 2 performances in my thoughts. Gilchrist, in fact, has been performing these songs for a few years and dropped at them his huge expertise of them. He additionally dropped at the efficiency his robust operatic pedigree in the best way that he used bodily gestures for instance and illuminate the music. Fisher is a youthful artist. Whilst he might not but have Gilchrist’s lived expertise of the songs, there was a richly rewarding freshness to his method. He was extra restrained in his platform method, letting his facial expressions and voice convey the which means and, on stability, I most well-liked that approach with the music. Furthermore, his voice is a bigger instrument than Gilchrist’s and although he used his undoubted vocal energy with smart discretion in a reasonably intimate acoustic, I preferred very a lot the amplitude which he was in a position to deploy at occasions, although elsewhere he was extraordinarily delicate in his singing. One factor that each artists had in frequent – although they confirmed it in several methods – was an incredible engagement with the texts and their skill to speak Housman’s poetry to the viewers. It could be futile – and presumptuous – to recommend that one efficiency was ‘better’ that the opposite; I used to be simply glad to have the chance to expertise two contrasting and wonderful performances in such a brief area of time.
The instrumentalists introduced an incredible urgency to the opening track, ‘On Wenlock Edge’; the sense of gusts of wind was nearly tangible. Fisher picked up that temper without delay and invested the vocal line and the phrases with related urgency. ‘Is my team ploughing’ is a check of the singer’s skill to characterise. Unsurprisingly and appropriately, Fisher characterised each the useless man and his good friend as younger males. The pallor of singing and enjoying within the verses that articulate the useless man’s questions was ideally judged, as was the extra strong nature of the dwelling man’s responses. The concluding stanzas have been fascinating. In the penultimate verse (‘Is my friend hearty’) Fisher conveyed to an extent that not many singers do, a way of realisation: the useless man has turn into conscious of what has turn into of his good friend and his sweetheart. In the final verse of all (‘Yes, lad, I lie easy’) one usually will get the sense that the survivor feels responsible – a really legitimate method. Here. although, Fisher’s supply recommended that the good friend simply wished to place the reminiscence of his useless good friend behind him: life goes on.
At the guts of On Wenlock Edge lies ‘Bredon Hill’ and VW’s masterly, imaginative musical response to Housman’s story of happiness turning to sorrow. In this efficiency all six musicians labored with notion and ability to unfold a compelling narrative. The instrumentalists have a key position. Not solely do they set the various emotional tones by way of their depiction of several types of bells – marriage ceremony bells, a tolling funeral bell – but in addition, they’ve the accountability of creating the temper at key junctures, not least in portray an aural image of wintry chill because the story takes a tragic flip (‘But when the snows at Christmas’). I assumed that Vann and the Navarra Quartet have been extraordinarily efficient in every little thing that VW referred to as upon them to do. Fisher drew us into the story compellingly. He introduced harmless pleasure to the primary 4 stanzas by which every little thing goes nicely for the younger man and his sweetheart. Then, because the younger bride dies at far too early an age, Fisher expressed the numb shock and grief. Finally, there was ringing anguish as he declaimed ‘O noisy bells, be dumb’. This was a riveting account of an incredible narrative track.
I used to be strongly impressed by all features of this efficiency of On Wenlock Edge. It struck me as a real group effort; there was no sense of the singer merely being accompanied by the instrumentalists. Everyone had labored laborious to penetrate these songs and to convey their imaginative and prescient of them to the viewers. The extraordinarily enthusiastic appreciation the performers acquired was completely justified.
The centrepiece of the programme was the primary efficiency of Ian Venables’ new cycle, Portrait of a Mind. In a programme be aware, Venables referred to VW as a ‘constant companion’ all through his life. He went on to elucidate the title: ‘As a tribute to this great composer, I decided to compose a cycle of songs that would emphasise the principal themes that informed his creativity and thus “paint” a kind of musical portrait in which each song reflects a different aspect of his creative mind … I eventually settled on five poems that highlighted the themes I wished to present, namely: Nature; The Meaning of Art; Love; Death and Transcendence.’ Those who’re accustomed to Venables as a grasp of English track composition will know that he’s wide-ranging and perceptive in his collection of texts. Very appropriately, he selected traces by 5 poets, all of whom had robust hyperlinks with VW in a method or one other: George Meredith, Ursula Vaughan Williams, Robert Louis Stephenson, Christina Rossetti and Walt Whitman. I perceive that it was Venables’ thought to attain the work for a similar forces as On Wenlock Edge. He has used the mix of voice and piano quintet in three of his earlier track cycles, one among which, Songs of Eternity and Sorrow, Op.36, was additionally for tenor.
The new set opens with traces from Meredith’s poem The Lark Ascending. The poem is inscribed within the rating of VW’s celebrated work for violin and orchestra, however Venables sensibly edited the poetry right into a briefer type however in a approach that preserved its necessities. Perhaps inevitably, a solo violin line is outstanding through the instrumental prelude. The music is meditative and slow-moving, steadily constructing in depth. In the center of the track the tempo picks up considerably earlier than returning to the atmosphere of the opening, however this time with extra of a tone of ecstasy; the lark has taken flight. The music on this track was splendidly expressive and the vocal line, fantastically delivered by Fisher, featured lengthy, extremely interesting traces. The cycle was thus most auspiciously launched.
Next got here Man Makes Delight his Own, the poem by Ursula. I realized from the composer’s programme be aware – which was out there on-line, so I might solely entry it retrospectively – that she wrote it in 1953, the yr earlier than she and Ralph married; it was ‘a loving tribute to her future husband.’ Venables clothed Ursula’s traces in gradual, considerate and, finally, rapt music which exerted a robust attraction to me. Equally interesting was Fisher’s singing which communicated each the poem and the music to the viewers with no little feeling. Robert Louis Stephenson’s poems have been set by VW in Songs of Travel. In that occasion, the traveller was on foot; right here Venables selected a unique mode of locomotion with From a Railway Carriage. I had not encountered this 1885 poem earlier than – in passing, I’m wondering if anybody else has set it to music. As the composer feedback, Stephenson right here conveys the joy of a younger baby viewing the world because it speeds by throughout a prepare trip. Naturally, these phrases required – and obtained – way more energetic music. The instrumentalists supplied a robust rhythmic impulsion. It was noticeable, although, that even on this quicker-moving music Venables didn’t compromise on his use of lyrical traces within the vocal half.
Next got here Christina Rossetti, sister of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the poet of The House of Life. Venables chosen Christina’s poem Echo and, as I realized from his programme be aware, there have been compelling causes for this. It appears – and this was information to me – that VW was impressed by this very poem to compose a Symphonic Rhapsody for Orchestra in 1904, the identical yr by which he wrote The House of Life. That rating is now misplaced. The poem is an expression of aching remorse for a useless lover who can now solely be skilled in desires (‘Yet come to me in dreams’). Venables’ musical response to the poetry is acute; the music is gradual and intense. The accompaniment is usually spare and the track makes its influence by way of the ardent vocal line, which was compellingly projected by Fisher. One telling little gesture which I famous was a pause that was made by the instrumentalists earlier than the beginning of the final stanza. I don’t know whether or not that is written into the rating or was an interpretative choice; both approach, it was extremely efficient. This deeply expressive track and efficiency impressed me very a lot certainly.
In getting down to honour Ralph Vaughan Williams by way of a collection of texts it could have been inconceivable for Ian Venables to miss the claims of Walt Whitman. It appeared totally becoming that the concluding track must be A Clear Midnight. As Venables put it, in feedback I learn later, ‘For me, the short lyric A Clear Midnight captures the essence of RVW’s religious convictions and brings the cycle full circle: the liberty of the human spirit symbolised by the lark’s ascent within the first track, is now mirrored by Whitman’s religion within the Soul’s transcendence.’ As I listened, I jotted down my feeling that this track was a gradual, deeply expressive celebration of the inventive bond between VW and Whitman. Yet once more, we heard a splendidly communicative vocal line, made all of the extra communicative by the best way Fisher delivered it. When the expressive prospects of singing had been absolutely explored, Venables handed over to the instrumentalists who introduced each track and cycle to a really satisfying conclusion in a rapt, emotional coda.
These 5 songs represent a really superb and eloquent tribute to VW. Venables has achieved a well-deserved status as a pre-eminent composer of English track and he proved to be, as I had anticipated, a great alternative for this Ralph Vaughan Williams Society fee. The efficiency and the composer acquired a really heat reception from the viewers. If I’ve a criticism of Portrait of a Mind – and it’s a gentle one – I might have preferred to listen to one other track in a fast tempo: 4 of the 5 are at gradual or reasonable velocity. However, that will have meant an additional track as a result of I might not willingly forego any of the 5, and I do settle for {that a} sixth track would have upset the structural design of the work since Ian Venables had perceptively recognized 5 features of VW that he wished for instance. I doubt if the composer might have wished for a greater premiere. All six performers provided us a collective expertise that was dedicated, perceptive and extremely expert. I’m impatient to listen to these songs once more, although I intentionally haven’t sought to listen to them once more earlier than penning this evaluate, in order that I can report right here – for higher or worse – my first impressions.
The live performance was broadcast reside on BBC Radio 3 which signifies that anybody with entry to BBC Sounds will have the ability to hear it for the following thirty days. Even higher information is that Albion Records plan to report all of the music we heard, together with Iain Farrington’s preparations of the remaining three of the Four Hymns. The recording, by at this time’s performers, is scheduled to be made subsequent month with a deliberate launch within the first half of 2023.
Ian Venables’ notes on Portrait of a Mind may be learn right here.
John Quinn