Yes, It's "That" Theme !

This month's free disk with BBC Music magazine is romantic Russian fare. The feature piece is Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini performed live by Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Andrew Davis. Perhaps surprisingly, this is the first recording that I have of this piece. It is a bit of a mystery to me why Paganini's theme has been so attractive to other composers writing variations ( it may have been spoilt for me by a notorious theme tune to a tv arts series ! ) But Rachmaninov's variations stand above all others, particularly because of the master stroke of the inversion variation and the gorgeous melody that it produces. This live recording dates from seven years ago but even then Trpceski demonstrates the promise that he is now beginning to fulfil. The disk also includes Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 3 with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. Not one of the more frequently played of Tchaikovsky's symphonies but shown here to be a solid mainstream work with some typical Tchaikovsky melodies and with some sections reminiscent of Mendelssohn to my ears and demonstrating Tchaikovsky's admiration for the central European school.

The Last Real Rock Band ?

It is always silly to make absolutist statements and calling the Clash the last real rock band is obviously an absolutist statement. Open to all sorts of challenges of course and there has been rock music made since that I have enjoyed but it is a statement that reflects my basic feeling. Punk rock really did blow away a lot of the pretensions of rock music and create a new year zero, so it is ironic that the Clash's finest moment is a subsequent album that had nothing to do with punk, London Calling. On vinyl in those days and released as a double album, therefore being criticised for being sprawling and unfocused, it now fits happily on a single cd and doesn't feel in any way overlong. As with any album, some tracks are more essential than others but there are no real weaknesses. There are some damn good tunes and singalongs and lyrically it hits hard at the emerging Thatcherite ethos. Influences range from rockabilly to reggae but remain dinstinctly local, this is a London band that has yet to go global as it later would. One reason for describing the Clash as the last real rock band is the way in which the four members all contributed hugely to the group sound and in their own way were each indispensable. Topper Headon drove the rhythms with a ferocity and precision that few matched, while also being able to supply the subtlety required of the band's forays into reggae. Paul Simonon completed a fine rhythm section and began to supply songwriting and vocal asides too, while the core of the band remained the tensions between the Lennon / McCartney dichotomy of Mick Jones and Joe Strummer. The one supplied the musical chops and the other the street cred and outlaw chic. Naive, heart on sleeve, contradictory; the Clash were all of these things but remained a beacon for an under represented section of British youth and have left a lasting legacy and sense of loyalty.

Belated But Well Deserved Exposure

Imogen Holst is of course remembered as the daughter of Gustav who worked as an invaluable aide to Britten and as a gifted administrator at such prestigious locations as Dartington and Aldeburgh. But throughout her life she composed very fine chamber music and it is a delight to have this disk by Court Lane Music of String Chamber Music to set the record straight to at least some extent. The pieces range in date of composition from 1928 to 1982 ( giving some kind of numerical symmetry there ! ) Court Lane Music consist of five musicians ( violin, viola, two cellos and piano ) who perform the works in various combinations and it is pleasing that their initiative in recording and releasing this disk on their own label has been rewarded with recognition in music magazine awards and critical acclaim. As well as numerical symmetry, the works follow other chronological patterns. The earliest piece, the Phantasy Quartet, has an undoubted English pastoral feel akin perhaps to Vaughan Williams or even her father. While the latest work, a String Quintet, also has its inspiration in nature with a programmatic journey of the Thames from Cricklade to London and the changing landscape that accompanies it. In between, the works are spikier and are far from oblivious to the modernist influences that she came into close contact with during her administrative working life. Books could be written about the difficulties of being a woman composer in the classical / serious music world and it is in many ways scandalous that this disk represents world premiere recordings of this thoroughly admirable music which should have been much more widely known much earlier. But it is certainbly good to have it now available and it is to be hoped that it will now be played more often in a live context.

Passion Beneath The Surface

This disk of late Stravinsky sandwiches the ballet music Agon between two sacred choral works, Canticum Sacrum and his very final completed work Requiem Canticles. The performers are the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart with chorus master Celso Antunes and the SWR SO Baden Baden and Freiburg conducted by Michael Gielen. Soloists in the Canticum are tenor Christian Elsner and baritone Rudolf Rosen. Rosen is a soloist as a bass in the Canticles together with mezzo soprano Stella Doufexis. Canticum Sacrum shows Stravinsky adopting elements of twelve tone serialism which fitted in well with his late move away from the sensual to the abstract. The piece is also representative of his late return to the Russian Orthodox faith but again in an ascetic rather than passionate way. Agon is also in this vein, achieving a completely abstract and non-programmtic ballet that mixes tonality and twelve tone technioques. There are also references back to 17th century French dance within the music. The final Requiem Canticles ultimately became his own requiem and is concise in form, including only parts of the traditional requiem mass. At this late stage, there are features of Russian traditional liturgy and national symbols and a fairly recognisable quotation right back to the Rite of Spring. The deep feeling beneath the abstract surface is here apparent. Rarely performed works given exemplary performances by the German forces assembled here.

Spanning The Centuries

The vocal ensemble The Orlando Consort put together intriguing projects for their recorded output. The thrust of this disk, Scattered Rhymes, is early 14th century choral music of astonishing rhythmic ingenuity and radical harmonic language, together with two contemporary composers' take on it. The main 14th century work in question is Messe De Nostre Dame by Guillaume De Machaut. Filled with extremes of dissonance and passion, it is still an outstanding and most individual work, here given a performance by the Consort that more than does it justice. The title track of the disk is a response to this sound world by US based British composer Tarik O'Regan, who manages to combine the sound world and rhythms of De Machaut with a genuinely contemporary feel, somewhat minimalist in style without going to repetitive extremes. On this track, The Orlando Consort are joined by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir under director Paul Hillier and the two ensembles combine wonderfully with overlapping lines of music. O'Regan also offers his variation on another secular theme by De Machout, Douce dame Jolie, while fellow Brit Gavin Bryars is represented with a fine piece titled Super Flumina and the 14th century's side of the concept is held up by Dufay's Ave Maria Celorum.