Rumon Gamba and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales present the second volume in their exploration of rarely heard overtures from the British Isles.

Introducing these neglected works, the conductor explains: ‘All the overtures on this disc belong to the period between 1890 and 1945. In this present selection, however, we see perhaps even more clearly the evolution of musical style, and in particular the use of harmony, in the armoury of the British composer.’

He adds: ‘Rather by accident it seems that we have a nautical theme running through the disc (‘Rule, Britannia!’ makes an appearance in two of the overtures!), perhaps the most familiar work being Walton’s Portsmouth Point. I was surprised to find out that there are relatively few recordings of this little masterpiece. Likewise I was amazed to learn that the BBC National Orchestra of Wales had not played the piece for many years. So it made a perfect maritime choice alongside Britannia, The Boatswain’s Mate, Plymouth Hoe, and Tom Bowlin.’

Sound/Video

Paused

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Walton - Portsmouth Point
2

Leigh - Agincourt
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Bowen - Fantasy Overture, op.115
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Smyth - Overture to 'The Boatswain's Mate'
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Ansell - Plymouth Hoe
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Mackenzie - Britannia, op.52
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Coates - The Merrymakers
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Parry - Overture to an Unwritten Tragedy
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Quilter - A Children's Overture
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Foulds - Le Cabaret, op.72a

Europadisc Review

Rumon Gamba and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales follow up their earlier, highly successful disc of Overtures from the British Isles (CHAN10797, released in 2014) with a second volume, and once again it’s a very palpable hit. As before, the chronological range is wide, from late Victorian (Parry and Mackenzie) to the end of World War II (Bowen). The cover artwork features an image of the Long Man of Wilmington in East Sussex, but the dominant (though not exclusive) theme is a nautical one.

The disc gets off to a cracking start with William Walton’s Portsmouth Point, his first acknowledged orchestral work (1924–25). Evoking an 1811 etching by Thomas Rowlandson, it receives a bracing performance, alert and with tight ensemble – all the more remarkable as it had apparently been out of this orchestra’s repertoire for many years. It is followed by Walter Leigh’s splendidly imposing Agincourt Overture, originally titled ‘Jubilee Overture’ for the 1935 celebrations for George V; the title was changed for a 1937 broadcast to mark the Coronation of George VI. It features broad, nobilmente melodies in the style of Elgar, and also includes the 15th-century ‘Agincourt Carol’ which dominates the work’s second half.

York Bowen’s Fantasy Overture, op.115, takes as its point of departure Charles Dibdin’s song ‘Tom Bowling’ from his musical entertainment The Oddities of 1789. Stylistically, it seems to belong to an earlier age (hornpipes abound), but – like so many of the works on this disc – it shows a keen melodic gift combined with highly skilled orchestration, brought vividly to life by Gamba and his forces. A song of quite a different type appears in Ethel Smyth’s Overture to her fourth opera, The Boatswain’s Mate (1914): none other than her March of the Women, which was a rallying call for the suffragette movement. Its rousing strains help set the stage for the humorous battle of sexes that forms the opera’s action, and as a stand-alone piece it is notably spirited.

The nautical theme is most overt in the following two pieces, John Ansell’s Plymouth Hoe (1914) and Sir Alexander Campbell Mackenzie’s Britannia (1894), both of which make liberal use of Thomas Arne’s ‘Rule, Britannia!’. The unashamed patriotism is enough to lift the heart of all but the most hardened sceptic. Infectious high spirits characterise Eric Coates’s ‘Miniature Overture’ The Merrymakers (1923), an outstanding example of his early work, given a lively performance here. It makes for a fine contrast with Parry’s brooding, tempestuous but ultimately uplifting Overture to an Unwritten Tragedy (1893, revised 1905), originally composed for the Three Choirs Festival, and inspired by Shakespeare’s Othello.

The final two items are quite different from anything that has gone before. Roger Quilter’s Children’s Overture (1911–19) is a delightful romp through favourite nursery tunes including ‘Girls and boys come out to play’, Sing a song of sixpence’ and ‘Oranges and lemons’, all gleefully played by the BBC NOW musicians. Finally, John Foulds’s Le Cabaret (c.1921, revised 1934) is a brilliant English-style take on French comic entertainment, originally written as the overture to a Pierrot-play by Sacha Guitry. It’s a lovely, subtly quirky way to end a thoroughly entertaining and varied disc.

The recordings themselves, made in Cardiff’s BBC Hoddinott Hall, are fully up to Chandos’s customary high standards, and the accompanying documentation is exemplary: extensive and detailed notes on each of the works from Lewis Foreman, as well as thoughts from Rumon Gamba himself on the programme itself. With a generous playing time of 81:18, this will delight all lovers of British music.

Reviews

This new Chandos release was hurried into my CD player as soon as it arrived. I was not disappointed. The 46-page album booklet with notes by Lewis Foreman, has quite rightly designated first importance to pictures of Roger Quilter (inside front cover) and Eric Coates (inside back cover). The music of these two composers stands out amongst all the others which is saying a lot because there are some outstanding pieces here. Quilter’s A Children’s Overture has long been a favourite of mine and the BBCNOW delivers an eloquent, charming performance full of childish innocence and glee. How Quilter can suddenly slow the tempo magically to turn his music to golden nostalgia; it makes a tear stand in the eye and the heart stand still. Eric Coates’s very popular The Merrymakers Overture has a similar nostalgic glow. It is a wonderfully happy tune with a lovely middle section taken just a tad too fast here to contrast optimally with the outer jollity. ... A thoroughly enjoyable concert of British light music. Ian Lace (Recording of the Month)

MusicWeb International May 2016