Ernest John MOERAN (1894-1950)
Symphony in G minor (1937) [44'30"]
Sinfonietta (1944) [23'03"]
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by David Lloyd-Jones
Recorded in the Wessex Hall, Poole Arts Centre, Dorset, England; June 2001
NAXOS 8.555837
England, famously the "Land Without Music" produced a surprising rash of
symphonists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Parry has had a
recent renaissance and Vaughan Williams' and Elgar's symphonic outputs
are well-known. All credit is due to Naxos for commissioning exploration
of the lesser known corners of the genre. Their recent recording of the
4th symphony of Bax [Naxos 8.555343] with the Royal Scottish National
Orchestra under David Lloyd Jones was reviewed a few months ago, and
this new release brings the listener into even less familiar territory.
E J Moeran is best known as a composer of charming songs in English,
mostly for voice and piano but with several sets of popular choral songs
in regular use as well. He was a great traveller in the British Isles
and a friend of Phillip Heseltine (known as a Peter Warlock when
composing) and the two of them spent much time in the English and Irish
countrysides. The G minor symphony was commissioned by the great Ulster
musician, composer and conductor Hamilton Harty and has been described
as "one of the finest pieces of nature music ever written". This is not
to say that there is any attempt at programmatic writing; the work is
resolutely symphonic in its conception, cast in the traditional four
movements - all of some breadth of scale. Moeran uses elements of Irish
and Norfolk folk songs as his basic material and manages to combine this
material with skilful orchestration and symphonic development to create
an evocative and atmospheric account of the British countryside without
recourse to mere depiction. It is an eminently listenable symphony in
the late symphonic mould clearly showing certain debts to Vaughan
Williams, Sibelius and even Mahler in places.
The Sinfonietta of 1944 (not 1940 as stated on the back of the CD) is a
very different work. Properly it could be considered as Moeran's "2nd
Symphony" although the title Sinfonietta is his own. It is cast as a set
of symphonic variations, by which structure Moeran was attempting to
forge new forms and develop new ideas for working within the symphonic
framework. The orchestration is fairly lean and the resulting sense of
clarity is well brought across in the Bournemouth orchestra's reading of
it. The final extended movement, marked Allegro risoluto, provides a
fitting opportunity for the orchestra to show its mettle and David
Lloyd-Jones, who clearly has an empathy with this period of English
music, drives the orchestra on with tightness and precision. The
recording is well balanced and clear and shows the Bournemouth Orchestra
in better shape than they have been for some years. It is to be hoped
that this continues, lest they go the way of their unfortunate
colleagues at the now-defunct Bournemouth Sinfonietta.
((c) Peter Wells 2002)
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