CD REVIEW
– RAVEL/BERKELEY/POUNDS :
ORCHESTRAL WORKS
SINFONIA OF LONDON
JOHN WILSON
CHANDOS
CHSA 5324 [65’50”]
Having proved
themselves as prime purveyors of
Ravel's compositions in 'Ravel:
Orchestral Works' and 'Daphnis et
Chloé' (both reviewed on
these pages), John Wilson and his
super orchestra open this album
with the Gallic composer's
elegant Le Tombeau de
Couperin (16’28”).
Ravel (1875-1937) contributed
masterpieces in many forms and
this was originally written
between 1914 and 1917 as a suite
for piano, two hands. He was
inspired by the style of
François Couperin, a French
baroque composer. The orchestral
version heard here, prepared in
1919, includes four of the
original six movements. Each was
dedicated to the memory of a
friend of the composer (or in one
case, two brothers) who had died
fighting in World War 1.
The second work is
Divertimento
(18’12”) by Oxford-born
Sir Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989).
He studied with his friend Ravel
and his music reflects his
mentor's regard for melody, which
is immediately appealing. The
piece is dedicated to Nadia
Boulanger, French music teacher,
composer, conductor and organist.
(Interestingly, the composer's
eldest son Michael is presenter
of the popular Sunday programme
'Private Passions' on BBC Radio
3.)
Sir Lennox was a
Professor of Composition at
London's Academy of Music from
1946 until 1968 and had a private
student for three years, one Adam
Pounds (b 1954), who provides
this release's third and final
work: Symphony No.3
(30’54”), written as
recently as 2021. It is a
première recording, made in
November 2022, with JW and the
SoL the dedicatees. These days
your reviewer has become doubtful
of new classical works being
tuneful, but found this a very
satisfying listen. The third
movement, Elegy –
partly influenced by Anton
Bruckner, whose two hundredth
anniversary of his birth is
coincidentally celebrated this
year – was written at the
height of the Covid pandemic and
dedicated to all those who had
lost their lives as a result of
what was happening in the world.
Led by John Mills,
I can imagine the SoL's high
calibre players enjoyed making
this disc, especially giving us
more opportunities to admire
their trademark lush string
sound.
Faculty of Arts
Professor at Nottingham
University, Mervyn Cooke, the
author of a number of books on
music, provides very interesting
and enthusiastic liner notes
about the connections between
mentor and pupils evident in this
release.
Who would doubt
that the album out in February
will not still be up there among
the year's best come December?
©
Peter Burt, January 2024
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