CD REVIEW
– ROGER
QUILTER: COMPLETE PIANO MUSIC.
David Owen Norris, piano
Three Studies,
op.4 / Three Pieces, op.16 / Two
impressions, op.19 /
Four Country Pieces op. 27 Suite
from Where The Rainbow Ends
Hard on the heels
of the Dicky Bird Hop CD
– which I reviewed very
recently in these pages –
comes another from the specialist
EM record company, this one being
wholly devoted to the 20th
century English composer Roger
Quilter.
It is not in fact
a new recording, but originates
from 2004. Unusually, there is no
date of publication provided
either on the disc itself or
within the booklet. However, some
of the descriptive notes were
written by Dr. Valerie Langfield
– who has made a special
study of Quilter – and bear
her copyright date of 2011, so it
would have presumably been
released sometime afterwards.
Having the number CD002, it is
quite probably only the second
item in the company’s
ever-growing catalogue.
The pianist,
well-known soloist, broadcaster
and musicologist David Owen
Norris, has appended some very
extensive information describing
his approach to the performance
of these piano works, which
provides a perceptive insight
into Quilter and his
compositional methodology.
The booklet's
front cover proclaims that the CD
contains the 'Complete Piano
Music of Roger Quilter'. Although
a fine pianist, Quilter left
comparatively little solo music
for the instrument, instead
employing it principally as
accompaniment for the solo voice.
He is best known for his many
songs, each one a finely crafted
miniature with exquisite piano
accompaniments, which sometimes
almost seem to be piano solos in
their own right.
EM Records has
pursued an ongoing policy of
including at least world premiere
recording on each of its
releases, and this CD is no
exception. We thus have Quilter's
piano score of the suite which he
made from his incidental music to
the 1911 fairy-tale play for
children, 'Where The Rainbow
Ends', although this does
differ from the better-known
orchestral suite in a few
respects. It is, therefore, not
simply a piano reduction of the
orchestral parts, but rather a
separate stand-alone collection.
One item not present in the
original suite but making its
appearance here is the
atmospheric Moonlight On The
Lake, in an arrangement by
the composer's great friend from
their music-student days in
Frankfurt, Germany – Percy
Grainger.
I had previously
encountered the Four Country
Pieces Op.27 in orchestral
arrangements made by the late
Ernest Tomlinson for a 1992 Marco
Polo CD featuring compositions by
Roger Quilter, but this is the
first opportunity I have had to
sample the movements in their
original piano guise; it was
interesting to compare the
orchestral and piano versions.
In her very
comprehensive notes about Quilter
and his piano works, Dr.
Langfield makes reference to
'French influences' (Quilter knew
Gabriel Faur?) and also to the
'Brahmsian touches' and 'hints of
Rachmaninov' contained in the Three
Studies.
Conversely, those
who are familiar with the 'Rainbow'
pieces or the Three English
Dances, (arguably the
composer's most familiar
orchestral work), will have
little difficulty in recognising
Roger Quilter's distinctively
English 'musical fingerprints',
which are evident throughout
David Owen Norris's magnificent
performances.
This is a CD of
fine music which undoubtedly
deserves to reach a wider
audience. It may be obtained
directly from EM Records :-
Information: https://www.em-records.com/discs/emr-cd002-details.html
Sales: https://www.em-records.com/purchase/selection.php
? Tony
Clayden 2021
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