MALCOLM WILLIAMSON - a 70th Birthday Tribute by Paul
Conway
Malcolm Williamson, Master of the Queen's Music, Died on
Sunday March 2nd 2003, aged 71
List of Works Photo
gallery
Photo credit John Carewe courtesy of
Boosey&Hawkes
Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson was born in Sydney on November
21st 1931. He studied piano, violin and french horn at the Sydney
Conservatorium. Later, his composition teachers were Sir Eugene Goosens,
Erwin Stein (an ex-pupil of Schoenberg) and Elizabeth Lutyens. Since the
age of 18 he has lived in Britain, though frequently visited other European
countries (encountering the music of Boulez in Paris) and America. In his
early years in Britain he worked in a publishing house and as an organist
and choirmaster before concentrating on composition. As a young aspiring
composer he experimented with the 12-tone serial technique, became interested
in medieval music and discovered an affinity with the compositions and philosophy
of Olivier Messiaen not long after his conversion to Catholicism in 1952.
Thus, when his own music began to be recognised as a powerful individual
voice in the mid-1950s, he had already immersed himself in various trends
and influences. From 1958 he began to earn a living as a night club pianist
and this had a major impact on his attitude to popular music which he has
always produced, sometimes simultaneously with intensely serious religious
works, a juxtaposition which has occasionally baffled his critics. Malcolm
Williamson's many compositions range from full scale operas, symphonies,
choral, vocal, chamber and keyboard works to church music, film music and
music for children. In the 1950s, it was the help of Sir Adrian Boult and
Benjamin Britten that enabled his first works to be published. A steady flow
of commissions followed. In 1975 he was appointed 19th Master
of the Queen's Music, succeeding Sir Arthur Bliss and in 1976 he was created
CBE. Latterly, due to ill health, his output has become less prolific yet
1995 saw a beautiful song cycle for soprano and orchestra premiered at the
Proms: "A Year of Birds" is an evocative song cycle to poems by Iris Murdoch.
Though his interest in writing occasional pieces for the Royal family has
clearly waned over the last two decades, he was moved to write a work in
memory of his friend Sir Harold Wilson which received its first performance
in 1995. With such a rich and diverse body of work to choose from, it is
difficult to single out individual works. The following selection is a mixture
of significant compositions in Malcolm Williamson's development as a composer
and examples of his best work in all genres.
Malcolm Williamson's First Symphony is entitled 'Elavimini' (the Latin
for 'be ye lifted up' taken from Psalm 24). It was written between 1956 and
1957 and is scored for 2 flutes (piccolo), 2 oboes (cor anglais), 2 clarinets
(bass clarinet), 2 bassoons (contrabassoon), 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones,
tuba, timpani, percussion and strings. 'Elevamini ' is an astonishing achievement
for a composer in his early twenties: apart from the technical skills evident
in the scoring and architecture of the symphony, the emotional depth and
spiritual maturity apparent in the personality behind the work is remarkable.
Created in response to the death of the composer's maternal grandmother (the
score is inscribed 'in memoriam M.E.W.'), the piece takes the form of a requiem
with a light, lively middle section encased by two probing Lentos (a structure
he would repeat in his equally profound Violin Concerto of 1964). The symphony
lasts about 25 minutes.
The Lento first movement is divided into four parts. The opening section
begins with imposing dissonant tutti chords representing the passage in Psalm
24 where the gates of brass of the New Jerusalem are raised to receive a
new soul. These chords make an arresting opening to the symphony, resembling
the 'Fire' chords which recur in the Ritual Dances from Michael Tippett's
'A Midsummer Marriage'. The Dances were first performed in 1953 and the opera
in 1955 and the 'Fire' chords may possibly have found their way into Malcolm
Williamson's imagination. The first section of the Lento continues
with the progress of the soul depicted by the string section in hushed
interweaving counterpoint. An important falling motif in the first violins
emerges five bars after fig 1. It bears a striking resemblance to a haunting
descending motif on cor anglais in the final movement of Mahler's Ninth Symphony
just before the start of the closing Adagissimo section and the
valedictory nature of such an association is poignantly appropriate. Stomping
lower string chords and semitonal clashes in the violin parts create a mounting
feeling of restless anguish. The 'Mahler' motif is repeated ever higher in
the first and second violins until they ascend to the very edge of inaudibility.
The second section contains memorable vaulting, arch-like arpeggiated woodwind
figures over scrunched semitonal conflicts on violin chords. The third section
(largo marziale) is a solemn funeral march which rises in fugal complexity
and increases in intensity as instruments are added to the texture. At the
climax of this section, the 'gates of brass' chords reappear (quadruple forte,
sounding like the Last Trump). The fourth and final section of the first
movement, Andante lento, provides serene and hushed repose. The 'gates
of brass' chords are transfigured into a rhythmic motif which appears on
violins and bassoons both in their highest registers. The 'Mahler' motif
returns as a flute solo, espressivo. The movement ends with muted strings
sounding the 'gates of brass' from afar.
If the Allegretto central movement is meant to depict the joy of the
Angels and the Saints at the arrival of a new soul, they also resemble latter-day
Saints as there is a distinctly Coplandesque quality about this movement
with its dancing arpeggios. These arpeggios are a transformation of the arch-like
woodwind figures from the start of the previous Lento movement's second
section, whilst the 'gates of brass' chords are transmuted into punchy, accented
tutti chords that momentarily stem the flow of the undulating texture. The
complexity of the interweaving lines of the preceding movement is replaced
by a more straightforward tonality and the time signature is an unchanging
3/8, though cross rhythms lend a syncopated feel to the movement. The Trio
section takes the form of a long-breathed benediction for the violins and
divided cellos over which the flutes continue the scherzo theme. The scherzo
reprise is varied, the textures thinning out until three final, emphatic
tutti strokes.
The Finale, Lento assai, is conceived in terms of blocks of slow and
fast sections though the rhythm remains unvaried. The slower section consist
of an evermore insistent muted trumpet call cutting through multi-layers
of Messiaen-like woodwind lines. The faster sections echo the first Danse
Sacral from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, an apt reference as the ritual and
dance elements of the Stravinsky ballet score complement Elevamini 's ecstatic
dances of the angels and saints as the soul is accepted into their celestial
number. The 'gates of brass' chords return, leading to an extended dance
section which has something of the cosmic explosiveness of a symphonic movement
by Robert Simpson. The side drum beats out the predominating dance rhythm
of the Finale and the work ends with the divided string section playing a
seemingly endless chord stretching out into Infinity.
The importance of Elevamini in the Williamson oeuvre cannot be overstated.
It was the first large-scale orchestral composition of his maturity as a
composer and the piece reveals the Williamson style burgeoning out of his
early influences - the Second Viennese School, Stravinsky and Messiaen, with
a dash of Britten and Tippett. The idea of a first symphony based on such
solemn inspiration and its unusual slow-fast-slow sequence of movements may
have militated against the success of Elevamini , though John McCabe adopted
a similar structural layout of movements for his elegiac First Symphony in
1965 without harm. Perhaps in mid-1950s Britain, conservative elements in
the Musical Establishment were not prepared to accept Williamson's vision.
In any event, the work was not taken up until Sir Charles Groves and the
RLPO nearly 20 years after its composition when they recorded it on an
EMI LP (SLS 5085), a performance which deserves an immediate
CD release. Ironically the work enjoyed critical acclaim on the release of
the LP not accorded to the Williamson works of the late 1970s. Today, the
symphony stands up as an astonishingly original first example in the genre,
serving notice that Malcolm Williamson was not going to be a traditional
symphonist!
One of the composer's most approachable orchestral works, the Overture
'Santiago de Espada' of 1957 is a delight and would make the perfect
curtain raiser to any concert. Its format adheres closely to the traditional
Overture with a martial introduction given to timpani and percussion leading
to the Allegro first subject, a rousing, emphatic rallying cry for
trumpets, as chevalric in tone as the Agincourt Overture by Walter Leigh
or the music for Henry V by Walton. This first subject theme, suggesting
St James inspiring the Spaniards to victory in battle is elaborated in a
syncopated, jazzy style: typical Williamson. A ritardando leads to the regal
second subject, a noble theme depicting St James lying in a marble ship.
This melody, first heard on second violins and joined by first violin with
a solo horn descant, is a greatly deconstructed, serene version of the first
subject. The first oboe continues the theme, followed by trumpet supported
by first oboe and clarinet with piccolos, flutes and violas giving out a
celebratory peal of bells. The Allegro first subject bursts in along
with the percussion from the introduction. Soon the horns intone the second
subject on top in dazzling counterpoint, reaching a triple forte climax
before the percussion powers the overture to a spectacular conclusion. Perfectly
paced and thrillingly scored, the Santiago de Espada Overture is sorely neglected
by concert promoters and record producers alike - an oversight for which
the music loving public is all the poorer. It too was included on the deleted
EMI LP SLS 5085 with the RPLO conducted by Sir Charles Groves.
The Piano Concerto no 2 (1960) represents the composer at his most
brilliantly playful. It is scored for piano and strings only and is dedicated
to Elaine Goldberg. The first subject of the opening Allegro con
brio has a 'cat and mouse' quality about it with the piano as scuttling
mouse and the strings as the pouncing cat. The second subject (in fourths)
is a witty amalgamation of the oriental and the tango. It recurs near the
end of this brief movement, fortissimo and tenuto, ironic and
magnificent, before the piano and second violins shoot up (via some dominant
sevenths) to a dead halt. The following Andante lento begins with
muted strings ushering in an extended canon of solemn beauty. The piano joins
in. There is a brief pause and a series of ethereal broken chords introduce
the second subject, characterised by rippling piano arpeggios and tutti upper
strings in a chant-like melody. The piano takes up the chant, building a
crescendo of considerable intensity which leads to a brief but brilliant
cadenza. The first subject, now bathed in a half-light provided by
tremolo upper strings, returns in the lower strings. The piano takes
it up and the textures become increasingly delicate until…the Allegro
con spirito Finale bursts in with all the brilliance of A major. If the
first movement was 'Tom and Jerry', this is outright slapstick comedy with
a Keystone Kops first subject and an 'off-key' waltz for a second subject.
The first subject gains a Rachmaninov-like string theme which is taken up
by the piano and gains some triplets. After a reprise of the opening material,
the 'Rachmaninov' theme is given the full Romantic treatment where it rises
above the level of its cliché status as surely as the ending of Malcolm
Arnold's Fifth Symphony transfigures its own 'cliché theme. There
is a mad dash for the finishing line.
The Shostakovich-like wit on display in the outer movements would make this
concerto one of the most enjoyable in the repertoire. Sadly, of course, it
isn't in the repertoire, at least in Britain, which is unaccountable and
a great shame. Displaying the same raucous good-humoured fun as that of most
of the Malcolm Arnold concerti, the Williamson Second Piano Concerto needs
to be rescued from its undeserved obscurity and brought before a public who
will be amazed to find that so much fun can be had from a
late-20th Century concerto. The beautiful central Andante
provides a perfect contrast and ensures the frolics do not become tiresome
- a moment of deeply felt calm between two circus acts of infectiously cheerful
vulgarity. The Piano Concerto no 2 was released on a long-deleted EMI
LP EMD 5520 with Gwenneth Prior as soloist with the English Chamber
Orchestra under Yuval Zaliouk. The LP also included the Concerto for Two
Pianos and Strings of 1972 and the string orchestra version of the
Epitaphs for Edith Sitwell (1966).
In 1960, the composer wrote his first film score for Hammer Productions:
The Brides of Dracula, the company's first sequel to the international
successful 'Dracula' of 1958. The composer showed himself to be adept at
creating a powerfully atmospheric soundtrack without drawing attention away
from the film's action. The opening title seqeunce is available on a
GDI CD (GDICD002). The composer returned to Hammer for two
more films, Crescendo (1969) and The Horror of Frankenstein,
though neither of these productions had the style and prestige of the initial
project. The title sequence of Crescendo is available on GDICD005
and the music for The Horror of Frankenstein's opening credits appears on
GDICD011. The latter film is also available on Video (Warner Home
Video Horror Classics S039135). Twenty four years after The Brides of
Dracula, Williamson found himself supplying the music for another Peter Cushing
film, The Masks of Death. Cushing and John Mills make a somewhat ancient
Holmes and Watson in this Tyburn production, but the score is first rate.
The final march as Holmes drives up to Buckingham Palace in a coach and horses
to receive the "signal honour" of his knighthood is splendidly Elgarian with
a dash of Walton thrown in. It was used again for the title theme of Peter
Cushing's life story 'A One-Way Ticket to Hollywood' and is proof
that Malcolm Williamson's melodic gifts have never deserted him. The Masks
of Death is available on an Art House Production video (AHF 2027)
and One-Way Ticket to Hollywood is released by Encore Entertainment
(encore@enc.co.uk).
Malcolm Williamson originally designated his Sinfonia Concertante
as Symphony no 2, but owing to the concertante nature of the solo instruments
of three trumpets and piano as distinct from the string orchestra, he changed
the title. Begun in 1958 and finished in 1961, this piece is dedicated to
the composer's wife. Each of the three movements bears a religious
superscirption. The first movement, 'Gloria in excelsis Deo', begins with
a chanting motif played by the piano over held three-part trumpet chords.
After their imposing opening statement, the strings initiate a driving pulse.
This pulse continues throughout the movement which is in sonata form. The
central Andante lento remains in 3/8 throughout and is constructed
in one long-breathed arc, building up in complexity and richness only to
fall away to a restful conclusion. The Presto Finale harps on F sharp,
exploiting the bright colours of trumpet, piano and strings. A Rondo with
variations to its recurring material, the Presto contains a piano
cadenza with trumpet interjections. A slow epilogue almost achieves the status
of another slow movement, reviewing the harmonic, rhythmic and colouristic
elements of the work and bringing the piece to a satisfying close. The Sinfonia
Concertante featured on the EMI LP SLS 5085 with Martin Jones
as pianist with the RLPO under Sir Charles Groves.
Commissioned by William Glock for the Proms, the Organ Concerto of
1961 is dedicated to Sir Adrian Boult who conducted the first performance.
A celebration of the dedicatee, the work's unchanging time signature in each
of the three movements was allegedly a response to a plea from Lady Boult
to refrain from a surfeit of metric variety. To compensate for this, Malcolm
Williamson concentrates on rhythmic diversity with the use of cross rhythms
in particular characterising the piece. It emerges as one of the most
life-affirming and idiosyncratic of the Williamson orchestral works. The
first performance of the concerto took place at the Royal Albert Hall on
8th September 1961 with the London Philharmonic under Adrian Boult
and the composer himself as soloist.
The opening movement begins with a cadenza (Andante quasi recitativo)
on the notes ACB (the thematic germ for the whole concerto) for timpani over
bass drum pointed up by harp and organ chordal eruptions from the brass.
The character of the movement is that of a ritual dance or even a Dance of
Death with the soloist as a gleeful Satan. Throughout the movement, the majority
of the strings play pizzicato, only four violas and two double basses being
permitted to use their bows. The woodwind section is silent throughout.
The central Largo sostenuto is scored for strings alone. It provides
a necessary core of repose in an otherwise highly exuberant and extrovert
work. The Largo is characterised by an extended unison melody for
strings as well as divisi string writing. An extended and challenging
organ cadenza follows, adding necessary structural balance in that it lends
weight to the Allegro Finale to match that of the first movement.
The Finale marks a return to the volatility of the opening movement, accumulating
motifs and effects from earlier sections of the concerto. It is scored for
full orchestra and the woodwind are finally allowed full reign. A climax
is reached in which the main motif of the work (ACB) reaches its apotheosis
in a broad and noble melody, capping the concerto with an affirmative and
jubilant conclusion. The Organ Concerto was recorded in 1975 by Lyrita
with the composer as soloist with Sir Adrian Boult and the LPO (SRCS
79). Sadly this recording, along with so many other riches in the Lyrita
vaults, is currently unavailable.
The Third Piano Concerto (1962) was commissioned by the Australian
Broadcasting Commission and is dedicated to John Ogdon who gave the first
performance of the work with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Joseph Post.
The Allegro first movement begins with the chordal main theme on solo
piano over accompanying horns and strings. The song-like second subject is
a reconstructed version of the first subject. It is heard on clarinet, then
piano and finally divided amongst the orchestra. This opening movement is
entitled 'Toccata' owing to the diversity of touch required of the pianist
and also because of the driving rhythms which permeate it. The following
Scherzo falls into four parts: the first is a fluent and ascending melody;
the second an oppressive dance in 10/6; the third a return to the first section
and the fourth section the culmination of the movement where all the previous
material collides and reaches a violent apotheosis. The slow movement, marked
Molto largo e cantando resides within a flowing 3/2 time signature.
Inward-looking, this weighty movement is the emotional core of the Concerto,
its opening cantillena for piano establishing the mood of restrained lamentation
whilst the shattering brass motifs introduce a more agonised form of grief,
close to raging despair. In the cadenza, calm is restored before the daylight
breaks in with the Ben Allegro Finale. The orchestration and metres
of the first movement are recalled and the soloist goads the orchestra with
its ebullience restored towards ever-greater feats of rhythmical dexterity.
Metrically inventive and melodically attractive, the concerto finds the composer
at his most uninhibited. It was coupled with the Organ Concerto on the
Lyrita release SRCS 79 when the composer played the solo part
with the LPO under Leonard Dommett.
Malcolm Williamson was asked to write an organ piece for the new cathedral
at Coventry in 1962. The resulting work, Vision of Christ-Phoenix
was inspired by the sight of the rebuilt cathedral constructed upon the ashes
of bombed-out remains. The Coventry carol beginning "Lullay, Lulla, thou
little child" is used as the basis for a passacaglia and a set of variations.
The three sections portray the destroying flame, the second section peace
and hope whilst the third and final section reflects the triumphant Resurrection
with Christ as a pheonix rising from the ashes. The piece has been recorded
in a splendid performance by Kevin Bowyer on Nimbus (NI 5509)
along with the original version for organ of Williamson's Epitaphs for
Edith Sitwell (1966).
The Display (1963) is a narrative ballet devised by Robert Helpmann
and commissioned by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre for the 1964 Adelaide
Festival of Arts. The story centres on a male bird's wooing of its mate.
At the ballet's conclusion, the girl, desolated by the violent events in
the forest, gives herself up to the bird's advances. A Concert Suite from
the complete ballet was included in the EMI release SLS 5085.
The Sydney SO was conducted by John Hopkins.
Malcolm Williamson's Violin Concerto was commissioned by Yehudi Menuhin
for the Bath Festival in 1964. Dedicated to the memory of Edith Sitwell,
who died during the composition of the work, the concerto consists of two
grieving slow encasing a central scherzo whose satirical bite suggests a
portrait of the dedicatee. The concerto was first performed by Yehudi Menuhin
and the Bath Festival Orchestra in the Assembly Rooms, Bath on
15th June 1965.
The opening movement, Adagio e sostenuto, begins with the imposing
and tragic first subject (a descending scale over an undulating accompaniment).
The solo violin rises out of the violin section to perform an extended solo
passage. This is the concerto's sole cadenza and it leads directly to the
second subject, an uneasy lament in 10/4 time. If the first subject is a
public declaration of mourning, the second subject has the intimacy of private
grieving. It is a haunting, nostalgic theme, slightly sentimental - like
a Victorian ballad such as Edith Sitwell would have heard in her youth. The
development section pits the sorrowing solo violin against the full-throated
sobbing of the tutti orchestra whilst the recapitulation of the much transformed
first subject features severe technical tests for the soloist with its double
and treble stopping passages over harp and string accompaniment. The second
subject returns largo tranquillo, transformed into a gentle requiem
for a bygone era. It brings the movement to a hushed close with the musical
argument unresolved.
The central Vivace is an acerbic scherzo - music of the night and
second cousin to the central spectral Scherzo of Mahler's Seventh Symphony.
Fleeting as a nightmare, its gawky, martial main theme is occasionally
interrupted by a rich, soaring melody which again seems parodic in intent.
A direct tribute to the irony and brilliance of Edith Sitwell's verse, the
world of Façade is not far away (Walton himself is said to have admired
this concerto). The Presto coda brings the movement to a spiky, spirited
conclusion.
The Adagio molto Finale is a slow threnody, elegiac in character.
A tender and poignant melody for solo violin ascends to celestial heights
over a throbbing, kaleidoscopic orchestral accompaniment. Three tutti hammer
blows of Fate divest the work of its remaining energy and the concerto ends
in dignified resignation, accepting the loss it has previously railed against.
As the soloist soars away, fading to a triple piano conclusion, the inevitability
of the passing of life is memorably and unsentimentally caught in these final
bars. The Violin Concerto is currently available on CD (coupled with the
Panufnik and Lennox Berkeley violin concertos with Yehudi Menuhin and the
LPO conducted by Sir Adrian Boult (EMI 7243 5 66121 2 9).
The three-movement Sinfonietta for orchestra was commissioned by the
BBC for performance at the inaugural concert of the introduction of Radio
3. It was first performed on March 21st 1965 by the New Philharmonia
Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. Ten years later, Sir Frederick Ashton
created a ballet from the score for the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden and
for this production, the composer added a Prelude and reduced the brass scoring.
The absence of any timpani in the score is compensated for by an array of
percussion as well as harp. The short Prelude of the 1975 ballet version
features a mystical and creeping dialogue between woodwind and brass. In
the very last bar of the Prelude, a dramatic and drastic crescendo heralds
the arrival of the first movement proper - a lively and motoric Toccata in
modified sonata form. The first subject is the opening string motif with
short replies from the brass section. The extended second subject begins
in the bass but becomes a memorable theme for violins derived from the first
subject. An elliptical recapitulation leads to a short coda which ends with
a leap into the stratosphere.
The central Elegy is tripartite in structure. Firstly, a highly evocative
passage for divided solo strings in harmonics with harp sounds against flutes.
Under this, a broad theme rises from a solo double bass. A counter-statement
on strings with oboe assuming the double bass theme leads to the second main
section - brass and woodwind intone a funeral march which builds to a powerful
climax in the aftermath of which the third and final section flickers into
life. This passage juxtaposes aspects of both previous sections. The brass
and woodwind rhythm is transfigured into a convulsive pulse with the woodwind
assuming the flute's melody above the double bass theme now given out by
solo trombone.
The concluding Tarantella is a whirligig of almost frenetically high spirits.
A whirling dervish of a movement, the contrasting section of its Rondo structure
provide fleeting contrasts but the sheer energy of the main dance motif overrides
all and powers the Sinfonietta on to a bravissimo conclusion, crowning
one of its composer's most immediately enjoyable works. It was recorded by
the Melbourne SO under Yuval Zaliouk for RCA (GL 40542) on
a deleted LP.
The Five Preludes for piano (1966), premièred at the 1966
Cheltenham Festival, were the product of a commission for a set of piano
pieces by Antonietta Notariello. The titles for the preludes are taken from
William Wordsworth's sonnet 'Upon Westminster Bridge' - Ships, Towers, Domes,
Theatres and Temples. Each prelude evokes a different aspect of London (the
London of 1966 rather than that of Wordsworth's day) and explores a different
pianistic technique. In the opening 'Ships', an undulating figure for the
left hand suggests the sea whilst the wide melodic range of the piece (it
is scored for treble and two bass clefs!) and the hushed dynamics (mostly
ranging from piano to triple piano) suggests a ship in full sail on clam
waters. In 'Towers', powerful chords for the left hand depict the firm base
of tower blocks, whilst the flowing right hand phrases point in more intricate
details. The central prelude, 'Domes' includes right hand grace notes which
paint a picture of vaulting domes. Something of the bravura performances
of the stage are recalled in 'Theatre' in the heavily accented chordal passages
for right hand, marked brilliante which recur throughout the prelude.
The main theme is slightly jazzy, suggesting the smell of greasepaint and
a touch of the Music Halls. The final prelude, 'Temples' makes a grand, imposing
conclusion, paying tribute to the architectural splendour of such sacred
buildings. The Preludes were recorded by the composer on a deleted
Argo LP ZRG 682.
Also in 1966 came the great opera in three Acts The Violins of
Saint Jacques with a libretto by William Chappell based on the novel
by Patrick Leigh Fermor. It was premiered at Sadler's Wells Theatre on
29th November 1966. The cast included April Cantelo as Berthe,
Jennifer Vyvyan as the Countess de Serindan and Owen Brannigan as the Count
de Serindan. The Sadlers Wells Orchestra was conducted by Vilem Tausky. The
opera tells the story of the Island of Saint Jacques in the Carribean which
was destroyed with all its inhabitants by a volcanic eruption at the start
of the 20th century. The score is one of its composer's most enjoyably
eclectic, ranging from Brittenesque seascapes and Bergian Expressionism to
Sullivan-like melodies. There is also a presage of Andrew Lloyd Webber in
the arias "I have another world to show you" and "Each afternoon when the
cooling breezes swoon and die". Coincidentally, more than twenty five years
after the opera was first performed, Malcolm Williamson would sing the praises
of Lloyd Webber's "Sunset Boulevard" - perhaps the songs in that musical
triggered memories of his own operatic melodies. The opera encompasses many
changes of mood from the tropical suppressed passion of the first Act to
the Candide-like wit and charm of the second Act with its lilting rhythms.
The atmosphere a Savoy operetta at this point is highlighted by the character
of Captain Henri Joubert, an over-dressed foppish dandy. One can imagine
John Reed playing such a character with little difficulty. Of the composer's
many operas, none deserves revival more than this one. Its abundance of drama
and good tunes should endear it to a wide audience.
The Pas de Quatre of 1967 was commissioned by the New York Metropolitan
Opera for their summer festival at Newport, Rhode Island. The piece is scored
for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and piano and adheres to the structure
of a classical Pas de Quatre. The opening sonata is scored for full ensemble.
There follows a variation for flute and piano, a slow, intense Pas de Trio
for bassoon and piano, a variation for flute and oboe and a seduction Pas
de Deux for clarinet and piano. The concluding coda is virtuosic and culminatory,
referring fleetingly to previous themes. The Argo LP ZRG 682
includes a performance of the Pas de Quatre by the Nash Ensemble and the
composer at the piano.
The three-movement Piano Quintet (1968) for piano and strings was
commissioned by the Birmingham Chamber Music Society. It is cast in three
movements of unequal proportion: an extended Allegro molto is topped and
tailed by brief Adagio movements which anticipate and reflect on, respectively,
the material of the central movement. The first Adagio is chilling, on the
edge of audibility, inhabiting the same unearthly soundworld as the Finale
of Vaughan Williams' Sixth Symphony. Acerbic and joyous by turn, its brevity
only serves to heighten its capacity to disconcert. The central Allegro molto
is the substantial heart of the work. It displays some of the characteristics
of both scherzo and rondo in that each passage spawns succeeding variants
of itself. Successive writhing chromatic lines in the strings are broken
up by wide-ranging figurations in the piano. The tonal gamut is traversed
throughout the movement. The concluding Adagio returns to the slow-moving
progress of the first movement, though here the atmosphere is one of serenity
rather than unease. The Quintet ends in peace, drained of energy, though
the unsettling mood established by the start of the piece is not entirely
vanquished. The Nash Ensemble and the composer recorded the work for
Argo (ZRG 682).
The song cycle 'From a Child's Garden' for high voice and piano to
words by Robert Louis Stevenson was commissioned by the Cardiff Festival
of 20th Century Music and first performed by Robert Tear and John
Ogdon on 24th April 1968. The onomatopoeic sound of the 'birdie
with a yellow bill' dominates the opening song 'Time to Rise' and this fleeting
figure recurs as a leitmotif in the fifth song 'While Duty of Children' and
the final 'Happy Thought'. Four of the songs are written in a melodic, tonal
idiom, 'The Flowers', 'My Bed is a Boat', 'A Good Boy' and 'The Lamplighter'.
Some of the songs have onomatopoeic piano parts: as well as the bird-like
phrases of 'Time to Rise', other examples include 'Marching Song' with its
stomping piano line, 'Where go the Boats?' with flowing piano phrases suggesting
an idyllic sunlit river. 'Rain' is suggested by staccato droplets in contrasting
speeds in the piano part and 'From a Railway Carriage' (Allegro molto) has
quick alternating chords suggesting the regular movement of the train with
the scenery flashing by. A prime example of Malcolm Williamson's gifts as
a sympathetic setter of words, 'From a Child's Garden' is a charming song
cycle. As I well remember, it was a set work in the 1980 'O' Level Joint
Matriculation Board syllabus. Soprano April Cantelo recorded the work with
Malcolm Williamson as piano accompanist (ARGO ZRG 682).
The Second Symphony of 1969 was commissioned by the Bournemouth Symphony
Orchestra on the occasion of their 75th anniversary and first
performed at the Colston Hall, Bristol on 29th October 1969, conducted
by George Hurst. The symphony is scored for 3 flutes (piccolo), 3 oboes (cor
anglais), 3 clarinets (bass clarinet), 3 bassoons, 4 horns, trumpet in D,
2 trumpets in B flat, 3 trombones, tuba, harp, timpani, percussion (3 players:
side drum, tenor drum, suspended cymbal, tam tam, anvil, 2 pairs of bongos,
tubular bells, glockenspiel, vibraphone, celesta) and strings. Apart from
brief minor fluctuations and a couple of short allargando passages,
the initial tempo of lento moderato con rubato is maintained throughout
this concise 20-minute one movement symphony. The long breathed first subject
begins the work, falling like droplets from the piccolos and flute, harp
and divided first violins over the bubbling stream of the nonuplets in the
strings. This 'droplet' theme is answered by an equally important motto theme
for brass incorporating a dotted rhythm. At letter C of the score, the second
subject begins. A theme for brass with an accompanying descending figure
in the woodwind initiates an arc-like figure for tutti strings. If the first
subject is like water droplets in the calm before the storm, then this is
the storm itself. It is cut short at figure D when the first subject returns,
then breaks out again, this time in the woodwind section. The first subject
is speeded up. All these elements are developed in the second half of the
symphony. A climax is reached at figure HH and in its aftermath the initial
figure returns. The work ends abruptly, the last droplet having landed. Compact
and closely argued, the Symphony no 2 is unquestionably as individual as
its predecessor yet as unlike that work as one could possibly imagine.
The Icy Mirror is the title of Malcolm Williamson's Third Symphony
of 1972. It is scored for soprano, mezzo soprano, 2 baritones, SATB chorus
and orchestra (2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, cor anglais, clarinet, bass clarinet,
bassoon, double bassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, three trombones, tuba, percussion
(glockenspiel, xylophone, temple block, suspended cymbal, tenor drum and
side drum), harp, piano and strings). A setting of a dramatic poem by Ursula
Vaughan Williams, the symphony was commissioned by Sir Arthur Bliss for the
Cheltenham Festival, where it was premiered on the 9th July 1972.
The opening Adagio movement makes effective use of a descending figure
for harp which eerily depicts the Icy Mirror of the title: "All history shows
an icy mirror to man's intellect". The central Presto movement is
literally a Dance of Death with swirling upper woodwinds sounding like teeming
maggots. The Adagio Finale is a moving threnody in a post-nuclear
age which builds to a powerful climax before the work closes with ominous
taps from the temple block. As an example of the composer's gift for word
setting this could hardly be bettered: at the words "trumpets in the sky"
in the Finale, for example, the composer avoids the obvious and uses a staccato
figure in the woodwinds creating the appropriate effect of celestial distance.
The forces taking part in the world première included Jennifer Vyvyan
(soprano), the Cheltenham Bach Choir, the Cheltenham Festival Chorus and
the BBC Northern SO with conductor John Hopkins.
The Fourth Symphony was written in 1977. It was commissioned by the
London Philharmonic Orchestra to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee.
Unfortunately it has never been performed. The symphony is a substantial
twenty-eight minute work for large orchestra: three flutes, piccolo, three
oboes, cor anglais, three clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons, double
bassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, three
percussion players, harp and strings. There are three movements: The Birth
of the World (Largo); Eagle (Allegro vivo) and The Prayer of the Waters (Lento).
The score is dedicated to Her Majesty the Queen. Along with this year's fellow
70th birthday celebrant Anthony Hedges' second symphony of 1997,
this work desperately warrants performance and recording.
Of the composer's large scale choral works, none is more impressive than
his Mass of Christ the King (1978). The piece was jointly commissioned
by the Three Choirs Festival and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to celebrate
The Queens' Silver Jubilee and the mark the 250th Three Choirs Festival.
The whole work is dedicated to The Queen but as Benjamin Britten died on
the day the composer began the Agnus Dei, Williamson asked if that movement
could be dedicated to Britten. The work had a long gestation: sketches for
a setting of the Feast of Christ the King were begun in 1953 and the composer
returned to the idea from time to time until the Three Choirs Commission
urged him on to complete the setting as a large scale work. The first notes
were written at the end of 1975 and the full orchestral score was finished
two and a half years later. The Latin text is taken from the Old and New
Testaments as well as from the early years of Christianity. The composer
has said that when composing it, he was less aware of the music of his own
time than that to Hebrew music and that of the Middle Ages. It is this archaic
quality this which gives the Mass its special character. The work takes the
form of a continuously evolving symphonic movement in sixteen parts with
set pieces in the structure finally finding their place in the apotheosis
that concludes the Mass. The piece calls for two sopranos, lyric and dramatic
as well as tenor and baritone soloists. There is an echo choir interlocked
with a large chorus. The Ordinary of the Mass is interspersed with the hymns,
psalms and other texts proper to the Feast of Christ the King in the manner
of the poems set within Britten's War Requiem. Some of the settings, such
as the Introitus, are quite operatic, illustrating the composer's admirable
lack of distinction between the secular and the sacred, the "highbrow" and
the instantly communicative. This one of several works by Malcolm Williamson
which is absurdly overdue for a CD release.
Commissioned from Malcolm Williamson by the Old Creightonians (Kilburn Grammar
School Old Boys' Association) for the Brent Youth Orchestra for its tenth
anniversary year, the Fifth Symphony was completed early in 1980 and
first performed at a St George's Day Concert on Wednesday 23rd
April of that year. The première took place at Brent Town Hall with
the Brent Youth Orchestra conducted by John Michael East. The symphony was
the result of a dual inspiration: the composer's association with Youth
orchestras and the story of Saint Bernadette and the Apparitions in the grotto
at Lourdes. In her local dialect, the uneducated Bernadette Soubirous could
only describe what she saw as AQUERÒ, meaning approximately the same
as 'çela' in French or 'that thing' in English. The symphony may be
seen as a hymn to the importance of education: as a result of St Bernadette's
account of events she was found to be highly intelligent and given a school
education. The Fifth Symphony is written for young players with due regard
for their varying skill but also stretching them in matters of technique
and general musicianship. The twenty-four minute work is scored for 2 flutes
(piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 tenor
trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion (4 players: side drum,
tenor drum, bass drum, 2 pairs of bongos, triangle, small and medium suspended
cymbals, tam tam, high, middle and low gongs, tubular bells, xylophone,
vibraphone, glockenspiel) and strings.
The Symphony no 5 was originally cast in two movements, the first a Credo,
a statement or commitment, and the second a meditation on the Apparitions.
As the work progressed, Malcolm Williamson realised that the ideas of commitment
and meditation were implicit, each in the other. Thus, the piece became a
one-movement symphony in the fashion of his Second Symphony. The time signature
of 5/8 is unwavering, but complex rhythmic patterns contradict its pulse.
The time signature, therefore becomes more of a point of reference whilst
encouraging a degree or flexibility from the orchestra and conductor in
performance. The work begins and ends in F sharp, more the tonal centre than
a traditional tonic note. The symphony is an organically developing drama
of ideas. The start of the work with its soft high strings suggests a sunrise
in the Pyrexes. The horns play a long chant-like melody. After these
forward-looking elements is a circular figure for flutes and glockenspiel
and another for clarinets and vibraphone, characterising the eternal and
celestial revolving above the earthly dynamic. Two further elements constitute
the main material of the symphony: a sequence of rich, slow chords suggesting
the Apparition and a long wide-ranging melody which refuses to fall conveniently
into a harmonic cradle. The first oboe intones a plainchant-like line suggesting
the praying Bernadette: 'Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison'. The string section
is frequently divided with parts of varying difficulty. Every section is
highlighted at one time of another. If the symphony does not demand individual
virtuosity, it does call for more than usually precise sense of community
from the players, an appropriate demand from a work which celebrates the
community of shared musicianship rather than empty technical display.
1980 also saw two important works written as a result of the composer's Royal
title: Ode for Queen Elizabeth and Lament in Memory for
Lord Mountbatten of Burma. The Ode was commissioned by the Scottish Baroque
Ensemble who gave the first performance at a private concert in the presence
of the Royal Family on 3rd July 1980 at the Palace of Hollyrood
House. The public première, also given by the Scottish Baroque Ensemble,
took place on 25th August 1980 at Hopetoun House, Edinburgh. The
work is dedicated to Her Majesty the Queen Mother on the occasion of her
80th birthday. It is divided into five movements: Act of Homage;
Alleluia; Ecossaise; Majesty in Beauty and Scottish Dance. The eleven-minute
Lament is dedicated to Leonard Friedman and the Scottish Baroque Ensemble
who gave the first performance on 5th May 1980.
The Sixth Symphony (1981-1982) is a massive one-movement work, divided
into fourteen sections, written for the orchestras of the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation. An Australian musical journey, each section bears an inscription
from the text of the Mass, making the symphony a liturgical as well as a
geographical odyssey. The symphony was originally played by seven Australian
orchestras to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ABC. Each
of the fourteen sections was recorded separately and broadcast complete
throughout Australia. Future performances could use just a single orchestra
and Christopher Austin of the Brunel Ensemble has already indicated his interest
in such a project. The Symphony no 6 is scored for a massive orchestra: four
flutes, piccolo, four oboes, cor anglais, four clarinets, bass clarinet,
four bassoons, double bassoon, six horns, four trumpets, four trombones,
two tubas, timpani, six percussion players, harp, piano, organ and strings.
At nearly forty-five minutes, this is one of the composer's most substantial
orchestral works from the 1980s. It reminds the listener that Stravinsky
and Messiaen were formative influences on Malcolm Williamson since the
soundworlds of both the Rite of Spring and the Turrengalia Symphony are recalled
near the end of the symphony.
The Seventh Symphony (1984) was commissioned by Alexandra E Cameron
for the 150th Anniversary of the State of Victoria. Dedicated
to Derek Goldfoot, it is written for string orchestra and, like its predecessor,
takes Australian landscape and history for its inspiration. The Symphony
no 7 received its première on 12th August 1985 by the Chamber
Strings of Melbourne under Christopher Martin at Irving Hall, Lauriston Girls'
School, Melbourne. It is cast in four movements: a tightly argued
Andante-Allegro vivo-Andante is followed by an Allegro Molto,
obsessed with its woozy opening theme. An extended Andante juxtaposes
string quartet textures with tuttis in the manner of the Tallis Fantasia
(the tuttis sound remarkably Straussian in their amplitude) and the symphony
ends with a brief but upbeat Allegro maestoso ma non troppo.
The Symphony has been recorded by the Brunel Ensemble under Christopher Austin
in a committed and characterful performance (Cala CACD 77005).
The beautiful five-minute Lento for Strings was written in 1985 and
dedicated to Paul McDermott. It was first performed by The Philharmonia of
Melbourne in the year of its composition and has been recorded by the
Mastersingers and Alan Simmons on Carlton Classics
(3036601172). This valuable disc also includes the composer's
Procession of Psalms, Easter Choice, Agnus Dei, Jesu,
Lover of My Soul, Love's Redeeming Work is Done, Harvest
Thanksgiving, The World at the Manger and Epiphany Carol.
1988 was Australian Bicentennial Year and Malcolm Williamson wrote two big
works to mark this anniversary. The True Endeavour for speaker, chorus
and orchestra is substantially based on texts by Australian historian Manning
Clark, whilst The Dawn is at Hand is a five-movement choral symphony
derived from poems by Oodgeroo of the Aboriginal tribe Noonuccal.
Written to celebrate 50 years of the United Nations Organisation, With
Proud Thanksgiving had its first performances in Geneva and Britain in
1995. A brief but impassioned orchestral work, it consists of two main themes,
the first deeply troubled, sounding like a hymn tune half-remembered in
agitation, the second a triumphant brass fanfare. As the composer was completing
the work, news reached him of the death of his old friend Lord Wilson of
Rievaulx. The score is dedicated simply "for Harold Wilson".
The sum of these diverse compositions is a considerable body of work from
a strong and individual voice. Initially concentrating on piano works, mainly
with himself as soloist, Malcolm Williamson has gone on to prove himself
adept in every genre from light music to church music, from chamber music
to opera. Such prolixity has meant the very occasional dud, but of which
composer of similarly prolific output from Telemann to Sir Peter Maxwell
Davies can this not also be said?
Though Malcolm Williamson has lived in England for the best part of fifty
years, a glance at the titles and first performance venues of many of his
works serves to confirm that he is at heart an Australian. His last two
symphonies are steeped in Australian culture, to say nothing of the works
for Australian Bicentennial Year, 1988. As far back as 1965, he spoke about
his nationality at the Conference on Music and Education in the Commonwealth
held in the University of Liverpool, "…when I think about it I am certain
that my music is characteristically Australian although I have never tried
to make it so. We Australians have to offer the world a persona compounded
of forcefulness, brashness, a direct warmth of approach, sincerity which
is not ashamed, and more of what the Americans call 'get-up-and-go' than
the Americans themselves possess." Certainly there is an ebullience and a
directness about Malcolm Williamson's writing which sets him apart from most
British composers.
The use of melodies in most of his compositions bespeaks an artist who wants
to communicate directly with his audience. How tragic then, that, apart from
regular performances by Christopher Austin and the Bristol-based Brunel Ensemble,
his vast catalogue of works has been so rarely encountered in this country's
concert halls over the last couple of decades. Recordings of his compositions
are also pitifully few considering the wealth of material to be found in
his output. It is hard to offer an explanation for this except that his
champions, apart from Christopher Austin, appear to have all died out and
no new ones taken their place. Nonetheless, I am convinced his time will
come. Composers who write genuine melodies and convey some of the joy of
living are rare and if they are not cherished today may well be so in the
future. In the meantime, I trust the occasion of the composer's seventieth
birthday year will provide the necessary springboard for more performances
and recordings: they will reveal a deeply humane and life affirming voice.
©Paul Conway 04/01
