40. Patriotism and Solace

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I've mentioned the name Riff Bourne Williams on a number of occasions, and it's time we gave his music an airing. Born fifteen years after his fellow countryman Edward Elgar in 1872, which makes this year the 150th anniversary of that event, he was to outlive him by nearly 25 years when he died in 1958, the year of my own birth as it happens. And for good measure, the exact date of that actually being today, depending when you're listening, of course. I've also said how I don't think English music is actually characterized or defined by the work of Elgar as much as it is by Vaughan Williams, because Vaughan Williams was much more interested in folk song and thus developing a quintessentially English sound. In this regard, he was much more in tune with the likes of George Butterworth, who died and remains unfound at the Battle of the Somme, as well as Gustav Holtz, he of the planet's fame, with whom he enjoyed a lifelong friendship. So his legacy and influence can actually be said to be considerably greater than Elgar's, in my view. It's certainly less nationalistic and more exploratory, and in its sometimes dreamy quality, it's a sound which you recognize instantly as English. But there's also a huge variety of sounds and styles. I doubt you will find another composer with such a broad canvas as you will encounter in his symphonies. In a poll not long ago, his piece of a violin and piano, the Lark ascending, was voted this country's most popular piece of classical music. So there's no need to play that. One of the folk songs on which he based the composition was Dives and Lazarus. The principal theme is followed by five variations, and, as well as being a lovely melody, it encapsulates perfectly their quintessentially English identity. Form Williams of Five Variants on Dives and Lazarus is played here by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, conducted by Neville the Mariner. And here perhaps is the most famous English folk song of all. Greensleaves had its origins in the 16th century, although it's unlikely that the widely held belief of Henry VIII being its composer as a gift to his future Queen, Anne Belyn, fits with the style of the period, so it's more likely to be a little later. The title, by the way, and indeed its charm, may not be as innocent as it sounds. Greensleeves might well be a straightforward reference to the consequence of certain ladies not discarding unnecessary items of clothing for availing their sexual favours al fresco. Greensleeves is sung here by the king's singers. He came to epitomize Czech music like no other, having taken his lead from Semeta. Unlike so many composers for whom recognition quite often came after they died, Devorjak was held in high esteem during his life, not only in his native land of Bohemia, but in the rest of continental Europe too, as well as London, which he visited on a number of occasions. His ninth symphony, the so-called The New World, was an incident success after its premier in New York, and his reputation was only going to go one way after that. He even tried to persuade him to come and live in Vienna, but Dvorjak was too dedicated to his motherland. One of his great skills for which he was envied was his ability to knock up pieces with extraordinary speed, and his heronade for the strings is one such example, which he completed in less than a fortnight. The second movement, marked as a war, although it does in fact incorporate a couple of other dancers as well, has this imperfection as a joy I mentioned earlier. It's fresh and innocent, and it's easy to imagine a young couple dancing to it. It's as sweet as itself. The second movement of Orjax Serena for Strings is played here by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Carrianne. We've already heard the voice of one of the Southern Hemisphere's great exports, Dame Jones Hutland, singing the part of Gilda in Rigoletto. It's high time we heard the voice of another from New Zealand, namely Kenny Decanoa. The launch of her international career was down to her talent being spotted by John Cosby, who cast her as a countess and Mozart's marriage of figure in the annual Santa Fe Opera Festival in Mexico in 1971. He actually pulled off a double whammy on that occasion by casting Frederica von Chatada as Cabobino, the first time she hits on that role, which many would argue has not been surpassed. You might remember that I gave you a little taste of that in an earlier podcast. When De Carnower repeated the part of Covent Garden later that year, the critics went mad with delight. She went on to have a glittering career, focusing with particular success on the roles of Mozart and Ricardo Strauss. And one of my own few celebrity highlights was meeting and talking with her after a concert performance of the final Aria by the Countess in Capriccio. I can only say that she is an outstanding exception of the rule that you should never meet your heroes or heroines. Here she is in a 1979 recording with George Schulte and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra of the Harbor Non-Atric Hide. You now have a sorrow from Brahms is a German Requiem. You may remember that the piece is not a requiem in the traditional manner, inasmuch as it's not so much for the dead as it is to console the living. And that's exactly what this particular extract is about. Something we all need from time to time.