HAROLD SAMUEL (Pianoforte)
THE WIRELESS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Leader, S. KNEALE KELLEY
Conducted by SIR HEXRY WOOD
THIS Suite, when selected by the Carnegie adjudicators for publication under their scheme, was spoken of as ' a striking piece of tone-painting.' It was performed at the Proms in 1912, and has since been repeated there; for the programme on these occasions the composer has had the following notes included in the programme with his approval.
The first movement, he tells us, is a Seascape which paints the sea on a summer morning. From high cliffs is seen a great expanse of waters lying in the sunlight. Warm breezes play over the surface.
The second movement is Sea Foam, which
* froths among the low-lying rocks and pools on the shore-playfully, not stormily.
The third movement is Moonlight. A calm sea at night. First the moonbeams are struggling to pierce through dark clouds, which at last pass over, leaving the sea shimmering in full moonlight.
The fourth movement is a raging Storm. Wind, rain, and tempestuous seas. With the lulling of the storm, an allusion to the first movement is heard.
Very little further guidance is necessary for the listener. After a sustained E Major chord, Mr. Bridge's own instrument, the viola, begins the first movement with a flowing figure, which forms the principal first subject. It is elaborated at some length, and a good deal of use is made of another theme which appears at first interwoven with it, emerging at last in its complete form on the whole orchestra.
Flutes and bassoons, in turn, have the beginnings of the second movement, and a little later the strings have a shimmering figure which carries on the playfu! mood of the piece. There is a more suave section in the middle, like the conventional trio of a scherzo, and the opening returns in an altered form.
In the third movement it is again the flutes which have the main theme over an accompaniment of strings and harp; the same theme appears later on the strings.
These three movements are all short, but the fourth is worked out at greater length. An angry rhythmic figure on the winds is answered by rushing semi-quavers on the strings, and the horns have an impressive and forceful theme which is largely used throughout the movement. But the explanatory note quoted above is all that the listener needs for an appreciation of the movement.
MORE than most of the modern Russian school,
Arensky may be said to have carried on the Tchaikovsky tradition, though without so rich a share of poetic ideas and without Tchaikovsky's gift of dramatic strength. He was a warm admirer of his older fellow-countryman, and this piece is in some sense a tribute. It has always been the most popular of his purely orchestral music-a set of seven melodious and graceful variations on the song which Tchaikovsky calls ' A Legend,' and which begins, in English, ' Christ had a garden.'
THERE is a story of Beethoven's having once said to Cramer, when they had just heard a pianoforte concerto of Mozart's, ' We shall never be able to write anything like that.' This early work-although known as No. 2, there is no doubt that it is the first in order of composition of Beethoven's five Pianoforte Concertos-reminds the hearer constantly of Mozart's light-hearted charm and delicate grace. After its first performance, Beethoven revised the pianoforte part considerably, although he left the simple orchestration pretty much in its original shape. There are three movements— the first in the usual form with two main tunes or subjects; the second a broad melodious slow movement, and the last a merry Rondo.