The Augmented Station Orchestra, conducted by Warwick Braithwaite
The poet Dowson, who died so young in the first year of this present century, wrote a 'Dramatic Fantasy' called The Pierrot of the Minute. It is a dreamlike, fanciful poem, which stirred the imagination of Bantock, and with this as subject, he wrote a 'Comedy Overture' for Orchestra.
Bantock himself gives us the story, thus -
'Pierrot enters a glade in the park of the Petit Trianon at twilight, led thither in obedience to a mysterious message, which bids him come to sleep one night within these precincts if he would encounter Love. Half whimsical, half fearful, he wonders why he, so careless, thoughtless, and gay. should be filled with wistful longing, and in the fast-falling darkness he lies down on a couch of fern, and falls asleep.
A Moonmaiden descends the steps of the Temple of Love, and, bending over the sleeper, kisses him. He awakens and throws himself at her feet in rapt devotion, though she warns him that the kisses of the Moon are of a fatal sweetness, and that
"Whose seeks her she gathers like a flower;
He gives a life, and only gains an hour".
'But Pierrot, reckless, demands the pure and perfect bliss, though life be the price to pay. With gay laughter and sprightly jest they learn together the lore of Love; but daybreak approaches, the birds awaken, and the Moon-maiden must leave him. Together they gaze at the coming dawn; then Pierrot, sinking back on his couch, falls softly asleep once more, and the Moon-maiden vanishes.
'The Prelude ends with the awakening of Pierrot, his love-dream being but the illusion of a minute'.
The music is founded on a poem of the Hungarian writer Lenau (1802-1850). He presents the Don as a man in search of an ideal woman, in whom he can enjoy all perfections. He is continually disappointed, and finds nothing but weariness in all his adventures. At length Disgust (for thus is Satan figured in this version) brings an end to his adventures.
We find, then, in the music all the moods of Don Juan-his youthful fire, the maidenly charm of women, and then the philanderer's disappointment and spiritual defeat.
