… (born on this day in 1921 at Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex), the second movement of her piano concerto. Charles Peebles conducts the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; the soloist is Murray McLachlan.
I thoroughly enjoyed a performance of her horn concerto at the Cadogan Hall earlier this month (Alexi Watkins the soloist, with the Kensington Symphony Orchestra under Russell Keable). I have now been able to attend live performances of her horn and clarinet concertos, and her fourth and fifth symphonies: the sign of a real and sustained revival in her fortunes.
This article was originally posted on the 16th October, 2016, but is regularly updated as new recordings emerge. Many thanks to several readers who have submitted new information. More is always welcomed!
Ruth Gipps (1921–1999) is a composer whose work, it is fair to say, is severely under-recorded, under-broadcast and not nearly well-known enough. I have written a bit about her remarkable character and her ardent and spirited music here and here. Since then I have been scouring the Internet for readily-available recordings of her music, regardless of sound quality. Beggars can’t be choosers! The result is the initial attempt at a discography below, which includes commercial and non-commercial recordings. If any readers know of any more, of have any corrections, please leave a comment!
For anybody who hasn’t come across her music before, I would personally recommend the good humour (and good recording quality) of the Horn Concerto, the lyricism of the third symphony (the second and third movements are especially accessible) and the piano concerto. The second movement of her fourth symphony is a moonlit grove of wonders. In her fifth symphony’s first movement, a particularly lovely melody is passed around the chocolatey winds. The energetic third movement of the same symphony gives a good impression of the spikiness and energy of her character: this, after all, was the person who once said, ‘I regard all so-called 12-tone music, so-called serial music, so-called electronic music and so-called avant-garde music as utter rubbish and indeed a deliberate conning of the public’…!
Première recording by Duncan Honeybourne first broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s programme ‘Composer of the Week’, 8 March 2021: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000sxzh> and released on disc in 2021 by Prima Facie records.
Op. 2: Kensington Gardens Suite for Oboe and Piano (1938)
Rendition by Stephanie Carlson (oboe) and Stephen Sulich (piano) during a Lecture Recital at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, 16th September, 2017: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBvQYELiaqA&t=2060s>
Recorded commercially in 2023 for Chandos Records (CHAN 20290) by Juliana Koch (oboe), Julian Bliss (clarinet) and Michael McHale (piano).
Op. 3b: Sea-ShoreSuite for Oboe and Piano (1939)
Rendition by Stephanie Carlson (oboe) and Stephen Sulich (piano) during a Lecture Recital at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, 16th September, 2017: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBvQYELiaqA&t=1580s>
Recorded commercially in 2023 for Chandos Records (CHAN 20290) byJuliana Koch (oboe), Julian Bliss (clarinet) and Michael McHale (piano).
Opus 3d: Honey-Coloured Cow for Bassoon and Piano (1938)
Performed during a concert given by the Association for the Promotion of English Composers, 9 June 2021. Performed by Lowri Richards (bassoon) and Sasha Valeri Millwood (piano). The recording can be heard here: <www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDB9uG7Cao0&t=1308> (21'45")
Op. 5: Sonata No.1 for Oboe and Piano in G minor (1939)
Performed by Catherine Pluygers (oboe) and Sasha Valeri Millwood (piano) during a concert organised by the Association for the Promotion of English Composers and broadcast on YouTube on 31st March, 2021 (<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guJ4NlgsicI&t=21s>), the music having been recorded at Craxton Studios (London) on the 22nd March.
I. Allegro moderato — Presto — Tempo I — Presto [0'21"]
One recording on the Chandos label (CHAN 20078): the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Rumon Gamba.
Op. 9: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (1940)
One recording released by Champs Hill Records (CHRCD160) in July 2020: Robert Plane (soloist) and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Martyn Brabbins.
Op. 10: Trio for Oboe, Clarinet and Piano (1940)
A performance by unnamed students at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Vigo in January 2020. Recording uploaded to YouTube by Raúl Rodríguez González: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EV76o454kQ>
Recorded commercially in 2023 for Chandos Records (CHAN 20290) by Juliana Koch (oboe), Julian Bliss (clarinet) and Michael McHale (piano).
Op. 12b: The Piper of Dreams for oboe solo (1942) Performed by Elizabeth Fleissner during a recital at the University of North Texas (Voertman Recital Hall): <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97kgY1pJowQ>
Recorded commercially in 2023 for Chandos Records (CHAN 20290) by Juliana Koch (oboe), Julian Bliss (clarinet) and Michael McHale (piano).
Op. 12c: Seaweed Song for English Horn and Piano
Rendition by Stephanie Carlson (English horn) and Stephen Sulich (piano) during a Lecture Recital at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, 16th September, 2017: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBvQYELiaqA&t=4575s>
Recorded commercially in 2023 for Chandos Records (CHAN 20290) by Juliana Koch (oboe), Julian Bliss (clarinet) and Michael McHale (piano).
Op. 15: Jane Grey, Fantasy for Viola and String Orchestra (1940)
Performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Teresa Riveiro Böhm, and broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Afternoon Concert, 16th November 2020: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000pgb9>
Op. 16: Quintet for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and cello (1941)
One commercial recording on the Chandos label (Gipps: Orchestral Works, Volume 2, CHAN 20161, 2022): Juliana Koch (oboe) and the Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Rumon Gamba.
Katherine Needleman was also the soloist in the American première, which at the time of writing is available to watch on YouTube: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbvlz6CIiJc>. Valentina Peggi conducts the Richmond Symphony Orchestra.
Op. 21: Flax and Charlock (movt. IV, for cor anglais solo) (1941)
Played by Elizabeth Fleissner of the Imparius Quartet at a recital at the Greater Denton Arts Council (Texas, U.S.A.), 29 November 2018: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocm4eVJWkdw>
Op. 22: Symphony No. 1 in F minor (1942)
Recorded for broadcast by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Rumon Gamba in September 2023; broadcast as BBC Radio 3’s Afternoon Concert on 22 February 2024 (<https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001w8hn>; from 1:00:23)
Then, in 2024, recorded by the same forces for Chandos’ third album of Gipps’ orchestral works: CHAN 20284.
Op. 25: Death on the Pale Horse, tone poemfor orchestra (1943)
One commercial recording on the Chandos label (Gipps: Orchestral Works, Volume 2, CHAN 20161, 2022): the Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Rumon Gamba.
Op. 27a: Rhapsody for Violin and Piano (1943)
One recording (2022) by Patrick Wastnage (violin) and Patricia Dunn (piano): Guild GMCD7827.
Op. 27b: Scherzo: The Three Billy Goats Gruff for Oboe, Horn, and Bassoon, 1943
A rendition without spoken narration was given during a concert organised by the Association for the Promotion of English Composers on Wednesday, 9th June, 2021 at Craxton Studios, London. (Catherine Pluygers, oboe; Lowri Richards, bassoon; Henryk Sienkiewicz, horn): <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDB9uG7Cao0&t=1700>
Commercially recorded by Three Worlds Records for their 2022 disc ‘Winds of Change’: Gordon Hunt (oboe), Meyrick Alexander (bassoon), Ben Goldscheider (horn).
Op. 28: Chanticleer overture for orchestra (1944)
One recording on the Chandos label (Gipps: Orchestral Works, Volume 2, CHAN 20161, 2022): the Philharmonic Orchestra under Rumon Gamba.
Op. 30: Symphony No. 2 in one movement (1945)
Two commercial recordings. The first is by the Munich Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Douglas Bostock, a disc (Classico CLASSCD 274) released in 1999, not now available, but included on a compilation of British symphonies on Classico 23316. (Update 19th May 2020: reissued under the Musical Concepts label: MC3105)
The second (Chandos CHAN 20078) is with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Rumon Gamba, and was released in September 2018.
One recording on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FSm_DUbb_0) of the United States première performance of this symphony, given by the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra under Adam Stern on Saturday 31st March 2018:
Op. 33: Song for Orchestra (1948)
One recording on the Chandos label (CHAN 20078): the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Rumon Gamba.
Op. 34: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G minor (1948)
Three recordings: the first from a BBC radio broadcast on the 24th May, 1972, with the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra and the pianist Eileen Broster, conducted by the composer;
the second released in 2014 on Cameo Classics (CC9046CD), with the Malta Philharmonic conducted by Michael Laus, and the pianist Angela Brownridge (more information, for example, here: http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Cameo%2BClassics/CC9046CD):
A version for two pianos was uploaded to YouTube in May 2022: Alicja Kojder plays the solo part; an unknown pianist plays the piano reduction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDAafQJpc0k
Op. 39: Cringlemire Garden, impression for string orchestra (1952)
Recorded by Sudwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim under Douglas Bostock, CPO 555457-2.
Recorded in 2024 by the BBC Philharmonic under Rumon Gamba; Chandos CHAN 20284.
Op. 41: Coronation Procession for orchestra (1953)
Recorded in 2024 by the BBC Philharmonic under Rumon Gamba; Chandos CHAN 20284.
Op. 42: Sonata for Violin and Piano (1954)
One recording (2022) by Patrick Wastnage (violin) and Patricia Dunn (piano): Guild GMCD7827
One recording (2022) by Patrick Wastnage (violin) and Patricia Dunn (piano): Guild GMCD7827
Op. 51: Prelude for Bass Clarinet Solo (1958)
Rendition by Mark O’Brien of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (of which Gipps was once a member), uploaded on the day of, and in celebration of, Gipps’ centenary on the 20th February, 2021: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctCb4_uebWg>.
A première recording by the BBC Singers and Stephen Farr (piano), conducted by Sofi Jeannin, was first broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s programme ‘Composer of the Week’, 10 March 2021: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000sz5x>.
Laura Reyes conducts the CCM (Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music) Chamber Winds in a video uploaded to YouTube on the 11th February 2020: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueXToMJy8Ek>.
A recording by musicians of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Jonathan Bloxham was first broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s programme ‘Composer of the Week’, 10 March 2021: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000sz5x>.
Commercially recorded by members of the London Chamber Orchestra for their 2022 disc ‘Winds of Change’ (Three Worlds Records)
Recording on ‘Winds of Change’ (Three Worlds Records, 2022), duettists Ben Goldscheider and Annemarie Federle.
Op. 55: Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis for mixed chorus and organ (1959)
One recording, likely to be the world première, sung by the City Chamber Choir of London, conducted by Stephen Jones. Hannah Parry is the organist. Recorded in St Lawrence Jewry, City of London, in May 2019. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojVNx7b0bMA>
A recording of both canticles sung by the choir of Gloucester Cathedral under Adrian Partington (2022?):
Performed by Henryk Sienkiewicz (horn) and Sasha Valeri Millwood (piano) during an online concert organised by the Association for the Promotion of English Composers and broadcast on YouTube on 31st March, 2021 (<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guJ4NlgsicI>), the music having been recorded at Craxton Studios (London) on the 22nd March:
Performed at the Western Horn Festival (Illinois, United States) by Jena Gardner (horn) and Joanne Chang (piano) and uploaded to YouTube on the 13th April, 2021: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRZzFZEEdl4>
Performed by Emily Britton (horn) and Yu-Han Kuan (piano) for a lecture recital given at the 2021 International Horn Symposium: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSiKt_oU_Es>
Commercially recorded by Ben Goldscheider (horn) and Huw Watkins (piano) for the 2022 disc ‘Winds of Change’ (Three Worlds Records, 2022).
Op. 57: Symphony No. 3 (1965)
Three recordings, one commercial. The first was made from a broadcast by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ruth Gipps herself, on the 29th October 1969. Available on YouTube at <www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZiLsTKu01Q>
Rumon Gamba also conducted the Philharmonic Orchestra in the first commercial recording, released in 2022 on the Chandos label (Gipps: Orchestral Works, Volume 2, CHAN 20161, 2022).
Op. 57a: Theme and Variations for Piano (1965)
A piano transcription of the third movement of the Third Symphony (Op.57). Available on Cameo Classics CC9046CD, played by Angela Brownridge; a sample can be heard here.
A second recording, by Duncan Honeybourne, was first broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s programme ‘Composer of the Week’, 11 March 2021 <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000sytk> and released in 2021 by Prima Facie records on the disc ‘Opalescence’.
Op. 58: Concerto for Horn and Orchestra (1968)
A commercial recording (London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Nicholas Braithwaite; soloist David Pyatt) is available on Lyrita SRCD0316 (e.g. here).
I — Con Moto — Tranquillo — Cadenza [here or sample here]
The second is, according to the uploader, a recording of a radio broadcast on 29 July, 1976 by the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra under Vernon Handley, and with Val Kennedy as soloist: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPz4TmoEzlY>
Op. 60: Triton for Horn and Piano (1970)
One rendition uploaded to YouTube on the 30th November 2019. Alicia Rafter (horn) and Dr. Hooi Yin Boey (piano): <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kONTNql8jgI>.
A second recording, from a concert given by the Association for the Promotion of English Composers on the 9 June 2021, can be heard here: <www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDB9uG7Cao0&t=1468> (24'25"). Performed by Henryk Sienkiewicz (horn) and Sasha Valeri Millwood (piano)
A third performance by Emily Britton (horn) and Kristin Jones (piano) was given for a lecture recital during the virtual International Horn Symposium 2021: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECU9sxAFGaE>
Commercially recorded by Ben Goldscheider (horn) and Huw Watkins (piano) for the 2022 disc ‘Winds of Change’ (Three Worlds Records, 2022).
Op. 61: Symphony No. 4 (1972)
Two recordings. The first of a broadcast on the 3rd May, 1983, by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Pritchard; the second is a commercial recording with Rumon Gamba, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales available on Chandos CHAN 20078. There is more information about the symphony’s dedication to Sir Arthur Bliss at http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Feb05/Gipps_Bliss.htm.
I — Moderato — Allegro molto — Poco meno mosso [0'00"]
II — Adagio [10'35"]
III — Scherzo [17'27"]
IV — (Finale) Andante — Allegro molto [22'12"]
Op. 62: Gloria in excelsis for Unison Chorus and Organ (1977)
A première recording by the BBC Singers and Stephen Farr (organ), conducted by Sofi Jeannin, was first broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s programme ‘Composer of the Week’, 10 March 2021: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000sz5x>.
Op. 63: Sonata for Cello and Piano (1978)
A première recording by Joseph Spooner (cello) and Duncan Honeybourne (piano) was first broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s programme ‘Composer of the Week’, 11 March 2021: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000sytk>, and was released on disc in 2021 by Prima Facie records (‘Opalescence’).
Op. 64: Symphony No. 5 (1982)
One recording of a performance given in 1983 by the London Repertoire Orchestra, conducted by Ruth Gipps. This symphony has never been broadcast or recorded commercially. It was reviewed in the Catholic Herald on the 14th March 1986: the idea of a Missa Brevis for orchestra was considered ‘intriguing’, but the reviewer was otherwise rather unenthusiastic!
A première recording by musicians of the National Orchestra of Wales and conducted by Jonathan Bloxham was first broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s programme ‘Composer of the Week’, 11 March 2021: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000sytk>.
Recording on ‘Winds of Change’ (Three Worlds Records, 2022) with members of the London Chamber Orchestra.
Op. 66: Sonata No. 2 for Oboe and Piano (1985)
Rendition by Stephanie Carlson (oboe) and Stephen Sulich (piano) during a Lecture Recital at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, 16th September, 2017: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBvQYELiaqA&t=3360s>
Commercial recording (2023) for Chandos Records (CHAN 20290) by Juliana Koch (oboe), Julian Bliss (clarinet) and Michael McHale (piano).
Op. 67: The St. Francis Window for Alto Flute and Piano (1986)
Rendition by Andra Bohnet (alto flute) and Doreen Lee (piano); recorded at the Laidlaw Performing Arts Center, University of South Alabama, United States, 1 September, 2020: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWoYGaTBlT0>
Op. 68: Scherzo and Adagio for Unaccompanied Cello (1987)
One recording by Joseph Spooner was released in 2021 by Prima Facie records on the disc ‘Opalescence’.
A commercial recording by David Heyes (double bass) and Duncan Honeybourne (piano) was released in 2021 by Prima Facie records on the disc ‘Opalescence’.
A second recording by Duncan Honeybourne was first broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s programme ‘Composer of the Week’, 12 March 2021: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000szy4> and released in 2021 by Prima Facie records on the disc ‘Opalescence’. Honeybourne also gave a performance of the work during a lunchtime lecture recital at St. James’s Church, Piccadilly, on the 23 June 2021; the recorded Internet live stream can be watched here <www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDb1Wo6tvu0&t=1941> (32'31")
A performance was also given by Sasha Valeri Millwood during a concert organised by the Association for the Promotion of English Composers and broadcast on YouTube on 31st March, 2021 (19'26",<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guJ4NlgsicI&t=1166>), the music having been recorded at Craxton Studios (London) on the 22nd March.
Op. 73: Sinfonietta for 10 Winds and Percussion (1989) Performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Teresa Riveiro Bohm, and broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Afternoon Concert, 16th November 2020: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000pgb9>. The recording received a second broadcast BBC Radio 3’s programme ‘Composer of the Week’, 12 March 2021: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000szy4>.
A commercial recording by members of the London Chamber Orchestra was released on disc in 2022 (‘Winds of Change’, Three Worlds Records, 2022).
Two other recordings: the Erie County Chamber Winds conducted by Rick Fleming:
Op. 74: Threnody for English horn and Piano (1990)
Inscription: ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills’. Rendition by Stephanie Carlson (oboe) and Stephen Sulich (piano) during a Lecture Recital at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, 16th September, 2017: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBvQYELiaqA&t=5060s>
Recorded commercially in 2023 for Chandos Records (CHAN 20290) by Juliana Koch (oboe), Julian Bliss (clarinet) and Michael McHale (piano).
Op. 75: The Pony Cart for Flute, Horn and Piano (1990)
Performed by Simon Desorgher (flute), Henryk Sienkiewicz (horn) and Sasha Valeri Millwood (piano) during a concert organised by the Association for the Promotion of English Composers and broadcast on YouTube on 31st March, 2021 (64'44",<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guJ4NlgsicI&t=3884>), the music having been recorded at Craxton Studios (London) on the 22nd March.
Recorded by Leanne Hampton (flute), Emily Britton (horn) and Kristin Jones (piano) for a lecture recital given at the virtual International Horn Symposium 2021: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01IGMm20TyI>
A commercial recording on ‘Winds of Change’ (Three Worlds Records, 2022) with members of the London Chamber Orchestra.
Op. 78: Pan and Apollo (1992)
A première recording by musicians of the National Orchestra of Wales was first broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s programme ‘Composer of the Week’, 12 March 2021: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000szy4>.
A recording of a live performance at the Curtis Institute of Music, United States May 9th, 2023: Izaiah Cheeran (oboe), Ben Price (oboe), Oliver Talukder (English horn), Subin Lee (harp): <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLxAbRqpTO0>
Op. 79: Lady of the Lambs for soprano and wind quintet (1992)
Recorded by Alanna Keenan (soprano), Leanne Hampton (flute), Elizabeth Robertson (oboe), Emily Cook (clarinet), Emily Britton (horn) and Eve Parsons (bassoon) for a lecture recital given at the virtual International Horn Symposium 2021: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHqugoZnXOk>
A commercial recording released on disc by Three Worlds Records (‘Winds of Change’, 2022) with Mary Bevan (soprano) and members of the London Chamber Orchestra. Also performed on YouTube here: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MULTmK92iKI>
Op. 80: Sonata for Alto Trombone (or Horn) and Piano (1995)
A commercial recording for horn (played by Ben Goldscheider, and Huw Watkins playing the piano) was released in 2022 by Three Worlds Records on their disc ‘Winds of Change’.
Op. 81: Sonata for Double Bass and Piano (1986)
One recording by David Heyes (double bass) and Duncan Honeybourne (piano). ‘Opalescence’, Prima Facie (2021).
WoO 2 (Werk ohne Opuszahl; Work Without Opus Number): Reverie for Bassoon and Piano
Today (6th September) is the eightieth anniversary of the death, at the age of nine, of Michael Kendrick Howells. A form of polio or meningitis felled him in only three days; his father Herbert Howells, in the nearly fifty years by which he outlived his son, never overcame this loss.
Herbert Howells had been, before the Great War, a promising young composer of mainly orchestral work; he was Stanford’s favourite at the Royal College of Music and shone among the brightest in that fascinating constellation, darkened forever by the 1914-1918 war, of Edwardian and Georgian composers and writers with some connection to Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire or the Marches. He was a close friend of Ivor Gurney and the poet F.W. Harvey; all three had Gloucester connections. During the war he had narrowly avoided death not in the trenches but from Graves’ disease, and become the first person in the country to undergo radium treatment. Afterwards his career had flagged rather, especially after the unfavourable reception of his (sublime!) second piano concerto, about which more here. His son’s death in 1935 silenced him utterly.
Only his daughter Ursula was able to persuade him to compose again; she suggested that he ‘write something for Michael’. The work that resulted remained untouched for thirty years, before Herbert Sumsion and Ralph Vaughan Williams found out about it and persuaded him to allow it to be performed at the Three Choirs Festival. Hymnus Paradisi is a monumental work, a Requiem with various additions from the Psalms and the Sarum Book of Hours. It is performed rarely mainly because it calls for two soloists, an enormous orchestra, two choirs and organ, but these were mustered during the Proms in 2012, and I was very fortunate indeed to be there in the Royal Albert Hall to hear it. I will never forget looking up from the arena to see a wall of singers rise up to sing, nor feeling the organ’s low bellow through my feet, nor indeed the thirty seconds of silence before Martyn Brabbins lowered the baton and unfettered the applause, during which he held the score aloft for us to applaud.
Howells is one of those composers whose work, listened to the first time, often seems to be thoroughly difficult and complex but for a few striking moments which demand a second listen, and then a third, and so on, until its beauty can be heard properly. This might be said of Hymnus Paradisi, but even a first hearing cannot miss the crescendo of grief just before the three minute mark, nor the audible light which brightens and brightens until it fills the whole work from the Sanctus (22 min) onwards:
The loss of his son is generally regarded as a clear rupture in Howells’ compositional career as well as in his life. The music he wrote after 1935 was almost all intended for the Anglican choral tradition (in all he wrote twenty settings of the Evening Canticles), more melismatic and often more searing. However, Howells did occasionally return to the past for material. The Hymnus Paradisi itself draws heavily on the Requiem that he had already written. And I have an idea that the final movement(Holy is the True Light, and passing wonderful…), which begins like this:
…might be a more magnificent, a heavier, yet also a more luminous version, in which wistfulness has hardened into grief, of the opening of the old Howells’ Piano Quartet of 1916 (itself perhaps a response to death, since Howells himself was gravely ill at this point)?
While I am on the subject, I wonder if the second theme of the Shropshire Lad rhapsody of George Butterworth (killed in action in 1916)…
… is quoted in the 1925 piano concerto, by the clarinet once only, at the point below?
To return to this post’s original subject, I would like to record another thought about Hymnus Paradisi: all the luminous chords, the massed choirs and the thundering organ were summoned all for the sake of a child of nine years. It is too easy to forget, not least in a Britain which I find hardly heeds children, that this is entirely fitting; that is a lesson for us all. Further reading and listening:
I thought it would be good to have some music on this blog. Not least because it seems to be such an innovative way (to me — probably old hat to everyone else!) to share music I have heard with others who might also enjoy it. In any case, there are very few things that music (rightly used) does not enrich, and I don’t see why this blog should be an exception.
In music as in all the arts, I can never resist rummaging around to find the characters and lives behind composers’ names and their works. Ruth Gipps (1921-1999) was a name unknown to me before I came across her via Corentin Boissier’s remarkable collection of orchestral music. Yet what a discovery to find a composer of music like this:
Now this (Piano Concerto in G Minor, 1948) is my kind of music, with rippling keys and soaring orchestra; with some parts light and airy, and others to be played with furrowed brow! Here is the quieter second movement, with delicious oboe, which is perhaps more immediately appealing:
Finally, here is the really pacy third movement, in which Gipps reminds us that the piano is a percussion instrument:
I have the impression that Ruth Gipps’ career was encumbered above all by its timing. When young, she was patronised and overlooked because she was a woman, in spite of her evident competence; the apparently brusque personality described in her biography not helping matters. Later, when her career should have been flourishing, her work was disparaged and left unbroadcast because she rejected musical modernism and held steadfastly to tonal music. She endured first the prejudices of the old culture, and then those of the new culture which replaced it. Thank goodness that she remained ultimately undaunted, and her music untainted, by such head-winds.
Further reading:
Halstead, Jill. Ruth Gipps: Anti-Modernism, Nationalism And Difference in English Music. (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006). (Preliminary extracts are available via Google Books here.)
