VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Klavierkonzerte

The old favorites on this disc are the incidental music to 'The Wasps' and the orchestration of the 'English Folk Song Suite'. The less well-known ones are the Piano Concerto and the short 'The Running Set.' They are all given sterling performances by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra led by James Judd. Ashley Wass in the soloist in the Piano Concerto; he seems to be making a habit of recording English piano music what with his Bax 'Symphonic Variations' Bax: Symphonic Variations, Bax solo works, Bridge piano works Bridge: Piano Music Vol. 2 - Piano Sonata and more.

'The Wasps' (subtitled 'An Aristophanic Suite') was written in 1909 for a Cambridge University production of Aristophanes' comedy, 'The Wasps', which was a satire on the Athenian legal system. The 'wasps' of the title are the judges who spent long and longer hours deciding cases because they were paid by the hour. The 'Overture' is often played independently of the Suite and is a high-humored depiction of the wasps, with buzzing strings mimicking their busy (and endless) deliberations. The first 'Entr'acte' is droll, mocking. It is followed by 'March Past the Kitchen Utensils', a scene in which a pot, cheese-grater, pestle, brazier and water-bowl testify against a dog accused of stealing some cheese and not sharing it. The second 'Entr'acte' is ceremonial and just a little pompous. The Final Tableau is a jolly, rumbustious conclusion. The whole suite is chock-full of tunes that sound like English folk songs and dances but are entirely original with Vaughan Williams. It is no wonder that this suite is a great favorite of audiences.

The 'Piano Concerto' is from 1926-1930, premièred in 1933 by Harriet Cohen with the BBC Symphony under Adrian Boult. By this time Vaughan Williams had incorporated some more modern-sounding gestures in his music and indeed there are some who liken the first movement to music by Bartók. It is a Toccata with percussive piano and brutal orchestral accompaniment that eventually gives way to a lyrical section. This movement is followed without pause by a short piano cadenza senza misura (without bar lines) which frees the pianist from rhythmic constraints, and it leads right into the emotional heart of the concerto, a wholly lovely 'Romanza', a kind of reverie that at times has a mystical quality. The concerto concludes with a two-section movement 'Fuga cromatica con finale alla tedesca' that consists of a quasi-Hindemithian fugue introduced by the brass and building to a dramatic climax leading then to a dance-like finale that, surprisingly, comes to a very quiet ending. The Concerto is a truly original work that has not been played as much as its worth might suggest. Because of its somewhat mixed reception at its première, Vaughan Williams recast it as a two-piano concerto, which enjoyed some success. In recent years, though, pianists have mostly gone back to the single piano version. It has been recorded twice by Howard Shelley but this new recording is their equal.

The 'English Folk Song Suite' was originally written in 1923 for military band. It became (and remains) a standard in wind band concerts, but in 1924 composer Gordon Jacob orchestrated it and it is probably most often heard now in that guise. The suite is replete with memorable melodies and is the sort of thing that sends you away humming. I knew a young couple who loved the music so much that they asked that the suite's first movement 'March: Seventeen Come Sunday' be played as their recessional, and a bright and optimistic thing it is. The second movement, 'Intermezzo: My Bonny Boy', is a soulful thing that features a languorous oboe solo. The 'Finale: Folks Songs from Somerset' reflects Vaughan Williams's indefatigable gathering of folk songs from all over the British Isles and is a congeries of sprightly tunes that generally bring smiles to the faces of those who hear it.

'The Running Set', which I'd never heard before, is six-and-a-half minute folk-inspired potpourri of 'traditional tunes' that have more or less died out in Britain but are still recalled in remote Appalachia. The tunes are 'Blackthorn Stick', 'Irish Reel' and 'Cock o' the North.' As it was originally written for a folk dance convention in 1933 it is exceedingly rhythmic and its good humor is infectious.

Not enough can be said about the marvelous job Judd and the Liverpudlians do with this wonderful music. Unless you already own earlier version of these works, I would urge you to please yourself by getting this terrific issue.

Scott Morrison