The World of DECCA Post 7 Classical: Romantic Period continued

Foreword

On this second outing amongst the Classics, we begin brief explorations of the lives

and music of composers of the Romantic period that feature in our fabulous WORLD OF series of DECCA records. So just to ease you back into things, here is a reminder of the various periods generally considered to comprise the duration of the Classical age:                                                                   

§ Early Music (up to c. 1400)

§ Renaissance (c. 1400-c. 1600)

§ Baroque (c. 1600-c. 1750)

§ Classical (c. 1750-c. 1830)

§ Romantic (c. 1830-c. 1900)

§ 20th Century and Beyond (c. 1900-Present)

ROMANTIC

CARL MARIA VON WEBER

So, dear reader, what were you doing at age 12? Young Carl, in common with so many of the contributors to our story, was somewhat prodigious. By the above age, Weber had published six piano fughettas and an opera called The Power of Love and Wine.

At age 12 I reckon I might have had an understanding of the power of a lunging tackle by one of my mates on the football field but, happily, had a way to go before my otherwise gentle life was complicated by love and wine! Neither have I taken a draft of acid, even in my later years but Weber had this one ticked off his list by about age 20 years when he accidentally drank engraver’s acid … well, it was stored in a wine bottle … Luckily he was more of a composer than a singer and his outstanding work is generally considered to be ‘Invitation to the Dance’ which features on THE WORLD OF YOUR HUNDRED BEST TUNES VOL. 4 (SPA 264), THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: GRADUATION BALL (SPA 406) and THE PHASE 4 WORLD OF SPECTACULAR DANCES (SPA 407). His other outing amongst the WORLD OF LPs is ‘Grand Duo Concertant in E Flat Major, Op. 48’ on THE WORLD OF THE CLARINET (SPA 395).

VINCENZO BELLINI

Italian Bellini was a composer of opera. He has six songs over five records in our WORLD OF collection, all from the bel canto (smooth, flowing, melodious style of song) opera Norma. This work contains one of the great soprano arias in ‘Casta Diva’ and it is no surprise to find it on THE WORLD OF JOAN SUTHERLAND (SPA 100). This

song also features on THE WORLD OF YOUR HUNDRED BEST TUNES (SPA 598) and THE WORLD OF OPERA VOL. 4 (SPA 490) also sung by Sutherland but with different orchestras so you may find it interesting, as ever, to compare the different deliveries, especially as on two of the three, the orchestra is conducted by the same man, Joan’s husband, Richard Bonynge so, as well as being able to compare completely different teams, it is possible to investigate the difference between two orchestras under the baton of the same conductor. The song also gets an outing on THE WORLD OF MECHANICAL MUSIC (SPA 145) where the sound is made by something called a Paillard Vauchre Fils 8 Air Hym Box No. 10232 1” Cylinder (Music Box). Just thought you should know. On THE WORLD OF GREAT CLASSICS: GREAT OPERA CHORUSES (SPA 296), also from Norma, we have the above husband and wife team presenting ‘War Chorus’. The remaining song which appears twice is from Bellini’s other major work, La Sonnambula written in the same style as Norma. The song is called ‘Ah! Non guinge’ and crops up on SPA 100 and THE WORLD OF ITALIAN OPERA (SPA 105) and, once again, it is Joan Sutherland and Bonynge presenting. Incidentally, a brief synopsis of Norma goes a bit like this: during the Roman occupation of Gaul, the Roman proconsul, Pollione, fell in love and had children with Norma, the High Priestess of Gaul. The Gaullists are getting ready for a punch-up and request war with Roman occupiers but the Priestess, being a bit soft on the enemy soldier, goes for a more peaceful option by singing ‘Casta diva’ (Pure Goddess). But, there is a fly in the ointment. Pollione has since fallen out of love with Norma then back in love, the complication being that, it is with another priestess, a virgin no less. Now, to quote a well-worn saying, a woman scorned doesn’t sleep long before the scorner has a ruction loosed in his general direction, here suggested by a rendering of ‘War Chorus’. Well, you never know when these things will crop up in conversation. Try and sneak it in one time.

CARL ZELLER

Carl Adam Johann Nepomuk Zeller was an Austrian composer of operettas, his most well-known one being Der Vogelhändler (The Bird Seller) and the one same piece is covered on two WORLD OF records. Guess the name of the operetta from which it

comes – that’s right, Der Obersteiger (The Master Miner)! Ok, Ok. Not the Bird Seller. You saw it coming.

Anyway, records in question are, THE WORLD OF YOUR HUNDRED BEST TUNES: THE TOP TEN (SPA 112) and THE WORLD OF OPERETTA FAVOURITES (SPA 466). By the way, there is a society in the UK formed by a bunch of enthusiasts for the music of the Strauss family known as The Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain that champions Carl Zeller as ‘perhaps the most remarkable of all the 19th century Viennese operetta composers’1 so it is fitting that the piece chosen for our record collection, ‘Don’t be Cross’, is a waltz. It is a familiar story of requited scorn. You see, there was once a fisher lad who went to woo a miller’s daughter who, being a bit full of herself, told him to go away and, Oh, don’t be cross! As the years go by and her pride diminishes, she is willing now to give the lad a chance but, Ha! It is his turn to say, ‘go away and don’t you be cross!’

JULES MASSENET

The notes on the back cover of THE WORLD OF BALLET VOL. 3 (SPA 203) remind us of the musical ploy for giving a piece some forward momentum. Frenchman Jules

Emile Frederic Massenet, in the ‘Aragonaise of Le Cid’, incorporates pauses in the music which makes it sound a little like a waltz and it is true, this does seem to impart some onward propulsion. Incidentally, Le Cid was a Spanish warrior knight and whilst the ‘Aragonaise’, just one of seven dances that take place in the main village square from Act 2, all of which feature on SPA 203, is danced as a ballet, Le Cid is actually an opera. The music of Jules Massenet can be found on six LPs in our collection; as well as SPA 203 above, we have ‘Meditation from Thais’ on, not surprisingly, THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: MEDITATION FROM THAIS (SPA 571) as well as THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS VOL 10: CLAIR DE LUNE (SPA 111), THE WORLD OF YOUR HUNDRED BEST TUNES VOL. 2 (SPA 155) and THE WORLD OF VIOLIN (SPA 350). Invocation (Elégie)’ from Les Errinyes on THE WORLD OF YOUR HUNDRED BEST TUNES: ALAN KEITH CHOOSES A PROGRAMME (SPA 598). Finally, SPA 111 also contains ‘Dernier Sommeil de la Vierge’.

MAX BRUCH

German Max Christian Friedrich Bruch, born Max Karl August Bruch, is known these days for one main piece; his Violin Concerto No.1 which is included on THE WORLD

OF GREAT CLASSICS: MENDELSSOHN AND BRUCH CONCERTOS (SPA 88) whilst the slow, melodic 2nd movement, the Adagio, crops up on THE WORLD OF THE VIOLIN (SPA 350) and THE WORLD OF YOUR HUNDRED BEST TUNES: THE TOP TEN (SPA 112). Bruch, though, was not happy with it until violin prodigy Joseph Joachim along with conductor Hermann Levi and Ferdinand David, another violinist, had applied their two penn’orth to the work. The advice of Joachim, who was the soloist for the debut of the definitive adaptation, was particularly appreciated and Bruch inserted an acknowledgement to the great man in the manuscript. Max Bruch is commemorated with a fine, full body, mini-sculpture on one of the towers of the Cologne City Hall.

GILBERT & SULLIVAN

Considering their penchant for composing comic operas, William Schwenck Gilbert (who wrote the words) and Arthur Seymour Sullivan (who wrote the music) they appear to be rather unhappy people. They never really got on with each other and you

are most unlikely to find an image of the two with anything but a forbidding scowl on their faces but their success speaks for itself. They began producing their works in 1871 and they are still performed frequently today. Most popular are ‘HMS Pinafore’, ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ and ‘The Mikado’. From the very beginning, the D’Oyly Carte

Opera Company was associated with the works of G & S as it was Richard D’Oyly Carte who had the idea to combine the music of composer Sullivan with the words of dramatist Gilbert to produce a short, light opera (operetta) in the first place. The D’Oyly Carte continued putting on performances until 2003, when it finally closed down due to financial constraints. The name is still often regarded in the same breath as Gilbert & Sullivan because of the expansive recorded output built up over the 100

plus years of the association. One such record is THE D’OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY PRESENT A SPECIAL GILBERT AND SULLIVAN COLLECTION: IF PATRIOTIC SENTIMENT IS WANTED (SPA 515) directed by the daughter of Richard, Dame Bridget D’Oyly Carte. There are also volumes 1, 2 and 3 of THE WORLD OF GILBERT AND SULLIVAN (SPA 28, 29 and 147). These three volumes were brought together for a three LP set by David Jones’, a department store in Australia2 but was never an official member of the WORLD OF club. If you were able to see a copy, you may notice that the title font is slightly different – the tops of the Ds and Bs curl backwards whereas the proper versions do not. Just another of those little foibles that turns collectors on.

ARTHUR SULLIVAN

Arthur Seymour Sullivan deserves to be considered separately from his partner, W S Gilbert because Sullivan was a busy composer prior to, as well as after, all the G & S stuff. In fact, his first comic opera was in collaboration with Francis Burnard who had

adapted Cox and Box, a work by John Maddison Morton. Sullivan set the stage farce successfully to music two or three years before meeting Gilbert, when their first coming-together resulted in a one-off pantomime, Thespis. Approximately four years later in 1875, the familiar story, as told above, began. Sullivan continued playing the organ, conducting and writing full operas, ballets and choral works whilst collaborating with several other librettists after the irreparable result of a disagreement with William Schwenk G. His music is covered by two dedicated LPs and three compilations featuring one tune each. One of the latter is THE WORLD OF MECHANICAL MUSIC (SPA 145) on which we have a tune apparently called ‘Meet Me Once Again’ played on a musical snuff box. I say ‘apparently’ as I wonder if the song is actually called ‘Once Again’ even though the four words are sung in the song itself. Anyway, this is certainly an unusual way to perform a tune so have fun listening. ‘The Lost Chord’,

co-written with librettist Adelaide A Proctor, features on THE WORLD OF YOUR HUNDRED BEST TUNES VOL. 5 (SPA 299) and THE WORLD OF SACRED SONGS (SPA-R 219) sung by Stuart Burrows on both occasions. The two Sullivan LPs are THE WORLD OF GREAT CLASSICS: SULLIVAN OVERTURES (SPA 259) and THE WORLD OF SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN (SPA 548). The overtures are all from collaborations with Mr Gilbert except the last track which is the ‘Overture di Ballo’ all three movements of which are set in dance modes. The more interesting for Sullivan fans is SPA 548 which comprises non-G&S collusions including, once again, ‘The Lost Chord’ and ‘Di Ballo Overture’. The ‘Cox and Box Overture’ is here too along with ‘The Imperial; March’ composed to recognise the opening of the Imperial Institute in London. There also a couple of Shakespeare-related pieces.

MODEST MUSSORGSKY

Modest by name, modest by nature … NOT! He had a reputation as something of a cad with a short fuse and a penchant for booze. Wrote some nice tunes, though. Pictures at an Exhibition crops up on THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: MUSSORGSKY: PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION etc. (SPA 229) was inspired by a visit to

the art gallery that was exhibiting the work of his recently deceased friend, Viktor Hartman. The music is divided into several short pieces, each representing works of art or the short walk towards them. Many of the sections are rather heavy in style and ‘The Hut on Chicken’s Legs’ features the cackling of a warty-nosed witch on the prowl. The witch in question is Baba Yaga of Russian folk-lore fame and she lives in a hut that (in case you haven’t worked it out) constantly spins around on chicken legs! There you go – this classical music lark ain’t so complicated is it? And with titles such as ‘The Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks’ you can rest assured that the dark clouds will lift occasionally to allow a little levity to jump in to relieve the tension from time to time. The first piece, ‘Promenade 1’ is probably the most recognisable track and variations upon the theme pop up throughout the music as three more strolls between paintings.

Mussorgsky originally scored ‘Pictures at and Exhibition’ for piano but it was Maurice Ravel who orchestrated it to the form most of us are familiar with today. Stuff by Mussorgsky can be found on five other WORLD OFs; ‘The Gnome’ from Pictures at an Exhibition appears on THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: DANSE MACABRE (SPA 175) along with ‘Night on Bare Mountain’. Also from Pictures etc. are ‘The Hut on Fowl’s Legs’ and ‘The Great Gate of Kiev’ which feature on THE PHASE 4 WORLD OF LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI (SPA 159). On THE WORLD OF BALLET VOL. 3 (SPA 203) we have ‘Dance of the Persian Slaves’, Act 4 of Khovanshchina which also crops up on THE WORLD OF RUSSIA (SPA 257) along with the ‘Introduction’ from the same work as well as ‘Night on Bare Mountain’ once again. Finally, we find the ‘Coronation Scene’ from Boris Godunov on THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: GREAT OPERA CHORUSES (SPA 296).

NICOLAI RIMSKY KORSAKOV

Russian Rimsky Korsakov once shared a room with Mussorgsky; the latter working at the table and piano in the mornings whilst RK did so in the afternoons. When

Mussorgsky died, he had left several pieces unfinished and Rimsky Korsakov, amongst others, tried to pick up the pieces. ‘Bare Mountain’ was practically rewritten whilst others were re-scored and/or had new RK pieces inserted. Rimsky Korsakov, who features on nine WORLD OF compilations as well as enjoying exclusivity on THE WORLD OF GREAT CLASSICS VOL. 4: RIMSKY KORSAKOV: SHEHERAZADE Op 35, SYMPHONIC SUITE (SPA 89), taught Prokofiev and influenced many an up and coming composer. He may well have been an astute and attentive teacher as he was clearly a thinker. His various compositions included several books, one entitled Principles of Orchestration which ran to two volumes. This title, however, was not the author’s selection. He apparently named and re-named it several times but could not decide in his lifetime so it was left to the editor of the day to choose.

It seems that there is not much in Rimsky Korsakov’s personal history onto which aspersions may be cast. He was a prolific letter writer and, unless he was extraordinarily careful, there were no skeletons in his closet; not even the smallest bones of, for example, the inner ear. Not in his personal life, that is. The above investigations do skirt around a rather public event however, which has become known as The Rimsky Korsakov Scandal of 1905. Nothing salacious, I’m afraid. Nothing gossip-worthy, really. He was only sacked from his position of Professor at the St Petersburg Conservatory for criticising the board members of the Imperial Russian Musical Society. This elite bunch of characters were seen as the thin edge of a wedge of a general repression which was permeating the very culture of Russian society. Still, don’t let anyone tell you that there is nothing to discredit the good name of Rimsky Korsakov. After all, he has a scandal named after him! Other LPs in the collection that feature the music of Rimsky Korsakov include THE WORLD OF STEREO ACTION (SPA 125) on which appears an excerpt of Capriccio Espagnol but if you’re feeling short-changed, get all five movements on the record actually entitled THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: CAPRICCIO ESPAGNOL (SPA 182). No discussion on Rimsky Korsakov would be complete without a mention of his ‘Flight of the Bumble Bee’ which can be found on THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: ANIMALS IN MUSIC (SPA 366).

MIKHAIL GLINKA

WORLD OF composers, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky Korsakov and Rubenstein were all influenced by Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka and he is largely considered to be the Father of

Russian classical music. Ah yes, but little Mikhail was shown the ropes by his granny, who brought him up, and from whom he learned the folk tunes in which the national musical culture was steeped. When his grandmother died he went to live with his uncle who played with an orchestra that performed Western works by such as Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn. It was, however, when he went to live in Italy at the age of 26 and was exposed to opera that music began to appeal as a good career move. He studied here and in Berlin and aged 32, back in Russia, composed his first opera, Ivan Susanin: A Life for the Tsar. This became very successful for the budding composer but his second bombed. It is the overture from Russlan and Ludmilla, however, (this second work) that was chosen to feature on three of the four WORLD OFs on which Glinka appears including THE PHASE FOUR WORLD OF CONCERT OVERTURES (SPA 409). The remaining record, THE WORLD OF GREAT CLASSICS: CAPPRICCIO ESPAGNOL (SPA 182) has his Jota Aragonesa (Spanish Overture No.1).

BEDRICH SMETANA

As Glinka was to Russian music, so Smetana was to Czech music, instilling within his

work a patriotism that was recognisable around the world. His Má Vlast and The Bartered Bride are probably the highlights from a varied portfolio and both appear in our record collection. Smetana shares THE WORLD OF GREAT CLASSICS: BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (SPA 202) with fellow Czech Dvorák. The whole of the comic three-act opera The Bartered Bride runs to more than two hours but the sections selected for us here are the ‘Overture’, ‘Polka’ and ‘Furiant’, the latter two being popular dance forms. If you are uncertain whether opera is for you, give Smetana a try. Set in a village in the country, the music and voices evoke the emotions you might expect with forced marriages, wedding arguments and argy bargy and, obviously, a travelling circus, all underpinned with the usual skulduggery … Oh! And a happy ending, natch!

‘Vltava’ is the second of six poems from the work Má Vlast and represents just a snippet of the whole symphonic piece. If you’ve heard any of Smetana’s work at all, it is very likely to be this description of the Moldau River that runs peacefully through valleys and then torrentially down falls; you’ll experience the thrill of a hunt on the bank and also a wedding banquet. All decidedly unlikely but, as they say, flow with it. Smetana’s music also crops up on THE PHASE FOUR WORLD OF CONCERT OVERTURES (SPA 409) and THE WORLD OF BALLET (SPA 97) which both contain excerpts of The Bartered Bride.

ALEXANDER BORODIN

Mussorgsky and Rimsky Korsakov as well as lesser known composers, Balakirev and Cesar Cui, who do not feature in our WORLD OF collection, worked with Borodin in an attempt to establish a tradition of distinctly Russian classical music. They were

known as The Five or Mighty Handful and were looking to bring together all things Russian into their music including elements of such as the songs of villagers, Cossack dances and the tolling of the bells of the Russian church. The sound of bells crops up in, for example, Borodin’s Prince Igor (the ‘Polotsvian Dances’ of which can be heard on THE WORLD OF BORODIN [SPA 281], THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: GEORG SOLTI CONDUCTS… [SPA 127], THE WORLD OF YOUR HUNDRED BEST TUNES VOL. 10 [SPA 400] and THE WORLD OF BALLET VOL. 2 [SPA 97]), Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov and RK’s The Tale of Tsar Sultan. One other WORLD OF contains the music of Borodin. THE WORLD OF RUSSIA (SPA 257) has the ‘Overture’ from Prince Igor. Like the rest of The Five, Borodin had a day job and prior to the composition of any music, he had written ‘On the Action of Ethyl-iodide on Hydrobenzamide and Amarien’. Now, there’s a conversation stopper!

SERGEI RACHMANINOV

Whilst Rachmaninov thought very highly of his First Piano Concerto, when invited to present it to British audiences, he preferred to compose a new piece – well, the First was written some eight years previously and may have felt a little stale to even his own ears. Also, prior to landing upon Britain’s shores, this First Concerto had proven

to be something of a failure and this knocked his confidence somewhat. Following successful hypnotherapy, however, Rachmaninov produced a follow-up piece, imaginatively entitled, the Second Piano Concerto which can be heard today on pop radio stations as well as classical ones. How? Well, as well as becoming a big favourite amongst the classical music audience, the main theme from the second movement was borrowed by popular songsmith, Eric Carmen, for his first solo single and major hit, ‘All By Myself’. Apparently, Carmen didn’t realise that there was a copyright hurdle to overcome and crashed straight into said hurdle when the estate of Rachmaninov

came a-knocking3. All was well in the end, though, as payment of royalties was arranged and this would quite likely have been a lucrative settlement as the song reached no. 12 in the UK charts and no. 2 in the USA. Even better for the estate, then, was the fact that Eric had also borrowed from the third movement for his second single, ‘Never Gonna Fall in Love Again’ which got to no. 11 in the USA. Both piano concertos feature on THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: RACHMANINOV: PIANO CONERTOS 1 & 2 (SPA 169) whilst bits of them are scattered amongst several other WORLD OFs including THE WORLD OF RACHMANINOV (SPA 310), THE WORLD OF YOUR HUNDRED BEST TUNES VOL. 5 (SPA 299) and THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: RACHMANINOV (SPA 505). Other pieces crop up elsewhere such as ‘Prelude No. 1 in C Sharp Minor Op. 3’, ‘Prelude No. 2 in C Sharp Minor Op. 3, ‘Polichinelle’, Humoreske Op. 10 No. 5’ and ‘Barcarolle Op. 5’ variously on THE WORLD OF TWO PIANOS (SPA 349), THE WORLD OF THE PIANO (SPA 390), THE WORLD OF JOSEPH COOPER VOL. 2 (SPA 473), THE WORLD OF JOSEPH COOPER VOL. 3 (SPA 519) and THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: AN EVENING WITH JOSEPH COOPER (SPA 542).

CHARLES GOUNOD

Of the music of French composer Charles-François Gounod, it is that from his opera Faust which is most common among the 11 WORLD OF LPs on which the music of Gounod features. The place to start would seem to be THE WORLD OF BALLET VOL. 2 (SPA 97) which hosts seven orchestral pieces from the ballet section of the last of

five Acts. The back cover informs us of the librettist but, of course, his work does not appear in the selections on our record. It is not uncommon to find segments of ballet music in opera as a means of an amusing diversion from the main theme. Often these would be inserted roughly in the middle of a performance or just after so it IS slightly unusual that this distraction comes in the last Act in Faust though it turns out that the sequence of the individual scenes of Acts 4 and 5 of this opera were often moveable and sometimes removed altogether during public performances to suit proceedings. Georg Solti conducts ‘Faust – Ballet Music from the Witches Sabbath’ scene on THE WORLD OF GREAT CLASSICS: SOLTI AT THE OPERA (SPA 347) and there is more Faust ballet music from Solti on THE WORLD OF YOUR HUNDRED BEST TUNES VOL. 9 (SPA 373) in the form of ‘Mirror Variations’ and ‘Phryne’s Dance’. Other tunes taken

from Faust include ‘Valse’ (Waltz) on THE WORLD OF MECHANICAL MUSIC (SPA 145) where it is played upon a Bremond 22 Key Organ Box, ‘O Divine Redeemer’ on THE WORLD OF SACRED SONGS (SPA-R 219), ‘Jewel Song’ on THE WORLD OF JOAN TURNER (SPA 135) which also selects ‘Waltz Song’ from Gounod’s Romeo & Juliet. Other non-Faust music occurs on THE WORLD OF GREAT CLASSICS: MARCH (SPA 173) by way of ‘Funeral of a Marionette’ and ‘O Dieu de Bijoux’ on THE WORLD OF OPERA VOL. 1 (SPA 449) and finally, ‘Judex’ from Mors et Vita on THE WORLD OF YOUR HUNDRED BEST TUNES: THE NEW CHART VOL. 3 (SPA 565). It can be seen, then, that Gounod has been given a better deal than most of his contemporaries on these records in that he shows up on 11 LPs with almost no duplication.

JACQUES OFFENBACH

Offenbach was born in Cologne and, for a laugh, he’d sometimes sign his name, ‘O de Cologne’. Jacques, or as he was originally known, Jacob, went to join the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 14 which would seem to explain the Frenchification of his

name. He spent about a year studying music but it was soon time to compose his own works. The usual audience for new music were the royal courts and palaces but these were not available to a young Jew from Germany. He is known as a composer of light classical music and this stems from his chosen audience at this time – the people on the wealthier streets of Paris. The fine gentlemen and fancy Dans were looking to invest their wealth in the pursuit of leisure; gambling and the restaurants, along with other attractions of theatre-land, and to accompany this ostentatiousness, Offenbach decided to fill a perceived gap in the market with dance music. The dance music of choice in the mid-1830s was the waltz and it was these and ballads which he composed and were performed at salons, our man himself playing cello. These days he is known as a composer of comic operettas as much as anything else, particularly

the piece called ‘Galop Infernal’ or the ‘Can Can’ from Orpheus and the Underworld. Jacques Offenbach appears on seven WORLD OFs with THE WORLD OF OFFENBACH (SPA 512) being reserved for O de Cologne exclusively. The highlight for me is ‘The Doll’s Song’ from The Tales of Hoffman which comprises the vocal (to quote the LP back cover) gymnastics of the dancing doll which, being an automaton, reserves the right to get tired and wind down from time to time. This triggers some consternation from the doll-master who can be heard chivvying the mechanism in order to set her off again. Nice stuff. The only outing for the Can Can, incidentally, is on THE PHASE 4 WORLD OF SPECTACULAR DANCE (SPA 407) where it is easy-listener Stanley Black conducting. In all, the music of Offenbach appears on seven WORLD OF LPs, the remaining five all being discussed elsewhere.

FRANZ VON SUPPÉ

Take a deep breath and … GO! Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo Cavaliere Suppé-Demelli … phew! Made it. So, that is what his parents named him but I doubt if anyone called him it. Anyway, von Suppé was largely a composer of operetta and was

something of a luminary in the field. His first recognised work, however, was a Mass written when he was just 13 years of age. Nine years later, he presented Young and Merry, a singspiel which is a light opera usually with spoken discourse, and now his career took off but could he be considered truly successful until he’d had one of his tunes, the ‘Light Cavalry Overture’, performed on a Victorian Pop Polyphon mechanical machine as presented on THE WORLD OF MECHANCIAL MUSIC (SPA 145)? A little more conventional is the version that begins THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: SUPPÉ OVERTURES (SPA 374) and is followed by his other greatest non-operetta hit, ‘Poet and Peasant’. The ‘Light Cavalry’ crops up again on THE PHASE 4 WORLD OF CONCERT OVERTURES (SPA 409) and on THE WORLD OF YOUR HUNDRED BEST TUNES: THE NEW CHART VOL. 1 (SPA 491) we have another version of ‘Poet and Peasant’.

GUSTAV MAHLER

Mahler was a fair-weather composer. Through the cold winter months he preferred to wave his arms around to keep warm whilst conducting, saving the sit-down job of

writing music for the summer with sun shining through the window. He began writing his first opera at the age of 15 following the traumatic loss of his younger brother. This, however, as with all three attempts at composing an opera, remained unfinished leaving Mahler to produce grand sprawling symphonies instead. As a young student, Gustav developed a firm interest in German philosophy and so became something of a big thinker. It is maybe not so surprising then, if some of his music comes over as austere and solemn. Mahler is represented on just three WORLD OF records but he is sole composer on two of them. THE WORLD OF GREAT CLASSICS: MAHLER: SYMPHONY NO. 1 IN D MAJOR: ‘THE TITAN’ (SPA 521) is a major showcase of the composer’s superb, grandiosity whilst the other has him sharing top honours with the conductor of the various pieces on THE WORLD OF MAHLER: SIR GEORG SOLTI (SPA 362).

FRÉDÉRIC FRANÇOIS CHOPIN

Born in Poland Fryderyk Franciszek, Chopin became a virtuoso of the piano and wrote almost exclusively for this instrument. He wrote 169 works in a life shortened by tuberculosis at the age of 39 and performed in public just 30 times. He was much more likely to be found playing at salons, intimate gatherings of like-minded

acquaintances looking to expand their intellect as well as enjoying the company. After growing up in Poland, he spent most of his adult life in France, hence the change in the spelling of his name. Chopin, it seems, was rather shy and preferred to play in the dark. He was even too shy to ask for payment of his wealthy patrons to whom he’d give piano lessons – he would have them leave money on the mantelpiece whilst he looked the other way. Frédéric shows up on ten WORLD OFs; eight compilations plus two on which he monopolises; one of these being THE WORLD OF CHOPIN: WILHELM

KEMPFF (SPA 280) on which his Sonata No. 2 in B Flat Minor Op. 35 ‘Funeral March’ predominates. Kempff was a German pianist known rather more for his recordings of the sonatas of Beethoven, in fact, in Wilhelm Kempff’s day, it was rare for a German to play Chopin at all. Frederic Chopin has a couple of tunes on THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS VOL. 9: ENCORES: JULIUS KATCHEN; ‘Polonaise in A Flat’ and ‘Fantasie-Impromptu in C Sharp Minor Op. 66. As well as being a pianistic supremo known largely for his interpretations of the music of Brahms, Katchen was an avid collector of Japanese netsuke, one such piece from his collection fetching 220,000 at Bonhams auction house in 2016. Netsukes (pronounced netskays) are small carved ornaments, usually carved from ivory or wood, which feature two small drilled holes which join up in a kind of letter ‘U’ through which a cord is threaded, which are worn as a part of Japanese national dress. They work as a toggle which can be used to attach articles, such as a small purse, to a kimono sash. Anyway, the Brahms/Katchen link is underlined in the WORLD OF collection by there being three of that composer’s LPs featuring that pianist. And finally, folks. How long do you think Chopin’s Minute Waltz (Waltz in D flat Major, Op. 64 No. 1) takes to play? Well, the version played by Peter Katin on THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: CHOPIN: THE WALTZES (SPA 486) takes 1min 43secs ... !

GIACOMO PUCCINI

Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini composed about 11.9 operas, not quite finishing Turandot before death compromised further progress. The

work was completed by Franco Alfano but at its premiere performance, the conductor, Arturo Toscanini, halted the orchestra at the point where Puccini’s work stopped and the new part started and turned to the audience and announced, ‘Here, death triumphed over art!’4 Twelve records in our collection host some Puccini music and in two cases, THE WORLD OF PUCCINI (SPA 365) and THE WORLD OF GREAT CLASSICS: ONE FINE DAY AND OTHER FAMOUS PUCCINI ARIAS (SPA 574), Giacomo is the only guest.

Three of the records are Volumes 1, 3 and 4 of THE WORLD OF OPERA (SPA 449, 489 and 490 respectively) and two are from THE WORLD OF YOUR HUNDRED BEST TUNES mini-series VOLs. 2 and 8 (SPA 155 and 356). The most popular songs over these LPs is ‘None Shall Sleep’ (Nessun Dorma) from Turandot and ‘One Fine Day’ (Un Bel Di) from Madame Butterfly of which there are five each. Other Puccini operas that you’ll no doubt have heard of are La Bohème and Tosca. Tosca provides ‘E Lucevan Stelle’ which crops up on three records (SPA 489, 490 and 535). La Bohème gives us O Soave Fanciulla and Donde Lieta. Lesser known Puccini opera, Gianni Schicchi throws up ‘O Mio Babbino Caro’ on THE WORLD OF OPERATIC MELODIES: FRANK CHACKSFIELD & HIS ORCHESTRA (SPA 266) and Frank also takes on ‘Un Bel Di’ and ‘Nessun Dorma’ long with another version of ‘E Lucevan Stelle’ and two more from La Boheme; ‘Che Gelida Manina’ and ‘Quando m’en vo’’ (aka Musetta’s Waltz). You can hear a more conventional version of ‘Che Gelida Manina’ on SPA 449, 491 and 535, and ‘O Mio Babbino Caro’ on SPA 449 whilst SPA 489 delivers ‘Si, Mi Chiamano Mimi’ from La Bohème: ‘Recondita Armonia’ (SPA 535 and 574) from Tosca and ‘Donna non Vidi Mai’ (SPA 574) from Manon Lescaut. There are even more tunes from Puccini’s various operas on SPA 365 and 574 as well as THE WORLD OF GREAT CLASSICS: FAMOUS OPERATIC DUETS (SPA 496) so Puccini gets to display more of his wares than most, if not all, other composers in the WORLD OF LP series.

MORITZ MOSZKOWSKI

German born Jewish composer, Moszkowski features on just one WORLD OF LP, THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: CAPRICCIO ESPAGNOL (SPA 182) but has five tunes from his Spanish Dances Book 1 Op. 12 on it. He was recognised as a child prodigy and accepted into the Dresden conservatory when he was just 11 years of age and became an instructor at 17. At age 19 years, Moszkowski made his first piano performance proper and just two years later, found himself playing piano-duet presentations of his own Piano Concert alongside Liszt. During the late-1800s, piano salons were very popular and Moritz found that his Spanish dances were particularly so but, unfortunately, he soon began suffering the symptoms of a neurological condition in his arm which compromised his playing leading to a diminution of his performances and an increase in composing and tutoring.

EDWARD ELGAR

Elgar was knighted by Edward VII and liked to go to Woolworths department store for a cup of tea when he was having a rest from composing patriotic pieces for national occasions such as the Imperial March from THE WORLD OF ELGAR (SPA 576) for

Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. His Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 was also used to back newsreel of the Royal Family. Probably his most well-known tune is ‘Nimrod’, Movement No.9 of the Enigma Variations. Now, just calling something an enigma tends to have people in a tizz about having the chore of solving it. Its original title was, in fact, ‘Variations on an Original Theme’ and that is the gist of this work. The first movement is the exposition of the main theme and the next fourteen pieces are, apparently, variations of it. Well, it would be fun to explore this work fully but we need concern ourselves only with the one track that finds itself on The WORLD OF Elgar. Each variation is associated with one of Big Ed’s bestest pals and each title is suffixed with the nick-name or initials of one of them. So who is Nimrod? Turns out that it is publisher Augustus Jaeger and ‘Jäger’ in German is ‘hunter’ in English and Nimrod is ‘a mighty hunter’ residing in the Old Testament. So there you have it – one little part of the Enigma that shouldn’t trouble you further. That’s me doing the research so that you don’t have to!

The music of Elgar features on a total 14 WORLD OF LPs including SPA 576 above

and THE WORLD OF THE GREAT

CLASSICS: ELGAR: ENIGMA VARIATIONS: POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE MARCHES (SPA 536). The Enigma Variations crop up once again on THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: ELGAR: ENIGMA VARIATIONS: BRAHMS: VARIATIONS ON A THEME BY HAYDN (SPA 121) whilst ‘Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1’ appears on THE WORLD OF YOUR HUNDRED BEST TUNES VOL. 3 (SPA 205). One might think that Elgar’s work was limited to the Enigma and Pomp and Circumstance but there are other pieces amongst the WORLD OFs, for example, ‘Serenade for Strings in E Minor Op.20’, the 2nd movement of which shows up on THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: SERENADE (SPA 323) and his ‘Severn Suite’ turns up on the WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: CLASSIC TV THEMES (SPA 580) – it was used as the theme for God’s Wonderful Railway, an eight-part children’s series of 30-minute episodes which ran in 1980.

RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO

Splendidly moustachioed Leoncavallo went in for opera written in real life mode after noticing how well Mascagni did with his Cavalleria Rusticana composed in similar style. Ruggero came up with Pagliacci, an ultimately violent passion of spurned love (for a change) amongst … clowns? Now, that is a change! Well, that’s what the title means in Italian, anyway. The story? Oh. OK. So, there was this clown man who was married to a clown lady who was conducting a dalliance with another clown man. And there’s more. Yet another clown man, who fancied the clown lady (boy, I’d like to see this clown siren that’s stirring them all up) spilt the beans and then there were stabbings and all sorts of ruckus. The end. Real life? Not in my neck of the woods but heck, where there’s a clown eh … Anyway, back to the records.

Leoncavallo features on four WORLD OFs contributing five tunes in total and all on compilations of opera music. There are four different selections from Pagliacci and one stand-alone song, ‘Mattinata’ where the minstrel warbles on all maudlin about a frosty morning … except on THE WORLD OF JOAN SUTHERLAND (SPA 100) where the dawn is celebrated with magnificent gusto. The other tracks crop up on THE WORLD OF ITALIAN OPERA (SPA 105), THE WORLD OF GREAT CLASSICS: GREAT OPERA CHORUSES (SPA 296) and THE WORLD OF OPERA VOL. 4 (SPA 490).

OTTORINO RESPIGHI

Ottorini Respighi is probably best-known for his arrangement of Rossini’s ballet ‘La

Boutique Fantasque’ which features on THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: ROSSINI-RESPIGHI: LA BOUTIQUE FANTASQUE (SPA 376) but of his own music, ‘The Pines of Rome’ and ‘The Fountains of Rome’ would come somewhere near the top of a list of listeners’ favourites. The record you need for this work is THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: RESPIGHI: THE PINES OF ROME etc. (SPA 227). The Rossini piece is a bit of a mash-up, really. The idea to set a ballet in a Fantastic Toyshop was that of choreographer Léonide Massine who worked up the dance with artist André Derain who provided the story and designed the setting for the stage. Respighi, for his part,

supplied the score of some Rossini piano music which he decided to fully orchestrate. So, you see, four artistes came together to produce this ballet. It is a fun story about two families who visit the toyshop and, after watching several demonstrations of wind-up toys, they both decide upon the same pair of dolls – a couple in love. Typical! What to do? Well, there were two families and two dolls so, obviously, they settled on the destruction of the puppety love match – one puppet going with one family and one going with the other. The little couple were wrapped and individually boxed up ready to go … … not immediately, naturally, but, inexplicably, the next day! A decision the shopping families were to regret because, when they arrived in the morning to take their dancing dolls home, the boxes were empty. The mechanical couple had eloped! All heck broke loose in the shop with everybody blaming everybody else, kicking and punching and eye-gouging … well, not eye-gouging … probably. Anyway, the shop-keeper and his assistant were outnumbered and a bit bothered about how things had quickly got out of hand but, of course, they need not have feared. A shop-full of awakened puppets is not to be antagonised and on a scale of one to ten on the antagonometer, these humans rapidly reached 8.2 … … you don’t want to know about a number 9 scenario, let alone a 10, believe me. Scary. Very, very scary.

Anyway, Respighi’s ‘Prelude’ from The Birds was used as the theme for TV show Going for a Song in the 1970s and can be found on THE WORLD OF T.V. THEMES (SPA 217) as well as THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: CLASSIC TV THEMES (SPA 580) but if you want the whole flock, try THE WORLD OF THE GREAT CLASSICS: BIRDS IN MUSIC (SPA 367) where you’ll find ‘The Dove’, ‘The Hen’, ‘The Nightingale’ and ‘The Cuckoo’.

End of Part 7

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walford_Davies

2. Gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/miscompd-60s.htm Gilbert & Sullivan Discography

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_by_Myself

4. Henley,, D. and Jackson, S. 2012. Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Classical music but were Afraid to Ask. Elliot and Thompson Ltd., London

Other references available on request

Regarding the LP cover images, they are photographs of the records in my own collection and are taken by my own hand (which explains the slight wonkiness of some of them). All images are, however, copyright of Decca.

Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of any image in any form should be considered prohibited.

Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the text in any form is prohibited, restricted by permission of the author.