When I began learning about instrumental forms at University, the instructors used terms such as feminine and masculine to describe first and second motivic sections, usually contrasting with each other.
I wonder if they still use these terms today. I certainly know what they mean - the opening motive is usually more robust and heroic, while the contrasting melodic idea is generally more lyrical or gentle. Should these terms still be used? I even came across a MusicWeb International reviewer who liked to use terms such as the 'lady melody' and the 'gentleman's motive' to describe the music.
This latter reference seemed an unusually antiquated read, and indeed, it kinda gives me serious oogie-boogie vibes, so I try to avoid that reviewer's writings. My wife would certainly abjure if I shared it with her, for while she is a lady, she doesn't consider being ladylike as necessarily gentler or softer. But, I am not here for a political statement on the sexes.
I only bring up these reminiscences because Dame Ethel Smyth's music was often criticized for being too masculine. To me, this sounds akin to telling her to get into the kitchen or find the ironing board, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out Dame Ethel would think the same.
Indeed, upon hearing this recording, Smyth's music is robust and forthright. I said the same about Lili Boulanger's Psalm 24 and 129 (BLOG), although it seems to me these two composer's personalities couldn't be more different, even while their music shares a propensity for orchestral muscularity. Too masculine?
Too thrilling would be my preferred descriptor, I think. I love the opening Overture from Smyth's opera The Wreckers. Swirling, turbulent seas fill this overture, one British composers excel at musically (perhaps another stereotype?). I wouldn't be surprised to find this overture opening symphony orchestra concerts today, and I wouldn't be one mite unhappy upon it being programmed.
I am also completely enraptured with Smyth's 60-minute Mass in D. The Kyrie opens melancholically and archaically, which eventually builds into a mightily effective and menacing Christe portion. For chorus only, Smyth really makes a dramatic statement by opening her Mass in this way. I know it certainly rankled clerics of her day.
Listen to the Handel-ian first minute or two of the following Credo; it is nigh upon operatic / cinematic in its orchestration, a surprise for this listener. Otherwise, this movement's 17 minutes are shared amongst four vocal soloists, chorus, and various combinations of the two entities.
The following Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei are sandwiched between two grandly sized portions of the Mass. This provides the listener a break from musical revelries, with only the Hosanna striking out in an upbeat style. Smyth also brings out the spotlight for her soloists to shine during these parts.
Oddly, Smyth saves the Gloria for the final movement. Those familiar with choral Mass settings will know the Gloria usually follows the Kyrie and precedes the Credo. Musically, this traditional arrangement presents musical problems - the triumphant, and longest portions of the music are front-loaded, while the gentler, prayerful parts conclude the last third-to-quarter of the Mass, arriving either on Lamb of God or Dona Nobis Pacem. This leaves the listener on a very intimate, sometimes downbeat note, or composers, such as Rossini for example, simply make the Grant Us Peace section an operatically spirited affair.
Well, Dame Ethel and I share a similar mind on how to fix this. Put the Gloria at the end! Of course, I have played at Episcopal churches before, and they often end their services with the Gloria, so perhaps there are precedents. Either way, all of this allows Smyth to finish her Mass off in a glorious conclusion, reminding me some of Elgar's grandiloquent finales.
I used the term cinematic earlier, and this is exactly what I though during the Wreckers Overture and portions of the Mass in D. I think, though, it is this wonderfully engineered SACD (yes, you can play it in a CD player) of the BBC Symphony Orchestra which leads me to these thoughts. Listen to the punchy moving trombones in the overture, or anytime the pipe organ rears its head in the Mass; the bass line is stunningly firm and present, the strings silky and warm, bringing this music to 21st-Century life.
I am not sold on any of these soloists, however, all of whom are new to me on record. Soprano Susanna Hurrell is too wobbly in her upper reaches, where a few times I couldn't tell if she was actually changing pitch or using her vibrato to reach. Tenor Ben Johnson doesn't have a particularly heroic upper range and sounds rather gravelly in texture, while mezzo Catriona Morison didn't make an impression on me either way. There isn't much for baritone Duncan Rock to do in this work, other than to add to the vocal quartet ensemble moments, and that is where these singers excel.
The BBC Symphony Chorus is excellent, even if I think the orchestra is balanced a little too forward in comparison to both the soloists and chorus, especially so when the instrumentalists are playing at a fever pitch. Sakari Oramo is obviously an advocate of this music, having given many concerts of Smyth's Mass around the time of this recording. We can only hope for more!
Otherwise, I am completely enthusiastic over all of this music from Dame Ethel Smyth. An exciting new Romantic Mass setting to add to the files is always a celebration!
Listen on YouTube
Works
Mass in D (61.24)
The Wreckers: Overture (9.14)
Soloists
Susanna Hurrell, soprano
Catriona Morison, mezzo-soprano
Ben Johnson, tenor
Duncan Rock, baritone
Performers
BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo, conductor
Label: Chandos
Year: 2019
Total Timing: 70.45
Not everyone cares for symphonic Masses, but I love 'em.
This one reminds me of George Lloyd's A Symphonic Mass (BLOG), even though a century separates them. Something about Smyth's Mass in D seems more of the concert hall than for the church. And of course, Dame Ethel's 'masculine style' is firmly in hand.
The Wreckers Overture is a choice pairing too. Consider me convinced!
Find more Smyth recordings HERE!
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