Parry & Stanford: Nonets

 

Sir Hubert Parry's Nonet in B-flat Major is a playful little thing, most attributable, I think, to its winds-only setup. The performing chamber ensemble Capricorn is given a sound from Hyperion which is pert and punchy, with a sharp tone coming from each of the wind instruments. No mention is made of the recording location, thus I can only assume this is a studio affair rather than a stage or church location.

I enjoy the heroic horns and piquant clarinets most of all, although the humorous bassoons get their moments too. I doubt I could really tell the difference between the use of an oboe and an English horn in the ensemble texture, but Parry must have had a reason for casting both in this music.

The first movement is the most involved from Parry, while the following movements are shorter and more to the point musically. The second movement is rustically pastoral, while the third movement is more dramatic, leaving the fourth and final movement full of rhythmically rambunctious joy. A delight!

Despite Parry nearly always being mentioned in the same breath as Charles Villiers Stanford, and vice versa, their nonets contrast enough to complement each other rather well on this CD program, without merely giving the listener more of the same. The biggest element of contrast is Stanford's use of a string quintet against a quartet of winds in his Serenade in F Major.

Yes, the word pastoral again comes immediately to mind in the opening notes of Stanford's first movement, one heard with a lovely cushion of strings 'neath a bubbly clarinet solo. The rustic calm is so pleasurable to my ears here, quite different than Parry's perky second movement, plus Stanford's availability of string pizzicato adds an additional textural contrast.

Golly, the second movement is a whole bagful of fun, with a driven syncopated jazzy quality coming across, enhanced by pizzicato once again. Does anyone besides me detect a hint of Till Eulenspiegel here? The third movement Andante keeps the pace of the work moving forward rather than as a space for Stanford to musically contemplate. The horn solo over a plucked bass line is telling of the tempo here, giving into another pastoral atmosphere with sweet solo strings and many solo wind opportunities. A jaunty fourth movement ends Stanford's Serenade.

The Capricorn ensemble is made up of handpicked instrumentalists, mainly active as a group in the 70s and 80s, and each member shines in this music. This Hyperion recording was later reissued on their budget Helios label in 2001, so this performance and its music should be easy to find on the used market. As far as I know, I think this is the only place to find either of these works on record.

 

 

Works
Sir Hubert Parry
  Nonet in B-flat Major (24.12)

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford
  Serenade in F Major, op. 95 (28.57)

Performers
Capricorn
   Elizabeth Layton, violin
   Iain King, violin
   Paul Silverthorne, viola
   Timothy Mason, cello
   Judith Evans, double bass
   Helen Keen, flute
   Christopher O'Neal, oboe
   Katie Clemmow, oboe
   Anthony Lamb, clarinet
   Julian Farrell, clarinet
   Gareth Newman, bassoon
   Jean Owen, bassoon
   Michael Baines, horn
   Stephen Bell, horn

Label: Hyperion
Year: 1989
Total Timing: 53.16

  

Those looking for uplifting chamber music from the late Romantic Era need look no further than this recording of Capricorn performing the nonets of Stanford and Parry.

While the piquant, pastoral charm of the music is infectious throughout, some listeners might yearn for an extra bit of Stürm und Dräng.

Capricorn's performance may come from the late 1980s, but nothing is lacking sonically from Hyperion, with clear, punchy sound.

 

 

Find more Parry recordings HERE!