The
nineteen seventies were a productive time for Alun Hoddinott. The opus magnus
was his opera The Beach at Falesa – a strange tale of voodoo magic and
corruption set in the South Seas with the original ‘book’ by Robert Louis
Stevenson. It was first performed in 1974. The beautiful A
Contemplation upon Flowers was
first heard at the Fishguard Festival in 1976. The following year saw
performances of the Sinfonia Fidei, the
considerable Passaggio for full orchestra and the children’s
opera “What the Old Man Does is Always Right”.
The Sonata for Organ Op.96 No.2 was written in 1978 and was
perhaps the most significant work of that year. It was dedicated to the
accomplished organist Huw Tregelles Williams. Williams was later to become the
Head of Music at BBC Wales in 1984 and then become the first Director of the
BBC National Orchestra of Wales in 1992.
The
composer writes that the first movement “develops two ideas – a chordal fanfare
with a flourish, contrasted with a more imitative contrapuntal texture.”
Certainly the work commences with an immediate statement of the first ‘idea.’
The music quietens down as the composer introduces the intricate part writing
which reappears in varying guises as the music of this movement progresses.
There is also some contrasting material which is surely designed to slow the
pace down: four bars of string tone chords accompanied by a quiet pedal phrase
give the impression of timelessness. Soon the pace picks up again and after
reference to the contrapuntal passage and a loud statement of the ‘flourish,’
the music ends very quietly with swell strings stops.
The
second movement is likened to a chorale prelude with “three varied statements
of a chorale – like a paragraph preceded and followed by a tune on the pedals
moving against held chords on the manuals.” The actual musical material is
quite simple – it is just that the chords have heaps of added notes to spice up
the proceedings. Once again Hoddinott makes use of the string stops on the
swell – especially the voix celeste with long breathed chords. The general
effect is quite magical.
The
finale is a relatively uncomplicated toccata that employs the baroque concept
of the ‘ritornello’ or short recurring passage. It is written in 6/8 and signed
allegro molto. The main argument is split up between hands on the swell with a
light pedal accompaniment, before an interesting ‘four against three’ passage
leads to a trill. A short pedal solo lead to a return of the original music
before staccato chords played on the swell interrupt the argument. A loud
‘unison’ passage on the great with more staccato chords leads to the final
statement of the opening material, this time with full pedal. At the end the
predictable solo reeds are drawn. The work concludes with an upward scale
leading to an un-harmonised Eb in octaves.
James
Dalton writing in the March 1981 edition of the Musical Times was less than complimentary
about the Sonata – he wrote that it struck him “as a
trivial pot boiler showing no originality or ingenuity of design and a most
un-thoughtful lack of enterprise in its use of the instrument.”
Yet
Malcolm Boyd, commenting on the first performance is more generous – he insists
that the new Organ Sonata “reminded us how well suited [Hoddinott’s musical
style] is to the king of instruments. He praised especially the “atmospheric
harmonies” of the central Andante.
Listening
to this piece some thirty years after its composition reveals a work that is
good but not perhaps one of the composer’s masterpieces. Certainly Boyd is
correct: the most impressive part of this Sonata is the slow movement with its
lovely nocturnal harmonies. However it is a piece that needs to be kept in the
repertoire as it represents the composer’s most important essay for the organ.
The first
performance was at the Cardiff New Hall on 6th March 1978. The score was
published in 1980 by Oxford University Press.
Jane
Watts has recorded this work on Priory
PRCD 389
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