Repertoire
Guide
Born in St Ives, Cornwall, in 1913, George
Lloyd began composing at ten and studied under Harry Farjeon, C H
Kitson and Albert Sammons. His father provided libretti for his early
operas Iernin (1934) and The Serf (1936-7) both on mediaeval themes.
When The Serf was produced at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden,
young George was even hailed as the natural successor to Musorgsky.
'Actually,' says Lloyd, 'Verdi is my god and my other influences are
Berlioz and Puccini, with a dash of Debussy in my
orchestration.'
In the early 1930s, Lloyd also composed the first three of his 12
symphonies. Symphony No 1(1932) is in one movement and three sections.
The composer aimed at a 'short and sharp' work and placed strong
emphasis on the brass throughout.
Two more symphonies quickly followed. Symphony No 2 (1933,
re-worked 1982) features free polytonal writing. The four
movements are: fast - a kind of sonata- rondo; a set of
free variations; a quick march and a finale based on two
tunes, one a setting of Byron's So we'll go no more
a-roving Lloyd directed the premiere of his Third
Symphony at a BBC Symphony 'Contemporary' Concert in 1935.
It returns to the one-movement format of three contrasting
sections.
During the war, Lloyd served on the Arctic convoys and sustained
severe shell-shock. His Swiss-born wife Nancy helped him recover
while he struggled to compose his Fourth Symphony in Switzerland
in 1945. Its extended four movements became 'my benchmark for many
years', the title page carrying a quote from the composer 'a world
of darkness, storms, strange colours and a far-away peacefulness'.
His memory of an earlier trip to Narvik merges with his Arctic
experiences of 1942.
During an idyllic summer on the Lake of Neuchatel in 1947, he worked
on the Fifth Symphony Its five movements - Pastorale Corale, Rondo,
Lamento and Finale- contrast the joy of the dance with moments of
deep despair relieved at the close by growing optimism.
His third opera, John Socman was written for the 1951
Festival of Britain and tells us the story of an archer
recently returned from the Battle of Agincourt. Unfortunately
the magnificent score was badly performed, and was slated
by the critics. Lloyd suffered a nervous breakdown. He
and his wife retreated to Dorset and grew carnations and
mushrooms for 20 years until he felt able to break the
deadlock with his three-movement Sixth Symphony, |
in his own words, 'Concise, bright and lively with a
minimum of development.'
The Seventh Symphony is widely regarded as Lloyd's masterpiece.
The ancient Greeks have a knack of wrapping truths in myths.' Says
Lloyd of this work, an attempt to convey his psychological state at
the time. The first movement shows Proserpine, child of Ceres and
Jupiter, as the joyful aspect of life. At the beginning of the second
movement Lloyd quotes Swinburne's description of Proserpine as
goddess of death after her abduction by Pluto, king of the under
world: 'Pale, beyond porch and portal/ Crowned with calm leaves
she stands/ Who gathers all things mortal/ With cold immortal
hands.'
The Eighth Symphony (1961) returns to the three-movement
lay-out and is full of bold colour contrasts and dance-like
figures, with ghostly visions, funereal chanting and an
exciting tarantella-like finale featuring batteries of
percussion and massive climaxes - a virtuosic high-speed
build-up of noise. The Ninth Symphony (also in three movements
from the late-1960s is much shorter with neatly dovetailed
allegorical themes of a dancing girly, an old crone's
desolate reminiscing and a constantly revolving merry-go
round There is also a tongue-in-cheek fun work for orchestra,
Charade, subtitled Scenes from the Sixties. Its
sections are entitled 'Student Power', 'LSD', 'March-In'
'Flying Saucers', 'Pop Song' and 'Party Politics'.
The Northern Brass Ensemble commissioned the Tenth Symphony (1981),
a contest between groups of hard and soft-sounding instruments:
piccolo trumpet, three standard trumpets, two euphoniums, three
French horns, three trombones and a bass tuba. 'I was able to combine
the full spectrum of instrumental pitch and colour that gave the piece
its whole foundation,' remembers Lloyd Its title November Journeys
refers to day-trips Lloyd made to see various cathedrals.
Another major work for brass band is Royal Parks , a suite whose
movements are entitled 'Dawn Flight', the sound of the morning chorus;
'In Memoriam', a tribute to the bandsmen murdered by the IRA in Regent's
Park in July 1992; and 'Holidays', contrastingly lively as a reminder
after that horror that parks are meant to be enjoyed.
Also for brass are: Diversions on a Bass Theme, a challenging piece for
the Mineworker's National Brass Band Contest of 1986; Evening Song,
an exercise in soft playing adapted from a theme from John Socman; HMS
Trinidad March, commissioned from
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the cornettist-composer by his Royal Marines bandmaster;
and English Heritage requested for a 1988 Kenwood lakeside concert and
bursting with pageantry and a very British sense of humour.
Lloyd's further ventures into orchestral colours using euphonium and
vibraphone produced a new emotional climate in his Eleventh Symphony
(1985), with movements bearing descriptions such as 'all fire and
violence', 'a simple song and 'the finale - the light at the end of
the tunnel we hope one day to see.' The Twelth Symphony, which is the
most recent, written in 1990, returns full circle to a developed
one-movement version of the first symphony a tranquillo introduction,
four variations, then long adagio and allegro sections. 'Each of my
symphonies has a fresh character with a specific definition of their
own,' says Lloyd.
The first three piano concertos were an aftermath of the war. the first,
entitled Scapegoat received its premiere with John Ogdon, conducted
by Sir Charles Groves in 1964. The Fourth Concerto (1970) is a more
practical, highly tuneful work which comes off well in performance.
There are also several solo piano works with descriptive titles such
as An African Shrine, The Lily-Leaf and the Grasshopper and The
Transformation of that Naked Ape. Works for violin and piano include
Lament Air and Dance, Sonata and two Violin Concertos.
Lloyd set The Vigil of Venus (the text an anonymous Latin
poem Pervigilium Veneris) for soprano, tenor,
chorus and orchestra between the autumn of 1979 and the
end of 1980. The fanciful verses are of great beauty.
A Symphonic Mass was commissioned by the Brighton Festival
for its opening cancers in 1993. It was an immediate success.
The nonliturgical setting of the Latin text in which the
composer 'shakes his fist at the skies', skilfully overlays
his love of words with plenty of big tunes, brilliant
scoring and percussive effects in both chorus and orchestra.
With its imaginative scoring, riotous colour and ingenious metre,
Lloyd's exuberant music is immensely attractive and unashamedly romantic;
yet his encounters with the darker side of the human psyche and the
strugglers which pervade his art mark him out as an unmistakable
product of this troubled century.
Brass band pieces published by R Smith and Co,
Aylesbury. The Vigil of Venus by UMP. All other works
available from George LLoyd Music Library, c/o Albany
Records (UK). PO Box 137, Kendal, Cumbria. LA8 0XD |
