Lord Berners: Valses Bourgeoises, Fantasie Espagnole, Trois Morceaux

Constant Lambert: Overture, Trois pieces Negres pour les touches blanches

Alan Rawsthorne: The Creel

William Walton: 11 Duets for Children

Philip Lane: Badinages

Peter Lawson and Alan MacLean (Pianos)

Produced by Philip Lane, who also wrote the detailed notes.

Reviews:

Lord Berners was an extraordinary and eccentric figure who composed music of abundant wit: these piano duet pieces particularly recall the style of Poulenc and Les Six. The other works, miniatures by Lambert, Walton, Rawsthorne and Lane, follow the same path, and they are brilliantly captured in these performances. For while the music has a restricted expressive range, it is all thoroughly entertaining and, especially in Rawsthorne's The Creel and Walton's Duets, charming too. BBC Music Magazine June 1995

This is an unorthodox, unexpectedly entertaining disc. The musical content may appear a trifle thin: few great compositions have been written for piano duet, and there are certainly no out-and-out masterpieces here. There is, however, a constant stream of short, pithy and effortlessly tuneful pieces (32 in all), none of which outstay their welcome, and all of which are well worth hearing twice. Best, I think, is Walton's sequence of Duets for Children, which started life as a set of nine vignette-style miniatures written for his niece. Walton subsequently turned these solos into duets. What a charmingly relaxed impression they impart: the titles ("The Three-Legged Race", "The Silent Lake", "Hopscotch", etc.) give a good impression of the kind of sprightly, light-hearted idiom the listener can expect. The warmth and wittiness of Walton's writing is apparent in them all. Alan Rawsthorne's The Creel, four brief studies based on fish descriptions from Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler, is also punctiliously neat in style, and there is nothing in the other contributions from Lord Berners, Constant Lambert and Philip Lane that is not immediately engaging to the ear. Performance **** Sound **** Verdict: Fun and genuinely different - well worth a listen. Alternatives: Nothing available. Classic CD June 1995 This is a welcome disc of delicious bonnes bouches to be savoured in separate helpings. Most are not available elsewhere as piano duets, except for the Constant Lambert deft Trois pieces negres pour les touches blanches (on BMS414) and the third of Berners Valses bourgeoises which is recorded elsewhere. The Albany disc includes two rarities, Lambert's spirited Overture, a welcome arrangement by Philip Lane of a practically unknown orchestral piece, and a high-spirited Galop by Walton intended for a ballet using his orchestral Music for Children, but not ready in time and left in two staves to be expertly adapted by Lane. Berners is represented by his only work written originally for piano duet, the complete Valses bourgeoises, and his own piano duet versions of the evocative Fantaisie Espagnole and the punning Trois morceaux. Nowadays his music seems less outrageous than it did when it was written, and his mockeries are clearly inspired by love. Though all the pieces have parodistic elements, here and there among the high spirits he touches desolation as in the Valse sentimentale. Listeners who were lucky enough to catch his remarkable opera Le Carrosse du Saint Sacrement will not be disappointed either. A warm welcome too for Rawsthorne's The Creel, four marvellous musical portraits in just over four minutes, and too little played like so much more of his music. Also included is Walton's delightful Duets for Children with the additional Galop which sounds as if it should always have rounded off the suite. Philip Lane's own Badinages completes the disc, an engaging tribute to Debussy, Ravel, Milhaud and Poulenc and to Paris itself. Included are helpful literate notes by Lane himself. The stylish performances by Peter Lawson and Alan MacLean sound as if they had relished every moment and intend that listeners will too. A little cavil, timings of pieces somewhere would have been welcome. Particularly recommended for any member suffering from a surfeit of 'big pieces', particularly British ones, taken too seriously.British Music Society News June 1995

This programme played with exuberant technique, enthusiastic enjoyment and perceptive response to the music's demands, raises an issue of programme-planning. The first 13 tracks of the total 32 present music of a largely brittle, quality that, infectious as it often is, leaves the (well this) listener, rather weary of such unremitting wit and glitter. The Rawsthorne pieces come as a welcome relief. Perhaps, separating the Berners and Lambert with them and/or the Walton would have aided listening. And placing the final Lane pieces midway in the recital with some of the other items might have provoked a more memorable ending. Berners items open the disc. Valses Bourgeoises, Fantaisie espagnole and Trois morceaux have Stravinskian hallmarks: they scintillate, exploring and satirising their various models. The percussive piano adds more brilliance to their presentation than in their original orchestral versions. Wild and winsome at moments, tongue-in-cheek often, and almost entirely dance-inspired, this music compels our intelligent admiration, if not always ingratiating our senses. Lambert's 1925 Overture, somewhat "doctored" by Philip Lane, is again composer-characteristic. It has apparently lain unperformed on the shelves of the BBC Music Library since his death. There is contrapuntal exuberance in abundance - Lane, the editor thought an excess of it and he has sought to discipline this feature. The Trois pieces negres pour les touches blanches: (echoes of Satie here) are delightful. Aubade is a virtual rumba; Siesta possessed of a smoky langour, reeks of a hot afternoon, possibly in New Orleans; Nocturne with its opening 5-beat rhythm opens, develops into Latin-American style with echoes (or pre-echoes, if it pre-dated) of Milhaud's Scaramouche. Rawsthorne's The Creel, possibly the most 'established' duet at its level of demand reveals his customary skilful piano writing and bitter-sweet charm. The four fish-portraits are most effectively described in their inspirer's (Izaak Walton) terminology: The mighty Pike is the Tyrant of the Fresh Water; The Sprat: a fish that is ever in Motion: The Carp is the Queen of Rivers; a stately, a good and a very Subtil Fish; The Leap or Summersault of the Salmon. And how incredibly effective Rawsthorne's pictures are! Perhaps the finest writing of the recital and finely executed by the artists. The more recent Walton (William) is represented by his charming Duets for Children - a source of inspiration for the younger Leighton in his Pieces for Angela and (?) Household Beasts. So innocent and simple (not always technically though) the titles of these pieces - Music Lesson, Pony Trap, Song at Dusk etc. are indication enough of their content. The last one, Galop, not part of the original set, was edited by Lane. It seems to reflect back to the earlier item Pony Trap. The popular Trumpet Tune is quite entrancing with its fanfare section and central poignantly appealing melody. Philip Lane's pieces, Badinages, are described in the notes as juvenilia, a description hardly necessary. They have youthful high spirits, gusto and rhythmic verve. Mouvement perpetuel is the first; Nocturne - has a haunting, nostalgic first section; Valse eccentrique is a 'brassy' piece; and the last Promenade en fiacre is fast furious and ends lengthily. All tend to outstay their welcome. The disc as a whole contains much to enjoy if one is selective and, with CD banding, that is easy enoughBritish Music Society News June 1995

A recent addition to the list of piano duettists is that of Peter Lawson and Alan MacLean. They have delved into the archives of British music and feature works of roughly contemporary composers between 1918 and 1969; included are some composers own transcriptions. Idiosyncratic Composer First are three works by the idiosyncratic Lord Berners, including his only original work for piano duet, the Valses Bourgeoises, although they smack more of Satie than Strauss. Berners' Fantaisie Espagnol was actually written in Rome, and was first performed in orchestral form at a Henry Wood Prom. Berners hardly follows those Russian and French composers who felt drawn towards the Spanish idiom. Instead, he takes a deadly aim at Falla in his Trois Morceaux - more shades of Satie. He also parodies more 'national' Viennese, Russian and Chinese styles. These works make great demands on the duettists, and they are admirably met by Lawson and MacLean. Rare Constant Lambert Next some rare Constant Lambert. His Overture of 1925 was composed as a finale to his ballet Adam and Eve, but when that was aborted, it became a Dance piece for the Carmargo Society in 1931. It makes an interesting introduction to Lambert, its jazzy idiom resembling the classical Gerswhin. Lambert's only published work for the medium was premiered by the BBC in 1949. This was his Three Black pieces with touches of white. One thing is certain - Lambert's style hardly changed over the years. The Three movements are bright and breezy, their titles bearing little relation to the content. All three cry out for choreography. Where are you Wayne Sleep? Fishy Excursion. The next rare visitor to the concert room is Alan Rawsthorne's suite The Creel; this consists of four studies based on entries from Izaac Walton's literary masterpiece, The Complete Angler. Unlike Lambert, whose titles seem just a convenient peg on which to hang the music, Rawsthorne has made his fishy excursion fully descriptive. Immediately recognisable are the mighty pike, the active sprat, the stately carp and the salmon a-leaping. These masterly miniatures from a sadly neglected composer make an ideal encore piece for duettists. For the Young. Walton's Duets for Children consists of 211 pieces, written originally for young relatives and adapted in 1949 for a ballet by Boris Kochno. The music has charm, but lacks the wit and invention of Facade. Tribute to Composers Philip Lane, who also produced this CD, was born in 1950, the year of Berners' death.; he dedicated his Badinages to Berners. It is also a tribute to those French composers from Debussy to Milhaud, who wrote so memorably for the keyboard. As a programme, the recital offers too little contrast and is best not played continuously. But, as separate items, the works show little known (or played) aspects of their respective composers.. The performances are exemplary and the recording is well up to Albany's excellent standard. Movements are tracked separately, but with a playing time of 67 minutes, there could have been more generous intervals between the pieces. FRMS Bulletin Autumn 1995 English Music for Piano Duet is the title for one of the most charming discs I have heard this year. It contains three naughty but nice works from lord Berners: a typically witty Trois Pieces Negres by Constant Lambert; Walton's Duets for Children; and Rawsthorne's The Creel. All discoveries, but for me, the gem of the disc is Philip Lane's Badinages. A student work, with a self confessed inspiration from Poulenc, Ravel and Debussy - these four movements are as delectable as anything you are likely to hear. Peter Lawson and Alan MacLean are honest purveyors of the music, and the recorded sound quality is eminently likeable.The Yorkshire Post