Macgregorecobedford - Piano Concerto / Johnson Over Jordan (Bedford. Eco. Macgregor) [CD]

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Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)Paul Bunyan Overture Piano Concerto Johnson Over Jordan (Suite)Of the large number of works that Britten composedduring his three-year stay in America from 1939-42,undoubtedly the most ambitious and substantial wasPaul Bunyan, the 'choral operetta' based on the giantlumberjack of American myth that he wrote incollaboration with the poet W.H. Auden. Troubled bydramatic flaws and the negative reviews of severalcritics, Britten withdrew the work after the first run ofperformances in New York in 1941 and it was onlyrevived (with a few modifications) in 1976. For theoriginal production, Britten had composed an overture tothe work, but this was dropped before the show evenopened. It remained in piano score only and it wouldappear that Britten never got round to orchestrating it. In1977, the composer Colin Matthews, who had worked asBritten's amanuensis during the composer's final years,orchestrated the Overture from the existing two-pianodraft, in which form it now stands as an independentconcert item. The Overture's majestic opening music istaken from the opening of the second act of the operettawhere it accompanies Bunyan's 'Good Morning' to hisloggermen (Matthews has here used Britten's ownorchestration), while the birdsong that begins the firstact provides much of the basic material for the fastsection that follows, the busily contrapuntal texturesanticipating the famous fugue in the Young Person'sGuide to the Orchestra composed some four years later.The Piano Concerto, Op. 13, was written during thespring of 1938 and was originally designated 'No. 1'.It was, however, to be Britten's only example of theform (though mention should be made of the Diversions,Op. 21, for piano (left-hand) and orchestra, written forPaul Wittgenstein in 1940). The concerto, dedicated tothe composer Lennox Berkeley, was written as a vehiclefor Britten's own skills as a pianist and was firstperformed with him as soloist at a Henry WoodPromenade Concert at the Queen's Hall, London, inAugust 1938. In the programme note for that occasionBritten stated that the work was 'conceived with the ideaof exploiting various important characteristics of thepianoforte, such as its enormous compass, its percussivequality, and its suitability for figuration; so that it is notby any means a Symphony with pianoforte, but rather abravura Concerto with orchestral accompaniment'. Thefour movements have titles which may suggest a workof suite or divertimento-like character: Toccata, Waltz,Impromptu and March. The work is tightly constructed,however, with various cross-relationships between themovements helping to bind it together. The openingToccata is a conventional sonata-form structure withtwo clearly defined subjects, the first played by thesoloist in martellato octaves over pulsating chords in thewind while the second subject is a more sustained,lyrical theme first heard on the strings and subsequentlypassed to the woodwind. Dividing these is an arrestingfanfar

Overture To Paul Bunyan

I. Allegro Molto E Con Brio

II. Waltz: Allegretto

III. Impromptu: Andante Lento

IV. March: Allegro Moderato Sempre A La Marcia

Piano Concerto - Original Third Movement: Recitative And Aria

Overature

Introduction

Incinerators' Ballet

The Spider And The Fly

Approach Of Death

End Music