Wildhawk: descriptive Indian romance Back
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The piece was published for piano solo and for small
orchestra (7 players?) in 1913. The
piano solo was re-issued in 1924 with a few revisions, and at the same time the
orchestral set was expanded for a full band.
Composer’s synopsis
The first theme represents a Red-Indian scout listening on the ground - a few more Indians join him - the scout is left to watch alone. The jingling of bells announces the arrival of the white convoy and a skirmish ensues with a few Indians. The TRIO represents the western lovers and a sudden attack on the coach by Indians who are driven off - the lovers' theme is resumed and a few bars bring the piece to a conclusion.
|
Medium |
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Date |
Review |
Locations |
|
Orchestra |
Regal
O, ?Ketèlbey |
Regal
G 6055 |
28572 |
10” 78 |
[Apr
14] |
||
|
Re-issue |
-
Naxos 8.110870 |
CD |
2004 |
BL,
NX, PD, TM |
The recording cuts 16 bars of the Skirmish (marked
as a repeat in the orchestral parts).
During the Sudden Attack, the strings play pizzicato, whereas in the
1924 parts they are tremolo – this probably represents the original 1913 orchestration. The 1913 text is also followed in having no
slowing down for the Lovers’ Theme.
Will You Forgive?
Setting of a poem that forms an integral part of the novel This Frail Woman, by Andrew Soutar (London: Hutchinson & Co. [1924]). The sheet music refers to a
silent film of the same name, but no further details have been traced.
Synopsis of the novel
The plot tells the story of Benjamin Wickerstaffe,
a provincial solicitor in partnership with Ambrose Jollipen. He is secretly in love with a doctor's
daughter, Josephine, but she marries Sir Clayton Elme,
a coarse member of the landed gentry.
The marriage is loveless, and Sir Clayton is a bully. While on holiday in Portugal, Josephine has
an adulterous affair with John Rallimore. Sir Clayton divorces her, and Josephine
becomes a social outcast with only Wickerstaffe for a
friend. These two now reveal their love
for one another, but she dies in childbirth.
Wickerstaffe
secretly supports the orphan, Robert D'Arcy, and when he leaves school takes
him into the partnership. D'Arcy
absconds with £6000, and the firm slowly declines. Jollipen only finds
out when the creditors are threatening bankruptcy, but D'Arcy returns to repay
his debt.
Forgiveness is one of the themes of the novel. Josephine and Wickerstaffe
seek one another's forgiveness for missing the opportunity to marry, Wickerstaffe seeks Jollipen's
forgiveness for leading the firm to the brink of ruin, D'Arcy seeks forgives
for absconding.
The song Will You Forgive? appears twice. The
first two verses are sung by Josephine to Wickerstaffe
before she is married. Then Wickerstaffe asks Jollipen's wife
to sing it to him some time after Josephine's death. The author of the poem is
revealed to be Wickerstaffe himself.
|
Medium |
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Date |
Review |
Locations |
|
Song
with orchestra |
Arthur
Jordan, orchestra, Ketèlbey |
Columbia
3506 |
A
1280 |
10” 78 |
[Nov
24] rec.Oct 24 |
Dec
24 p.xvi |
BL,
(TM CAS) |
|
Re-issue |
-
Naxos 8.110174 |
CD |
2001 |
BL,
NX, PD, TM |
|||
|
Song
with orchestra |
Arthur
Jordan, orchestra, Ketèlbey |
WA
4266-1 |
10” 78 |
rr.Oct 26 |
(TM
CD) |
These two recordings are very similar, with the
latter benefiting from more clarity in the accompaniment. It is also slightly faster, taking 7 seconds
less than the other.
With Honour Crowned: grand march
According to Musical Opinion (March 1935) page 483, the work was first performed by on 9th February 1935:
With Honour Crowned, new grand march by Albert
W. Ketèlbey, received a tremendous ovation and was repeated when recently
performed for the first time and broadcast from the packed Kingsway Hall (a
special Ketèlbey Concert), London on February 9th.
A review of this concert on page 525 gives the performers as the Band of the Royal Horse Guards, conducted by the composer. Although the Kingsway Hall Choral Society also appeared in this concert, the absence of comment suggests that they did not sing the optional choral part in this piece.
|
Medium |
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Date |
Review |
Locations |
|
Military
band |
massed
bands of Aldershot and Eastern Commands, Seymour |
HMV
C 2843 |
2ER
126 |
12”
78 |
[Aug
36] |
Aug
36 p.114 |
TM |
|
Re-issue |
-
Naxos 8.110869 |
CD |
2003 |
BL,
NX, PD, TM |
|||
|
Military
band |
massed
bands of Aldershot and Eastern Commands, Seymour |
HMV
C 2845 |
2EA
3467-1 |
12” 78 |
[Aug
36] |
Aug
36 p.114 |
|
|
?Orchestra |
anonymous |
Bosworth
BD 105 |
CP
602 |
10” 78 |
[July 39] |
Aug
39 p.113 |
BL |
|
Orchestra |
London
Concert O |
Bosworth
BC 1156 |
CP
1080 |
10” 78 |
[1942?] |
WC |
|
|
Orchestra |
New
SO of London, Robinson |
Decca
LK 4080 |
10” LP |
[June
54] |
July
54 p.73, Mar55 p.464-465 |
BL |
|
|
Re-issue |
- Decca LW 5140 |
LP |
[Dec 54] |
PD |
|||
|
Re-issue |
- Decca ACL 1044 |
LP |
[1961] |
cat.1961 |
BL |
||
|
Re-issue |
-
Eclipse ECS (+ECM) 2016 |
LP |
1969 |
Feb
70 p.1332 |
BL, PD, TM |
||
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca DDX 190039 |
(Dutch) |
LP |
1969 |
|
|
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca NUX 390044 |
(Dutch) |
LP |
1969 |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca 452987-2 |
CD |
1997 |
BL, PD, TM |
|||
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca 473720-2 |
|
CD |
2003 |
June
03 p.50 |
BL,
WC, (TM CD) |
|
Organ |
Richard
Ellsasser (John Hays Hammond Jr. Museum,
Gloucester, Mass.) |
MGM
E 3282 |
|
LP |
1955 |
|
WC,
TM |
|
Orchestra |
Vienna State Opera O, Aliberti |
Westminster WP 6082 |
|
LP |
rec.June 57 |
|
(TM CD) |
|
|
Re-issue |
- Westminster 15005 |
|
LP |
|
|
WC |
|
|
Re-issue |
-
World Record Club TP 359 |
|
LP |
1963 |
|
BL,
PD |
|
Re-issue |
-
Westminster WGS 8139 |
(American) |
LP |
1981 |
TM |
||
|
|
Re-issue |
- Voix de son maître 2CO 59392502 |
(French) |
LP |
|
|
WC |
|
|
Re-issue |
- Voix de son maître C 24592502 |
(French) |
CAS |
|
|
WC |
|
Military
band |
Band
of the Grenadier Guards, Bashford |
Decca
SB 715 |
LP |
rec.1976 |
June
77 p.106-9 |
BL |
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca 452932 DWO |
CD |
1997 |
BL,
TM |
|||
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca |
CAS |
1997 |
||||
|
Orchestra |
London
Promenade O, Faris |
Philips
6514152 |
LP |
1982 |
Apr
82 p.1423 |
BL, PD, TM |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Philips 7337152 |
|
CAS |
1982 |
Apr
82 p.1423 |
WC |
|
Re-issue |
-
Philips 400011-2 |
CD |
1982 |
Apr
83 p.1152 |
BL, PD, TM |
||
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca/Universal 473720-2 |
CD |
2003 |
June
03 p.50 |
BL,
WC, PD |
||
|
Carillon |
Trevor Workman |
Bournville Carillon BC000005 |
CD |
2003 |
TM |
The recordings on C 2845 and BD 105 are only of excerpts
The massed bands were recorded at the 1936 Aldershot
Tattoo, and (as W. A. Chislett mentioned in the
contemporary Gramophone review) the ensemble of such a large gathering
in an outdoor recording is remarkably precise.
The recording reprises the trio in Bb rather than Eb, and omits the concluding bars. The speed is a constant 122 steps a minute.
The London Concert Orchestra recording was part of a
series made to provide music for newsreels, etc. It was in fact used in a newsreel documenting
the surrender of Japan in 1945, reproduced at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcnH_kF1zXc
beginning at 5’ 26”.
Robinson cuts two short repeats. The main section is at 130 crotchets a
minute, but the trio slows down to 94.
Aliberti and Faris both take a slower tempo of crotchet=110, and Aliberti slows down even
slower for part of the trio. He makes one short cut of 8 bars, and uses
glockenspiel rather than tubular bells.
Faris includes
saxophones in his orchestra.
Bashford is slightly
slower, at crotchet=107. His bells have
a marvellously rich tone. The
penultimate bar is cut.
Ellsasser
has the typical organist’s attitude that his harmony is better than the
composer’s. He finds it difficult to reconcile
the legato melody of the trio with the underlying march rhythm, and makes both
very choppy. His tempo is a very turgid
crotchet=88.
The recording by Workman uses
his own arrangement, and was made at a live performance on Bournville
Carillon, Birmingham, on 9th August 2003.
With the Roumanian Gypsies: phantasie
Composer’s synopsis
This
work opens with a few of the Gypsy orchestra playing a Romany Love-Song; this
attracts attention and they burst into a characteristically Tzigane
melody; a shepherd's pipe is now heard from the hills and leads into the
Love-Song played by Cello, Viola and Oboe and then, through changing keys, by
the full orchestra. A Gypsy Dance now
follows, and with a quotation from the Love-Song played by full Brass, brings
the work to an excited finish.
|
Medium |
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Date |
Review |
Locations |
|
Orchestra |
Louis
Voss Grand O |
Bosworth
BC 1005 |
CP
351 |
10” 78 |
[Apr
37] |
WC,
(TM CD) |
|
|
Piano |
Eric
Halstead |
private
recording |
CD |
2003 |
TM |
||
|
Piano |
Guy
Rowland |
Dempsey
AWK 1 |
CD |
2009 |
BL,
PD, TM |
||
|
Piano |
Guy
Rowland |
private
recording |
DVD |
rec.26.11.2009 |
PD, TM |
||
|
Piano |
Markus
Staab |
private
recording |
|
Web |
2009 |
|
|
The Halstead recording is available at
http://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/3998219-collection-of-ketelbey-midi-files-zip
Staab’s version can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKOf-Yu_Ong
The
recording on BC 1005 is drastically cut, lasting only 2’ 50” compared with
Rowland’s full length 6’ 45”. Everything before the
Shepherd’s Pipe is lost, plus one complete strain in the Gypsy Dance, as well
as much repeated material. The
orchestra includes a harp not in the composer’s scoring.
Guy
Rowland also plays more notes than written by the composer. At one point he adds a whole bar, apparently
to facilitate a page turn. In the Gypsy
Dance there are additional glissandi, broken chords and flourishes.
The Wonder Worker: a comic
opera
Brief
synopsis of the opera
Elizabeth
visits Sir John, and is asked to bless the union of Guy and Marjorie. Bungay falls out of
a tree in front of Elizabeth, and she makes him do a prediction. When he again predicts that Guy will marry
Marjorie, Guy comes out of hiding to refuse this. Elizabeth order the
arrest of both Guy and Bungay.
At
Windsor Castle, Elizabeth arranges it to be intimated to Bungay
that he is to be hanged. Bertram the jester promises to help Bungay escape in order to win the hand of Hilda. Bertram
and Bungay exchange clothes. Elizabeth finds out, and is much amused by
the sight of thin Bertram in fat Bungay's clothes,
and Bungay in Bertram's clothes. She has apparently freed Guy, and frees
Bertram and Bungay, the latter on condition that he
gives up astrology.
–
8. Sweetheart mine
|
Medium |
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Date |
Review |
Locations |
|
Song
with piano |
Peter
Dempsey (t), Guy Rowland |
Dempsey
AWK 1 |
CD |
2009 |
BL, PD, TM |
||
|
Song
with piano |
Peter
Dempsey (t), Guy Rowland |
private
recording |
DVD |
rec.26.11.2009 |
PD, TM |
–
21. The morning was bright. See also Kilmoren. In the opera, this song has a backing
chorus.
|
Medium |
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Date |
Review |
Locations |
|
Song
with piano |
Peter
Dempsey (t), Guy Rowland |
Dempsey
AWK 1 |
CD |
2009 |
BL, PD, TM |
A Woodland Story: in eight short chapters
This piano suite was adapted from a set of music for
the silent cinema called Kinemamusic.
The list below gives the original titles in italics.
1.
This is where the Fairies dance (Graceful Dance - Children - Pretty Scene - Light Comedy)
2.
The Voice of the Trees (Scandinavian)
3.
Poor little bird (Pathetic - Relating to a sad story, etc.; also Plaintive -
Love - Entreaty, etc.)
4.
Oh! Look at the Rabbits! (Italian (also suitable for Hurry))
5.
Listen! What’s that? (Mexican or Spanish; also Melodramatic (Mysterious))
6.
I Do Love You (Love - Romance, etc.)
7.
Let's play at Indians! (Oriental - (Native Dances, etc.))
8.
Let's hurry home, it's getting dark (Quick step - Troops - Street scenes - Light
Comedy)
|
Medium |
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Date |
Review |
Locations |
|
Piano |
Rosemary Tuck |
Marco Polo 8.223699 |
CD |
1993 |
BL, NX, PD, TM |
-
8. Let’s hurry home only
|
Medium |
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Date |
Review |
Locations |
|
Piano |
Guy
Rowland |
private
recording |
DVD |
rec.26.11.2009 |
PD, TM |
Ye Gods: incidental music to the fantastical farce
Ye
Gods: a fantastical farce, by Stephen Robert and Eric Hudson, opened at the Kingsway Theatre on 20th
May 1916, and was also later produced at the Strand, Aldwych
and Shaftesbury Theatres, receiving more than 200 performances. The only sheet music to be published was the
Waltz, which was also recorded. Many of
the same themes occur (in duple time rather than the triple time of the waltz)
in Wonga, which probably more closely represents what was played in the
theatre.
Premise of the
play
Wonga-Wonga is an African god who condemns the hero, Jimmy Carter (played by Charles Windermere) to be loved by every woman he met, apart from his fiancée.
– Waltz (on melodies from incidental music)
|
Medium |
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Date |
Review |
Locations |
|
Orchestra |
Casino
O, Ketèlbey |
65829 |
10” 78 |
[June
17] |
(TM
CAS) |
The
published music was intended for dancing, and is therefore a full-length waltz
lasting 359 bars. The recording reduces
this to 191, mainly by cutting repeated material, but also one whole
section. This latter section however
appears in Wonga, and was also re-used in In the Mystic Land of Egypt. The record needs to be played so that the
piece starts in A minor. Unusually for recordings this
early, the orchestra includes both oboe and bassoon.
– Wonga: oriental intermezzo
|
Medium |
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Date |
Review |
Locations |
|
Orchestra |
Regal
O, Ketèlbey |
Regal
G 7346 |
65420 |
10” 78 |
[Sept
16] |
PD,
(TM CAS) |
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Naxos 8.110870 |
CD |
2004 |
BL,
NX, PD, TM |
Note
that the African god has now become oriental!
Ypres 1914: march
The
second theme of this march was re-used in the first movement of Cockney
Suite.
|
Medium |
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Date |
Review |
Locations |
|
Military
band |
Jumbo
Military Band |
78 |
[1918?] |
PD,
(TM CD) |
This
recording can be heard at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeaZL0YT3XE