Down Among the Dead Men

Now, there's an eye-catching title for a piece of classical music.  I've had this one in my collection for quite a while, and just decided to pull it out again.  I'm glad I did.  Some of the other music in the album is not quite so interesting, but this piece is (for me) extremely gripping and powerful.

In all but name, this is a piano concerto.  It's official title is Concert Variations upon an English Theme ('Down Among the Dead Men') for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 71.  The composer was Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, one of the leading composers and teachers of the renaissance of English composition in the late nineteenth century.  Because Stanford was a man with a truly classical sensibility, he refused to classify this work as a "concerto" since it did not make use of the approved three-movement form.  However, it lasts for close to half an hour and would certainly have been seen as a concerto by many of his contemporaries.

The tune is believed to be a traditional folk song which Stanford found in an obscure early collection of such material.  The recording I have makes no mention of the song's words, and in this context they surely do not matter (in spite of the eye-catching title).  The work exploits all the purely musical possibilities inherent in the tune to great effect, and that's what counts.

Like any good classical composer writing a set of variations, Stanford begins with an introduction that makes use of a short descending motif from the end of the tune before announcing the full melody itself.  There then follow 12 variations in all, neatly divided in half by a grand climax at the end of Variation 6.  This actually sounds like it could be an ending of the work, until a swift little transition leads the music into a gentler intermezzo which begins the second half.  In the true classical manner, the variations are based not so much on the melody of the song (although bits and pieces of it occur in varying guises throughout) but on the bass line.  Variation 6, again as an example, presents a rising, aspiring melody in the major key as different in character as could be from the original tune, but still using the same bass line as its foundation.

The writing for piano is very fluent, demonstrating the mastery which Stanford cultivated and for which he was famous.  It's often been said that Stanford's mastery came at the expense of interest, originality, and passion, but that's not the case here.  These variations cover a terrific variety of musical styles, all most convincingly integrated together, and with the partnership between piano and orchestra perfectly judged (and also nicely varied from point to point).  The result, for me, is a major unknown masterpiece of the piano concerto repertoire. 

The Chandos recording benefits enormously from that company's favoured rich acoustic, which highlights the full textures of many passages.  Margaret Fingerhut is a splendid soloist, and the Ulster Orchestra under Vernon Handley play with power and passion to spare. 

The accompanying Second Piano Concerto has its effective moments, but is apt to sound a little more like Brahms mixed with water -- a reaction I've also had to some of Stanford's symphonies.  In the 2-CD re-release, these works accompany Stanford's six Irish Rhapsodies and here again the composer makes most effective use of traditional Irish tunes.  So all in all, a rewarding release, but most especially for Down Among the Dead Men.