The Berkeley Ensemble at the British Library
Composer and writer Richard Stoker reviews the Berkeley Ensemble’s concert at the British Library in April 2015, including Stravinsky’s ‘Double Canon – Raoul Dufy in Memoriam’, Ravel’s ‘Introduction and Allegro for harp’ and ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square’.
A very early work by Lennox Berkeley was heard at the start of this stimulating programme given by members of the Berkeley Ensemble. Piece for flute, clarinet & bassoon – composed in 1929 – suggested that Berkeley was fully formed as a professional composer long before his friendship with Benjamin Britten began. So the question of who influenced whom throughout their long association still remains in doubt. This single movement work was performed by Lindsey Ellis (flute), John Slack (clarinet) & Andrew Watson (bassoon). The flautist’s tone was very much what Lennox Berkeley himself would have liked, and the clarinet was played with great feeling.
Lennox Berkeley’s superb String Trio op. 19, of 1943, came next; here the composer’s writing for strings is outstanding. Sophie Mather (violin), Dan Shilladay (viola) and Gemma Wareham (cello) played with great conviction and sure intonation. Again there was no trace of Britten’s influence on the work.
Nadia Boulanger (Berkeley’s teacher, and, later, mine) would have approved of the two canons which we heard after the String Trio: Igor Stravinsky’s Double Canon – Raoul Dufy in Memoriam, of 1959, and Berkeley’s In Memoriam Igor Stravinsky – Canon for String Quartet, of 1971. Both were performed by Sophie Mather & Rebecca Dinning (violins), Dan Shilladay (viola) and Gemma Wareham (cello). So similar are the two works in style that it was hard to hear where one work ended and the other work began; the influence of the former work on Berkeley is striking.
The concert ended with one of the finest performances I have ever experienced of Maurice Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro for harp – with beautiful playing by Lucy Haslar of the solo part. This masterpiece was composed in 1905 when Berkeley was only two, and he continued to admire and love it throughout his long life.
As crowning glory to this wonderful tribute to Lennox, and appropriately, the final item was an effective arrangement by Paul Cott of a gentle song for a gentle soul, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.
All in all, this was a remarkable concert to launch the Berkeley Ensemble’s new all-Berkeley CD, Lennox Berkeley Chamber Works [Resonus RES10149, selected by Gramophone magazine as a Critics’ Choice of 2015]. The enthusiasm of the young players for all the works performed was striking, the standard of performance was remarkable throughout the evening, and the large audience was delighted by the beauty of Lennox Berkeley’s individual and original music.