English Piano Trio - Rutland Boughton: Of Delights and Passions (2023)

First release of chamber works by the British composer, Rutland Boughton (1878-1960), performed by the renowned English Piano Trio.

The album includes the world premiere recordings of the Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano (1948), the Sonata in D major for Violin and Piano (1921), the Sonata for Cello and Piano (1948), and Winter Sun (1932).

Often regarded as the composer who tried to create Britain's first "English Bayreuth", Boughton is best remembered today for his highly successful Festivals at Glastonbury (1914-1926) and for his record-breaking Celtic opera The Immortal Hour.

At the height of his career, Boughton became hugely popular surpassing even his rivals and friends Holst and Vaughan Williams.

Apart from his two successful early string quartets and his oboe works, composed for his talented daughter Joyance, Rutland Boughton is not generally recognised for his chamber music of which there are over 20 individual pieces.

Of these, it is perhaps the Sonata in D major for Violin and Piano of 1921 - now recorded here for the first time by English Piano Trio members, Jane Faukner and Timothy Ravenscroft - that has been heard in public in recent times.

"After a recent hiatus it is good to see a new disc of Boughton’s mellifluous music, all but one track being (surprisingly) world première recordings.

For all his radical politics Boughton was a musical conservative, and two of these works (from 1948) might be from 50 years earlier. However what matters now is the intrinsic quality of the music.

The Piano Trio is in two conjoined parts and plumbs no great depths but is throughout blithely songful. (Just as all Handel is danceable, all Boughton is basically singable). This may be its first ever performance. If the lyrical first movement sometimes borders on the genteel, its folk-like atmosphere is genially agreeable, with something sterner at its core. The briefer second part is joyfully energetic and works through four themes to build a satisfying climax.

Its contemporary Cello Sonata strides out with a sturdy and forthright main theme that gradually becomes more fervent. The slow movement is more song like, as the cello rhapsodises on familiar lines over an atypically ungainly piano part, until the mostly dance-like third movement, bubbly and cheerful, dispels any lingering melancholy.

The Violin Sonata of 1921 immediately strikes a deeper note. It was the only one of these three works to receive acclaim on appearance, so its disappearance is surprising. The vigorous first movement has a whiff of the neoclassical – more Holst than Stravinsky, mind, – but overall retains a romantic and ardent feel. This is even more true of the second, which might be a lament from The Immortal Hour; a ravishing long-limbed melody that evokes a timeless depth of feeling. By contrast the naggingly memorable third almost has something of a Nordic Halling dance about it, although I missed the demonic aspect hinted at by the programme notes.

The Celtic Prelude is just how it sounds – a chip off the block of Boughton’s Celtic Twilight, surging, passionate and joyous: the more astringent Winter Sun for violin and piano is lyrical but rather inconsequential out of context. (His opera The Lily Maid.)

Little here approaches the emotional depth or psychological insight of Boughton’s operas (will some kindly millionaire ever let us hear Alkestis?) but it is all immediately enjoyable on its own rather small-scale terms. Good performances and recording, plus copious and informative notes make this an eminently recommendable album." (Kevin Mandry)