Dance has been an inspiration for music in all cultures and eras, but never more so than in the early eighteenth century. One of the commonest forms of multi-movement work for keyboard instruments was the ‘Dance Suite’ which JS Bach brought to an unparalleled level of sophistication in his English and French Suites and Partitas. The sixth and last of the Partitas (published in 1731), which is heard in this recital brings to a climax nearly 150 years of this form. The dances are stylised, but represent a varied selection of courtly dances that were current in European Society in the 17th and early 18th centuries. As was often the case, the first introductory movement departs from this principle – a Toccata very similar in format to Bach’s famous D minor ‘Toccata and Fugue’ for organ. Otherwise only the Air represents a brief turning away from the formal dance tradition. The final Gigue somehow manages to combine the spirit of dance within the confines of a complex fugue.
This spirit of dance also imbues the other works to be heard in the first part of this recital. Alessandro Marcello’s D minor concerto has long been famous both in its original form for oboe and string orchestra and in Bach’s keyboard transcription which is to be heard today. Fellow Venetian Antonio Vivaldi needs no introduction to modern audiences, and this Allegro from one of his several bassoon concertos shows that he was just as adept at composing witty and attractive music for the bassoon as he was for violin.
Now for a side trip. Composer George Dolan is studying at Huddersfield University having just moved to Scotland. Last year, whilst living nearby in North Wales, he won the under 25 composition medal at the Welsh National Youth Eisteddfod (the Urdd). He writes: “Coastline Express is a piece that is a challenge for the players, but not you, the listener. Hopefully, you will be able to picture the journey of a steam train from start to end ... and perhaps even feel as if you're onboard looking out of the window!”
The African-American tradition was responsible for many of the musical and dance forms that became popular in the early years of the twentieth century. The cakewalk, musically the precursor of ragtime, was one of a number of dances in which participants would generally compete for prizes (the later dance classic the Charleston was the most famous of these). In this recital we hear two very different examples of the cakewalk composed by composers who worked in the classical tradition – Frenchman Claude Debussy and the Australian composer Percy Grainger who was 20 years his junior. Debussy’s Cakewalk (the last of his set of piano pieces ‘Children’s Corner’ published in 1908), includes a pointed satirical reference to Wagner’s ‘Tristan and Isolde’ in the middle. Grainger’s ‘Cakewalk Smasher’ was ‘dished up’ (his words) a year later and his tune is based on one from Will Cook’s comic opera ‘In Dahomey’.