Erik Chisholm

Concertos No. 1 "P�obaireachd" & No. 2 Hindustani

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:10:57 +0100

Hyperion (CDA67880) has just release
Concertos No. 1 "P�obaireachd" & No. 2 Hindustani

BBC Review
Striking and brilliantly performed music that mixes its influences beautifully.

It's always fascinating to have musical preconceptions challenged, and the recent revival of the Scottish composer Erik Chisholm's output has done exactly that. Think mid-20th century British music and, whether we're in the late Romanticism of Vaughan Williams and Holst, or even Arnold and Britten's more pared-down vernaculars, there's an expectation of a largely soft, lyrical and frequently elegiac style. Within this context, Chisholm's modernist music is as extraordinary and perplexing as it is beautiful.

Characterised by a rhythmic precision and boldness of thought we more readily associate with German and Russian music of the time, it's almost impossible not to think of Bartok and Stravinsky when listening to it, and yet it's much more than a mid-European pastiche. Born in 1904, Chisholm studied composition, piano and organ with the Russian pianist Leff Pouishnoff, but equally as important as this Russian influence was his lifelong fascination with the traditional airs of his homeland. Add a stint in the Far East during the Second World War, and the musical result, as the titles of these two concertos suggest, is an extraordinary modernist melding of Scottish and Hindustani folk music. However, this was all largely lost to British audiences for decades due to Chisholm moving to South Africa after the war, and then dying relatively early, in 1965.

Hyperion's championing of these highly contrasting piano concertos of 1938 and 1949 is therefore brilliant news. Chisholm emerges as a composer in full command of both the orchestra and the piano, expertly employing their respective resonances and timbres to evoke and translate the sounds of Highland bagpipes and Hindu musicians. Supported by an ebullient BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Danny Driver is in equally full and exuberant command of his instrument. His confident, crisply embellished readings are stylish, multi-hued, and enlivening nailings of the modernist tone, subtly imbued with the lyricism of the ancient themes. All in all, this is striking music, brilliantly performed.

Charlotte Gardner 2012-04-30

"Hindustani" Concerto

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:38:01 +0100

Erik Chisholm's Second Piano Concerto, the 'Hindustani', like the First Concerto "Piobaireachd", breaks entirely new ground in the 20th century piano concerto, both in personality and character. The story of how Chisholm explored the whole world of Indian music during his time there in the early 1940's while on war service, has been excellently described by John Purser, both in the excellent Hyperion booklet note and his biography of Chisholm 'Chasing a Restless Muse' (Boydell and Brewer, 2009). However, some further information on how the final version of the 'Hindustani' Concerto came into being might be of interest.

Chisholm had completed his Second Concerto in 1949. frpm 1946 he had been appointed as Dean, Professor and Principal of the University of Cape Town School of Music andhad got to know well many prominent musicians there, including the South African pianist Adolf Hallis. It was Hallis, who as the dedicatee of the work, gave the world premiere as part of an ISCM concert at Cape Town University on 22nd November 1949 with Erik conducting. It received a broadcast the next day. Hallis and Chisholm then brought the concerto to Glasgow in 1950 for a broadcast premiere with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Chisholm arranged to have this broadcast performance recorded off-air, and a copy survives in the composer's estate. Aside from revealing Hallis as a very fine pianist and interpreter of the work, it also reveals that Chisholm's original version was somewhat longer than the final one, which was eventually published in two-piano score (by Schott's of London) in 1951. This was to create a problem with the orchestral parts - the original ones retained by Schott's had to be heavily marked with cuts to correspond with the new revisions score. Furthermore, as Chisholm did not re-orchestrate the work until 1953, this early recording, despite its somewhat primitive sonic abilities, is of historic importance. The publishers, however, had not resolved the complicated issue of revised orchestral parts when Agnes Walker (for many years an ardent champion of Chisholm, and particularly of this concerto) played the work at the Royal Festival Hall in 1953 with Adrian Boult and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The performance proved disastrous for no reason of the soloist, orchestra or conductor, but entirely because the delivered parts did not correspond with the final score! Whatever the case, Agnes Walker was able to perform the concerto again with the BBC Scottish Orchestra and Erik conducting, on 17th September 1953, by which time the re-orchestration was complete.

Hearing this work on the new Hyperion recording with the superb Danny Driver as soloist and the modern-day BBC Scottish Orchestra, conducted by the young conductor Rory McDonald making his recording debut, is a revelation - such an exotic sound world I have never heard before! Now that we can enjoy and begin to appreciate the intrinsic qualities of both concertos in this recording, hopefully both will begin to make their way in the wider world among talented and enterprising pianists and orchestras.

MICHAEL JONES 2012 - Unpublished

Chisholm's Piano Concerto's CD

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 10:15:09 +0000

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra recording of Chisholm's Piano Concerti No.1 The Piobaireachd and No.2 The Hindustani took place in Glasgow City Halls on June 8th and 9th 2011. Pianist Danny Driver, Conductor Rory Macdonald and Producer Andrew Keener, joined forces with the orchestra for our first Hyperion CD. Release date is 26th March 2012. This is a big event on the road to Chisholm recognition. Read short excepts from John Purser's Biography of first performances of these two works. See Biography Section

The Trustees were privileged to be in the recording room for the two days and to meet the orchestra. A truly amazing experience to observe at close hand the remarkable skills and interaction of a first class musical team.

The piano music of Erik Chisholm 1904 -1965 by John Purser

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:48:00 +0000

John Purser examines the pianistic output of Scottish composer Erik Chisholm

If there is one word that can be applied to Chisholm�s considerable output of piano music, it is �energy�. Even at its most sensual (and it can be very sensual), Chisholm�s music is always moving forward; and his rhythmic energy, often derived from Scottish dance forms, can be almost manic (Example 1). But the variety of his idiom is too great to summarise, and can only been hinted at here. There are the �E Praeterita� Sonatinas, with their graceful homage to the 16th-century sources; the Straloch Suite, based on early 17th-century Scottish lute tunes; the subtle miniature Cameos, each of which leads us into a different world of sound. And then there is the dark virtuosity of the Nocturnes � Night Song of the Bards, which has been acknowledged by more than one reviewer as a masterpiece. Danny Driver, who is the soloist in Hyperion�s new release of the Chisholm piano concertos, writes: �It is clear from Chisholm�s piano writing that he knew the instrument intimately and that he himself possessed considerable pianistic abilities.�

It is perhaps most revealing to start with Chisholm�s Scottish Airs for Children. There is a vast repertoire of piano music designed for children, much of which does little to stimulate pianism, never mind musicianship.
Chisholm�s Scottish Airs for Children are of a different order, all drawn from Patrick MacDonald�s A Collection of Highland Vocal Airs, published in 1784. Chisholm�s settings are enhanced rather than diminished by the directness and simplicity of treatment required for children. The writing for the left hand is particularly good, developing different kinds of independent motion without compromising the melodies, whose quality and variety is unsurpassed. Counterpoint, octave transpositions, harmonic colour, expressive use of rests and varieties of touch that are genuinely integral to the music all contribute to a rich variety of textures that sustain interest throughout these miniature gems. (He also arranged many of the Patrick MacDonald airs for pianists of much higher accomplishment.)

Download & Read the whole article

Typesetting - Score production - Catalogue of works.

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:31:26 +0000

Three major Chisholm works are currently being typeset.
String orchestral transcription of Alkan Symphonie OP 39
The original work for piano is available on Hyperion CD; with the forthcoming bicentenary of Alkan�s birth has the time come for this arrangement, only once previously performed.
Concerto for Violin. Last performed in 1952 at the Edinburgh Festival,
this major work, is one of Chisholm�s Hindustani compositions.
Simoon (Vocal score) of this one act opera, part of the trilogy Murder in Three Keys was performed by Punch Opera in 1954 in the 2 piano version. The score has many thrilling moments that demand the full orchestra.

"Piobaireachd" Concerto

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:10:04 +0000

In a press interview in Cape Town in 1964, Erik Chisholm was asked about the chief turning point of his career. He replied: "When I first became acquainted with "Piobraireachd" bagpipe music - later with the instrumental art music of India."

Both influences are the starting-points for Chisholm's First and Second Piano Concertos respectively. Now with the impending release of the magnificent new Hyperion CD (CDA 67880), we can enjoy both works in superlative performances and first class sound and can begin to explore and gain greater understanding of these two very original contributions to the 20th Century piano concerto repertoire.

This is not the place to analyse Erik Chisholm's "Piobaireachd" Concerto. John Purser has done this to perfection in his liner notes for the CD. The work is also thoroughly assessed in his biography of Chisholm 'Chasing a Restless Muse' (Boydell and Brewer, 2009), but some further historical background might be of interest. Some sources give a date for the completion of Chisholm's First Piano Concerto as 1932; however, there are references (notably in M. Tuffin: 'Catalogue Raisonee' ) to some sort of public performances given (a) in April 1930 in Glasgow, albeit in a reduced two-piano form; Chisholm as soloist alongside James McKinlay and Cecil Cumberland as piano-duet orchestra. Later that year on 6th May (b) in Stevenson Hall with Chisholm alongside Harold Thomson and Patrick Shannon in similar mode. Be that as it may, Chisholm continued to work on the piece and it eventually received an official premiere in 1938 with the composer as soloist and the Scottish Orchestra, conducted by Ian Whyte in a broadcast performance from Edinburgh. The public premiere, by the same soloist and orchestra but with Aylmer Buesst conducting, was given in Glasgow on 20th January 1940. In 1953 the conductor Sir John Barbirolli is known to have expressed interest in the Concerto, and its soloists have included Andor Foldes, Kendall Taylor, Adolph Hallis and Agnes Walker. Prior to the recent Hyperion release, Murray McLachlan and the Kelvin Ensemble (conductor Julian Clayton) recorded a fine live concert performance in Glasgow in August 2000, released on Dunelm (now 'Divine Art') in 2001.

After the premiere the reviewer in the 'Glasgow News' wrote: "[The First Concerto] is a full-scale work in four movements, and builds up its Scottish qualities on a foundation of pibroch devices and national dance rhythms. In the first movement a series of changeful moods creates an atmosphere of contemplation in Celtic terms; the Scherzo gives the more combative side of the Gaelic temperament; the Adagio expresses a characteristic melancholy; the Finale develops its lively qualities on Scottish dance figures."

Hearing the new Hyperion recording is a revelation; the immense range of Chisholm's orchestral colour and harmonic originality emerges in technicolour sonority. This confirms my opinion that these two concerti break entirely new ground in the 20th Century and stand alongside the 3 concerti of Bela Bartok in this respect, without in any way being derivative of them.

MICHAEL JONES 2012.

Chisholm's Piano Concerto's CD

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:24:54 +0000

To celebrate the forthcoming launch of the Hyperion CD, read what John Purser has to say of their first performances;

The Piobaireachd Concerto (p51)
An early version of the concerto was completed in 1932. By 1936, it was revised and in 1938 first performed in a broadcast from Edinburgh with Chisholm as soloist and Ian Whyte conducting.
The first public performance was in the St Andrews Halls in Glasgow on 20 January 1940 with Chisholm again as soloist and Aylmer Buesst conducting the Scottish Orchestra.

The Hindustani Concerto (p140)
This was completed in 1949 and dedicated to Adolph Hallis. It was first performed at an International Society of Contemporary Music concert in the University of Cape Town on the 22nd November 1949, with Hallis playing the solo part and Chisholm conducting. In 1950 it was broadcast by the BBC Scottish Orchestra, again with Hallis as soloist and Chisholm conducting.

Divine Art's Music for Piano Vol 7 July 2011

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:24:02 +0000

The latest, indeed the last, in this remarkable Music for Piano series was released in July 2011. Encapsulating all, (well nearly all) Chisholm's piano music since new ones keep popping up. Well reviewed; one year later yet another excellent review has appeared.
See Recordings for details.

Events 2012

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:06:59 +0000

The major event this year is the launch of the Hyperion CD of Chisholm�s two piano concertos on 26 March 2012. With soloist Danny Driver and the BBCSSO conducted by Rory Macdonald, the trustees are optimistic this stunning CD may open doors for Chisholm music. See News and Events

John Purser�s outstanding article The piano music of Erik Chisholm published in International Piano No 12 Mar/Apr 2012 is essential reading for all Chisholm fans. With permission, of the editor, Claire Jackson, it is reprinted in full, in Articles.

Over the next six weeks, two articles by trustee, pianist Michael Jones will feature in our Articles to commemorate the CD release, beginning today with The Piobaireachd Concerto

Two concerts are planned for 2012 as we go to press. The string chamber orchestra Keld Ensemble will give several performances of From the Western Isles.
In August pianist Michael Jones will play a varied programme including Chisholm works at Wolverton Manor. See News and Events

Typesetting of Chisholm works continues. Three major works are in the pipeline; Chisholm's string orchestral transcription of the Alkan Symphonie Op.39, Simoon (vocal score) and Concerto for Violin. Can we hope for a performance of at least one of these in the near future? See News and Events

Patrick Shannon: Our Autumn newsletter described a happy meeting in July 2011 of daughters of 'two collaborators in musical crime'. Sadly, Shannon's elder daughter Joan Bloomfield died in January. A memorial concert will be held on 12th May at Trinity Church, North Finchley, London at 5pm.

Newsletter: the Autumn 2011/Spring 2012 Newsletter, is still available for download on the ECT Trust page.

We note with interest that Glasgow has become a UNESCO City of Music and that Erik Chisholm is listed as a Notable Glaswegian. Is it possible that amongst the many musical events planned in Glasgow to celebrate this honour, at least one work by notable citizen Chisholm might be heard in Glasgow�s City Halls?

Watch the Beat

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 13:07:52 +0100

MUSICAL MEMOIRS of Patrick Shannon

6 The Active Society

In 1929 my friend Erik Chisholm, who was a first class pianist and musician and a very avant garde composer-later Professor of Music at cape Town University- suggested that we should get together and produce some concerts of contemporary music.

So we founded The Active Society for the propagation of Contemporary music-what a title- and it was a point of honour with us that everything we did was a first performance in Scotland. We began with the two of us giving joint recitals in his church which had a fine three manual organ with many orchestral stops. Read the whole article here.

Music for Piano Volume 7

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:08:45 +0100

Divine Art�s Music for Piano Vol.7 has just been released in July 2011.

Listen to Music clip Peter Pan Suite - Tinkerbell

Stephen Sutton, DIvine Art Director says of it; �This is the final disc in this acclaimed series of the unique piano music of Erik Chisholm, dubbed 'The Scottish Bartok' for his amazingly individual use of traditional melodies form his homeland, particularly the pibroch or piobaireachd, ancient bagpipe airs. An essential exploration for lovers of modern piano music, the first four volumes were called 'one of the musical discoveries and revelations of the 21st century' (Music Web).

As at March 2012, there have been six reviews, all online, 3 in Music web. All are very favourable, contain different views. I here present a brief extract from each to give an overall picture.

The scherzo has infectious humour and I actually laughed out loud. A man that can write music that makes you laugh must be clever�. David Wright CD Review 42 Music for Piano Vol 7 can be downloaded here.

The most important pieces on this CD must be the five elegies with which the CD opens. It is hardly possible to listen to the works on this CD and the other six and wonder how such an important contributor to the literature of the piano has gone virtually unnoticed by lovers of piano music. John France Music web. Read the full review here.

The four elegies are by turns clangourous and often coloured by the twists and turns of Scottish folk voices. Rob Barnett Music Web. Read the full review here.

The Peter Pan suite dates from 1924 when the composer was twenty; its five movements are affectionate, witty and colourful character studies of Peter, Wendy, the crocodile, Tinker Bell and Captain Hook .Michael Graubart

FANFARE
Impressionism seems to inform "Peter," the first movement of the Peter Pan Suite of 1924; "Wendy" (second movement) continues this current, although it develops further into contrapuntal-ist territory (beautifully explored by McLachlan). Predictably (but no less magically), it is the "Tinkerbell" fairy of the fourth movement that evokes the ephemeral nature of this Spirit; the central lullaby ("She Sighs for Peter") is beautiful. Captain Hook provides the necessary brawn for the finale. This is by far the most technically challenging movement, and McLachlan copes with its demands with real aplomb.
He ends, Finally, the single movement of the Third Suite (�Ballet�) is a playful teasing dance that seems just right to conclude this major series of recordings Bravo to all involved over at that enterprising record company, Divine Art, and to McLachlan for his clear devotion to this music. Colin Clarke

Listen to Music clip Peter Pan Suite - Peter

With luck, this outstanding piano series will push things along and ultimately lead to the recording of Chisholm�s complete works. That would give a big boost to Scotland�s cultural heritage and add to the musical treasures already turned up in Murray McLachlan marvellous recordings. Byzantion

Unsung Composers

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 16:34:28 +0100

Topic>> The Music>> New Recordings>>PCs by Eric (sic) Chisholm
Earlier this year trawling through the web, I came across an interesting discussion between members of the above organisation.

Comments & opinions by informed contributors made really interesting reading.

One main contributor Peter Shott had this to say
"I had been dimly aware of the name Chisholm for some years. But he became a name to be reckoned with after I had read his book on the Jan�ček opera (marvelous accounts of them!) Note whole book can be read online at Music Web Then for the first time I heard two pieces of orchestral music- the Pictures of Dante and the Ossian Symphony. Like many others I thought these truly stunning things- and hence my excitement�over the projected Hyperion recording."
Then followed comments from 10 different contributors on the main point of the posting which is
What do people think of the Murray McLachlan recordings of solo piano music on Divine Art, of which so far we have 6 volumes with (I think) another 2 to go.
To read more of this fascinating exchange, Google Unsung Composers

Wolverton Manor Concert

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 11:44:42 +0100

The first ECT event of the year took place on 16th April on the Isle of Wight, at Wolverton Manor, Mark Patterson�s home and centre for his long running Concert Series.
Michael Jones played an interesting programme of Piano and Organ music, including Chisholm�s Three Preludes �From the True Edge of the Great World�, Beethoven�s Pathetique Sonata, Bach�s Prelude & Fugue in C and works by Pachelbel, Ireland, Franck. Review in the Isle of Wight County Press noted "It was a highly challenging, informative and delightful evening devoted to well known and less well known composers. Mr Jones showed great tenderness and versatility in the way he played."

Classics Unwrapped: Chisholm�s Piano Concerto No 2

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 17:39:01 +0000

The BBC Radio Scotland�s programme on 7th February 2010, produced by Lindsay Pell, featured the BBC SSO recording of this work, known as the Hindustani Concerto. John Purser and I were interviewed & expressed delight that the recording was receiving a second airing following its inclusion in John�s Scotland�s Music radio series in 2007.

Only short excerpts were played because of contract costs but these together with John�s enthusiasm (thinks it one of Chisholm�s best), his knowledge & great gift of the gab, made for a splendid broadcast. My contribution was small, a short personal comment about living with my father and his music. We now look forward to the new recording of both piano concerti to be released on a single Hyperion Records CD in 2011.

ECT PRS for MUSIC Membership

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:11:23 +0000

MCPS membership was granted to the Trust in 2007. Finally after several years endeavour we heard in December 2010 that the Trust has achieved Successor and Writer PRS membership, giving it full membership. We thank all concerned including the Winchester Probate Office and legal bodies in England and South Africa for their help.

A tribute from Divine Art and Murray McLachlan - by Robert Matthew-Walker

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:52:27 +0000

Erik Chisholm 1904-1965
Despite relatively widespread media reporting, claiming that the international classical record business is on its last legs, anyone who has to trawl through the hundreds of monthly issues from across the globe at International Record Review�s offices, never fewer than 500 new titles a month will point to the exact opposite being the case. In terms of repertoire, the classical record business has never offered such a frequently astonishing selection of product as it does today; in those terms, alone, we certainly have never had it so good, but quantity brings its own problems.

With 500 new records last month, 500 this month and 500 next month, in such a world of teeming activity it is only to be expected that previously unknown music, despite being of high quality in itself and well presented by artists and record companies, runs great danger of being overlooked, simply because it is unknown. The adage �it is easy to be successful in the classical record business: all you do is issue records that people want to buy, not what artists want to make� still rings true, but when the music is unknown (being rarely performed, perhaps surviving only in manuscript) and when the composer is infrequently encountered, other factors need to apply in alerting the public to the existence of worthwhile recordings.

This is where the record critic can play an important role. Speaking personally, at least my friends outside the world of classical music have given up asking me �When are you going to get a proper job?�, finding it inexplicable that one can go on listening to music and writing about it as a life-supporting career (just), but when in the course of such listening one comes into contact with a body of work about which one was largely unaware and is convinced by its excellence, it boils down to two things: you can either keep quiet about your discoveries or tell people about them.

For many readers the name Erik Chisholm will mean little. On the basis of a number of recently issued records, and an outstanding recent book by John Purser Erik Chisholm, Scottish Modernist 1904-1965: Chasing a restless muse (Boydell and Brewer; 2009) we have opportunities to investigate Chisholm�s work in a way denied to earlier generations. In my opinion, as well as that of others, it is certainly worth the effort, for, as the late Charles Mackerras wrote: �Chisholm was a musician of rare capabilities. He was a pianist and organist, a conductor, a composer, a lecturer on music, an entrepreneur and an administrator, and to all them he brought a unique blend of originality, flair and energy.�

Chisholm was born in Glasgow and his Scottishness is clearly a significant aspect of his work as a composer, yet he travelled widely, becoming Professor of Music at Cape Town University just after the Second World War. Before the War, he had conducted the British premi�re of Berlioz�s The Trojans and had also invited Bart�k, Hindemith, Casella and other international figures to Glasgow to participate in performances of their music. He was a piano pupil of the great Lev Pouishnoff (Russian �migr�, a long-time British resident), whose early 1950s BBC-television live studio recitals older music lovers will recall with affection.

Despite Chisholm�s qualities in other areas, it is as a composer that we assess him today, and there can be no doubt, on the evidence of those recent recordings, that he was the most significant Scottish composer (possibly the most significant all-round Scottish musician) of the first half of the twentieth-century and even, in some respects, the most important Scottish composer of all.

The centenary of Chisholm�s birth fell in 2004, and it was during that year that Murray McLachlan began his heroic traversal on disc of Chisholm�s solo piano music for Dunelm Records, with the first two volumes, following an earlier CD for Olympia. A few years later, the administration of the Dunelm catalogue was taken over by the Divine Art group, and four further CDs in the series have now appeared. This series has coincided with releases from Dutton, featuring two of Chisholm�s impressive orchestral works; gradually, therefore, as the catalogue expands, it appears that Chisholm�s importance as a creative figure is beginning at last to find its true significance. These releases are dominated by McLachlan�s currently available six CDs of solo piano music (some of which have been covered over the years in these pages), all now on Divine Art and a more recent single disc of two Chisholm ballets, The Forsaken Mermaid and The Hoodie Craw, in versions for two pianos, played by McLachlan and Graham Scott (ECT Records ECT2010.1, 1 hour 3 minutes, website www.erikchisholm.com).

Newcomers to Chisholm�s piano music will invariably find in it profoundly musical characteristics: first, it is supremely well written for the keyboard, by a composer who we know was a keyboard virtuoso himself � there is nothing �unpianistic� in his writing. This should surely endear Chisholm�s music to pianists, for pianist-composers today are thin on the ground. Secondly, in almost all of his (what one might term) Scottish-Celtic compositions the material is taken immediately from pre-existing traditional material endemic to Scotland. As John Purser writes, �The music that inspires these pieces is some of the oldest and most deeply entrenched in Scottish culture.� The provenance of the music, therefore, is ethno-musicologically natural, later curbed and directed by Chisholm�s evolved creative intelligence so that his mature work takes various archaic elements further, embracing the organization of structure, equating rhythmic elements to a degree with tonal forces. In Chisholm�s music, it seems as if the entire syntax was being newly built up, from old, pre-existing forces.

The one great composer of an earlier generation to whose musical language such comments can also apply is Bart�k (another composer-virtuoso), who stayed at the Chisholm household on each of his visits to Glasgow in 1932 and 1933. If the Bart�k connection can be stretched too far, the newcomer to Chisholm�s music should bear the similarities in mind � Chisholm�s work is not �Bart�k with a Scottish accent�! yet the composers share an intensity of expression, even in their miniature pieces.

Nor is Chisholm�s Scottishness merely melodic and rhythmic colouration having played each of these records quite a few times over several months, I have no doubt that there is a deeply creative musical intelligence at work here. In Volume 1 (Divine Art ddv24131, 1 hour 18 minutes, website www.divine-art.com), we encounter three very varied works. These are the Straloch Suite, Scottish Airs for Children and the abridged (second) version of Chisholm�s Sonata in A in 1939. They are all founded upon Scottish airs, and the Suite � which existed in various forms � is based upon Scottish lute sources first published in 1627, transmuted into piano music of quality. At once, we are drawn into Chisholm�s new musical world, a singular, fascinating and unique tapestry of sound, very well played by McLachlan; the Airs for Children are surely the equal of Bart�k�s Mikrokosmos (25 miniatures lasting 27'54"), but perhaps the most impressive achievement is the Sonata, An Riobain Dearg (�The Red Ribbon�). McLachlan played a fuller version of this remarkable work at the Wigmore Hall in 2004, when it made a very deep impression (and later recorded it in a recital disc (Dunelm DRD0219, 1 hour 14 minutes). The slow movement a threnodial commemoration of the Thetis submarine disaster in June 1939, when over 100 lives were lost during the vessel�s trials remains substantially the same in both versions. In whichever edition, the Sonata is an astoundingly original piano composition: the technique is unique yet inherently pianistic. On this CD we encounter three very different works, yet which are equally clearly the product of the same impressive mind.

Volume 1 having introduced us to the nature of Chisholm�s creativity, Volume 2 (Divine Art ddv24132, 1 hour 19 minutes) explores what one might term Chisholm the miniaturist. There are 42 individual tracks here, comprising three groups of short pieces: ten of the 24 Preludes from the True Edge of the Great World (1943), 26 Airs from the Patrick MacDonald Collection and the six-movement Petite Suite. If you are minded to sample the music, try playing the first Prelude: if this doesn�t immediately grab you and draw you into Chisholm�s world, then I dare say nothing will it is a quite wonderfully unique gem, a description which can be applied to every other track here.

Volume 3 (Divine Art ddv24133, 1 hour 17 minutes) introduces us to Chisholm�s series of Sonatinas for piano, of which he eventually composed six as a group in 1947, with the overall title E Praeterita (�From the past�), the group constituting one of the first of his South African works. The Sonatinas are more formal structures, less overtly Scottish in their melodic provenance; in these, Chisholm identified composers from the sixteenth century (note that this approach was decades before other British composers followed him even if they had been aware of the existence of his music so removed from �neo-Classicism�), but this disc opens with Piobaireachd, a set of pibrochs (from a much larger collection), the music of which I am sure would have appealed to Percy Grainger in its proud statements of musical originality and ethnicity. The piano writing in �Salute to Clan Ranald� is astonishingly virtuosic and tingling in its sense of growing excitement and forward momentum. Perhaps the technical difficulties in these larger works have led to their neglect (this is assuredly not music that �plays itself�), but there is an inherent immediacy of communication with the listener that marks Chisholm out as a truly genuine creative figure and throughout his output, his is music that simply had to be written down. McLachlan plays the pieces most admirably, and the last work here, the Cornish Dance Sonata, is a quite dazzling piece of composition a four-movement, 34-minute work of extraordinarily original inspiration.

In Volume 4 (Divine Art ddv24134, 1 hour 16 minutes), in which McLachlan continues to explore further the composer�s Scottishness, we also encounter Chisholm in more cosmopolitan vein, through the �Portraits� suite, which contains a movement that ought to be in the collection of any quiz anorak. This is �Porgy�, but it has nothing to do with Gershwin�s music, although it was inspired by the DuBose Heyward novel. The novel appeared in 1924, when Chisholm�s music was also written a dozen years before Porgy and Bess dedicated to (later Sir) Hugh Roberton, conductor of the great Glasgow Orpheus Choir. One wonders what Gershwin would have made of this music, no doubt instinctively recognizing Chisholm�s musical qualities as well as his human ones: the empathy of both composers with the dispossessed black character is clear, although differently expressed, and is of great significance in the light of Chisholm�s later hatred of, and resistance to, the rise of apartheid in South Africa. �Portraits� ends with �A Portrait of a Fashionable Gentlewoman� (1925), which begins as suitable cocktail-music but which eventually probes the character more deeply, � la Billy Mayerl or even Cyril Scott in relaxed mood to reveal another side of Chisholm�s remarkable artistry. There are eight further Piobaireachd here, the Third Sonatina (on early sixteenth-century lute pieces), eight little �Cameos� and two Highland Sketches, works which reinforce the composer�s apparent limitless energy and sense of ethnicity.

Volume 5 (Divine Art ddv24140, 1 hour 15 minutes) reinforces impressions that the first four volumes have engendered; the Fifth and Sixth Sonatinas are joined by a Sonatine Ecossaise which Chisholm originally wrote in the late 1920s. The Fifth Sonatina is based on even earlier music thirteenth- and fourteenth-century material (this is 1947!!) and, as this entire conspectus unfolds, the extent and nature of Chisholm�s achievement becomes clear. Perhaps the most fascinatingly titled work here is the �Lament for King George III� (the German-speaking Hanoverian now as Scottish as they come, so far removed from Haydn and J. C. Bach), but there is no denying the genuine qualities of this Lament.

At first sight, the contents of Volume 6 (Divine Art ddv24149, 1 hour 18 minutes) would seem to continue the exploration of what is undoubtedly a major body of piano music, until now unknown to very many people, and offering no new surprises, but this would be a superficial assessment. For it contains two of what appear to me to be among Chisholm�s finest achievements vastly different though they be. These are the Six Bards, a group of six Nocturnes, the quality of which has caused me to question whether any comparable set by a British composer constitutes their equal certainly not their superior. This is music of quite outstanding quality as music and not as a kind of pleasant travelogue north of the Border, and the other achievement is the set of pieces that prefaces the Nocturnes �The Book of Wisdom� � made up of tiny children�s pieces, written for children to play (perhaps at a school concert, or to their family) and with fabulous titles: �He comes in with his 5 eggs and 4 of them rotten�; �Let him that�s culd blow out the cole (sic)� this is utterly delightful stuff, yet the musicianship behind the composition of these tiny miniatures is such as to enter the child-pianist�s sub-consciousness and plant seeds which virtually no other music since Schumann�s Album for the Young, Bart�k�s For Children and Shostakovich�s Op. 69 Children�s Pieces have done with such quality.

There is no doubt that Murray McLachlan�s enterprise is deserving of the highest praise. There is a seventh volume to come, and in great contrast later this year Hyperion will record Chisholm�s two Piano Concertos in its Romantic Series with the excellent Danny Driver as soloist, a disc one anticipates eagerly. By the way there are 12 operas by Chisholm, including The Importance of Being Earnest, The Caucasian Chalk-Circle, and three on Chaucer�s Canterbury Tales all from the 1960s and all in English: any takers, English National Opera?

International Record Review January 2011
Robert Matthew-Walker
Reproduced with kind permission of the IRR Editor Marie Taylor

Awrite, Erik Chisholm!

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 14:48:36 +0000

Erik Chisholm (1904-1965) is the most interesting 20th-century Scots musician you�ve never heard of. You could call him MacBart�k for his blending of folk material with avant-garde styles. Actually, it may be better to compare him to L�szl� Lajtha � like Chisholm an unfamiliar name outside his own country, a hard-working composer, performer, educator and all-around music promoter who found inspiration among his country�s folk-music yet could be greatly influenced by other sources. Deeper than an overview and broader than a monograph, Purser interleaves biography and analysis with commentary that brings Chisholm�s labors into focus. Appendices list works, recordings and other examples of the musician�s endeavors.

Building a concert series in Glasgow, Chisholm imported Hindemith, Sorabji, Medtner, Casella, Bart�k and Busch. Sorabji�s December 1, 1930 appearance was the only time the composer / pianist played Opus Clavicembalisticum in public. Chisholm turned pages for Bart�k, played piano four-hands with Casella, and performed Szymanowski�s music with the composer in attendance. He arranged Alkan�s Symphony from the Op. 39 �tudes for string orchestra, and gave the Scottish premieres of many operas, including Les Troyens and Idomeneo. Chisholm conducted and performed in Nova Scotia, Italy and India, established Singapore�s first symphony orchestra (1946), and spent his last 19 years in South Africa running the College of Music. He was among the first to write about Jan�ček. Mackerras contributed the Foreword to Purser�s biography which recounts their meeting in Cape Town and discussing the Czech composer�s operas.

Chisholm was a guest of the USSR in July and August 1957. Traveling through Helsinki, he discovered Sibelius in the phone book. Chisholm�s wife had to discourage him from ringing up the great Finn at 2:15 in the morning. In the Soviet Union, he met Kabalevsky, Bulganin and Khrushchev, and sat on a competition jury with Shostakovich (Purser�s biography includes a photo of the two together). Chisholm�s visit was met with enthusiasm: The state offered to publish his Celtic Song Book. He purchased over 70 LPs on this trip.

Chisholm sought literary topics for his operas, including Dark Sonnet (1952), based on O�Neill, several settings of Chaucer�s Tales (1961, 1962), The Importance of Being Ernest (1963) after Wilde, and The Caucasian Chalk Circle (1963) after Brecht. He found relationships between Celtic and Indian music: the Piano Concerto No. 2, �The Hindustani� (1948-49), the Violin Concerto (1951), and the concerto for orchestra, Van Riebeeck Concerto (1950-51). He used chromatic ragas which eventually led him to embrace dissonance and dodecaphony, e.g., the opera Simoon (1953).

Judging purely on reputation and description, Chisholm�s music promises to entertain. Two orchestral recordings don�t appear to represent Chisholm�s most innovative or modern aspirations. The operas and vocal works are unavailable. However, Murray McLachlan has recorded several discs of Chisholm�s piano music which now appear under the Divine Arts umbrella on the Dunelm Records Diversions series.

Considering McLa chlan�s first release, Chisholm comes into focus as a gifted composer for the piano. These works predate much of his travels and are steeped in his homeland�s melodies. Except for the Scottish tunes, the three-part Straloch Suite with its first movement fugato could be Busoni. The prevalence of diatonic motifs combined with the second movement�s rhythmic patterns suggest that Nyman may have inspected Chisholm or explored some of the same sources when working on The Piano. Scottish Airs for Children easily earns Chisholm the MacBart�k moniker. Drawing upon airs from a 1784 publication by Patrick MacDonald, Chisholm may have intended to construct a graded anthology for his three daughters. There are 22 airs in the collection.

The Sonata in A, �An Riobain Dearg,� is a barnstormer. Chisholm taps into a Highland theme and variations format, the piobaireachd, generally associated with bagpipes. But there are no wheezy drones in these four movements. He employs virtuosic decoration, willfully abandoning harmony to explore embellished melodies. Sorabji and Bart�k are clear influences, the latter in a driven 3+3+2 scherzo. The moody slow movement mourns the loss of the submarine HMS Thetis, which sank killing 99 during its first trials on June 1, 1939. The somber finale is demanding and acrobatic. On the basis of this release alone Chisholm warrants serious examination, and McLachlan would be his greatest advocate. (Purser wrote the notes.)

I am well outside Dutton Epoch�s target audience; their roster is generally unfamiliar, but I admire their industry. Two Dutton releases (2007 and 2009) offer some of what must be Chisholm�s less adventurous orchestral music. The discs� filler made little impression.

Chisholm was a keen recycler of his own music. Completed in 1939, parts of the Second Symphony were reused for a ballet, The Earth-Shapers (1941). The 1948 Pictures from Dante (after Dor�) borrows from an earlier comic ballet, Piobaireachd. This Second is possible only because of reconstructive sleuthing. Its three movements contain six distinctive parts, presumably depictions or illustrations of the life and deeds of the Celtic hero Ossian. The noble sweep suggests Sibelius. The notes observe how contemporaries were busy contemplating The Great War, with Chisholm perhaps seeking influences elsewhere.

Skillfully orchestrated, the dynamic Dante (dedicated to pal Sorabji) stands apart from discmate Arnell�s thin items and Bate�s Third with its puzzling Shostakovich-like anticipations. Dramatically, even harmonically, it doesn�t stray far from Liszt, but there�s a touch of the exotic and a clear comfort with polytonality. Chisholm handles Dor�s images operatically. More time is spent ringing in Paradisio�s chorales than Inferno�s brimstone (12:42 against 9:11). As with the Second, the debt to Sibelius is clear.

It would seem that the Dante Pictures have been performed only three times: in Vienna (1952), South Africa (1960) and Scotland (2008). Of the Ossian�s companions, Hold�s The Unreturning Spring sets texts by James Farrar, killed in action in 1944. Seven poems alternate between soprano and baritone, and a tiny interlude requires winds to improvise with bird calls. The five-minute Sea-Sheen was written by a 17-year-old Fogg. Merok offers variations on a Norwegian folk song.

With kind permission of the author Grant Chu Covell December 2010.

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:34:06 +0000

Chairman�s comment
This year has been one of quality rather than quantity. In addition to the foregoing there have been several excellent reviews, some still coming in, long after the CD release. Now 10 years old, we are critically examining what more needs to be done to increase awareness of Chisholm music. One long awaited arrow for our attack, is still missing- the Catalogue Riasonne.
Hot topics are forward planning, a focus on marketing & how to address the financial imbalance. We don�t think reducing expenditure is the answer, so?.. we would be grateful for suggestions from you, our readers.

The top 20�Scottish Classical Music Events of All Time

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:07:49 +0000

CHOOSING the top 20 classical and opera performances of all time in Scotland-as we have done all this week-was never going to be easy, nor conclusive. The legacy lies in the individual memory, or someone else�s memory in writing.
Here though was an opportunity to consider the furthest-reaching moments in Scottish musical history. The task was not simply to judge a piece of music, but to assess the quality of a performance together with the significance and context of its presentation.

I am indebted to our panel of experts. Conrad Wilson was staff music critic of The Scotsman for 27 years, and has attended every Edinburgh Festival since it began. John Currie has directed all of Scotland�s major choruses, working with all the great conductors in the process. Hugh Macdonald is a former head of music at BBC Scotland as well as the former director of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
KENNETH WALTON
SCOTSMAN CLASSICAL MUSIC CRITIC 16th December 2007

The night the amateurs stole the show

THE TROJANS, KING�S THEATRE, GLASGOW, 1935
The cult of Berlioz has long been stronger here than in his native France, and there�s a good case for the claim that British enthusiasm was first kindled in Glasgow in 1935 when the enterprising Erik Chisholm conducted the British premiere of Berlioz�'s huge opera, The Trojans.

Young Chisholm was undaunted by even the biggest musical challenge, for as well as bringing world-famous musicians such as Bartok and Hindemith to Scotland for the Active Society, his work with the Glasgow Grand Opera saw an astonishing series of British premieres, including Mozart�s Idomeneo.

For The Trojans at the King�s Theatre, Chisholm had professional soloists but an amateur orchestra, which must have been sorely stretched by the demands of Berlioz�s five-hour marathon. Yet the performance was judged enough of a success to prompt a reassessment of the idea that the work was an unperformable failure.

�Glasgow Amateurs arouse the envy of the Musical World� ran one headline, and among the many leading musicians who journeyed north from London for the occasion were Hamilton Harty and Ernest Newman. Chisholm had invited Sir Thomas Beecham too, but he rudely declined, questioning how �this whipper snapper� could attempt such a massive undertaking. Beecham himself would himself conduct it eventually, but Chisholm paved the way.
HUGH MACDONALD

Songs and Sonnets by Eric Chisholm 1916

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:23:05 +0000

This astonishing collection of poems by a 12 year old Eric (he changed Eric to Erik in adult life) had lain in a Glasgow attic for decades until it was given to me last year by my cousin John, son of Jack Chisholm, Erik�s eldest brother. I knew that my father had written librettos and occasional poems for his Celtic Song Book but this collection of 12 poems and 20 sonnets quite bowled me over. Definitely not for publication but Ode to Music is interesting, attesting as it does to his deep love of music at that early age.

Ode To Music
Blend each note so clear and sweet,
Make thy tones be like silver bells,
Stir my blood with chords in numbers,
Each tender thrill the rest foretells,
As I lie back in spell-bound praise,
Dreaming of thee in my slumbers.
I feel the joy of life�s sweet ways,
It brings back to me sweet memories,
I feel I am in Paradise,
A golden well I plainly see,
Thy chords have got me mesmerised.
Each bow that quivers in a shake,
Thy music is a doctor�s cure,
Then one strong note makes me but wake,
Each long struck note so sweet and pure,
And loudly hear a trumpet call far off,
While the wondrous players play with all their heart.
Why music I love you, love you always,
You and I never never shall part.
I see the soldiers marching, tramp, tramp, tramp,
Marching quickly o�er hill and dale,
I hear the soldiers loudly singing,
�The conquered hero down in the vale.
Ah, music, an ode cannot sing thy splendour,
Thy enchantments have long been known,
As day after day has passed away,
Thy works are quickly, marvelously growing.
I dream of a land of roses, I dream of them I love,
Thy notes so clear and sweet make me think of those above.
And carols from thy lines slowly peal,
On Christmas day from morn till night,
Which fills my mind full of delight.
Music thy charms are sweet,
Make thy tones a fairy bell,
Stir my blood with long soft bows,
Each tender trill the rest foretells.

Eric Chisholm 1916

CD Production

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 11:12:52 +0100

The Trust has been party to the production of 12 CDs in it's 10 years activity.

Volume 7 the last in the series was released in July 2011. "Includes the four Elegies, a concentrated and cohesive group of pieces which no-one...will want to be without. McLachlan's conviction, his effortless technique, his avoidance of exaggerated rubato and the clarity of his textures, aided by the enviable acoustics and excellent piano, and the intimate but not intrusively close microphone placement, all combine to make (this last CD of the series) more than a mere tying up of loose ends."
Michael Graubart (Music and Vision)

The Trust's first venture into CD production under its own label ECT Records, produced the two piano version of Chisholm's Forsaken Mermaid, The Hoodie Craw in August 2010, was chosen as one of Music Web recordings of the month.
Listen to Music clip The Kail March

See Recording Section for more details and to hear other excepts .

Purser's Cape Town Lecture Recital

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:10:40 +0100

Purser's lecture recital Chasing a restless Muse July 20th 2010, celebrated the Cape Town launch of the biography and the College of Music Centenary.

The Chisholm Recital room was packed for his beautiful illustrated lecture with slides covering the personal, historical and musical aspects of Chisholm's life. Musical illustrations, all most ably performed by College of Music students, included excerpts from the bewitching Scottish Airs for Children (Jessamie Jardim), Straloch Suite (Mark Spence), Night Song of the Bards (Olga Rademan) and several of The Poems of Love (Conroy Scott baritone, and Francois Botha piano).

Margaret Morris Movement Centenary

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:07:20 +0100

Margaret Morris was a brilliant dancer, choreographer and artist, whose unique system of dance, the Margaret Morris Movement (MMM), developed into a worldwide organization. In February 2010 an exhibition of her extensive collection of ballet costumes, artwork and other memorabilia opened at the Fergusson Gallery in Perth, Fife where it will be permanently housed. A full programme of events is planned throughout the year to celebrate the MMM centenary.

The artistic partnership of Margaret Morris and composer Erik Chisholm, begun in 1940, resulted in three ballets, The Forsaken Mermaid, The Earth Shapers and The Hoodie Craw. To commemorate the centenary, the ECT has produced a CD, under its own label, of the Forsaken Mermaid and the Hoodie Craw, arranged for two pianos played by Murray McLachlan and Graham Scott

MusicWeb Recording of the Month January 2011 Forsaken Mermaid

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:03:06 +0100

We are delighted to report that our first ECT Records CD, No. ECT 2010.1, The Forsaken Mermaid, The Hoodie Craw has been recognised by MusicWeb International as one of their recordings of the month. See Recordings and two new reviews.

The Wooing scene from The Forsaken Mermaid, was heard on stage for the first time in over 50 years.

Listen to Music clip The Wooing

Erik Chisholm: Music for Piano, Volume 6

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 16:30:52 +0100

Listen to Music clip Caprice

Musicweb
Volume six in this series has one especially important collection, Night Songs of the Bards � Six Nocturnes and a series of engaging though lesser works that still repay listening. Written between 1944 and 1951 Night Songs of the Bards embraces a wide range of rhythmic, textual and colouristic influences - Raga, Szymanowski and Sorabji among them.

Murray McLachlan, as ever, is the conduit through which Chisholm�s music flows. His technical armoury and ear for colour are both impeccable and he brings these pieces to life with tremendous intensity and panache, or � when necessary, as in the children�s pieces � unpretentious simplicity. With a good recording and booklet notes, those who have been following this series will eagerly wish to acquaint themselves with this release. Start with those Nocturnes. Read the whole review here.
Jonathan Woolf

Midwest Record (re diversions ddv24149) August 2010-10-17
"The piano great. McLachlan strays from his romance with Russian piano masters to tackle the sounds of other spaces in checking out this collection of miniatures from a contemporary, classical composer. Mostly broken into 5 suites, this is almost moldy fig music that gets saved from that fate once McLachlan kicks it into gear. One of our great musical sherpas, McLachlan is always worth checking out once he gets a new journey going."
Chris Spector

The contents of Volume 6 (Divine Art ddv24149, 1 hour 18 minutes), contains two of what appear to me to be among Chisholm�s finest achievements � vastly different though they be. These are the Six Bards, a group of six Nocturnes, the quality of which has caused me to question whether any comparable set by a British composer constitutes their equal � certainly not their superior. This is music of quite outstanding quality as music and not as a kind of pleasant travelogue north of the Border, and the other achievement is the set of pieces that prefaces the Nocturnes � �The Book of Wisdom� � made up of tiny children�s pieces, written for children to play (perhaps at a school concert, or to their family) and with fabulous titles: �He comes in with his 5 eggs and 4 of them rotten�; �Let him that�s culd blow out the cole (sic)� � this is utterly delightful stuff, yet the musicianship behind the composition of these tiny miniatures is such as to enter the child-pianist�s sub-consciousness and plant seeds which virtually no other music since Schumann�s Album for the Young, Bart�k�s For Children and Shostakovich�s Op. 69 Children�s Pieces have done with such quality.

There is no doubt that Murray McLachlan�s enterprise is deserving of the highest praise.

International Record Review Jan 2011