|
|
|
Articles
A selection of articles about Erik Chisholm
|
| |
|
| View from the Bench | Lillias Scott Forbes, daughter of Francis George Scott and Chisholm's second wife, is a Scottish poet of considerable renown. Her most recent book View from the Bench published in 2011, is subtitled My life in Poetry.
| We print here an unpublished appraisal of her first husband, Erik Chisholm.
I suppose I was only ten years old or so and my sister, Francise fourteen when I first became aware of the presence of Erik Chisholm leaping up our tenement stairs in Woodville Gardens, Langside, Glasgow probably two steps at a time, his agility not far removed from that of a ballet dancer, or perhaps more in character with the pirouettes of a Dervish friar.
Erik's father, who had a well-established painter and decorator's business at Charing Cross, Glasgow would appear to have handed down to his children, more especially to Erik, his zeal for precise and essential time-keeping: when he arrived at our 'new' house at Jordan hill with his squad of painter-men to restore the faded colour scheme on the dining-room walls he had no intention of permitting any time- wasters to be let loose on the job, this rule applying as much to himself as to the employees. 'Slap it on, boys — slap it on!' I can hear him yet, not unlike my image of Erik, my dear husband-to-be, baton in hand whipping along strings, woods, brass and percussion in those most thrilling early bars in the 'Bartered Bride' overture — the opera he conducted and directed, one of several premieres including Berlioz' 'Les Troyens' in the early forties — these for Glasgow Grand Opera Society.
Of course, some years earlier he was already on the way to mastering his piano technique to the extent of giving recitals both in Glasgow and other Scottish venues and later widening his audience territory with recital tours in Nova Scotia and Canada. In the later twenties and early thirties our family became more acquainted both with Erik and his wife, Diana and family, while Erik himself delighted in bringing his portable cine equipment to show a range of early films of note, including, 'Dr Caligari', 'Kameradschaff and a few of the current 'excesses' (Erik's word) of the Marx Brothers, of which he was particularly fond.
Read the whole article[/res=676] |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
| Historical Quotations | “A thoroughly national composer: tone poet of the Highlands”, Basil Hogarth, 1930
“The hardest working man in Singapore”, Alan Gordon, 1946
“Busy Dr Chisholm polishes off his 11th opera”, Music Critic, 1962
“Conductor loved controversy”, Fiona Chisholm, 2004
|  |
|
The Scottish Highlands |
|
|
|
| Listen to Music Clip Sea Tangle |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
| "Piobaireachd" Concerto | 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.
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
| "Hindustani" Concerto | 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
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
| The Piano Music of Erik Chisholm 1904 -1965 by John Purser | 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.)
Published in International Piano Magazine March 2012
Download & Read the whole article |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
Subscribe to feed
Print-friendly version