Music Reflection for August 2021 - “The Glory of the Garden”

August is traditionally seen as the holiday month when folk hope to have a break away from home enjoying a change of scenery and activities. This year however may well be the exception to this pattern for many of us as Covid-19 and travel restrictions impact our plans - as a consequence we may take the opportunity to look afresh at the wonder of nature in our gardens, in the gardens we may visit and in God’s miraculous garden which is all around us even though sadly we often take that for granted. The Garden has inspired some wonderful music and poetry and I would like to offer some of that to you this month – I cannot think of better place to start than Rudyard Kipling’s words in his 1911 poem “The Glory of the Garden”

OUR England is a garden that is full of stately views, Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues, With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by; But the Glory of the Garden lies in more than meets the eye.

For where the old thick laurels grow, along the thin red wall, You'll find the tool- and potting-sheds which are the heart of all The cold-frames and the hot-houses, the dung-pits and the tanks, The rollers, carts, and drain-pipes, with the barrows and the planks.

And there you'll see the gardeners, the men and 'prentice boys Told off to do as they are bid and do it without noise ; For, except when seeds are planted and we shout to scare the birds, The Glory of the Garden it abideth not in words.

And some can pot begonias and some can bud a rose, And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows ; But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam, For the Glory of the Garden occupieth all who come.

Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made By singing:-" Oh, how beautiful," and sitting in the shade While better men than we go out and start their working lives At grubbing weeds from gravel-paths with broken dinner-knives.

There's not a pair of legs so thin, there's not a head so thick, There's not a hand so weak and white, nor yet a heart so sick But it can find some needful job that's crying to be done, For the Glory of the Garden glorifieth every one.

Then seek your job with thankfulness and work till further orders, If it's only netting strawberries or killing slugs on borders; And when your back stops aching and your hands begin to harden, You will find yourself a partner In the Glory of the Garden.

Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees That half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees, So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands and pray For the Glory of the Garden that it may not pass away! And the Glory of the Garden it shall never pass away !

Some of us garden because we are enthusiastic, some of us because we feel obliged and some don’t won’t or can’t. Wherever we are on that spectrum it is irrefutable that the garden whether it be large, small or a window box offers a blank canvas and the most diverse and varied palette to give free rein to such creativity with which we may be blessed. In the same way the natural gardens seen in our hedges, meadows, roadside verges offer a profusion of colours, scents and texture all there for our enjoyment without an ounce of effort on our part. All of these wonderful examples of creation are part of God’s wonderful gift to us and I hope that this month you will have the opportunity to stand, stare and give thanks for them. I hope these musical choices reflect the variety of the garden, since some are rather short, I have included a couple more than usual.

Mention of music and gardens in the same breath leads many of us to the arrangement of the English country dance tune Country Gardens by Percy Grainger (1882-1961). Born in Brighton near Melbourne, Percy was the son of cultured and financially stable parents, his English born father being chief architect to the Western Australian Department of Public Works. Percy was almost entirely home educated and at the age of 10 commenced piano studies which were highly successful. Percy’s mother eventually arranged for him to study piano and composition in Frankfurt where he made significant achievements and discovered the poetry of Rudyard Kipling much of which he set to music. Grainger subsequently came to London in 1901 where he had much success as a concert pianist and composer. European travel resulted in a close working relationship with Grieg and a lifelong friendship with Delius. While in England, Grainger recorded and arranged many English folk and country dance tunes including “Country Gardens”. In 1914 Percy travelled to the USA which he made his home for the remainder of his life although he travelled extensively as a highly acclaimed concert pianist. “English Country Gardens” became one of Grainger’s most popular pieces and as such was frequently demanded as an encore at his concerts, as a consequence Grainger grew to loathe the piece which he would then deliberately play badly. I have included two performances here, the first an orchestral version played by the BBC Concert Orchestra under Richard Hickox, the second link is to a piano roll performance by Percy Grainger himself from which you will be able to discern his dislike for the piece – if you listen further, you will hear his real skill as a pianist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e72pG3V3asQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0EegJ-j5Fo

Sir Arthur Somervell (1863 –1937) was an English composer and song writer, he was one of the most successful and influential writers of art song in the English music renaissance of the 1890s–1900s. One of his best-known works is his English-language adaptation of the aria, "Non lo dirò col labbro" from Handel’s 1728 opera Tolomeo (Ptolemy) which was the 14th of his operas and a fictional depiction of some of the events in the life of Ptolemy IX Lathyros, king of Egypt. In the opera Alessandro, brother of Tolomeo sits on a beach in Cyprus singing of unrequited love but fortunately for me Somervell transferred that to a garden. This song has been a favourite of mine for years but I have to confess that, when much younger I could not reconcile an ‘alley ringing’ with the garden! It took some time to understand that the French term allée is used for avenues planted in parks and landscape gardens. “Silent Worship (Did you not hear my Lady go down the garden singing)” is sung here by Aled Jones, first as a treble and then by contrast in the second link as a tenor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikanA5MHgZg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFWQj1hlLbg

Frederick Theodore Albert Delius (1862-1934) is no stranger in these reflections. In 1907 Berlin saw the first performance of his opera “A Village Romeo and Juliet”, the libretto for which was the joint work of Delius and his wife, the opera was subsequently first heard in the UK in 1910 at Covent Garden under Sir Thomas Beecham. The work is scored for a huge orchestra which cannot be accommodated in the average pit and thus has only been performed very occasionally since, the USA premiere not coming about until 1972. The opera contains some stunningly beautiful music including the orchestral interlude between Scenes 5 and 6, "The Walk to the Paradise Garden", which is heard separately in concerts and has been recorded many times – here it is played by the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir John Barbirolli. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVeaAhYluOc

“King Jesus hath a garden full of divers flowers” is an English translation by GR Woodward (1848-1934) of a traditional Dutch Carol “Heer Jesus heeft een Hofken” which was published in Geestlijcke Harmonie, Emmerich in 1633. The carol talks of the various flowers Jesus has in his garden the bravest of which is The Star of Bethlehem, it expresses the wish that our hearts should become Christ’s “garden fair”. The carol is sung here by the Choir of Kings College, Cambridge conducted by the inimitable Stephen Cleobury. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M31QPqdqz04

Benjamin Britten’s “Five Flower Songs” date from the spring of 1950 and were first performed privately on 23 July of that year at Dartington Hall, by a student choir conducted by Imogen Holst (who went on to become Britten’s amanuensis at Aldeburgh two years later). The songs were dedicated to Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst as a silver-wedding present, and appropriately celebrated the couple’s love of botany. The first performance was an outdoor affair mounted specially for the dedicatees, who owned Dartington and had contributed generously to the cost of setting up Britten’s English Opera Group three years before. There is neither time or space now to write in detail regarding Britten – that will need to wait for another occasion but for the moment I hope you will enjoy this recording and imagine the flowers as you listen, the titles of the songs are: 1. To Daffodils 2. The Succession of the Four Sweet Months (2:24) 3. Marsh Flowers (4:21) 4. The Evening Primrose (6:40) 5. Ballade of Green Brom (9:20) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_E-oTzhKis

I mentioned in my introduction the natural gardens seen in the landscape and the countryside and one of the glorious examples of such is the heather covered banks and braes of Scotland. The lovely song “Wild Mountain Thyme” describes plucking wild mountain thyme from around the blooming heather and conjures up visions of vast purple expanses dotted with other wild flowers. There is often some debate as whether this is a Scottish or Irish song and the truth of the matter is that it is both inasmuch that the lyrics and melody are a variant of the song "The Braes of Balquhither" by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill (1774–1810) and Scottish composer Robert Archibald Smith (1780–1829), but were adapted by Belfast musician Francis McPeake (1885–1971) into "Wild Mountain Thyme" and first recorded by his family in the 1950s.

The song is often regarded as a love song, with the line, "Wild Mountain Thyme grows among the Scottish heather" perhaps being an indirect reference to the old custom of young women wearing a sprig of thyme, to attract a suitor. However one might regard it, this is a lovely song and I hope you enjoy hearing it sung here by Sarah Calderwood – there is an obvious error in the captions which suggests we are going to “plug” rather than “pluck” mountain thyme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G9VEvEx1Bc&list=TLPQMTQwNzIwMjHbJq4n7cIJfQ&i ndex=2

Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) was born the son of the Austrian composer Johann Strauss I. As in the case of a number of great musicians, Johann II was strongly discouraged from a career in music by his father who wished him to become a banker and avoid the stresses and trials of a life in music. Johann II continued to study secretly and when eventually discovered by his father was roundly beaten by him for his disobedience. Johann I eventually deserted his wife and family for a lover and at that point Johann II was able to pursue the study of composition with the aid and blessing of his mother. The young Johann II began to have considerable success to the annoyance of his father with whom his relationship became acrimonious. In due course Johann II rose to far greater prominence than his father, composing over 500 waltzes and polkas plus a number of operettas. Johann II became known as the “Waltz King” and as well as touring extensively with his orchestra, became KK Hofballmusikdirektor (Music Director of the Royal Court Balls) at the court of Franz-Joseph I. In 1880 Strauss composed a waltz medley entitled “Rosen aus dem Süden” (Roses from the South), it is played here by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tG23WkWYVo

No reflection illustrating the Garden could be complete with mention of the song “Come into the garden Maud” composed by the popular Victorian composer and conductor Michael William Balfe (1808 –1870) using words drawn from the poem “Maud” by Alfred Tennyson, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892). “Maud” is really a rather black and violent poem which is also very long. Tennyson composed "Song for Maud" which appears at the end of the first part of "Maud" at Swainston Manor, Calbourne, Isle of Wight, and it was the garden there that is said to be depicted in this part of the poem. Interestingly the poet earned so much from the publication of “Maud, and Other Poems” he was able to buy the neighbouring mansion that he was renting and live there for the next 40 years. Perhaps because the song is comparatively brief and does not really reflect the dark nature and true theme of the poem, it became hugely popular both in concert and home performances. By contrast Sir Arthur Somervell (mentioned above) produced in 1898 a song cycle “Maud” which is considered one of the masterpieces of the English art song tradition. “Come into the garden, Maud” is beautifully sung here by Heddle Nash. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdlDcYtrn4g

Keith Day