A Garland for John McCabe

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Gary Carpenter, Robin Walker, Martin Ellerby, John (Pierre Herman) Joubert, Robert Saxton, William Marshall, Elis Pehkonen, James Francis Brown, Peter Dickinson, Edward Gregson, Emily Howard, Robert Keeley, Malcolm Lipkin, Howard Skempton, Anthony Gilbert, David Matthews, (Edward) Gerard Schurmann, Christopher Gunning, Raymond Warren

Genre:

Chamber

Label: Divine Art

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 80

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: DDA25166

DDA25166. A Garland for John McCabe

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
A Rag for McCabe Peter Dickinson, Composer
Alistair Vennart, Viola
John Turner, Recorder
Linda Merrick, Clarinet
Peter Dickinson, Composer
Peter Lawson, Piano
Exequy John (Pierre Herman) Joubert, Composer
Alistair Vennart, Viola
John (Pierre Herman) Joubert, Composer
John’s Farewell Edward Gregson, Composer
Edward Gregson, Composer
John Turner, Recorder
Peter Lawson, Piano
A Little Prelude for John McCabe Robert Saxton, Composer
Alistair Vennart, Viola
John Turner, Recorder
Linda Merrick, Clarinet
Robert Saxton, Composer
Highland Song Howard Skempton, Composer
Alistair Vennart, Viola
Howard Skempton, Composer
John Turner, Recorder
Linda Merrick, Clarinet
Lament for the Turtle-Dove Elis Pehkonen, Composer
Elis Pehkonen, Composer
Linda Merrick, Clarinet
Peter Lawson, Piano
And Will You Walk Beside Me Down This Lane? Robin Walker, Composer
Alistair Vennart, Viola
John Turner, Recorder
Linda Merrick, Clarinet
Peter Lawson, Piano
Robin Walker, Composer
In memoriam John McCabe Malcolm Lipkin, Composer
Alistair Vennart, Viola
Linda Merrick, Clarinet
Malcolm Lipkin, Composer
Peter Lawson, Piano
Little Passacaglia William Marshall, Composer
John Turner, Recorder
Linda Merrick, Clarinet
Peter Lawson, Piano
William Marshall, Composer
Nocturnes and dawn (Patterdale) Martin Ellerby, Composer
Alistair Vennart, Viola
Martin Ellerby, Composer
Peter Lawson, Piano
Elegy for John McCabe Robert Keeley, Composer
Linda Merrick, Clarinet
Peter Lawson, Piano
Robert Keeley, Composer
Evening Changes James Francis Brown, Composer
Alistair Vennart, Viola
James Francis Brown, Composer
John Turner, Recorder
Linda Merrick, Clarinet
Memento (Edward) Gerard Schurmann, Composer
(Edward) Gerard Schurmann, Composer
Peter Lawson, Piano
The Flame has Ceased Anthony Gilbert, Composer
Alistair Vennart, Viola
Anthony Gilbert, Composer
John Turner, Recorder
Peter Lawson, Piano
Danse des Fourmis Christopher Gunning, Composer
Christopher Gunning, Composer
John Turner, Recorder
Linda Merrick, Clarinet
Peter Lawson, Piano
Chaconne David Matthews, Composer
Alistair Vennart, Viola
David Matthews, Composer
Linda Merrick, Clarinet
Peter Lawson, Piano
In nomine Raymond Warren, Composer
John Turner, Recorder
Peter Lawson, Piano
Raymond Warren, Composer
Outback Emily Howard, Composer
Alistair Vennart, Viola
Emily Howard, Composer
John Turner, Recorder
Linda Merrick, Clarinet
Peter Lawson, Piano
Edradour Gary Carpenter, Composer
Alistair Vennart, Viola
Gary Carpenter, Composer
John Turner, Recorder
Linda Merrick, Clarinet
Peter Lawson, Piano
Three years on from his death, John McCabe shows no signs of being forgotten. His music is still performed and recorded (including the start of a survey of his complete piano music) and tributes and memorial events such as the present disc continue to appear. Such is the affection for a composer and performer who balanced creative genius and generosity of spirit in equal measure, with nary a trace of ego.

The 19 works collected here, all composed in 2016, form a wonderfully balanced sequence of pieces large (Raymond Warren’s In nomine runs close to eight minutes long; the pieces by James Francis Brown, Joubert, Robin Walker and Elis Pehkonen are around six) and small. Although the prevailing mood is elegiac-to-wistful, encapsulated by Joubert, Gregson, Saxton and Keeley, there are plenty which remember John’s engaging, pithy sense of humour: A Rag for McCabe by Gramophone contributor Peter Dickinson, Brown’s Evening Changes (one of the few ensemble pieces to omit McCabe’s own instrument, the piano) and Christopher Gunning’s delightful Danse des Fourmis (all featuring John Turner’s recorder prominently); Gary Carpenter’s Edradour closes proceedings by celebrating John’s love of single malt whisky!

The musical styles are many and varied, from the formally dramatic, as in Gerard Schurmann’s Memento, the only piece for piano alone, the abstract (David Matthews’s Chaconne, Marshall’s Little Passacaglia), and straightforwardly tonal (Gunning, Skempton), to more complex harmonic tapestries, as in Anthony Gilbert’s The Flame has Ceased. Several works evoke Haydn, whose sonatas McCabe famously recorded in the 1970s and which have remained a benchmark recording ever since, or use musical ciphers derived from McCabe’s name, while Emily Howard’s Outback evokes McCabe’s Desert series. Beautifully performed by all four players and recorded to match, John would have been delighted.

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