If, like me, you have known Cyril Scott primarily as the composer of Water Wagtail, you will probably be unprepared for this collection of his orchestral music. The accompanying notes describe him as having been, in the earlier part of his life at least, the English counterpart of Debussy and Scriabin, and certainly these two, together with Delius, come readily to mind when listening to the music here. In the case of the 1911 Aubade, which opens the collection, the comparison with Debussy seems particularly apt, for this is an evocation of dawn that the French master himself might have been pleased to own. The Two Passacaglias on Irish Themes, from 1912, which close the collection, are likewise well chosen to show how Scott could embellish thematic material with his own rich harmonic vocabulary and orchestral palette. The Neapolitan Rhapsody, completed when the composer had turned 80, displays its subject matter especially through oblique references to the song Funiculi-funicula. Among the rest, there is an especially rewarding use of delicate chamber textures in the Andante sostenuto opening of the second of the Three Dances, which Scott adapted from his discarded Second Symphony.
The music lacks any great variety of mood, and generally Scott's material seems less striking than that of Joseph Holbrooke, of whose music I reviewed another Marco Polo CD recently (11/93). Perhaps Scott, even more than Delius, needed the attention of a Beecham to make the most of his material. For the present we have good reason to be grateful to Peter Marchbank and the South African Broadcasting Corporation orchestra for the care they have expended on this collection. If you are content to let atmospheric waves of Debussian and Delian imagery wash over you, this admirably enterprising Marco Polo collection should prove most rewarding.'