Robert Crawford Music for piano and strings
The compositional output of Edinburgh-born and based Robert Crawford, perhaps uniquely, occupies two markedly distinct periods of British music. The first of these, during the late-1940s and 1950s, saw Crawford as a young man, with abundant promise and a degree of critical acclaim, and the second as a man of more mature years, having fulfilled a notable career, firstly as a music critic for both The Guardian and The Herald and latterly as a music producer at the BBC. It was these alternative careers from the late-1950s onwards that occupied the greater part of Crawford’s unusual compositional silence until his retirement in 1985, when inspiration returned and new and original music began to flow once more.
Born in 1925, Crawford was brought up in a rather isolated area at the foot of the picturesque Pentland hills. At school in the late-1930s, music tuition at the then Melville College was limited, with no official music teachers, and Crawford was discouraged from pursuing musical activities outside of school hours. The intervention of the Second World War and mass evacuation, however, proved fortunate and he was removed to the Lake District and Keswick Grammar School. Here, happily, music was part of his general
education, and at the age of 15 he became inspired to begin composing.
Following this extended sojourn and his subsequent return to Edinburgh, Crawford became a student at the Faculty of Music of the University of Edinburgh, but quickly became disillusioned with its traditionalist limitations, leaving after only a year. Whilst at the Faculty though, he had studied composition with the Austrian immigrant composer Hans Gál (who had fled the country of his birth following the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany) with whom he continued as a private composition pupil until 1945. As a teacher, he found Gál restrictive; however, Gál provided a vital industrious and studious quality that imbued in Crawford the want for a lasting and sound technical foundation.
In 1945 Crawford’s horizons began to expand significantly with a second and decisive move away from Edinburgh. As a composition and viola student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in post-war London, one of his most vital influences came in the form of the celebrated composer of film and concert music Benjamin Frankel. Frankel arrived at the Guildhall shortly after Crawford and became his
composition professor until he left in 1949. He found Frankel ‘a skilled advisor to his students, who did not impose his own personality on them’ and the ideal figure to develop his talent as a composer.
Frankel’s support was plentiful and he must have thought a good deal of Crawford’s abilities as a composer, encouraging him to follow his own path and train to write music for film at Ealing. Crawford, however, had little desire to write so much music so quickly, let alone to orchestrate it fully with such limited timescales, and in 1949, after four successful years in London, Crawford returned to Edinburgh once more.
Back in Scotland, his composing activities continued, and he wrote the first of his two enduring string quartets. String Quartet No. 1 represented a considerable success and was first performed by the Berlin String Quartet at the 1951 International Society for Contemporary Music Festival at Frankfurt-amMain, and was the subject of further critical acclaim, no less a luminary than Edmund Rubbra commenting on ‘a composer who, judging from this work, should go far.’
Crawford also had relatively early success in the form of a small number of publications by the important London firm of Augener from 1951, receiving further critical acclaim for his carefully considered and crafted works. The first of this series of works were the Six Bagatelles, also the earliest of Crawford’s compositions on this recording, which were composed in 1947, whilst still at the Guildhall. Crawford composed these six short works for piano at the suggestion of Frankel, who also recommended that he not agonise over every single note and try and compose more quickly. As a result the first four bagatelles were completed over four days, with the set completed in a further five days.
Crawford’s next important work, also on this disc, was begun in the following year, in the form of the Piano Sonata No. 2. This substantial work for the instrument was composed at the request of the pianist and keen exponent of contemporary music Joyce Riddell, and completed early in 1951. Riddell also gave the first performance in the Wigmore Hall, London, on 20 December of the same year. This latest work was also warmly received, one reviewer in The Times praising the ‘strong individuality’ contained within it, and also concluding that ‘it deserves to be widely played.’
It was at this point in his rapidly burgeoning career that his output began to slow. Before Crawford became silent, however, he was commissioned by the University of Glasgow under the McEwen bequest to write the second of his two string quartets in 1956, with the first performance taking place at the McEwen concert in May the following year. The intellectual rigour and integrity of this work was congratulated by critics and the String Quartet No. 2 began to join the earlier first quartet in entering the repertoire of a number of eminent string quartets: indeed, both of these quartets remain in the Edinburgh Quartet’s repertoire to this day.
With a small yet imposing and mature corpus of works to his name, no more completed compositions were to flow from Crawford’s pen throughout the remainder of the 1950s, and the whole of the 1960s and 1970s. During this considerable drought Crawford’s musical attributes were certainly put to good use through his work as a music producer for the BBC in Scotland from 1970, however, this position left little or no time to concentrate on composition. Time in particular is clearly a precious commodity for Crawford when composing, and he has a need to become thoroughly single-minded:
I do need the spur of a commission to get my thoughts working, but once started the music takes over and occupies my mind totally, so that I can be somewhat absent-minded. It also occupies my thoughts at night and keeps me awake for quite a time. I believe my subconscious often takes over from a state between wakefulness and sleep so that I am ready to continue working the next morning with a clear idea of what to write down on the MS paper.
It wasn’t until his retirement from the BBC in 1985 that this state could once more be reached satisfactorily, which allowed him to resume his career as a composer where he had left off all those years earlier.
The first piece to be completed in the latter half of the 1980s was again the result of a McEwen bequest commission from the University of Glasgow and completed some thirty years after his previous work, which was also a McEwen commission. Ricercare, an octet scored for clarinet, horn, bassoon and strings marked a triumphant return from silence for Crawford and resulted in a number of regular further commissions, three of which are contained on this disc.
The year 1991 saw two of these three works commissioned: the Sonata Breve was
composed as a set piece for the Scottish International Piano Competition; and A Saltire Sonata, which was commissioned by the Glasgow-based pianist Peter Seivewright. A Saltire Sonata had actually been conceived some thirty years earlier, when Isobel Dunlop had asked Crawford to write a work for the Saltire Society Concerts that she organised, and which took place during the Edinburgh Festival. The opening bars had been written down at the time and the remainder of the work stored in his mind until this opportunity arose to complete the sonata. The Sonata Breve has proved a popular work and received eleven initial performances in September 1992, one from each of the semi-finalists of the piano competition for which it was written.
A body of chamber works followed these two piano sonatas, with a substantial Clarinet Quintet in 1992; Variations on a Ground for treble recorder and piano and Variations on an original theme for two pianos in 1993; and Hammered Brass for brass quintet and percussion in 1995. At the age of 72 Crawford wrote his first important orchestral work, when the symphonic study Lunula was commissioned by BBC Radio 3 for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 1997.
Going forward into the twenty-first century, Crawford has written two more works to date, the Three Two-part Inventions for recorders and viola of 2001, and the latest, and final work contained on this disc, the Quintet for conventional piano quintet forces, completed in 2005. The latter was a commission from the Edinburgh Contemporary Arts Trust in celebration of Crawford’s eightieth birthday and was first performed by James Clapperton and the Edinburgh Quartet on 9 March 2005 in the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh.
Crawford concisely summed up his compositional style when he wrote:
All my music is self-sufficient and tightly organised, being developed from a compact theme, usually built of all, or most of the 12 notes of the chromatic scale. It is never atonal or serial in any rigid sense, but by using the whole chromatic scale in calculated intervals my aim is to use this scale methodically, developing a continuous growth of material.
This description is as relevant to those works written before the Crawford’s thirty year silence as it is for those written following his retirement. From both of these periods the music is identifiably that of the same compositional voice, although there is a
noticeable degree of maturity that almost belies such a considerable gap in output.
give an idea of the differing characters portrayed in this balanced set.
Musical economy is an important element within Crawford’s music with much of the musical material within a work or movement being derived from just a short melodic or intervallic idea. He views his chromatic language and wide use of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale as rooted in traditional idioms that stretch as far back as J.S. Bach, citing Bach himself, Haydn, Berlioz, Sibelius and Bartók as important influences on his musical ideals.
Amongst the chromatic and often dissonant qualities found in Crawford’s music a firm tonal centre is vital. This is particularly evident in the early Six Bagatelles, where the often ambiguous nature of the tonality and the often light, uncluttered textures of these six short pieces, leave an approachable yet intellectual testimony. Crawford had at first intended the bagatelles to be ‘relatively easy pieces which might be played by children’, after a relatively short time composing, however, ‘this aim was soon lost as the invention developed and the piano-writing became more demanding.’ The performance markings indicated at the top of each bagatelle
A fondness for writing in bold textures is a clear attribute of the bagatelles and is clearly developed in his further piano works. The ambitious four-movement Sonata No. 2 is formed around the structure of classical sonata, and clear from the opening bars is Crawford’s propensity for writing in octaves, often in both hands, which are contrasted and combined, often starkly, with an abundance of lyrical melodic lines. Cyclical elements are also important, and ‘all of the movements are interrelated, being derived from the opening bars of the first movement.’ The almost furiously playful scherzo second movement and the lyrical arioso third are framed by two intensely structured and closely related quick movements. Both completed in the same year, A Saltire Sonata and Sonata Breve were essentially thirty years apart, with A Saltire Sonata being envisaged much earlier. Both sonatas are structured in one movement and develop organically and continuously. Following previous patterns of musical economy, both works are derived from the opening material of the work, with A Saltire Sonata using melodic material
in a ‘V’ shape followed by an inversion of the same ‘V’ shape, which together resemble the cross of St Andrew, otherwise known as the Saltire. Sonata Breve is based on a denser opening theme that uses all twelve notes of the chromatic scale. In both sonatas the material goes through a carefully considered series of rhythmic, harmonic and textural developments.
The Quintet is also structured in one continuous movement and is developed from the opening five bars of the piece. Crawford wrote of Quintet: ‘One of the main aims of this work is to show how I make use of this theme to transform it into varied and contrasted sounds and ideas.’ The work appears to be a summing up of his output so far, and Crawford has stated how ‘its relationship with nearly all my other music draws in some brief quotations from several of my earlier works written over the past 50 years or more.’ There is copious textural and melodic invention found throughout, once again centred on the double octaves of the piano in the very first bar, which underlines the richly Romantic main theme.
© 2008 Adam BinksAdam Binks was recently awarded a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Edinburgh. The subject of his thesis was the music of Kenneth Leighton.
This recording has been produced with assistance from:
Napier University
The University of Edinburgh
The Binks Trust
The Hope Scott Trust
The Kenneth Leighton Trust
The following individuals have also helped to make this recording possible:
Robin Barr
Frank Bayford
Dr Paul Crawford
James & Alma Cullen
David Dorward
Morrison Dunbar
Joan & M.A. Faithfull
Haflidi Hallgrimsson
Edward Harper
David Johnson
Edward Keeper
Dimitri Kennaway
Mary Kennedy
Martin Kessler
Hugh Macdonald
Dr Yann Maidment
Iain Matheson
David B. Orr
Tim Paxton
Lucina Prestige
Gudrun Scheck-Langer
Sandy Scott
Bob & Susan Smith
Owen Swindale
Steven Trowell
John B. Turner
Bruce Weir
Norman & Mary Wetherick
Raymond Williamson
Anon.
AshtonNicholas Ashton was educated at Chetham’s and the Royal Northern College of Music, and in Geneva and Frankfurt. His principal teachers were Renna Kellaway and Joachim Volkmann and he also received coaching from Vlado Perlemuter, Jorge Bolet, Joaquin Achucarro and David Wilde. Following a successful formal debut at the 1980 Manchester International Festival with the Saint-Saëns second piano concerto he proceeded to perform widely throughout Europe during the 1980s.
After three years working in Germany he returned to the UK and resumed performing as a direct result of encouragement from Murray Perahia, for whom he played at the Centre for Advanced Studies at Snape Maltings, and Menahem Pressler, at Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada. His first public recital in Scotland in 1995 was highly praised and resulted in regular offers to play. A live recording of a subsequent recital at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh was released on disc in 1996. Since then he has appeared every season at the venue and has performed to critical acclaim in concerts
throughout the UK and in Germany.
Nicholas currently combines teaching performance studies at the Ian Tomlin Music School, Napier University, with frequent appearances as soloist and as chamber musician. He has contributed regularly as a performer and in interview on BBC Radio Scotland and in the concert series of both Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities. Between 2000 and 2005 he performed twenty-five separate solo programmes at the Stock Exchange, Hamburg, as guest artistic director of the Hamburg Chamber Music Society. He enjoys a regular collaboration with the Edinburgh Quartet, with whom he has performed a substantial part of the core quintet repertoire and with the pianist Andrew Wilde, with whom he is planning a recording of the complete Mozart works for duet and two pianos.
Forthcoming projects also include recordings of works sequenced around the form of the chaconne, and of works for two pianos by contemporary Scottish composers.
Nicholas
Edinburgh Quartet
Tristan Gurney violin & leader
Philip Burrin violin
Michael Beeston viola
Mark Bailey cello
The Edinburgh Quartet is one of the UK’s leading string quartets. Resident at the Ian Tomlin School of Music, Napier University, Edinburgh and at Glasgow University, it also plays an important role in the musical activities of the Universities of Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Founded in 1959 by Professor Sydney Newman, it is one of the UK’s longest established university-based quartets.
Its repertoire is firmly rooted in the great classical European tradition of the last three centuries, and is active in the promotion and commissioning of new music. Having worked
closely with Michael Tippett, the Edinburgh Quartet’s recording of the Quartet No. 1 was selected by the composer for release shortly before his death. Close relationships have been established with some of the most distinguished composers of our time. Indeed, the quartet’s work in this field earned it the first PRS award from the Scottish Society of Composers. Kenneth Leighton and Hans Gál worked intimately with the Edinburgh Quartet in the preparation and performance of their works of which the quartet has released recordings.
Further recent recordings for Delphian include The cold dancer, a disc of contemporary string quartets from Scotland (DCD34038), and string quartet arrangements by Edward Harper (DCD34069).
Recorded on 8-9 October 2007 in The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh (Sonata Breve & Quintet), and 17 & 29 November 2007 in the Reid Concert Hall, University of Edinburgh (Sonata 2, Saltire Sonata & Six Bagatelles).
Producer: Paul Baxter
Engineer: Beth Mackay
24-Bit digital editing: Adam Binks
24-Bit digital mastering: Paul Baxter
Design: Drew Padrutt
Cover image: Lunular (1993) by Robert T.H. Smith
Inside cover image: Robert Crawford (1951) portrait by Joan Faithfull
Photograph editing: Dr Raymond Parks
Photography © Delphian Records
The Queen’s Hall: Steinway Model D, Serial No. 588188 (2004), maintained by Alistair Edmonson.
Reid Concert Hall: Steinway Model D, Serial No. 527910 (1995), maintained by Norman Motion, consultant to Steinway and Sons.
The Cold Dancer: Contemporary String Quartets from Scotland
Edinburgh Quartet (DCD34038)
Rich and personal contributions to the quartet tradition from four contemporary Scottish composing voices, ranging from the lyrical profundity of Kenneth Dempster’s meditation on a George Mackay Brown poem to a characteristically idiosyncratic and yet songful work by Judith Weir. The Edinburgh Quartet deliver blazing, committed performances celebrating the immense variety and vitality of work on offer.
‘… the Edinburgh Quartet has never played better. It’s nothing less than a landmark.’
– The Herald, February 2007
Eddie McGuire: Music for flute, guitar and piano
Nancy Ruffer, flute and piccolo
Abigail James, guitar
Dominic Saunders, piano (DCD34029)
Over the past 40 years, Eddie McGuire, British Composer Award Winner and Creative Scotland Award Winner, has developed a compositional style that is as diverse as it is concentrated. This disc surveys a selection of his solo and chamber works, written for his home instruments, flute, guitar, and piano. The writing, whilst embracing tonality, focuses on texture and aspects of colour, drawing on a myriad folk influences. At once bold and playful, the listener cannot help be drawn in to McGuire’s evocative sound-world.
‘Colourful and imaginative … an excellent introduction to one of the most accessible of contemporary composers’
– Editor’s Choice, Gramophone, October 2006
Knight Errant: Solo music for trumpet
Mark O’Keeffe, trumpet (DCD34049)
In medieval times a knight errant would wander the land in search of adventures and noble exploits. Here, Mark O’Keeffe takes a journey around the virtuoso repertory for modern trumpet, including several selfcommissioned works, and wins his spurs in this stunning debut recital.
‘… sizzlingly hot. O’Keeffe is a player in a million’ – The Scotsman, April 2007
Giles Swayne: Music for cello and piano
Robert Irvine, cello
Fali Pavri, piano (DCD34073)
Giles Swayne’s works for cello exhibit an astonishing array of moods and colours. The restless beauty of Four Lyrical Pieces and strident romanticism of the Sonata offer remarkable counterpoint to his Suite for solo cello. Canto seduces us with its symbiotic blend of African traditional and Western art music.
‘Swayne pushes at the boundaries’
– The Times, October 200
