Untitled Document
  20TH CENTURY ENGLISH BALLETS  
 
Composer: Dominic Muldowney, Philip Feeney, Carl Davis
Conductor: John Pryce-Jones
Orchestra: Northern Ballet Theatre Orchestra
Label: Naxos
Catalogue No.: 8.553495
Format: CD
Barcode: 0730099449526

20th Century English BaIlets

20th Century English BaIlets

Cinderella (Philip Feeney)

 

The Brontes (Dominic Muldowney)

A Christmas Carol (Carl Davis)

 

All the music on this disc is taken from full-length ballet scores commissioned by Northern Ballet Theatre. The Company was created in 1969 by Laverne Meyer with the intention of providing quality performances of classical ballet not only around its home base of Manchester, but also throughout Great Britain. The Company now has its administrative headquarters in Halifax, West Yorkshire.

In 1987 the noted dancer and actor Christopher Gable was appointed Artistic Director of Northern Ballet Theatre, following his appearance with the Company as the painter, L.S. Lowry, in A Simple Man (choreography by Gillian Lynne, music by Carl Davis). He developed a new artistic policy for the Company, concentrating on the presentation of full-length narrative dance dramas, in which the impact of the story told is every bit as important as the quality of the dancing.

The relatively modest size of the Company, (34 dancers, 24 players in the orchestra), has been challenging for NBT in its presentation of the traditional repertoire. Nevertheless, with an imaginative and innovative approach to the great classics the Company has enjoyed enormous success with productions of Romeo & Juliet and Swan Lake. Its more particular claim to attention, however, is with the creation of wholly new works.

This innovative policy has resulted in the regular commissioning of new ballet scores, three of which are represented here. As with most ballet scores, there are passages in. each of .these works where the interest is primarily dramatic - the items on this recording have been chosen with the dual purpose of providing a memento for those listeners who have seen the ballets, and a musically satisfying experience to those who have not.

 

Cinderella

For his production of Cinderella, Christopher Gable undertook extensive research into the different versions of the story. He opted to take as his model the version told by the Brothers Grimm in 1815 rather than the more familiar story published by the 17th Century French author, Charles Perrault, which was translated into English in 1729 as Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper. In Perrault one finds the Fairy Godmother with a pumpkin which turns into the coach to take Cinderella to the bal1, the glass slipper and the instruction to be home by midnight. The Brothers Grimm story is harsher, more cruel and moralistic. Cinderella's 'ugly' sisters are described in Grimm as having "beautiful lily - white faces but ugly black hearts" .Cinderella' s Stepmother not only treats the heroine with great cruelty , but also takes a kitchen knife to her own daughter' s toes when it becomes apparent that her feet are too big to fit in the slipper found by the Prince. The Stepmother and her daughters are blinded by ravens for their malice and deceitfulness, and throughout the story Cinderel1a is helped to bear her torments by the support of her dead Mother from the other world.

 

[1] Harvest Dance. The peasants, led by Cindere1la's Brother celebrate a fine apple crop.

[2] The Woodcutter's Dance. Some weeks have passed; Cinderella's Brother has fallen to his death in an accident, and her Mother has died also. Grieving the loss of her loved ones she is cheered by some harmless fun with her friends.

[3] Pas de Trois. Cindere1la is excluded from the festivities that mark the Prince's coming of age. She is consoled by the spirits of her lost relatives.

[4] Birds. Forced to pick up every lentil scattered into the ashes by her malicious Stepmother, Cinderella is visited by a flock of woodland birds who lovingly assist her.

[5] The Red Bal1. After a stately chaconne, the Prince introduces himself.

[6] Courtly Dances. The Stepmother and her daughters seize every opportunity to dominate the proceedings at the Palace and to ingratiate themselves with the Prince.

[7] The Prince and the Drunken Father. After a cock-fight, at which the Prince's bird is victorious, Cinderella's Father, who has been neglected by, the rest of his family, drunkenly congratulates the Prince on his success. The breach of etiquette leads to a violent incident.

[8] Cinderella prepares for the Ball. Cinderella's Mother appears with jewelled slippers and a shimmering dress for her daughter to wear at the ball. A flock of white doves helps her to dress.

[9] Pas de Deux & Finale. The Prince rediscovers Cinderella, frightened and alone in the ashes of the great fireplace. He recognises his love for her in spite of her humble surroundings and ragged clothes. Gently he wins her trust and her love. The ballet ends as the two lovers celebrate their marriage amidst fluttering apple blossom and surrounded by their friends.

Philip Feeney's score for Cinderella draws on a wide variety of styles and moods, appropriately austere and baroque for the Red Ball, humorous and bucolic for the Woodcutters, and above an radiant and tender at the emotional climaxes of the work. The small orchestra is used virtuosical1y, with many solo passages. Particular use is made of chromatic timpani to underpin the bass line, and there is an extensive keyboard part.

 

The Brontes

(The ballet was choreographed by Gillian Lynne)

Unusually for a ballet, The Brontes is based on historical fact. Originally from Ireland, Rev. Patrick Bronte (1777 - 1861) was a prize-winning classics scholar at Cambridge. He spent the last 41 years of his life as perpetual Curate of Haworth, a vi11age close to Halifax and therefore of special interest to many of Northern Ballet Theatre's regu1acr audience. He married a Cornish lady, Maria Branwell, by whom he had six children, Maria, E1izabeth, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne. He outlived them all, and the ballet shows the life of his family through his eyes, as in his old age he reflects on the past.

 

[10] The Toy Soldiers Fantasy. Patrick Bronte's wife became fatally ill almost as soon as the family arrived in Haworth. As she lay dying upstairs in the Parsonage, the children occupied themselves with elaborate games they invented around their toy soldiers and the characters from their story books. Their fertile imaginations created worlds where soldiers, politicians, evil fairies and characters from the Arabian Nights all existed happily together.

[11] The Moors. The wild and rolling moorlands were a constant source of inspiration to the Brontes, particularly to Emily, who frequently walked them for hours in all weathers.

[12] Branwell and Mrs Robinson. Anne Bronte became Governess to the daughters of the Robinson family and, in due course, Branwell joined her to act as tutor to their son. Mr Robinson was an invalid, and his wife and Branwell became emotionally entangled. The third movement of the suite is an unashamedly erotic Pas de Deux.

[13] Wuthering Heights. Emily wrote Wuthering Heights while supervising the domestic arrangements at the Parsonage and looking after her Father. Her note book was beside her in the kitchen and we see Cathy and Heathcliff being created in her imagination. They dance an impassioned duet.

[14] Charlotte in Brussels. In order to further her education, Charlotte went to finishing school in Brussels where she fell deeply and hopelessly in love with her teacher, Monsieur Heger. His wife, not unaware of his fascination for younger women, put an end to the relationship.

[15] Pas de Deux (Charlotte and Mr Nicholls). In 1854 Charlotte married Reverend Arthur Bell Nicholls, who had been Assistant Curate to Patrick Bronte for some nine years. She had little expectation of happiness but in the twelve months between their marriage and her death their affection blossomed. In their pas de deux the mood is one of supreme contentment, tinged with sadness as Charlotte realises she wi1I not live to bear the child she is expecting.

[16] Epilogue. Patrick, old and blind, remembers with pride his superbly gifted family.

 

Dominic Muldowney's use of the orchestra in The Brontes is strikingly indiVidual, with particular prominence being given to the wind instruments and the muted trumpet. The clavinova adds its unique quality to the tutti passages, and the percussion, from which the timpani are notably excluded, includes such exotica as bongos, tom-toms, cabassa and claves for rhythmic definition.

 

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol is a straightforward telling of Charles Dickens' celebrated story through the medium of dance. Scrooge, an avaricious money-dealer, is haunted by his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, who warns him of the terrible consequences of his selfish life. The Ghost of Christmas Past recalls for him how his obsession with money lost him his first love, Belle. The Ghost of Christmas Present shows him his poorly-paid but jovial assistant, Bob Cratchit, celebrating Christmas frugally but happily. Unable to join them, Scrooge is tormented by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, who shows him the Cratchit family grieving over the death of their son. Finally the Angel of Death shows Scrooge his own miserable funeral. A waking from this nightmare on Christmas Morning, Scrooge realises that he still has the opportunity to make good the past, and he runs into the street to instigate a huge Christmas banquet for the entire neighbourhood, at which the Cratchits are guests of honour.

 

[17] Nephew and Niece. Scrooge's nephew and niece visit their Uncle in his counting house and attempt to bring some Christmas cheer into his life.

[18] Keeping Warm. Bob Cratchit, the clerk, struggles to keep warm in the icy counting house and dreams of happier times.

[19] Patapan and Cornhill slide. Some poor Londoners are keeping themselves warm round a workman's brazier. Bob Cratchit, on his way home, leads them in some fun on a slide in Cornhill.

[20] Belle and Young Scrooge. The young Scrooge is celebrating Christmas with his Fiancee, Belle, but she ends their engagement when she realises that his desire for wealth is greater than his love for her.

[21] Phantoms. The Ghost of Jacob Marley shows Scrooge the phantoms of those tormented souls who have misused their time on earth.

[22] Dressing Dance. Scrooge realises that there is still time to change his life and frantically scrambles into his clothes on Christmas morning.

[23] Deck the Hall. Scrooge leads the Londoners in an exuberant celebration of the good will of Christmas time.

 

The suite from the ballet reflects Carl Davis's use of traditional carols, his affectionate evoking of the Victorian era in which the ballet is firmly set, and his use of eerie chromaticism for the ghosts.