Ruth Gipps: Orchestral Works, Volume 2 (CD review)

By Karl Nehring

Chanticleer, Op. 28; Concerto in D minor for Oboe and Orchestra, Op. 20; Death on the Pale Horse, Op. 25; Symphony No. 5, Op. 57. Juliana Koch, solo oboe; BBC Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Rumon Gamba. Chandos CHAN 20161

Ruth Gipps (1921-1989) was an English composer who, although nearly unknown in the United States, was a major figure in British music, right up there with Vaughan Williams, Britten, and Holst, all of whose names are much more familiar to music classical lovers on this side of the pond.  She wrote five symphonies, seven concertos, and a number of chamber and choral works. I must confess to being about as guilty as anyone in this regard, as I have listened to a few recordings of some of her chamber works over the years, which I recall enjoying, but have never really followed up by digging more deeply into her catalog. By the way, a previous Chandos release, CHAN 20078 from 2018, includes recordings of her Symphonies Nos. 2 and 4 plus a couple of shorter pieces performed the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Maestro Gamba. Although not labeled as such, it effectively serves as Volume 1 to the Volume 2 disc under consideration here.

The program opens with Chanticleer, a concert overture that begins brashly and steps along briskly. Perhaps because of the way it plays off the brass against the strings, or perhaps because of its generally impish mood, the music seems to nod a bit toward that of Malcolm Arnold, another prominent British composer. Arnold was, by the way, a contemporary and friend of Gipps, even composing a piece titled Variations for Orchestra on a theme of Ruth Gipps, which was first performed by the Chanticleer Orchestra conducted by none other than Ruth Gipps. So perhaps the hints of Arnoldian sonority are more than purely imaginary after all. In any event, the program is certainly off to a lively and pleasant start.

Given that Gipps’s chosen instrument was the oboe, it should come as no surprise that she would compose a concerto for that instrument. Her concerto is cast in the usual three-movement form, with two quicker outer movements surrounding a slower inner movement. I do not mean this at all disparagingly when I say that it sounds like what one would expect a fine British oboe concerto to sound like: lively, pleasant, tuneful, pastoral in spots. In a word, delightful. There follows Death on the Pale Horse, which from its title might seem to promise frightening and fearful passages, but that is not the case. This is death on a pale horse, after all, not a technicolor stallion. The music is moody, unsettled, perhaps disturbing – but in a reflective, not bombastic way.

The program closes with the major work of this set, Gipps’s Symphony No. 3, which she composed in 1965. It is in four movements, I Moderato; II. Theme and Variations; Scherzo; IV. Finale. The music throughout the symphony is rich in in texture. By that I mean not that it is thick in terms of scoring, but rather it is rich in terms of color and musical ideas. Gipps seems to use all the sections of the orchestra, but not in the sense of making it sound like a concerto for orchestra. The impression is of a musical tapestry woven of many colors and textures. The overall mood is somewhat subdued, reflective, quietly restless. In the end, the work leaves a pleasant but not particularly memorable impression. For all its beauty and color, the symphony never seems to gain any real momentum. At any moment, the work sounds something like music that Vaughan Williams might have written; however, the symphonies of Vaughan Williams have a dramatic flow, a dynamic structure, while this music never quite seems to develop in the same way. Still, it is a decidedly pleasant, well-crafted symphony, very much in that familiar English pastoral mode. On the whole, this is an appealing release for fans of British music that should help to increase recognition for the considerable talents of Ruth Gipps. Let’s hope to see a Volume 3 in the foreseeable future.