I have written two other works inspired by John Cowper Powys (1872-1963).  Part I of this symphony consists of three movements: (1) The coast from Weymouth to St Albans Head(Allegro energico); (2) The First Cause (Lento); (3) A Second Portrait of JCP (Molto allegro e con brio).  

The first movement, scored for strings nad percussion, is inspired by parts of "Weymouth Sands" and Powys' "Autobiography".  I envisaged three localities on the coast east from Weymouth - Ringstead Bay, Worbarrow Tout and St Albans Head, so the movement is in three continuous sections with no repetition of thematic material - the first being continuously polyphonic in texture, the second more spare (with only half of each string group playing) while in the 3rd part, which depicts the sea in turbulent weather, each section is divided into two, playing tremolando figuration (almost impossible to reproduce on the piano) - this breaks off at the end with six notes on the tubular bells.

In the second and third movements the full orchestra is used.  The "First Cause" is referred to frequently in Powys' writing - usually to mean the beginning of creation.  I have tried to represent this by subterranean wandering in the lowest register of the orchestra, succeeded by alternating high and low chords, leading eventually to a violent explosion (timpani, bass drum, cymbals and gong all coming into force here).  A quiet few bars end the movement after a general pause.

The third movement is a second attempt to depict the author himself, as can be gathered from his miscellaneous writing and his Autobiography (a first attempt was made in Sonata no.5).  There are several musical ideas (two of which refer to the first movement) and a continual rhythmic drive throughout, apart from a slowing down of tempo at one point.

A John Cowper Powys Symphony Part I

John Cowper Powys (1872-1963) was one of the greatest novelists of the last century.  His finest works are the four panoramic novels set in the West Country: "Wolf Solent", "A Glastonbury Romance", "Weymouth Sands" and "Maiden Castle".  Everything is in them - deep philosophical problems and speculations, social attitudes, eroticism, and humble domestic life.  He surpasses all other writers in his evocation of scenery and natural phenomena, and their effects on his characters.

The first movement attempts to portray the author himself, as far as this can be gathered from his Autobiography and other writings, and the recent study of him by Moline Krissdottir (Descents of Memory, published by Overlook Duckworth).  It is a kind of "refrain and verses" form - the "refrain" in octaves and dotted rhythms, being more of an aggressive and boisterous nature, the "verses" quieter and more lyrical.  Both types of theme are varied considerably on each appearance.  The movement eventually dies away into thin air.

The 2nd movement is an arrangement of a song I wrote in 1980 - "The Slow Worm of Lenty" - originally for soprano, flute, clarinet and 'cello, later rewritten with piano accompaniment.  The poem appears in "Wolf Solent" and is a highly-charged and sensual piece of writing produced by the character Jason Otter.

The 3rd and 4th movements are variants of ideas from the previous movement - the 3rd resembles a scherzo with dream-like flashbacks to its themes and sudden changes of mood, ending quietly.  The 4th movement is a slow chorale in 5-part harmony which continually cadences on the same chord as that ending the 2nd movement.

The 5th movement is programmatic - it depicts the town of Glastonbury and its characters in the "Romance", first represented by a lyrical theme which takes up the musical argument from the end of the first movment, followed by two similarly lyrical, spare-textured thematic groups.  The first of the two interruptions depicts the three-way riot which occurs at the Passion Play in Glastonbury - the music becomes more atonal and rhythmically irregular with a striding bass line and harsh dissonant chords.  After the climax (where the riot comes to a head and the character playing Christ on the Cross has a heart attack) the lyrical music reappears in condensed form, the town life having gone back to normal.  The second interruption depicts the flood which engulfs the town towards the end of the book - this starts quietly but builds up into a massive deluge of sound, ending with a long tremolo in the bass.  After a pause, the last quiet few bars depict the survivors making new lives from the ruin of the old

Sonata No5

(First performance, Schott Music Room, 28 Feb 2015)
'Maiden Castle' (the Roman fort near Dorchester) is a slow movement, scored for wind and percussion and inspired by the novel of that title, which deals in the main with the destructive power of human emotions.  No attempt is made to follow the story in detail, but the opening orchestral unison is intended to evoke the bleakness of Maiden Castle itself.  Isolated two-note, then four-note chords follow leading to a continual musical discourse in which the woodwind group all split into three parts, the brass being used more to fill in the harmony, though sometimes playing melodic lines of their own.  All this finally leads to long, descending rolls on the timpani, followed by quiet chords on vibraphone and celesta.  After two bars' rest, the opening orchestral unison is played again, this time with the intervals increased by a semitone.

In the following two movements, the full orchestra is used.  'Glastonbury Variants' is a series of vignettes depicting the town and some of the characters in the 'Romance'.  1.  'Glastonbury Town': a lyrical section with many changes of time signature.  2.  'John Geard' the preacher, later Mayor of Glastonbury - a forthright march.  3.  'Phillip Crow' the industrialist, on the whole not a sympathetic character - harsh brass chords, followed by yelping woodwinds showing his (somewhat sinister) erotic side.  4.  'John Crow': his cousin, a rather tricky character, depicted by high woodwind and strings.  5.  'Owen Evans': Welsh antiquary, a depressive character - a mournful melody starting on bass clarinet, accompanied by divided 'cellos.  6.  'Tom Barter': friendly and helpful - an energetic movement with fanfare-like figures on trumpet and horn.  7. 'Sam Dekker': earnest and unsure of himself - he eventually finds the Grail.  8.  'Nell Zoyland': his lover, beautiful, sensual and kind.  9.  'Will Zoyland', her husband - this is marked pomposo ed energico - brass and drums only are used.  10.  'Red Robinson': the violent Communist, full of destructive hatred.  11.  'Dave Spear', a gentler and more idealistic Marxist.  12 'Paul Trent': anarchist solicitor, a somethwat feline character.  13.  Coda

The final movement is entitled 'After the Flood'.  In my Sonata no5 I have depicted the flood which engulfs Glastonbury at the end of the Romance, and finished the work with a quiet melody in A major which showed the surviving characters making a new life.  This melody is the main theme of the present movement and is further developed; variants of it appear twice in increasing tempos - during the first variant a 6-note theme on the tubular bells, which came at the end of the first movement, reappears.  After the second variant the tempo relaxes.  Later, after low brass chords and fragments of melody on the glockenspiel, the 'bell' theme reappears followed by dense tremolo figuration on divided strings, developing an ideas from the first movement depicting the sea off St Albans Head.  The music gradually builds up to a massive climax in F sharp major followed by an even greater one in A major, the main key of the work, partly cancelled at the very end by the last note, F natural on bass instruments, timpani and bass drum.


John Cowper Powys Symphony Part 2 (composer's piano arrangement)

In this work I have brought together two of my compositional concerns - writing themes based on names, and depicting scenery.  This piece is jointly dedicated to Derek Foster, Janet Graham, Nick Ray, Frank Bayford and John Mitchell.
This first movement is in sonata form using Derek's, Janet's and Nick's names.  Derek's theme initially has some gently florid right hand writing and quiet left hand chords; Janet's starts more diatonically and is sparer in texture; Nick's starts with an initial quintuplet figure and is slightly slower in tempo.  The development uses fragments of all these ideas and gradually builds to a heavy chordal climax; the recapitulations is very short, consisting of a brief statement of each theme - these are then combined in a quiet chordal statement followed by a single melodic line.


Sonata no.7 1st movt

The second movement is inspired by High Cup Nick, an impressive glacial formation near Dufton, Cumbria.  The hands are widely spaced and a quiet 3-chord motif recurs at intervals throughout the movement.

Sonata no 7 (2nd movt)

The third movement develops themes based on the names Charles Edward Ives (left hand) initially in octaves, and Elliott Cook Carter (right hand - jerkily rhythmic figures).


Sonata no.7 (3rd movt)

The fourth movement is a short evocation of Greg's Hut, a refuge on the Pennine Way just below Cross Fell

Sonata no.7 (fourth movt)

The fifth movement has the same format as the first.  Frank's theme starts lyrically but later briefly imitates brass writing in two-note chords; my own theme features scurrying staccato triplets; John's is more chordal and in a slightly slower tempo.  The development builds to a climax at the beginning of the recapitulation, where the themes are very briefly restated and combined into a single melodic line.  The three themse from the first movement are then combined and after quiet chords, all six themes are combined into a single line marked "like a xylophone".  THe work ends with a quiet ironic signing-off marked "like saxophones".


anthony green piano

Popular tracks