Bryars Farewell to Philosophy, etc

Lloyd Webber; Haden; Nexus; ECO / Judd

Were our Editor to commission a "What next?" sequence after Sibelius's Swan of Tuonela, Gavin Bryars's 1995 Cello Concerto (or Farewell to Philosophy; to quote its Haydn-inspired subtitle) could quite easily head the list. Both pieces emerge from among shadows, the Bryars including harp and low percussion, its solo line climbing sadly and patiently until the long first section (there are seven sections in all that play without a break) takes its leave among Parsifal-style string figurations. Section two is more animated, at least initially (timpani set the scene), until the mood darkens again (at around 4'21 "); the third prompts violins, solo cello arpeggios and a tar-black bass clarinet; the fourth features especially intense solo work; the fifth recalls the orchestration of Haydn's Philosopher Symphony ("pairs of English and French horns playing alternating legato phrases, muted violins and unmuted lower strings accompanying with staccato quavers") and the sixth, blurring dissonances and a softly chiming bell (echoes of Hovhaness?). The Farewell connection, again after Haydn, greets the tender final section with its progressive reduction of forces. This, for me, is the loveliest moment in the work, a haunting twentieth-century parallel to the various fin de siecle swansongs of Franz Liszt (I'm thinking in particular of the Wagner memorials and other late pieces).

The booklet tells us that the Farewell 10 Philosophy was "commissioned by Philips Classics for Julian Lloyd Webber and is dedicated to him". Lloyd Webber's tone seems to be perfectly suited to the job, being full-bodied and expressive but relaxed enough to blend with the components of a predominantly dark accompaniment.
Robert Cowan