Frank Martin - Ballades

FRANK MARTIN

 Ballades

Ballade for Piano and Orchestra (1939)

Ballade for Trombone, Piano and String Orchestra (1939)

Ballade for Cello and Small Orchestra (1949)

Ballade for Saxophone and Orchestra (1938)

Ballade for Viola, Wind, Harp, Harpsichord and Percussion (1972)

Ballade for Flute, Piano and String Orchestra (1939)

 Celia Chambers (flute)

Martin Robertson (sax)

Ian Bousfield (trombone)

Philip Dukes (viola)

Peter Dixon (cello)

Roderick Elms (piano/harpsichord)

Rachel Masters (harp)

London PO/Matthias Bamert.

The collection of Ballades is, for me, the 'Prince' among these five Chandos discs. Substantial single movement essays provide an ideal medium for Martin's Lutheran-tempered (if not subdued) voice. When he uses voices (especially solo singers) he can tend towards an unvariegated recitative as the story is told. This can infer monotony. The Piano Ballade is typically subtle with overtones of Ravel and a dramatic smash and swing to its finale. The Trombone accentuates the chansonnier rather than the buffoon in its short and lyrical episode.

Do not look for an unbridled ecstasy in Martin. His religious convictions (manifest in the music) do not permit the sort of religious exaltation that crosses the divide into fleshly joys. Martin might thus be compared to Herbert Howells but a Howells with a sombre Gallic accent and purged of the Delian abandon that shakes the rafters and galleries in Missa Sabrinensis and Hymnus Paradisi.

The Cello Ballade could easily partner Edmund Rubbra's Soliloquy and Nicolas Flagello's Capriccio (1962) both for cello and orchestra. It is given a rhythmic jolt by an ostinato that Martin may have encountered in Sibelius's Nightride and Sunrise. The shades are Dutch Master ochres and are perfectly matched to the natural tones of the cello and its inclination to profundity and wonder.

The tightly bunched French tone of the solo in the Saxophone Ballade is contrasted with string writing taking us to the chillier passages in Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony. The Viola Ballade's accents are oriental with a dash of Stravinsky along the way - perhaps a linkage with Pribaoutki and the Japanese Songs. The neatly chiselled Flute Ballade adopts a Ravel-like approach and mixes it with the engaging chatter of Nielsen's Flute Concerto.

Decca have recorded some of the Ballades before. Those for Piano, Trombone, Saxophone and Flute are coupled with the Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments, Timpani, Percussion and Strings on Decca 444 455-2DH. The Royal Concertgebouw are conducted by Riccardo Chailly. The solo team includes some of the most celebrated virtuosos of the age including John Harle and Christian Lindberg as well as Roland Brautigam.

The fact is however that Chandos have the most natural and generous of couplings and this and the inherent musical values of the music and its performance make this a preferred choice.

Rob Barnett