George Lloyd - Symphonies Nos.1 and 12

George LLOYD (1913-1998)

Symphony in A (No.1) (1932)

Twelfth Symphony (1989)

Albany Symphony Orchestra

George Lloyd

The first three Lloyd symphonies were all composed within a short period of time between 1932 and 1933 when Lloyd was a mere 19 years of age. The Symphony no 1 in A (1932) employs an individual use of the one-movement format at a time when this structure was uncommon in English symphonies (but since then taken up by composers such as Brian, Simpson and Rubbra and perhaps reaching its apogee in the superb Maxwell Davies Fifth of 1994).

The structure of Lloyd s First is Introduction (Vivace (A) - Andante (B) - Vivace (A)), followed by five variations on A and then a brief slow movement which develops B. The extended final Vivace section is a very free fugato on A.

Set against the grand late-Romantic symphonic tradition prevalent in England at the time (as exemplified by the opulence of Bax, Bantock, Rootham and Boughton), the brevity, spiky humour and formal originality of this first symphonic essay appears even more strikingly individual. The somewhat pert first subject establishes the overall character of this good-humoured and impish work, whilst the cantabile B theme forms the beautiful centrepiece of the Introduction and makes a welcome return "con fervore", acting as a slow movement before the concluding Vivace, a deft fusion of Scherzo and Rondo Finale set in a variation structure. The First Symphony has a piquant charm and a zestful exuberance which makes up for a certain repetitiveness (to my ears, the will o the wisp nature of the opening theme is made to bear the weight of rather too much variation in the extended Finale). 

With the Symphony No. 12 of 1989, George Lloyd returns to the one movement format of his First Symphony, bringing his series of symphonies full circle: thus, Lloyd s is a genuine symphonic cycle in every sense. After the huge climax at the end of the Eleventh, it is a relief to find that the Twelfth Symphony occupies a different world, more relaxed and calm (the opening is marked tranquillo). The A motif is given out by the violins in the second bar; its resigned and wistful air characterises the work as a whole. After a typically free cadenza-like clarinet solo, the B theme appears, also on clarinet, with murmuring strings and harp accompaniment. This graceful melody is passed to flute and violins, continually varied and imbued with new orchestral colouring. Of the four variations. the final Vivo has a festive, carnival atmosphere thanks to the participation of both xylophone and marimba, the actual material employed being a transformation of the previous Grave variation s lament. The extended Adagio section, the glowing centre of the symphony, contains a beautiful cello passage using the B theme, suggesting the same serenity to be encountered in late Richard Strauss. The A theme makes a dramatic entrance at the final climax of the Adagio. The scoring of the Finale is highly imaginative, bringing the extensive percussion into play. Another seismic conclusion to rival that of its predecessor is shrewdly avoided and a quiet Lento coda is substituted, its texture coloured by the unearthly sounds of celesta and harp, a foretaste of the more celestial parts of the Symphonic Mass of 1993.

The Twelfth is a gentle conclusion to George Lloyd s symphonic odyssey, its links with the composer s first essay in the form underlining the homogeneity of the cycle as a whole. Nonetheless, the serene nature of much of the writing renders the work contemplative rather than culminatory and the whole piece seems like a mellow Epilogue to the series, inhabiting a world far removed from the stirring epic journeys traversed in the great middle period symphonies.