Dreams of Stac Pollaidh (Bedford) - from CDA68371/2 - Hyperion Records

Reviews

‘Performer, teacher and promoter—Laurence Perkins was ideally placed to have created this anthology with ‘the bassoon leading a musical journey through the twentieth century’, as is confirmed over almost two and a half hours of often unfamiliar but always worthwhile music … an engaging guide throughout, Perkins gets sterling support from a wealth of fine musicians and ensembles. His booklet notes, setting each work in the context of relevant world events, are a quirkily perceptive enhancement of this enterprising and wholly recommendable project’ (Gramophone)

‘There are some real treats, such as Bantock’s splendidly imaginative incidental music for Macbeth, scored for bassoon trio and winningly played here in its disc debut (indeed, there are no less than six premiere recordings in this set) … fascinating’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘An absorbing project from bassoonist Laurence Perkins … the textures keep changing—solo bassoon, sonatas, chamber music, to the Panufnik bassoon concerto. It's a really enjoyable chronological tour of twentieth-century bassoon’ (BBC Record Review)

‘The 20th century has been examined from multiple angles, but this week’s top album surely marks the first occasion when it has been seen from the perspective of the bassoon. Sometimes viewed as a comical instrument good for nothing but rude remarks, this long, thin creature, containing over eight feet of tubing partly doubled back on itself, is actually astonishingly versatile with a range of colours easily exceeding some paint charts. It’s especially impressive in the hands and lips of the British bassoon champion Laurence Perkins … Perkins’s partnership with the pianist Michael Hancock is especially joyous and the whole album represents the kind of triumph only possible from a small, imaginative, independent recording company’ (The Times)» More

‘Here we have that rare beast, a program of bassoon music. Laurence Perkins, Principal Bassoon with the Manchester Camerata until 2017, has assembled in chronological order a century’s worth of pieces by 14 composers that utilise his instrument in various ensembles … the program is ideally laid out for timbral contrast. Perkins plays with sensitivity and warm tone on the woodwind instrument with the most ‘human’ voice’ (Limelight, Australia)» More

‘Disc 1 has short works by British composers set amongst larger works by international figures … Bax’s 1936 Threnody and Scherzo for bassoon, harp and string sextet, is a wonderfully scored imaginative work that has the makings of a concerto rather than an occasional piece, if only he had extended it. Disc 2 is made up of more substantial works by British based composers. Elizabeth Maconchy called her 17-minute work concertino rather than concerto, but it is not light-hearted or frivolous. It was written as a showpiece for the great Gwydion Brooke and the bassoon is certainly put through its paces. Mr Perkins is more than up to its difficulties … Richard Rodney Bennett’s Bassoon Sonata, most gratifyingly a work for bassoon and piano and not bassoon with piano … is a marvellous synthesis of Bennett’s two styles, the serial and the tuneful. There are spikey chords in the piano but nothing that would scare a jazz aficionado while the bassoon is generally smoothly seductive. Mr Perkins' tone in the high register is exemplary’ (British Music Society Journal)» More

Introduction
English

At the end of an exceptionally eventful century, one glorious moment from its final year will forever stand out for those who experienced it. The solar eclipse on 11 August captured the imagination of many people, not least those who were present at Dartington College in Devon, England, where the International Summer School was in full swing. This was a location where the eclipse was total, and a large-scale musical project celebrating the event—Music of the Spheres—was being led by composer David Bedford in the Dartington College Tiltyard. David and I had worked together as summer-school tutors for several years, and his endless imagination, enthusiasm, originality and musical skills (partly fuelled by his work with John Peel and Mike Oldfield) were for me the source of great inspiration. During that week, David offered to write a solo piece for me; I was of course delighted, and requested an unaccompanied work. I mentioned that I was preparing a concert programme inspired by hills and mountains, to which his response (after a short pause) was: ‘I have an idea—I’ll work on it.’ A few weeks later, Dreams of Stac Pollaidh arrived in the post. I knew this would be special—he had an amazing gift for thinking outside the box, and Dreams of Stac Pollaidh (pronounced ‘stack polly’) is no exception. The inspiration for this piece is twofold—first, Stac Pollaidh the beautiful mountain in northwest Scotland with views of Assynt and the Summer Isles from its summit, and second, the Scottish pibroch, beloved of Highland bagpipers on special occasions. This latter link is a loose one—Bedford’s piece is a theme and variations, similar in some ways to a pibroch, but he takes the idea and develops it into a piece that can be seen as a miniature tone poem for solo bassoon. Beginning gently with a very simple melody (perhaps at the foot of the mountain), each variation thereafter becomes more elaborate and animated (the ascent) until we reach the peak, which is clearly a very breezy place! Then it all begins to calm down again (the descent), ending with a gently ornamented repeat of the original melody.

Recording details: January 2020
Concert Hall, Wyastone Estate, Monmouth, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Simon Eadon
Release date: July 2021
Total duration: 5 minutes 7 seconds

Cover artwork: Cover illustration. Ghislaine Howard (b1953)
Photo © Adrian Lambert

Dreams of Stac Pollaidh

Laurence Perkins (bassoon)

Reviews

Introduction