By
Published: Wednesday, 22 January 2025 at 10:55 AM
Review: Gipps’s Symphony No. 1 etc (BBC Philharmonic)
Gipps
Symphony No. 1 etc; Horn Concerto*
*Martin Owen (horn); BBC Philharmonic/Rumon Gamba
Chandos CHAN20284 75:23 mins
Clip: Gipps: Symphony No. 1, Op. 22. II. Adagio
The third volume of Chandos’s series exploring Ruth Gipps’s orchestral works does not begin promisingly. Coronation Procession, finished five months before Queen Elizabeth II’s 1953 Coronation, contains only the standard-issue sounds of bustle and reverence. Matters improve with Ambarvalia (1988), a graceful pastoral for winds and strings with French overtones and an effective guest appearance by celesta, though one is left pondering why Gipps’s memorial tribute to a fellow composer, Adrian Cruft, took its title from a Roman agricultural festivity rite involving animal sacrifices. Cringlemire Gardens (1952), named after a Lake District arboreal museum, is another winning miniature, showcasing her skills as a landscape painter in music.
Two other works provide this persuasively performed and handsomely recorded collection with some welcome ballast. The 1968 Horn Concerto might only last 17 minutes, but the majority of them are action-packed, and Martin Owen’s horn playing, nimble and characterful, is a pleasure in itself. The major piece here – a splendid discovery -– is the first of her five symphonies, a wartime creation (1942) much admired by the conductor George Weldon, who conducted its 1945 premiere. Moments may remind us that Gipps was a pupil of Vaughan Williams, but her individuality shines through in her inventive use of repeated patterns and phrases, the lively woodwind writing and the confident crowning of the last movement with a quiet and thoughtful finish. By the end of the album, Coronation Procession is completely outclassed and forgotten. Geoff Brown