Ragtimes & Habaneras

by James - 17:58 on 27 March 2010

I first came across Henze’s Ragtimes & Habaneras when Grimethorpe recorded it for Decca in the mid-1970s coupled with Elgar Howarth’s Fireworks, Garden Rain by Toru Takemitsu, and Grimethorpe Aria by Harrison Birtwistle.

At that time I thought it was quirky and attractive in parts.  The more I listened, however, the more I grew to like it.  By writing specific parts for each individual player in the band (everyone is a soloist) and by the extensive use of mutes, Henze creates new (for 1975) and interesting sonorities producing a wide range of colour through the application of a complex and advanced harmonic language.

As part of the final submission for my degree I undertook a structural analysis of Grimethorpe Aria.  I was fortunate because, at the time, one of the lectures at Nottingham was the composer, Nigel Osborne.  Through him I was able to obtain copies of the scores both of Grimethorpe Aria and Ragtimes & Habaneras.

The Henze work has, for a long time now, been a favourite of mine and I was delighted, therefore, when I discovered that the much loved and long lamented Stanshawe Band (I always like to refer to it as Stanshawe even though it evolved into Sun Life) had recorded it.

I’ve been giving it a fair bit of airtime over the past few weeks (I tend to go through phases), oddly enough coupling it with the performance by the Fairey Band of the truncated version of the Enigma Variations by Elgar.

Although generally opposed to the "bleeding chunks" approach to classical transcriptions, I have to confess that the contest edition of Eric Ball's arrangement of Enigma is surprisingly satisfying both in scale and in the depth of the journey it takes you on.  Listening to it, there is no sense of loss for the omitted variations.  It makes its own whole and you could imagine that Elgar would look approvingly on it, certainly if he was to hear the superb rendition by Faireys.

There is something safe and reassuring about both works.  Paradoxically, although the Henze is modern and spiky, it puts me in mind of the golden age of brass bands and can sit comfortably alongside the likes of The Severn Suite, Pageantry, Comedy, A Downland Suite and Vaughan Williams's Variations.  And the Enigma Variations seem to be the very embodiment in music of Englishness itself with the rolling Malvern Hills in the background and an unmistakable feeling of nostalgia tinged with regret for an age passed and forever lost.

As chance would have it, although I’ve described Ragtimes & Habaneras as a neglected classic, my views have been thoroughly confounded by the fact that, following a quick Internet search, I’ve discovered that the Royal Northern College of Music Brass Band with Nicholas Childs at the helm performed it only last week.  What a happy coincidence.  I hope everyone that attended the concert enjoyed the music as much as I do.

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