Musically speaking, I’m not sure that it was a good idea for Chandos to mix compositions by the Berkeleys, father and son. At least on evidence presented here, the two composers really aren’t stylistically compatible, and it’s difficult to imagine listeners who relish Lennox Berkeley’s charmingly tuneful Serenade and robust, Rousselian Symphony No. 1 (both enthusiastically performed and totally enjoyable) warming to the expressionist angst of Michael Berkeley’s Concerto for Horn and Strings. Berkeley Jr’s Coronach, an angry dirge-like piece for strings, fits in a bit better, being more melodically memorable, but the concerto pales rather quickly. As a composition, I have to question the point (at least as realized here) in combining an instrument with limited timbral resources such as the horn with an all-string accompaniment written in a densely dissonant harmonic style. Monotony quickly sets in, with one grinding string chord sounding much like another, and the quiet ending sets the seal on a thoroughly depressing experience, however well played (and soloist David Pyatt is terrific). Excellent sound rounds out a mixed bag of a program that I had hoped to be able to welcome with more enthusiasm, particularly as Lennox Berkeley’s music deserves a much wider audience.
