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Birmingham Conservatoire
MMus Instrumental Performance
Graduating Recital, Summer 2017

Constant Lambert - Piano Sonata (1930)
0:00 I. Allegro molto marcato
6:44 II. Nocturne: Andante
14:15 III. Finale: Lugubre - Presto

Lambert described himself as a ‘francophil English composer-conductor born to an Australian painter from St. Petersburg’; his cosmopolitan and artistic family background was one of the key influences for his ability to assimilate diverse influences. He is remembered principally for his work as a conductor and composer, much less as a critic and writer. He published an extended work of criticism: Music Ho!, which reflects his independent and unconventional views and concerns in relating modern music to the other arts and ‘the social and mechanical background of modern life’.

Debussy’s Golliwog’s Cake-walk, Satie’s Le Piccadilly, Bliss’ Rout and of course Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue all show the influence of early jazz and ragtime. However the two composers who first assimilated African-American influences into their piano sonatas were Constant Lambert and Michael Tippett. A Sonata would typically be a complex, highly organised and intellectual work, according to an established tradition. The use of jazz suggests impulsive and instinctive music, where Lambert readily accepted the challenge of fusing the serious form of a sonata with the spontaneity and improvisatory character of jazz. The most important contribution to the development of the British piano sonata was his rhythmic innovation, which was neglected by his predecessors due to their emphasis on development of harmony and form. The sonata was dedicated to Thomas Earp: an art critic, a friend and drinking companion of Lambert.