Edgar Bainton: Cello Sonata (1922) - IV

Abstract

Edgar Bainton, English by birth, became the Director of the NSW Conservatorium in 1934 following Dr Arundel Orchard. He brought with him an uncompromisingly English legacy, as it happened, in the year in which three of the masters of that tradition, Elgar, Delius and Holst, died. He also brought a sonata for cello and piano which he had written in England in 1922. Bainton's background was very much the ethos eschewed by Margaret Sutherland. He, however, was not uncomfortable with the tradition in which he worked, producing compositions of considerable charm in a style whose roots he acknowledged and celebrated. Amongst his most important accomplishments as the Director of the NSW Conservatorium was the support he gave to Australian composers. Many works by Roy Agnew, Miriam Hyde and Percy Grainger, for example, were played at Conservatorium concerts during his time there. He must also take the credit for many Australian first performances, perhaps not unexpectedly, of composers like Delius, Vaughan Williams and Sibelius. The cello part in this 1952 recording is played by John Kennedy, one of Australia's finest cellists, and Bainton himself is the associate artist. Bainton died quietly on Lady Martin's Beach, Sydney, on 8 December, 1956. Technical Notes The recordings on this compact disc were transferred from shellac 78s, recorded in Sydney and pressed in Australia for the Columbia label. The transfers were made on EMT turntables using a variety of different shaped styli to achieve the best possible sound from discs that had, over the years, sustained groove damage and other surface wear. The ideal stylus is one that contacts the least worn section of the groove wall, giving the best all round signal to noise ratio and fidelity. Surface noise is often a problem with shellac discs. They frequently exhibit a constant hiss. Ripples, slight warps and off centre pressing cause swishes and variations in the hiss level which become more noticeable as successive layers of distracting clicks and crackles are removed. Variation in surface noise between sides that have been edited togethermay be noticed by some astute listeners. Rather than take a minimalist approach to remastering, a moderate amount of digital processing has been used in an attempt to make a more enjoyable reissue that retains all the character of the original recordings. Clicks and crackles have been removed and the hiss reduced so that subtleties of performance probably not discernible to the listener who relies upon original discs and period play-back equipment are now apparent. Occasional creaks and other noises remain where it was the judgement of technical staff that these were extra-musical sounds from the original sessions, or where their removal might have resulted in the loss of aspects of the original performance. There is no mistaking that these are vintage recordings, requiring a degree of tolerance of the remaining surface noise. The vaj,ue and interest of the performances have riot been diminished by any of these processes, and it is likely that a listener to the transfers will hear more from this CD than any listeners in the 1940s and 1950s for whom the recordings were originally made.