Description

JEAN POUGNET (MAURITIUS, 20 JULY, 1907 – FERRING, ENGLAND, 14 JULY, 1968)

Jean Pougnet was born in Mauritius to British parents. His father held a civil service position there, and was an excellent amateur pianist who gave lessons. The family moved to England in 1909, when Jean was two. His musical ability was first recognised by his sister Marcelle, who gave him some violin lessons, and musical influences were also received from his elder brother René, a pianist. They happened to be near neighbours of the distinguished violin teacher Rowsby Woof, who took him on as a private pupil. In 1919 (aged 11) he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music and studied there for seven years. Pougnet made his first public appearance in his twelfth year at King’s Hall, Covent Garden, but his real break was a solo recital at the Wigmore Hall just before his sixteenth birthday, and his appearance soon afterwards at a Promenade concert. While he was still at the Academy he established a quartet. A Jean Pougnet Quartet appeared publicly at the Wigmore Hall in March 1926 to perform Beethoven’s Quartet, Op. 18, No. 3, the Vaughan Williams Quartet in G minor, and the Ravel Quartet. The group consisted of Pougnet, Hugo Rignold as second violin (later a celebrated conductor), Harry Berly (a distinguished pupil of Lionel Tertis) as viola and Douglas Cameron (cello). At about this time he assisted the Music Society String Quartet (later called the International String Quartet), consisting of André Mangeot and Boris Pecker (violins), Harry Berly (viola) and John Barbirolli (cello), in recordings of the Purcell Fantasia in 5 parts (on one note) and the Vaughan Williams (1912) Phantasy Quintet for strings, for the National Gramophonic Society.Like Hugo Rignold, for several years Jean Pougnet made his career in light orchestras and bands as well as through Wigmore Hall classical recitals. He made a virtue of this necessity, recognising its validity and challenges for the professional musician. Jack Hylton’s orchestra was first augmented by the Pougnet String Quartette (with Eric Siday in place of Hugo Rignold) in early 1926 at the Kit-Kat Club. In October 1928 Jean Pougnet and his Orchestra (a Jack Hylton unit) were performing at the Green Park Hotel Piccadilly. In the period 1928–1930 he was a frequent player with the New Mayfair Orchestra, the HMV studio orchestra, under Carroll Gibbons or Ray Noble. Jean Pougnet and his Band were playing at the Berkeley Hotel Piccadilly in January to April 1930. In 1929 he married Frances Lois, of London; there were no children. As opportunity arose during the 1930s, Pougnet left the band scene to concentrate on recitals, concerti, chamber music, broadcasts, recordings, and work in film studios. At the outbreak of War, Pougnet was chosen to lead the BBC Salon Orchestra, which did much useful work for public morale until it was dissolved in 1942. At this point the London Philharmonic Orchestra, needing a replacement for its leader Thomas Matthews (and in the wake of the destruction of the Queen’s Hall together with many of the orchestra’s instruments in 1941), gave the position to Pougnet, ‘a fastidious player of impeccable taste’, though he had limited experience of performing symphonic music. The L.P.O., having close allegiance to Sir Thomas Beecham, had not until then been associated with the Promenade Concerts, but in 1942 Pougnet was immediately called upon to lead the orchestra through many large works in which he had not performed before, with minimal rehearsal, under the direction of Sir Henry Wood, Sir Adrian Boult and Basil Cameron. He met this extraordinary challenge brilliantly. The involvement with the Proms continued in 1943 and in 1944, Sir Henry Wood’s Jubilee season. Pougnet having thus led the orchestra through the later years of the War he remained in the position until the end of 1945. His career uninterrupted, Pougnet took an important part in post-war music in Britain. Setting off on his solo career in December 1945, he made an impression with the Ernest Bloch violin concerto in a concert at Covent Garden, and gave the English premiere of a concerto by Richard Arnell. Other composers dedicated works to him. He continued to work in ensemble with modern works, recording the Robert Still Quintet with Francisco Gabarro (cello), Geoffrey Gilbert, George Crozier and Lionel Solomon (flutes), the Darius Milhaud Little Symphony No 3, Op. 71 with Reginald Kell (clarinet), Paul Draper (bassoon), George Eskdale (trumpet) and Anthony Pini under Walter Goehr, and in April 1955 broadcasting the (1950) Flute Trio in A minor of Harold Truscott on the BBC. He also appears in a recording of the Ravel Septet, and he recorded suites by Bartók with the New Symphony Orchestra under Franco Autori. A promising development began when Pougnet formed a trio with Wilfrid Parry (piano) and Dennis Brain (horn), which toured Scotland twice. The group planned in 1957 to tour Australia, but these arrangements were terminated by the death of Dennis Brain in a car accident at the end of 1957.[25] Late in life Pougnet suffered a succession of misfortunes. As early as 1946 he had been noted for his enthusiasm for D.I.Y. Sometime later while so engaged he injured his arm tendons and was compelled to stop playing. After a long period of retirement he trained his fingers to play again and began to perform, but very soon afterwards he was diagnosed with cancer, which slowly killed him. In his later years he lived in Worthing and taught the violin in schools across West Sussex. He was a founder of the West Sussex County Youth Orchestra and was their conductor for many years. His recording of the Delius Violin Concerto was played at his funeral. Pougnet played an instrument by Januarius Gagliano.

TRACKLIST

1. Caprice Viennois (Kreisler) Sidney Torch and His Orchestra
2. Divertimento In E-Flat Major, K. 563 I. Allegro (Mozart) with Anthony Pini (cello) and Frederick Riddle (viola)
3. Divertimento In E-Flat Major, K. 563 II. Adagio (Mozart) with Anthony Pini (cello) and Frederick Riddle (viola)
4. Divertimento In E-Flat Major, K. 563 III. Menuetto. Allegretto with Anthony Pini (cello) and Frederick Riddle (viola)
5. Divertimento In E-Flat Major, K. 563 IV. Andante with Anthony Pini (cello) and Frederick Riddle (viola)
6. Divertimento In E-Flat Major, K. 563 V. Menuetto. Allegretto with Anthony Pini (cello) and Frederick Riddle (viola)
7. Divertimento In E-Flat Major, K. 563 VI. Allegro with Anthony Pini (cello) and Frederick Riddle (viola)
8. Fantasia upon One Note (Purcell) Music Society String Quartet with Andre Mangeot, Boris Pecker, Henry J. Berley (viola) and John Barbirolli (cello)
9. Praeludium and Allegro In the style of Gaetano Pugnani Sidney Torch and His Orchestra
10. Serenade (Schubert) with Webster Booth (tenor) and Ernest Lush (piano)
11. Sonata No.3 in A Min (Purcell) Pt 1 with Frederick Grinke (violin) and Boris Ord (harpsichord)
12. Sonata No.3 in A Min (Purcell) Pt 2 with Frederick Grinke (violin) and Boris Ord (harpsichord)
13. String Trio in G I First Movement (Ernest John Moeran) with Anthony Pini (cello) and Frederick Riddle (viola)
14. String Trio in G II Second Movement (Ernest John Moeran) with Anthony Pini (cello) and Frederick Riddle (viola)
15. String Trio in G III Third Movement (Ernest John Moeran) with Anthony Pini (cello) and Frederick Riddle (viola)
16. String Trio in G IV Fourth Movement (Ernest John Moeran) with Anthony Pini (cello) and Frederick Riddle (viola)
17. The Lark Ascending (Ralph Vaughan Williams) London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
18. Violin Concerto Slower (Delius) Sir Thomas Beecham, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
19. Violin Concerto Tempo I – Allegretto – Più Moderato (Delius) Sir Thomas Beecham, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
20. Violin Concerto With Moderate Tempo (Delius) Sir Thomas Beecham, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra