Lennox Berkeley wrote this miniature while in his final year at Oxford and is close in style to that of Scarlatti, it was written for his close friend Vere Pilkington, who was a leading light in the Elizabethen and early music revival at Oxford and the "Toye" of the title refered to the Harpsichord that Vere Pilkington owned at the time.

Later that same year Berkeley left England for Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger, following Maurice Ravel's recommendation that he should indeed study with her. Paris at this time was the artistic and culturally fashionable place to be, among other things, Jazz was becoming particularly popular. The influence of this new and popular musical form was to be found everywhere and Classical music was no exception! In particular, George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue"(1924) had made a big impression two years earlier. Ravel for one, fully embraced these contemporary influences and they are reflected in many of his works during this period, works such as his "Violin and Piano Sonata"(1927), the"Blues-Jazz"influenced "Bolero"(1928) and his "Left-hand Piano Concerto" completed in 1931.

Along with Ravel and Berkeley, other composer's such as Arthur Bliss and Constant Lambert were also similarly influenced by this contemporary"zeitgeist"and Bliss's "Rout Trot"(1927), Lambert's "Elegiac Blues"(1927) and "The Rio Grande"(1927) all shared this "Blues-Jazz" influence. Berkeley's similarly influenced works around this time are piece's such as a Tango,"The lost Sonatina for solo violin"(1927) and "The Prelude, Intermezzo and Finale for Flute,Violin, Viola and Piano" of 1927, also a "Five movement suite" in 1930 and "Andante" an untitled Ballet score of 1932. During this particularly productive period, Berkeley also produced a substantial amount of Song cycles such as "Tombeaux for Soprano and Piano"(1920), "Five Poems by Jean Cocteau"(1925) and "Two Auden Songs" in 1926.

In the Autumn of 1928, Ravel was invited to England to recieve an honorary Doctorate of Music Degree(Oxon) from Oxford University, whilst here he was able to attend numerous concerts, rehearsals and social occasions accompanied by Berkeley and his cousin Claude Berkeley, all arranged by their friend Gordon Bryan. Another influential friend who organised Ravel's next visit to England in 1931 was the writer Peter Burra who met Berkeley and Britten for the first time at the International Society of Music Festival in Barcelona in 1936. He was later tragically killed in a plane crash in 1937 and it was in responce to his death, that the rare musical collaboration between Britten and Berkeley of "Mon Juic", was dedicated to Burra's memory in 1939.

　

Vivace. 6 /8 metre in C- Major.

This is an elegant and charming dance miniature by Berkeley, it features double thirds on the right hand, again somewhat reminiscent of Scarlatti. Neo-classical in style and opening in C-Major, a lightness of touch(leggiero) is required before it transposes into the key of G-Major, then D-Major, then C-Minor, and then E-flat Major, before finally returning to the home key(C-Major). This piece requires of the pianist the portrayal of many delicate and subtle nuances, not least a considered and neat approach to the fingering technique. Overall, the piece is a masterful example of innocence and simplicity, Berkeley at his idiosyncratic best.


MP3→ Mr Pilkington's Toye

Kumiko Ida. / Brian O'Hara (Text) Jan~2007