 Joseph Haydn ! Assurément, la comparaison entre ce compositeur et tant d’autres musiciens anglais de l’époque de Haydn s’avère en leur défaveur. Sur le plan mélodique, la musique de William Smethergell possède cette touche italienne qui la rend agréable à l’oreille avec le petit piquant de certains pupitres comme le clavecin. L’écriture est nette, d’une belle facture, élégante, dans l’esprit du temps, d’un Johann Christian Bach, par exemple. Seulement, il ne suffit pas d’étre un bon musicien pour imposer son œuvre à la postérité et il manque chez ce compositeur si doué, ce que l’on nomme le génie, celui d’un Haydn ! Trois parties composent chacune des ouvertures qui ne sont autres que des symphonies dépassant rarement la durée de dix minutes. Une seule exception, toutefois avec l’Ouverture n° 4 en deux mouvements. Elle fait intervenir le clavier dans une optique presque concertante. Smethergell réussit à varier en permanence les lignes mélodiques, à tenter de surprendre un auditoire. Il le réalise dans le style galant et les interprètes traduisent magnifiquement la luminosité de ces pages dont le propos n’est que divertir brillamment l’assemblée. (Jean Dandrésy) Of the composers of the British kingdom who can be described as contemporaries of Joseph Haydn, almost all are largely forgotten today. Yet even before Haydn's arrival in 1790, not only was the study of his music flourishing, but above all, concerts of orchestral music had long been established in a variety of venues. For a long time almost nothing was known about William Smethergell. Baptized in London on January 6, 1751 in the church of St. Peter le Poer, he came from a family that was anything but wealthy, as Douglas Bostock suspects, originally of Danish origin. Smethergell spent much of his musical career as an organist, from 1770 at All Hallows Church in Barking-by-the-Tower, and from 1775 at St. Mary-at-Hill not half a mile away. When he applied for membership of the Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain in 1779, he disclosed that he derived his annual income of about £200 from his two organist positions as well as his activities as a viola player in the Vauxhall Orchestra and from teaching. His Six Overtures in eight parts Op. V offer a thoroughly remarkable number of idiosyncrasies, though the first Overture in particular seems like a prototype of the genre in its clear three-movement form - with splendid opening movement, lively Siciliano with the dynamic indication sempre p, and a contrasting Rondo. Early on, Smethergell not only treats the winds to a colorful function, but also allows them to stand out as soloists. Enjoy also the other overtures with much charm and subliminal wit.
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