Music of Henry Cowell and Harold Shapero

Another wonderful issue from the golden years of Columbia Masterworks and God Bless Goddard Lieberson for imaginative programming. Henry Cowell's first violin sonata is paired with Harold Shapero's Sonata for Piano Four Hands. 

I really enjoy the music of Cowell. The breadth and scope of his work is immense. I don't think we really have a full grasp of his talents, from being ultra modernist to embracing the simple, native tunes of this large and complex country. Perhaps much of this has to do with his "lifestyle" which was indeed hardly conforming to the norms of the day, resulting in a prison time in which he never wore off the stigma of. Happily, the violin sonata is fairly conventional and classical in sound and style. Included is one of the "fuguing tunes" which would be a hallmark of Cowell's later works. The soloist here is the great Joseph Szigeti, supported by pianist Carlo Bussotti. I'm not sure if Cowell indeed wrote this piece for Szigeti but, in my opinion, the great Hungarian would seem to be the wrong soloist for the work as I do not hear a complete sympathy with the writing and Szigeti's tone is kind of thin for the required fullness, almost Ivesian gutsiness, needed for this distinctly American composition. I would love to have heard say, a Louis Krasner, Louis Kauffman or even John Corigliano in this work.

Harold Shapero, neoclassicist, is best known for his Symphony for Classical Orchestra which Leonard Bernstein championed. Shapero in short would be considered an American Stravinsky for his writing bears a strong resemblance to Stravinsky's neoclassical compositions. The Sonata here is a delightful work with neat melodies and some spiky, lively harmonies. Shapero plays along with Leo Smit, the latter being one of the greatest and tireless advocates for piano music written by American composers.

My record is the CSP reissue of the record pictured above.

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Music of Andrew Imbrie and Cecil Effinger

Someone asked me the other day if I had a violin concerto in the works and well, here is not another Beethoven, Mendelssohn or Tchaikovsky but the seldom heard, if heard at all, concerto by American composer Andrew Imbrie. Paired with it is the delightful little "classical type" symphony of Cecil Effinger. Both of the works on this disc were Naumberg award winners and they are given persuasive performances by Carroll Glenn and Zoltan Rozsnyai. The orchestra is Columbia's "house band," the Columbia Symphony Orchestra though I have my suspicions that it is really the NYPO or maybe the LA Phil in disguise.

Andrew Imbrie was  a teacher of composition and theory at the University of California-Berkeley for some 42 years. His two main sources of compositional influence were Bartok and Roger Sessions. Imbrie's writing uses atonality balanced with a strong respect for the melodic line so his compositions are quite listenable and engaging. At some 40+ minutes, this violin concerto harks back to the format of the 19th century though the sounds and phrasings are very mid 20th century. Carroll Glenn proves the ideal soloist as she weaves her lines beautifully in and out of the orchestral colors. Rozsnyai, an underrated conductor but for a time a well recorded one, provides sensitive and balanced accompaniment. A wonderful work and collaboration.

Cecil Effinger too, was a teacher of composition for some 40 years at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  His Little Symphony for some reason reminds me of Prokofiev's masterpiece as it looks back to a time not so distant but far enough away. The music language is reminiscent of Roy Harris and Don Gillis making this work immediately accessible. I think it would be a delightful opening work on a symphony program.

I've come into possession of a number of  these Columbia Special Products issues of American music recently. A pleasant reminder of when the majors invested in the creative artists of the United States.

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Six Overtures of William Boyce conducted by Anthony Lewis

A little music by William Boyce today. These are six overtures culled from festive pieces and not the more familiar eight symphonies or overtures of Op 2. Anthony Lewis conducts the Lamoureux Orchestra from a 1962 stereo record issued by L'Oiseau Lyre. Admittedly, I find it a bit odd that this very English of composers would be led by an English conductor with a French orchestra but, no matter,  this record represents the work of composer Gerald Finzi as an arranger, editor, and musicologist.

Anthony Lewis, of course, was one of the pioneers in resusitating the music of the contemporaries and predecessors of Handel. Through his efforts, the public came to appreciate and become of aware of such fine craftsmen as Arne, Stanley and Boyce. These men were highly influenced by Handel yet they developed stylistic peculiarities that set them apart from the great German-English giant. By he time these "overtures" were written, they were somewhat dated, at least by continental standards, but they do contain tuneful, well crafted and appropriately festive music. If anything, Boyce is always pleasant on the ear and easy on the heart.

I do wish that Lewis had had the opportunity to record with English musicians. The English always bring some sort of authority to their homegrown composers much like a Czech performance of Ma Vlast is easily distinguishable from one originating in say, Australia. Whatever the reasons for recording this in Paris, we are lucky to have this document of less frequently heard Boyce, reconstructed by a fine English composer of the 20th century.

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Norman Dello Joio's "New York Profiles"

A rather rare 10" incher in red vinyl today. Norman Dello Joio's "New York Profiles" of  1949 in its premiere recording with Nikolai Sokoloff leading the Orchestral Society of La Jolla California. Sokoloff is best known as the founding conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and this record was made rather late in the maestro's career.

The Profiles are titled "The Cloisters," "The Park," "The Tomb," and "The Park." They depict locales in Dello Joio's native New York and the written music is strongly influenced by Gregorian Chant, of which the composer was studying intensely during the 1940's. This music is immediately accessible and represents a different path from those taken by such contemporaries as Hanson, Copland, and Cowell to name a few. Dello Joio, throughout his career, looked back to ancient musical models for inspiration and guidance and New York Profiles is a result of his exhaustive study.

Included in this download are two previous offerings, the Serenade with Swarowsky and the VSO and the Symphony "The Triumph of Saint Joan" performed by Robert Whitney and the Louisille Orchestra. I have done a little more cleanup on both of these lps and the results are better then previously offered on this blog.

Norman Dello Joio was an important composer and teacher and I fear that his legacy is fading as time goes on and tastes evolve. This is too bad since he was a super musical historian and his output represents an effort to find a continuity with the past.

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Friedrich Wuhrer performs the 4th Piano Concerto of Beethoven

A very fine performance of the 4th Piano Concerto of Beethoven is up today. Accompanied by the Bamberg Symphony under Jonel Perlea, this partnership of like minds turns in a taut, yet flexible, reading which focuses on details that other gloss over.

Friedrich Wuhrer was an excellent craftsman and a sensitive interpreter of the classical and romantic repertoire. Though he recorded many lps for Vox, he never achieved the status of the most elite of pianists. I'm not sure why this is the case because he had the chops and fine musicianship of the best of the best. Whatever the reasons, I've not heard a recording of his that I did not find probing, intelligent and satisfying. This Beethoven concerto is one of the great ones and I believe much credit must be given to the excellent Jonel Perlea. Rather then go on, I'll point you to the third movement as proof of a collaboration that is vital and highly musical.

Coupled with the 4th concerto is the Choral Fantasy, this time from Vienna with Clemens Krauss conducting. Krauss' Akademie Kammerchor and VSO turn in spirited work and the more then competent choral soloists come from the ranks of the Kammerchor.

The Choral Fantasy dates from 1954 and I think the piano concerto is 1956/7 on this momaural record.

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Malcolm Arnold conducts.......Malcolm Arnold!

My 9 year old started to formally take trumpet lessons this school year at my urging and, because he sees what a great time it is when dear old dad is frolicking about during the Oktoberfest season. That said, we started talking one day about bands I've played in and the subject came to special ensembles, "honor bands." Here in Massachusetts that means district and all state bands. Well, to illustrate what I meant, I pulled out an lp of my first such band, back in 1978, and lo and behold, on the program was Malcolm Arnold's "Four Scottish Dances." No, I did not transfer THAT record but instead, dug out a gem of a stereo lp from around 1960 of Arnold conducting the Dances plus his Symphony No 3. I know that Everest did once release the symphony on cd along with  Boult's premiere recording of Vaughan Williams' Symphony No 9. However, for some reason the Dances were forgotten, well as far as I know. A damn shame too!

I've loved the Four Scottish Dances ever since I first heard and played them. This is Arnold at his absolute irresistable best. These short dances are tuneful, beautifully orchestrated, and delightfully crafted - they are  prefect in length and form. Based on folk tunes of Scotland, Arnold displays an ease with the material and communicates the substance as well as any past master who worked in this mode, whether it be Telemann, Bartok, Vaughan Williams or Schubert. His leadership of the LPO is beyond reproach. I think his former orchestral colleagues respond to his music with utter delight and they convey the wit and charm better than any other recording of these works. As for the third symphony, it is a more difficult work to bring off due in part to its length, density and complexity. Arnold acquits himself well but it is obvious that the shorter dances lend themselves better to his conducting skills. Arnold was first and foremost a composer and excellent trumpet player, not a conductor a by trade.

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