James Barnes - Symphony #3 Year: 1994
Wind Band of the Conservatoire of Antwerp/Lars Corijni
Rating: 4 Stars
I pulled this late 20th century symphony out of my queue for first listens and was quite intrigued. This thing is big, and as I'm listening I'm thinking "Damn, this is bleak." Not a complaint, mind you; this is powerful and compelling, but yeah, very dark. Now that changed in the third movement, where real and enduring beauty appeared. The final movement has a some life but is still more resigned than triumphant.
Then, after listening, I noticed the subtitle "The Tragic." Yep, makes sense. Then I did a little research and learned Barnes wrote this after the death of his infant daughter. Okay, now I really get the bleakness. And what about that lovely third movement? That was meant to be his take on what the world would be like had his daughter survived. Yeah, this all makes perfect sense.
Composer Theresa Martin took as her inspiration for the symphonic work "City of Ambition" a series of photographs of early New York City. As such, the three movements emerge not unlike a collection of tone poems, rather akin to Respighi's Fountains of Rome, but distinctly on the New World side of the pond and with a more modern sonic palette. Like the city growing to become the largest in the US and a world financial and cultural capital, this music has a propulsive rhythmic drive. It also has melody and a rather underground but importantly more human side as well. The end result is a wonderfully composed and orchestrated piece of music that can be enjoyed independent of its programme, but even more so with its inspiration held in the forefront of the mind's ear.
Howard Ferguson - Sonata for Piano in F Year: 1938-1940
Piano: Myra Hess
Rating: 4.25 Stars
Although composed squarely in the middle of the 20th Century, this is an overtly Romantic work. It just drips with pathos throughout, but without being cliche; rather it is unique and captivating. While the first movement is hugely dramatic and full of dire sounding passages, the second cuts about as gently touching a figure as can be. The final movement starts off as if it's going to go for the easy Romantic pandering calls to the passing ear, but then lays some very clever counterpoint over a very unique rhythmic thrust as it alternates between 6/8 and 9/8 time, all the while never losing its Romantic urgency. A fine work for sure!
Jan Novak - Concerto for Cello and Small Orchestra Year: 1958
Prague Philharmonia/Jakub Hruša
Jirí Bárta - Cello
Rating: 4.5 Stars
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This week, I've been exploring some more of the other Novak, Jan. This thoroughly unconventional 20th century work caught my ear upon first listen. But upon second, it totally blew me away in every way. Not only is this a very clever score, it feels like everyone involved is completely vested in bringing out all the wonders that score has to offer as well as having a little fun with the piece along the way. This session is nothing less than absolutely brilliant from end do end, and there's an astonishing amount of music packed into those 20 minutes (even including some rather overt jazz, especially in the final movement).
Antonio Vivaldi - Concerto for Two Trumpets Year: 172?
English Chamber Orchestra/Charles Mackerras
Maurice André - Trumpet (both parts, dubbed)
Rating: 4.25 Stars
What a familiar sounding piece! Maybe that's just because it's Vivaldi, butt of the old joke that he didn't really write 500 concertos, but rather wrote the same concerto 500 times. Well, if that's the case, I really like this version of that concerto! André is a marvelous trumpet player and he really rises to the occasion of playing both parts here. He really keeps the spirit up, despite the artificiality of the situation. A delightful performance.
Paul Ben Haim - Violin Concerto Year: 1950
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra/Zubin Mehta
Itzhak Perlman/Violin
Rating: 4. Stars
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I love this piece, and this performance. After a brief but hugely historic intro, Perlman makes his violin both sing and dance. As much fun as that opening movement is, it's the gloriously lyrical slow movement that proves to be the true emotional center of this marvelous composition. Even after all that, the final movement does not disappoint. I swear I can hear the desert itself in there! Just marvelous.
Ludwig Von Beethoven - String Quartet #14 Year: 1826
Takács Quartet
Rating: 3.75 Stars
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Ludwig Von Beethoven - String Quartet #14 Year: 1826
Vermeer Quartet
Rating: 4.75 Stars
I was in the mood for a headphones session with a late Beethoven quartet. I really didn't feel like going for the Große Fuge and I can't really listen to #13 without it, so I went with #14. Wanting to hear a new-to-me reading, and loving all my Haydn quartets as performed by the Takács Quartet, I streamed their recording. Sadly, I found it rather hard to take. Not because of the challenge of the music itself, but rather the whole thing seemed kind of off. It could just be me as I can't claim to be an expert in assessing the merit of different readings of this admittedly heavy work. Nevertheless, both sound and approach seemed a little out of sync with the score.
So after that, determined to enjoy the work, I went to my CD case and pulled out my only physical media copy of the work from a Telarc 3 CD collection of the late quartets by the Vermeer quartet. I'm sure it had been years since this had come off the shelf, and I remembered it seeming rather stern. Relative to the Takács, it was a beaming ray of illumination, bringing out the wonders of the work without losing any of the inherent gravitas. All four musicians seemed nicely attuned to each other as well as the piece's emotional center. A marvelous listen.
My local Philharmonic has a concert coming up next week anchored by Beethoven's 7th Symphony, which is a big draw for me. Before that is four selections from Copland's Rodeo, and the opener is this piece, Jennifer Higdon's "Blue Cathedral." Having never heard this piece, I decided to pull up a youtube and see if it's a further enticement to catch the local show.
Well.... yeah, it is for sure. What a gloriously beautiful and evocative tone poem! I'm in.
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