Customer Reviews

Americana: 20th Century Works for Orchestra

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Excellent, rhythmically acute performances of Bernstein's Candide and Gould's American Salute that bespeak finely etched detail were the initial reason I purchased this recording. The Ruggles received a satisfactory performance (but note Ives's rejoinder to a heckler: "Stand up and use your ears like a a man!" -- this is definitely not 18th-century drawing room fluff). But the real find on this album is the Etude Symphonique by Vaclav Nelhybel, a vastly underrated composer who, in his best moments, can stand toe-to-toe with Janacek and Martinu and occasionally peek over their heads. This work is in that category -- a magical study of how to handle a close-packed three-tone motif and build an immensely colorful and dramatic edifice from it. This is true compositional development driven by a seasoned melodic intuition. Like Martinu, Nelhybel likes augmenting an orchestra with piano, but this conceit works remarkably well in this work (better than it does in most Martinu compositions). I once requested this piece be played on a classical station. The DJ complied skeptically, but after the work finished he couldn't help expressing surprise at how taken he was with the piece. One would hope that Nelhybel will receive renewed attention one day, as Hindemith is at long last receiving. You might ask, why include a Czech in a program of American music? Nelhybel had become a naturalized American citizen, and so his 1948 Etude (which was well-received by the music critics of the era) was programmed for this album. If you can find this album, buy it while you can. (If it's the Copland Quiet City you're after, you'd be better served with the digital recording under Bernstein with the London Symphony that is coupled with a stunning take on Copland's 3rd symphony. But the Nelhybel truly is worth your patronage despite this.)

The Western Suite by American composer Elie Seigmeister (1909-1991) remains a rarely recorded work. Although Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Orchestra debuted the work in 1945 in Rockefeller Center's Studio 8H (where Saturday Night Live originates now), no recordings were ever made available of that broadcast concert. The Utah Symphony recording, conducted by Maurice Abravanel, was released in 1972 on Vox Turnabout vinyl. It remains a very hard-to-find LP. Enter this CD re-issue. Finally an opportunity to obtain this evocative work. One of the memorable applications of this work was as partial score for the 1986 Pacific Arts biographical film Ansel Adams: Photographer (not the 2002 American Experience - Ric Burns documentary). The other Americana-themed recordings on this CD are but icing on the cake.

This was a favorite of mine as an lp, and continues to be so in cd format, because it offers considerable musical variety and substance in uniformly well-executed performances and sound. The compositions range from Copland's nostalgic city-scape through the thorny polytonality of Ruggles and Ives, with two unexpected gems along the way:

Leroy Robertson's "Punch and Judy Overture", sounds rhythmically and melodically akin to Barber's "Overture to The School for Scandal" without being in any derivative. It is a lovely, rollicking piece of music.

Vaclav Nelhybel's terrific orchestral tour de force "Etude Symphonique" packs enough melodies, contrapuntal elaboration, orchestral color, and sheer drive for a handful of symphonies. What a pity his works appeared only occasionally on lp (mostly through the Serenus label), and even rarer on cd.

The other disc debut, Siegmeister's "Western Suite" is well-crafted, but seems a trifle bland in comparison to these two works and the more familiar items on the disc.

Each of the other commentators has a favorite one or two pieces on this album. I see this is a well balanced selection of mostly unfamiliar works that are all listenable at a minimum, and gorgeous in many regards. In other words, I think the adventurous listener will find some new pieces to love in this CD. It is good to have an American collection that does not contain just the usual war horses.