Customer Reviews

Benjamin Lees: Symphony No. 4 "Memorial Candles"

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Naxos is to be praised for bringing us so much otherwise unknown American music. I was knocked out by this symphony the first time I heard it and have listened to it now perhaps 15 times. I keep finding new things in it. Structurally it's as tight as anything I've ever heard from Lees, whose music I've explored for thirty years now. (I hope to God his new Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra are recorded soon; talk about a knockout!) I disagree with the preceding reviewer who complained about Kimball Wheeler's voice. It sounds luscious to me and perfect for the Jewish cantillation of the vocal part. Buswell is his usual sterling self. I heartily recommend this piece for its emotional wallop.

There's so much to like about this CD - great piece of music, superbly played and well-conducted. James Buswell giving his all on the violin. A painful message to contemplate in those dark nights of the soul. It's all there -- BUT the mezzo-soprano solo. Sadly, Ms. Wheeler's voice is weak, at times to the point where one long-held note does not sound stable. She has her moments (where she sounds like the old British contralto Gladys Ripley, a voice of infinite sadness at "what-might-have-been"), but these are not enough to carry the day. It may be Ms. Wheeler had a bad cold the days they recorded (or got a Ukrainian version of Montezuma's revenge, who knows?). Well, given the price and unavailability of any other recording of the work (and the fact that the mezzo part is less than 50% of the symphony), I'd say buy it and experience the good music. (As you can see, no one else thought Ms. Wheeler was a liability.) But if at any time another recording comes along, you may want at least to compare the two.

I have listened to other works of Benjamin Lees, but feel this is one of his finest achievements. The work is deep and powerful, and I found I definitely needed more than one listening to gain all the insight into its intricacies. The time spent was well worth it. This is a magnificent symphony and the composer should well be proud of what he has done. He has given another voice to the horrors of the Holocaust. The recording is terrific, well-played and sonically excellent. I realize I'm a layman, not a professional, but I would recommend this recording to anyone.

As I am allowed 1,000 words about this composition, I shall be brief. Mr. Lees has done in one symphony what has taken other composers in this century many compositions to attempt an overview of a period in history. He fills this wonderfully played recording with a constant tension of sounds that kept this listener with a tight grip on my chair. So many details in the Symphony. There is no point to delve. Oh well, the solo playing and singing, the texts all work. The orchestra, unknown to me, played with dedication as if they were living every moment. Give Mr. Lees credit for sounds of the truth that occurred in the darkest time in our century if not all history.

The late Benjamin Lees (1924-2010) was one of a number of composers who rejected the twelve-tone style, in his case in favor of a style that draws heavily on Russian models (Shostakovich in particular) but not without a certain individual take - the resulting music sounds undeniably closer to some of the more famous members of the post-avantgarde in many respects. His fourth symphony is a Holocaust Memorial, which is a somewhat dangerous idea, to say the least, and Lees is not entirely successful in avoiding banality. The work itself is cast in three huge, slow movements (yes, they sprawl) and for much of the time it sounds very much like Shostakovich in spirit, suffused by Judaic (Eastern-European) chant.

The first movement, Visitations (Somebody blew the shofar) sets the stage, with tone-painting of fear, pain and endurance; the moment is filled with recollections of anger and despair, but it is long and the material itself is not obviously distinguished enough to sustain it (though it is impressively scored) - or perhaps Lees doesn't quite manage to keep the reins on it structurally speaking. It starts out ruminatively before reaching a climax a few minutes in. After that, what we get is basically recombinations and restructuring of already existing material, and if nothing is ever really repeated the effect is a little repetitive (though more often than occasionally fascinating). The variations take us through a variety of moods related to sorrow and anger, and many of the things Lees does are interesting and effective although the Holocaust theme seems to hamper him rather than help. The use of the solo violin, though certainly symbolic, is less than effective, especially when one is starting to hope the movement may end soon (though I won't fault Buswell's committed solo playing).

The second movement (Manifestations) strikes me as the most successful; minute patterns are constantly varied against slowly moving, lyrical but elegiac material, often with a hint of nobility. When the mezzo enters with poetry by Nelly Sachs, Lees comes dangerously close to lapsing into the clichéd but he mostly manages to thread the fine balance. The development to the material for the second poem, Footsteps, is very effective, especially in the way it is linked to tolling bells from the opening of the first movement (Kimball Wheeler's singing is also very convincing).

The third movement, Transcendence, is in many respects the least convincing, however - especially by incorporating a lullaby theme and music box elements (a trick composers should seriously be prohibited from using) leading into harrowing, martial material. The return of the lullaby is the only attempt at "transcendence" and it is, needless to say, not particularly convincing, though instead of letting it peter out Lees does realize that there cannot be anything but a troubled ending given the topic - and the final ambiguities and troubles actually does much to save the work as a whole - very effective. Throughout the performers do an impressive job and Kuchar seems to have a deep understanding of how the music is supposed to go. The sound is good. In the end, then, I am far from fully convinced; the music is interesting enough to warrant more than a single try, even if the topic works against the composer by driving him into the meandering and toward near-banalities more often than comfortable.