Customer Reviews

Cadenzas and Variations

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Other than a text copyright date of 1981, the notes give no information as to when the recording of these pieces took place. Anyway this disc was first published on LP in the early 1980s (it makes its appearance in Schwann catalog somewhere in 1982). This is the 1995 CD reissue and with 49 minutes the timing is detrimentally short by CD standards. But it presents interesting material that, for some of the pieces, can hardly be found elsewhere.

Not so with Copland's Duo for Violin & Piano. A late work, it originated in 1971 as a Duo for Flute and Piano and was arranged by the composer in the present form in 1979. It is a highly accessible work, couched in Copland's most pastoral and "prairie" style. I am one to regret that Copland abandoned his earlier, more demanding (but, I find, rewarding) style of the 30s, to (by his own admission, though he would not use this admittedly somewhat disparaging expression) pander to the wider American public's tastes.

I bought this disc for Ornstein's Violin & Piano Sonata, of which it is still today the only recording. Born in Russia in around 1893 (the exact date is unknown), Ornstein studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory but moved to the United States in 1907 to escape antisemitism. From about 1910 he developed into one of the most original and daring "maverick ultramodernists", so typical of the US scene in those times (Ives, Cowell, Rudyard and Antheil are other representatives) - a current that would be later stifled by the depression and lack of public understanding, as efficiently as Stalinist Academism stifled the early modernist trend in Soviet Union. By the mid-1920s he retired from concretizing and disappeared from the public eye - and memory. Incredibly, he lived until 2002 and was still composing in the age of Boulez, Xenakis, Stockhausen and the likes (but in a, by then, rather backward-looking, impressionistic language).

The Sonata dates from 1913 and is a tough nut to crack, much less easily appealing than Ornstein's masterpieces for solo piano of the period (see Piano Music: Suicide on an Airplane / La Chinoise). It is couched in an atonal and thorny language reminiscent of Berg and Schoenberg at their starkest (Schoenberg's Fantasy for violin and piano and Violin Concerto and the tensest passages of Berg's - all compositions from the late 30s and 40s), with much tension and hardly a moment of repose, while the piano part bears Ornstein's trademarks - thick chordal writing with many clusters - except for the daredevil seductiveness. It reminded me of Ives' at HIS thickest and most unseductive. Ornstein admitted to that much, aknowledging that with this piece he had "brought music just to the very edge", beyond which "lies complete chaos". Of course, the 1950s and 60s went way beyond - and some would argue: in complete, albeit highly organized, chaos, but that is another story. Incredibly, many Ornstein scores are available for free download on the amazing website maintained by his son, Severo. Fulkerson and Feinberg play with remarkable precision and the violinist realizes the remarkable feat of maintaining fine tone throughout Ornstein's thorny textures.

It was a good idea to have excerpted the 11-minute violin solo part from the 1975 Phil Glass-Bob Wilson "Einstein on the Beach" collaboration. It would be overstating its value to say that it is a modern, repetitive version of Bach's Violin Sonatas, but, with the Folk-music like tune that it develops and repeats, it is effective, seductive and appealing in its own right - and easy to listen. It sounds as a harbinger of the World-music that ensembles such as the Kronos or Balanescu Quartets would publicize in the 80s and 90s.

Richard Wernick's 9-minute Cadenzas and Variations II for Violin alone is a much sterner piece, composed in 1970. I would describe its language as post-Bartok Solo Violin Sonata, but with some coloristic effects produced by playing techniques that do not belong the classical canon (try 3:39 for instance).

As always with New World records the liner notes are remarkably informative and include performer's bios plus bibliography and discography on the composers - but, other than one bibliographic reference for Wernick, these appear not to have been updated since first publication, so what you get is an LP discography. Fortunately Ornstein's discography in particular has been beefed up since 1981 - though not nearly as much as this essential composer deserves.

CADENZAS AND VARIATIONS---New World Records
Aaron Copland: Duo for Violin and Piano
Philip Glass: Solo violin music from 'Einstein on the Beach'
Leo Ornstein: Sonata for Violin and Piano
Richard Wernick: Cadenzas and Variations II

Gergory Fulkerson, vln
Robert Shannon, piano (Copland)
Alan Feinberg, piano (Ornstein)

CD Length=49 minutes, 13 seconds

I found this CD at a Goodwill store and bought it for a mere $1.50. It's certainly an interesting find, but not quite a worthwhile one.

In Copland's "Duo" you can hear the lovely tones and moods that prevail in 'Appalachian Spring.' It's a lovely work, and it speaks well through the violin and piano. This is definitely chamber/instrumental music that won't bore you with platitudes.

Philip Glass' 'solo violin music' from his opera, "Einstein on the Beach" is predictably melodic and mesmeric. If you like Glass, you'll obviously like this. On solo violin his music takes on a humbler guise. It has a more down-to-earth quality, which is refreshing.

Leo Ornstein's sonata is definitely a turn from these first two pieces. This piece is disjunct, and in the avant garde modernist vein a la Varese. As in such music, the violin and piano hardly ever agree on a note. It has a stop-start quality to it as well. I personally didn't enjoy this music, but if you like such compositions you might find you like it.

Richard Wernick's "cadenzas and variations II" (which provides the title for the CD) starts out just as jagged and spiky as the Ornstein piece, and continues that way. The lone violin frantically screams and stops etc. The music also employs unorthodox methods of playing the violin, such as plucking it (*yawn*), and sliding hands across the strings. It's a very 'experimental' work in that regard. Like all such pieces, that's about all there is: random screeching and weird tricks.

One has to wonder what an experimental and melody-inspired composer would do with such technical tricks. But why do I ask when we al ready have a great example? Hector Berlioz in the 'Symphonie fantastique' had the violins play with the back of the bows for the last movement, creating a unique sound effect. And hardly pointless as in pieces that seem to rely on them for substance.

In summary, this CD contains two very enjoyable works, and two mediocre ones. If you need the Copland and Glass, you can do doubt find it elsewhere. The Ornstein and Wernick are unique to this release however. If you find it in a bargain bin for dirt cheap and you have nothing else important to get...meh, you might consider investigating. The liner notes --on a positive note---are superbly educational. But otherwise, it's not the most demandingly must-hear CD out there by any means.