Customer Reviews

Defining Dahl

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Dahl's music offers a curiously eclectic blend of dissonance, jazz and romanticism, not unlike Copland, Stravinsky and Milhaud. His striking Concerto for Alto Saxophone [1949/rev. 1954], with its formidable, yet lyrical work for the soloist, offers the widest range of expressive drive, emotional breadth and inescapable wit throughout its three movements. The Music for Brass Instruments [1944] invokes a distinctly "American feel" and is beautifully crafted; likewise, Dahl's Hymn, originally a piano work from 1947, later orchestrated after the composer's death, is an intoxicatingly moody, nostalgic pseudo-tone poem that pays homage to Bernstein and Copland alike. The Tower of Saint Barbara, conceived in 1954 as a ballet, but never choreographed, was revised in 1960 with the appended subscript, "Symphonic Legend in Four Parts." Reminiscent of Finzi's Love's Labors Lost Suite, with a hint of Stravinsky's Petrouchka, Dahl's Saint Barbara evokes a medieval world of saints and heathens, faith and death, in music that is both memorable and attractive. Like many of his contemporaries, Dahl [1912-1970] was both a teacher [University of Southern California] and composer; Tilson Thomas, the eager conductor here, numbers amongst his most prescient apostles. Who better than he to reverently conduct the New World Symphony, and the New World Brass, in a collection of Dahl's most immediately appealing works, and to make this an imminently satisfying introduction to the composer?

[Running time: 71:56]

I bought this cd simply because it has John Harle, one of the best saxophonists in the world, playing the greatest saxopone concerto. I was not dissapointed. Harle displays his incredible technical ability throughout the entire 20 minutes of the solo. His altissimo in the second movement is the best heard from any saxophonist. His sense of pitch and tone is among the best in the saxophone world. His saxophone tone pierces right through the orchestra and delivers a vey gripping and engaging performance. Tilson Thomas shows unequaled control and magnificent grasp of Dahl's music. If you like saxophone, buy this cd. If you like Dahl's music for brass, get this cd. If you like both then you should've bought this cd before you read this line in my review.