Customer Reviews

George Chadwick: Symphonic Sketches; Edward MacDowell: Suite for Large Orchestra; Johann Peter: Sinfonia in G

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

 

 

Hanson and his virtuoso ensemble make the most of these old works--the composers themselves would have blushed to have such effort and result showered on them.

But the music's worth it. The Chadwick is a major work, emininetly listenable, beautifully crafted, songful, funny, piquant and rich all at the same time. The McDowell suite is so beautifully played you think it is a somewhat better work than it actually is, but there's no denying its evocative atmosphere despite its concept which is somewhat dated. The Peter is more of a curiosity piece from a composer who had no pretense of being a pro...but listening to Hanson et.al., you realize the guy did a pretty good job with the material he chose.

While the presentation of the Chadwick here is not as elegant as beautiful performances of his music from Detroit, it doesn't really aim at elegance, and is perhaps why I respond to Hanson's approach more. I just solved the problem by having all of it around to enjoy...sometimes I prefer the one, sometimes the other. A little fickleness is good when enjoying great art.

Buy this historic disk and treat yourself to a thought-provoking view of some of those who started out this wonderful stuff we call American music. You'll find yourself being a fan for life.

This is a really exciting rendition of the Symphonic Sketches. I also like the "immediacy" of the sound, as compared to the symphonic "wash" and heavy reverb of both the Serebrier (Reference Recordings) and Jarvi (Chandos) readings. As an erstwhile percussionist, I continually marvel at the ERSO player's ability to play those 13 rapid-fire cymbal crashes in the middle of the Jubilee movement so perfectly!

This CD also contains the best performance of the MacDowell First Orchestral Suite, with sumptuous playing by the ERSO forces. When you hear it played this well, you almost think it's a masterpiece (that honor actually goes to MacDowell's Second Suite -- Indian -- which Hanson also recorded but way back in the mono era, so unfortunately it's not available to us on CD). When comparing Hanson's First Suite performance to the sluggish alternative found on Naxos ... there's really no comparison at all.

The Johann Peter work is a filler item you can dispense with.

I'm glad the old Mercury recording made it to CD, and hope it can be preserved in catalogs over time. Of the three extant recordings of the Sketches, Hanson's is the only one by someone who knew Chadwick personally and was sympathetic to, if not himself part of, the "Boston Classicist" heritage (Hanson's contemporary Randall Thompson might be thought of as the last extension of that line). The Chadwick score is, as others have said, first-rate and worthy of inclusion in standard repertory for major orchestras. The MacDowell does suffer a bit in comparison, but is also a major work by a major composer and deserves the respect of performers and listeners. I wouldn't diss the Peter as severely as another reviewer has--it has historical importance and is really a very pleasant piece, though it should be heard as the chamber piece it was intended to be.

While I'm not familiar with the other versions of the Sketches, and so I can't say whether the sound on this is better than theirs, I would love to see a recording with more modern sound quality, as I found this a bit muddy in places, which is the only detractor in my mind from a full five stars.