Customer Reviews

Grofe: Death Valley Suite

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These are splendid performances of three Ferde Grofe suites, one of them ("Hollywood Suite") a premiere recording. The liner notes tell us that the 1935/1938 "Hollywood" started life as a ballet, which would explain the uncharacteristically mundane movement titles ("The Stand-in," "Sweepers," etc.) from a composer who usually treats us to windstorms, scenic marvels, and loud historical happenings. This suite's music is marvelous, if blatantly Gershwinesque in more than a few spots, especially in "Carpenters and Electricians," which sounds more like "Triumphant Charge of the Combined Armies of 19th-Century Europe" than a soundtrack for on-set union activity. "Concerto in F" paraphrasings provide some break from the movement's relentless onslaught of... hammers? T-squares? Overwrought, perhaps, but who's complaining? In a lighter mode, "Production Number" uncannily presages modern attempts to recall the Broadway and Hollywood of days gone by, as if Grofe had anticipated cable-TV sound bytes in the days before television. The final movement is the epitome of a Grofe musical wrap-up, evocative of numerous story-lines wrapping up in quick fashion. Grofe's 1955 "Hudson River Suite," much more typical of the composer's later, streamlined, CinemaScope style, is musical enjoyment of the purest style--so much so, that I won't even mention the Track 7, 3:32 goof-up that someone ought to have noticed during playback, if not on the spot. The flattened third of the scale CAN sound good against the unflattened version of the same, but not here. Andre Kostelanetz made a nice recording of this circa 1956, but without the benefit of digital technology, a recording snidely dismissed by one critic of the time as being "of interest mainly for its special sound effects." This is light music, to be sure, but not lightweight, with the bouncy, minimalist "Rip Van Winkle" movement especially charming. "Winkle" moves seamlessly from a mood of free-spirited joy to murky mysterioso to creaky transfiguration to lively recapitulation, and without a break--nothing to snore at, here. Finally, the 1949 "Death Valley Suite" (the outside of the case says 1957!) is every bit as Death-Valleyesque as the 1955 recording by Grofe himself, with the Stephen Foster medley in "Desert Water Hole" brilliantly performed and just the greatest kind of musical fun. I won't complain about the ridiculous amplified-rattle effect in "Sand Storm," because this CD is too extraordinarily good to harp over. NAXOS and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra have given Grofe lovers a gift to treasure.

Grofe is very underrated composer, maybe because he embraced melody and popularism when the rest of classical music was running the other way. (That and he is one of the few composers I know of who can make me laugh and surprise me consistently.)

The music speaks for itself. My favorite is the Death Valley Suite, especially the opening 5/4 movement that depicts perfectly the misery of crossing the desert under a murderous sun searching for water. (That and the arrow shot during the Indian raid- some of the cleverest orchestration I've heard in a while.)

I'd also advise you keep an eye out for a CD that features Grofe's Piano Concerto (recorded by a local orchestra- Albany? Buffalo? in New York)- it isn't a new recording, but is an impressive piece- one of the few works of Grofe I've heard that isn't imagistic.

Take my advice and order this. Anyone who loves Bernstein, Gershwin, Anderson or just wants a glimpse of 20th Century America should pick this up. You won't be disappointed.

This welcome release is the second CD from Naxos featuring the orchestral music of Ferde Grofé (1899-1972), best known for a suite included on the first release -- "Grand Canyon Suite." This new CD is played by the same forces, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by the talented young American conductor, William T. Stromberg. They do a brilliant job.

The "Hollywood Suite," premiered in 1935, is for a ballet about a young woman, like many other anonymous women of that time, who had come to Hollywood to be a "star." Instead she is a bit-player There is an underlying melancholy in the music even in the ebullient, musically apt "Production Number," in which the stand-in dances for the star, while the star gets the close-ups. The bustle of the "Carpenters and Electricians" section is brilliantly orchestrated, no surprise since Grofé was primarily known -- aside from the "Grand Canyon Suite" -- for his orchestration of Gershwin's early orchestral works. The bustle in the orchestra reminds one of Gershwin's "American in Paris."

The "Hudson River Suite" was commissioned by Andre Kostelanetz in 1954 and incorporates a tone-poem, "Rip van Winkle," that Grofé wrote in 1932. "Rip" begins with Rip walking in the hills with his dog and, like Piston's "Incredible Flutist," includes a recording of a dog barking. When Rip wakes up after his twenty years' sleep and whistles for his dog, there is no response, a neat way to show that years have passed. Both "The River" and "Henry Hudson" have a broad, flowing, almost Elgarian nobilmente. It concludes with the frenetic activity of "New York!," ending the Hudson?s downstream course.

"Death Valley Suite," written for the 1949 celebration of California's centennial, is probably the most serious piece on the CD. It depicts a wagon train trying to cross California's Death Valley, its settlers almost dying of thirst; when they find a water hole there is jubilation and someone breaks out a fiddle and there is dancing to "O, Susanna." Later, the wagon train is engulfed in a fierce sand storm, but they manage to get through it to the promised land.

Grofé has pretty much fallen out of favor, although his music was immensely popular in the mid-20th century. It is due for rediscovery. This CD will help.

Recommended.

Grofé is best known for his "Grand Canyon Suite," yet he has been otherwise underappreciated amidst the cacophony of supposedly more avant-garde composers of the 20th century. Yet his works are moving and, at least in my opinion, quintessentially American in both mood, temperament, and orchestration.

The three works presented here are beautiful compositions reflecting a variety of emotions and scenes. His works detailed images and visualizations unlike other composers. They can sadden, lighten, frighten and embolden the listener.

Although the Grand Canyon Suite may be the best introduction to Grofé, these three works, in particular, "Hudson River Suite," will provide a joyous celebration of imagery.

This is my first purchase of a Naxos Label "American Classic" and I am very pleased. The quality, performance and inexpensive price provide a great value. I am very impressed with William Stromberg and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

This is a follow up to William T. Stromberg's excellent CD of Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite. As with that album, the orchestral playing here is splendid and full of character, and also beautifully recorded. Both the Hollywood Suite and the Hudson River Suite are nifty concoctions that delight the whole way through. There is some wonderful jazzy saxophone writing in the former, while the latter contains a cute evocation of Rip Van Winkle, complete with his dog. In the Hudson River Suite and the Death Valley Suite, there are some now dated references to what once passed for Native American music. In fact, I enjoyed the Death Valley Suite somewhat less, in part for its rather ruthless quotation of Oh, Susannah. Still, I really enjoyed this album and am delighted to find that there is more to Grofe than On the Trail and the orchestration of Rhapsody in Blue.

I'm confused. The Hudson River Suite and the Death Valley Suite seem to have the titles switched! Even the samples are incorrect. When I sample other albums that include the Death Valley Suite the music is the same as what this album lists as The Hudson River Suite. For instance, The track titled Hudson River Suite, Rip Van Winkle includes the Oh Susanna section that the reviewer J Scott Morrison mentioned comes from the Death Valley Suite and the dog barking mentioned in regard to the Hudson River Suite, Rip Van Winkle is the track titled Death Valley Suite: '49er Emigrant Train. The music is beautiful but I have no idea what I am listening to. Confusing and frustrating!!!!!

Recording Engineer took unrealistic liberties with his high-tech level controls when recording. Low-levels by composer are exagerated and cannot be heard when volume control is set for normal listening of everything else.

Very disappointing.

The Death Valley Suite is remincent of Grand Canyon. The Hollywood Suite/Ballet is uneven and is easily forgotten. The Hudson River Suite is pleasant.