Customer Reviews

Hanson Conducts McPhee: Tabuh-Tabuhan; Sessions: The Black Maskers; Thomson: Symphony on a Hymn Tune, The Feast of Love

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

 

 

During the '50's and early '60's Mercury recorded some of the lesser known American composers. This particular selection which I originally had on a mono-LP is one of my favorites, and probably the best of Colin McPhee's compositions. Roger Sessions' "The Black Maskers" is also an excellant little heard American Classic. As a bonus the CD includes Virgil Thomson's "Symphony On A Hymn Tune" which was not on the LP.
For anyone interested in American composers, any of the Howard Hanson conducting the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra - American Composer series are excellantly recorded CD's and highly recommended.

This will not be a review of the CD, since it is unavailable. I do want to pass on, however, my enthusiasm for Tabuh-Tabuhan. WGBH radio played it this morning (May 29, 2001) and I was mesmerized. An American composition from 1936 from Colin McPhee -- but it sounded like Lou Harrison or Alan Hovhannes, 50 or 60 years later. If anyone is tempted to believe that minimalism 'sprung fully armed from the head of Zeus' sometime in the '60s, he should listen to this wonderful totally American work and disabuse himself of the idea immediately.

Bring it back, Mercury. There is an overwhelming resurgance of interest in American classical music of the 20th century and labels are raking it in reissuing these recordings of everyone, including Foss, Bowles, Blitzstein, Schuman, etc. etc.