The Music Of Joseph Schwantner / Slatkin, Glennie, National SO, et al

Joseph Schwantner (Composer), Leonard Slatkin (Conductor), National Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: National Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Leonard Slatkin
• Composer: Joseph Schwantner
• Audio CD (September 16, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000003G77
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,370 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, except for Vernon Jordan, March 12, 2000

By 

Phillip Hintze (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Music Of Joseph Schwantner / Slatkin, Glennie, National SO, et al (Audio CD)

First of all, the music on this CD is incredible. Joseph Schwantner is one of the true masters of the 20th century. The first 2 selections on this disc (Velocities for solo marimba and the percussion concerto) are inspired performances by Evelyn Glennie with the National Symphony Orchestra & Leonard Slatkin. Unfortunately, someone made an error (in my judgement) when they cast Vernon Jordan in the role of the narrator in "New Morning for the World." This is a work for Narrator & Orchestra using the speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. as text which Jordan almost renders unlistenable. There are many instances where Jordan gracelessly plods through the undeniably powerful words of MLK as though he were reading stereo instructions or something of comparable banality. I can only imagine what the resluting recording would have been like if the narrator had been Morgan Freeman, James Earl Jones, Denzel Washington, or even Samuel L. Jackson. I will still highly recommend this CD despite Vernon Jordan's best efforts to make it unlistenable.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My heart went out of rhythm because of this piece!, June 14, 2000

By 

Cory (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Music Of Joseph Schwantner / Slatkin, Glennie, National SO, et al (Audio CD)

This is heavy music. Let me warn you right off the bat. The Percussion Concerto (which I had the opportunity to see spring 1999 with the NSO) is very 'heavy' music. The first movement sets the mood right away with it's loudness and heavyness on the drums. Tides shift when the second movement comes on. Glennie is a master at the suspense and weight of this slow but powerful movement. The third starts out with a variety of percussion instruments and resembles the climax of any modern day movie. It goes right into a marimba 'exercise' and then into some more drumming. The Martin Luther King piece, done in the style of Copland's Lincoln Portrait, is very powerful. Jordan's daring risk of a stressful monotone voice worked well. This is more of a dramatic opinion opposed to a musical one. Marimbas will be marimbas on that first piece. It's neat but nothing exciting.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Glennie Makes Schwantner Look Easy, September 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Music Of Joseph Schwantner / Slatkin, Glennie, National SO, et al (Audio CD)

The music of American composer Joseph Schwantner is some of the best, and sadly, most overlooked in all of Contemporary Classical Music. This CD offers up two of Schwantner's best orchestral compositions, as well as his singular efort into the realm of solo percussion music. "Velocities" for solo marimba was comissioned in 1987 by the marimba virtuoso Leigh Howard Stevens, and premiered by Stevens the same year at the Percussive Arts Society's International Convention. The sweeping melodic lines, symmetrical chromatic harmonies, and rhythmic puctuations of phrases are quite characteristic of Schwantnner's music, and percussion virtuoso Evelyn Glennie delivers a fantastic performance of one of the most difficult pieces in solo marimba literature. The "Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra" was originally comissioned by the New York Philharmonic for their 150th Anniversary Season, and took New York by storm at its 1995 premiere with Chris Lamb as soloist. The work is in traditional three movement fast-slow-fast form. Schwantner's fondness for percussion and ringing instrumental sonorities are quite evident in this piece, which Glennie performs with drive and intensity. The orchestra, however does not share Glennie's characteristic vitality, and clearly shows fatigue by the end of the performance. Even Glennie's performance shows a few questionable spots. The third movement cadenza, while an amazing display of virtuosity, becomes tiresome after Glennie begins her improvised section. The third movement begins with an improvisotory section for the soloist playing Shakere, but Glennie trades this in for a (much more flamboyant) Tambourine, which covers many of the orchestral parts. Overall, however her performance is very accurate amd extremely musical, and she makes performing (arguably) the toughest concerto in the (all-too-small) percussion catalogue look and sound easy. The orchestral work "New Morning for the World" is actually an extended tone poem based on the speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The work (which is scored for large orchestra and narrator) displays not only Dr. Schwanter's extreme technical ability and his unbelieveable gift for orchestration, but also a very "intellectual" muscial interpretation of Dr. King's words. The Neo-Impressionistic colours and lyrical string passages give the piece depth and emotional appeal, but sadly, Vernon Jordan's boring and un-emotional reading of the text nearly ruins the dream-like atmosphere of the work. I found myself laughing and at times yelling at Jordan's terrible rendition of Dr. King's words, but this stands second to the wonderful performance of Slatkin and the NSO. If you hae never had the experience of listening to Joseph Schwantner's music, give this disc a try. Don't be discouraged if the music seems foreign and difficult in the beginning, like many composers, Schwantner has created an "intellectual" musical style that may take two or more listenings to become accostomed to. Bravo to Leonard Slatkin for championing the music of one of America's most gifted and most overlooked musicians.