I really liked volume one of this series. The performances were top-notch (which helps). But what I enjoyed was the imaginative programming.
Most collections of American music just re-present the same thing. It's Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, and John Philip Sousa (or perhaps John Williams). Robert Trevino interprets "American" as a larger, more inclusive term.
This release features works by major figures within the classical world. But ones hardly recognized by the general public. George Walker was a black American composer who created music with a unique sound. His 1959 "Address for Orchestra" was his first symphonic work. And it's a corker.
George Crumb was another outlier. He created his own form of music, one with a logical internal structure. He then notated it, creating graphic works of great beauty. These sonic sculptures sound like nobody else.
"A Haunted Landscape" was written for the New York Philharmonic in 1984. Twenty percussionists augment the orchestra. It's pure Crumb, but not what most orchestra audiences would expect.
Silvestre Revueltas was one of the most innovative composers in 1930s Mexico. Revueltas anticipated many of the postwar trends in music. He combined folk music with modernism. His music influenced an entire generation of Latino composers. Yet he's hardly known here in the States.
"La Coronela Ballet" was his final work before his death at age 41. The work is a dizzying melange of styles. Tempos shift in split seconds. Volume also changes abruptly, almost as if we're listening to a remixed tape. But we're not.
Robert Trevino leads the Basque National Orchestra in some impressive performances. For the orchestral musician, Crumb's music can seem counter-intuitive. And Crumb's notation requires study and attention to read properly. The orchestra performs with authority, letting the music expand outwards into soft-focus soundscapes.
Revuelta's ballet also has some serious ensemble challenges. The sudden changes need an orchestra that can play together with laser-like precision. And they do. Heartily recommended.
American Opus: Americascapes 2
George Walker, George Crumb, Silvestre Revueltas
Basque National Orchestra; Robert Trevino, conductor
Ondine ODE 1445-2