The Extraordinary Concertos of Eduardo Grau

Two things I can count on from the Naxos label. A release of world recording premiers by a composer I've never heard of. And it's an album of music worth exploring. 

In this case, the composer is Eduardo Grau. He moved from Spain to Argentina at a young age and soon showed real musical talent. He sent his first compositions to Manuel de Falla. He encouraged Grau to pursue composition.

Which he did. Grau wrote over 200 works. He was also a musicologist, and his study of Argentinian music influenced his own work. 

I love this collection of music. Grau's compositional style was highly individualistic. It was tonal but didn't rely on harmonic relationships to provide motion. It used folk rhythms and motifs, but always as building blocks to music that went beyond folk. 

I would say Grau reminds me of Bohuslav Martinu. His music is straightforward and direct. Martinu used the rhythms of his native Czech language to propel his music. Grau does the same with his use of Argentinian folk music. 

The four works on this album are very different in character. And yet there's a common thread. The soloists aren't there to impress us with their incredible technique. Rather, Grau's music demands they connect with the audience emotionally. And in that, they all succeed. 

Are there other releases of Grau's music available? I haven't found any, but then I just started looking. 

Eduardo Grau: Concertos for Soloists and String Orchestra
Jana Jarkovská, flute; Simon Reitmaier, Clarinet; Ana María
Valderrama, violin; David Fons, Viola; Miklós Szitha, timpani; Fabio Banegas, piano
Anima Musicæ Chamber Orchestra; Francisco Varela conductor
Naxos 8l579107

The Women's Philharmonic Re-issue Well Timed

ALTO Distribution continues to do the Lord's work (in my opinion). They are cannily re-releasing titles from the defunct Koch International and MusicMasters labels. 

I say cannily because some of these releases seemed timed to perfection. Take this  Women's Philharmonic recording for example.  Koch released it back in 1992. 

At the time, it was something of a curiosity. An all-female orchestra, led by a female conductor was performing music by women. 

Today, it's an album riding the crest of a wave. There's a new-found interest in addressing the genre's gender imbalance.  

In 1992, Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor was a musical history footnote. Today it's becoming a part of the standard repertoire.

Clara Schumann was an exceptional pianist, and a skilled composer -- as many are now finding out. JoAnne Fallette leads the Philharmonic in a fiery performance. And pianist Angela Cheng delivers some dazzling solo work.

Germaine Tailleferre's Concertino for Harp and Orchestra (1927) is another delight. She shows great imagination in her use of the harp. Forget billowy arpeggios. Tailleferre has the instrument playing precise and intricately-constructed melodies (and harmonies). 

Harpist Gillian Benet has the agility to carry it off. And her playing betrays a little bit of swagger, which adds to the fun. 

JoAnne Falletta prepared three works for this album. Fanny Mendelssohn's Ouverture from 1830, and two works by Lili Boulanger.

Save for the piano concerto, these works are still seriously under-represented in recordings. So it's good to have this one back in print. And despite its age, the album's sound -- and performances -- hold up just fine.

The Women's Philharmonic
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Fanny Mendelssohn; Clara Schumann; Germaine Tailleferre; Lili Boulanger
Musical Concepts MC3111

#ClassicsaDay #Curseofthe9th Week 3

This month the Classics a Day team takes on the "Curse of the 9th." Beethoven wrote his ninth symphony and died. Since then, the Curse of the Ninth has circulated through the classical music world. Mahler sincerely believed in it. He wrote nine numbered symphonies and died. As did Bruckner, Schubert, Dvorak, and Vaughan Williams. 

But how real is the curse? The Classics a Day team challenges folks to post Symphony No. 10s by composers who followed Beethoven.

And it turns out there are quite a lot of them. 

Here are my posts for the third week of #Curseofthe9th.

10/16/23 Alexander Moyzes (1906–1984): Symphony No. 10 in C, Op. 77

This Slovak composer wrote his 9th symphony in 1971. His 10th symphony was completed seven years later. He would go on to write twelve total.

10/17/23 Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975): Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93

After completing his 9th symphony in 1943, there was speculation in the popular press about Shostakovich surviving the curse. He did. His 10th was written in 1953, and he would write a total of 15.

 

10/18/23 Henk Badings (1907–1987): Symphony No. 10

This Dutch composer completed his 9th symphony in 1961 and followed it up with his 10th a year later. Badings would write a total of 15.

 

10/19/23 Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996): Symphony No. 10, Op. 105

This Danish composer finished his 9th Symphony in 1969. He followed it up the following year with his 10th. Holbmoe would write thirteen symphonies in all.

 

10/20/23 William Schuman (1910-1992): Symphony No. 10, American Muse.

Schuman completed his 9th Symphony in 1968. His tenth, from 1976. was commissioned for the Bicentennial. He dedicated it "to the country's creative artists, past, present and future."

 

Hermitage Piano Trio's Impressive Spanish Impressions

This is the second Reference Recordings release of the Hermitage Piano Trio. And it's just as good as the first. 

This time around, the trio performs the music of Spain. Specifically, music by Spanish composers celebrating their national identity. 

The Hermitage Piano Trio doesn't fail to impress. Their performances are clean, clear, and precise. And more importantly, they're musical. They internalize the essence of Spanish music. And they deliver it with the energy and attitude it requires.

That attitude is best heard in Enrique Fernadez Arbos' "Three Spanish Dances." This 1886 work gives us a bolera, habanera, and seguidillas gitanas. If the performers were unidentified, I'd swear they were native Spaniards. 

Joaquin Turina wrote in his own style. But it was one heavily influenced by his native culture. His Piano Trio No. 2 in B minor gets a fine reading from the trio.

Gaspar Cassando's Piano Trio in C major sticks closer to Spanish roots. While Mariano Perello's "Tres Impresiones" presents them at a remove -- sort of. His impression of Albeniz does homage to the composer (and sound VERY Spanish in the process). 

Great performances impeccably recorded. What else would you expect from Reference?

Spanish Impressions
Hermitage Piano Trio
Reference Recordings

Outstanding Chamber Music from David Biedenbender

I first became aware of David Biedenbender's music this past year. I attended a Garth Newel Piano Quartet concert, and they performed his "Solstice." I was impressed. 

It was a wonderfully evocative work. Biedenbender takes the listener through the four seasons in the country. His string writing recreates the sounds of summer, and the piano the flurry of snow (to cite two examples). 

I was very excited then, to have this release cross my desk. Especially as it contained "Solstice."

The album includes a second work played by the quartet. This one includes clarinetist Mingzhe Wang. "Red Vespers"  was commissioned to celebrate the Capitol Reef National Park. It's an expansive, though thinly-textured work. And it captures the essence of absorbing the beauty of a vast landscape.

The Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble performs "Shell and Wing, " which they commissioned.  It reflects the anxiety of parents in the wake of almost continual school shootings. Who says classical music isn't relevant?

Robert Fanning provided the text for "Shell and Wing," as well as the title track. "All We Are Given We Cannot Hold" reflects on the fragility of life.

To my ears, Biedenbender's music effectively blends several elements. He writes strong melodic lines that are tonal, but free of the major/minor straightjacket. He uses the motivic energy of minimalism at times. And often the music simply hangs in space, not moving, but just existing.

I hope there are more recordings coming from this remarkable composer.

David Biedenbender: All We Are Given We Cannot Hold
Garth Newel Piano Quartet with Mingzhe Wang
Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble; Haven Trio