Benjamin Alard Happily Performs Bach

Benjamin Alard's chronological traversal of Bach's harpsichord music continues. Volume 9 features music written while Johann Sebastian Bach was in Köthen. This album is subtitled "Köthen, 1717-1723 - The Happy Years." And rightly so. 

Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, was a keen musician and appreciated Bach's talents. Bach was Leopold's Kapellmeister and could give his musical creativity free reign. This album features some of those efforts, including the English Suites and the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major.

Alard plays a 1740 triple-manual harpsichord made by Hieronymus Albrecht Hass. The instrument has five sets of strings and six registers. This allows Alard a great deal of expressive leeway.  The instrument can deliver dramatic changes in volume. Different registers have different timbres, providing contrast for contrapuntal passages.

And the recorded sound of the instrument is remarkably clean. There's no rattling of loose parts, no clack of keys. Just the sound of the plucked string. That pure sound is ideal for Alard's masterful playing. 

His technique seems flawless. And his choice of string and register combinations elevate these performances to a different plane. The music is as expressive as if played on a piano -- only in a more style-appropriate manner. 

A solid addition to this excellent series. 

Johann Sebastian Bach: The Complete Works for Keyboard, Vol. 9
Köthen, 1717-1723 - The Happy Years
Benjamin Alard, harpsichord
Marc Mauillon, baritone
Sien Huybrechts, flauto traverso; Anne Pekkala & Paul Monteiro, violinss; Samantha Montgomery, viola; Ronan Kernoa, bass violin
Harmonia Mundi HMM 902472.73
2 CD set

Arnold Rosner Orchestral Music Uniquely Powerful

Arnold Rosner is one of my favorite composers. I am thrilled that Toccata Classics has issued a fourth volume of his orchestral music. Here's to many more!

Rosner was a unique talent. His style combined Romantic Era lyricism with Medieval and Renaissance harmonies. His music seems to come from an alternate reality. One where the Baroque never happened.

The works in this release share a similar character. They have a powerful sound that seems timeless. Of special interest is Variations on a Theme by Frank Martin. Rosner admired Martin, another composer who created his own style. Martin's music is very much suited to Rosner's. The work sounds like a collaboration between the two. 

Rosner didn't totally ignore the Baroque period. He borrowed some forms from the era, albeit to rework them. The Concerto Grosso No. 2 is one such work. Here Rosner alternates ripieno tuttis with various melodic fragments. The fragments develop and coalesce in unexpected ways.  

A My Lai Elegy is Rosner at his best. His anger toward this massacre is palpable. And that anger fuels this composition. The work has some tutti outbursts that almost overwhelm the listener. Rosner's harmonies have a raw power to them. Here they unleash a fury of sound.      

The London Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Nick Palmer delivers committed performances. Rosner's music benefits from its powerful ensemble sound. And their ability to drop from fff to ppp in a heartbeat.   

All the works on this release are world premiere recordings. Arnold Rosner was a true individual. But one whose works can be readily enjoyed on first hearing. His music connects. It just needs an audience to connect to. Recordings like this help. 

Arnold Rosner: Orchestral Music, Volume Four
London Philharmonic Orchestra; Nick Palmer, conductor
Toccata Classics, TOPCC 0710

Charles Villiers Stanford: Irish Song Cycles Return to Roots

I've often described Charles Villiers Stanford's music as Brahms with an Irish lilt. Stanford's Irish roots were never far from his musical inspiration. In this collection, those roots are front and center.

Stanford incorporates Irish melodic turns and harmonies into his songs. "Cushendall," from 1910 sets the poems of Ulster poet John Stevenson.  

"A Fire of Turf" comes from a collection by Winifred Letts. Letts was inspired by the Celtic Revival of the early 1900s. Stanford's music reinforces their cultural identity. 

"A Sheaf of Songs from Leinster" comes from that same collection. Rather than creating a song cycle, Stanford presents a series of stand-alone vignettes.

Stanford is often characterized as a stuffy Victorian, which is a little unfair. His "Blarney Ballads" of the 1890s are satirical songs. The broad humor shows another side of Stanford's personality. 

Also included are two songs from his opera "Shamus O'Brien." Stanford wanted to be known as an opera composer but without success.

Sharon Carty and Benjamin Russell give some fine performances. The "Irishness" of these songs varies from work to work. Carty and Russell hit just the right tone time after time. Russell's singing of the "Blarney Ballads," for example, borders on caricature. But his delivery of "A Fire of Turf" is effective and sincere.

A fine addition to Somm's survey of Stanford's music.

Charles Villiers Stanford: Cushendall
Irish Song Cycles
Sharon Carty mezzo-soprano; Benjamin Russell, baritone; Finghin Collins, piano
Somm Recordings SOMMCD 0681

#ClassicsaDay #BlackHistoryMonth Week 3, 2024

Classical music originated in Western Europe, but it's not exclusive to dead, white European males. The challenge for February is to post videos of classical music either written or performed by musicians of color. 

There's a lot to choose from. I decided to focus on composers, but there are plenty of conductors and performers going back farther than you might think. Here are my posts for the third week of #BlackHistoryMonth 

02/19/24 Julia Perry: Prelude for Piano

Perry won two Guggenheim Fellowships and studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. She was on the faculty of Florida A&M University, a historically black land-grant university.

 

02/20/24 James Lee III: Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Orchestra

Lee studied with William Bolcom and Bright Sheng. He's currently on the faculty of Morgan State University. His Snfonia Concertante was written in 2017.

 

02/21/24 Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Sonata for Two Violins

Bologne was a virtuoso violinist as well as a composer. In the 1790s he was one of the most famous -- and popular -- musicians in Paris. 

02/22/24 Edmond Dédé: Two pieces for Piano

Dédé was a child prodigy. But as a free-born Creole in the antebellum South, opportunities were non-existent. He moved to France and became an important composer and opera conductor.

 

02/23/24 William Grant Still: Wood Notes

Still was a ground-breaking artist. He was the first Black to: conduct a major orchestra; have an opera performed on national TV; have a symphony played by a major orchestra; and have an opera performed by a major opera company.

 

Chromosphere Explores Woodwind Orchestra's Potential

Let's be clear. A woodwind orchestra isn't a regular orchestra with the strings and brass removed. The Czech Philharmonic Wind Ensemble has 18 players. This lineup includes four sax players -- a rarity in a standard orchestra.

It's definitely a contemporary grouping of instruments. And this release presents grouping of contemporary British composers.

Judith Bingham is the most prominent of this group. Her work "Mozart's Pets" premiered in 2021. It's a lighthearted blend of instruments depicting animals with Mozart's music.

"Domes" by Kamran Ince is an entirely different kind of music. The work was originally written for orchestra in 1993. Ince reworked it for woodwind orchestra in 2022. He creates long, flowing lines with wavering dissonances. It's somber, ethereal, and thought-provoking.

The works by Keiron Anderson, Charlotte Harding, and Christopher Hussey are of similar quality. This isn't high school band music. These compositions use instrumental combinations in effective and imaginative ways.

These works are written at a level of complexity that engages the listener. And rewards multiple listening.  

Chromosphere: Symphonic Colors of the Woodwind Orchestra
Czech Philharmonic Wind Ensemble
Divine Art DDX 21117