Ramble with Waterfall

Grant Chu Covell

[December 2024.]

“Classics of American Romanticism.” George Frederick BRISTOW: Symphony No. 4, “Arcadian” (1872). William Henry FRY: Niagara Symphony (1854). The Orchestra Now, Leon Botstein (cond.). Bridge Records 9572 (1 CD) (www.bridgerecords.com).

Bristow and Fry are among America’s first symphonists. Bristow (1825-98) was a violinist in what eventually became the New York Philharmonic, except for a time in the mid-1850s when he resigned his seat to protest the ensemble’s disinterest in homegrown repertoire. The Arcadian symphony was pieced together from a pre-existing cantata, “The Pioneer,” and the NY Philharmonic Orchestra premiered it in 1874. The movement titles “Emigrants’ Journey Across the Plains,” “Halt on the Prairie,” and “Indian War Dance and Attack by Indians” reflect the original context. Bristow’s music is hard to place, with moments suggesting Liszt or early Wagner.

A later Bristow symphony was titled Niagara, but Fry (1813-54) got there first. Trained in Philadelphia, Fry’s opera Leonora was produced in 1845 before he worked as a journalist in Europe where he met Berlioz and others. He returned to the US in 1852. His “symphonies” are more along the lines of tone poems, even if he exhorted his countrymen to give American music its due. The work conveys the majesty and power of the falls through lavish orchestration (eleven timpani plus an extended brass section) and unexpected harmony, ending unexpectedly on an unresolved chord.

Conrado DEL CAMPO: String Quartet No. 8 in E major, “On the death of the composer’s mother” (1913)¹; Intermezzo-Scherzo on the surname Mi-la-nes (1941)²; String Quartet No. 9 in D major, “Apasionado” (1942)³. Quatuor Diotima: Yun-Peng Zhao^1,2,3, Léo Marillier^1,2,3 (vln), Franck Chevalier^1,2,3 (vla), Alexis Descharmes^1,3, Pierre Morlet² (vlc). Marchvivo MV011 (2 CD) (www.march.es).

Imagine if Puccini or Richard Strauss had been a proficient creator of quartets and you may come close to del Campo (1878-1953). Del Campo played viola with the Cuarteto Francés and produced slightly more than 14 numbered quartets across his lifetime (No. 7 exists in two versions). He was a professor at the Madrid Conservatory, and a principal conductor of the Madrid Symphony Orchestra (1946-50). We’d have to characterize del Campo as conservative and tonal, not just because he thrived in Spain during the Franco era. Del Campo’s quartets can be divided into two distinct phases: Nos. 1 to 8 were completed between 1903-13, and Nos. 9 to 14 date from 1942-52.

Lasting more than three-quarters of an hour, No. 8 is intensely Romantic. Del Campo writes lushly, his insider experiences unlocking the technique for thick textures. No. 8 is pervaded by melancholy and reflections upon earlier (better?) times. The quartet’s emotional center is the third movement which memorializes the composer’s mother. The brief and sweet Intermezzo-Scherzo is a thank you note to John Milanes, the British consul in Madrid who helped extricate Del Campo’s son from jail. The three-decade jump between the Eighth and Ninth quartets is nearly imperceptible, though the later work is more condensed and intense. The scherzo’s lurching violin theme is catchy. Perhaps Bruckner would have found affinity with del Campo.

David JOHNSON: 12 Preludes and Fugues (1992-95). Christopher Guild (pno). Divine Art DDX 21124 (1 CD) (www.divineartrecords.com).

Johnson might not have envisioned his goal at the outset, although his collection eventually became unified through a recurring four-note motif, B-flat, B, E and A, which spells (in German notation), BHEA. “Bhea” approximates the Scots Gaelic word “beatha” or “bheatha” suggesting “life.” Johnson transposes and extends these four pitches to create a 12-note thematic row and key map for his preludes and fugues.

Johnson’s language is predominantly tonal, but with free dissonance and polytonality. In addition to the BHEA theme, Johnson incorporates Scottish tunes, rhythms and inflections, such as the bagpipe’s Mixolydian mode (major scale with lowered seventh). The series makes full use of the keyboard, and here and there a familiar melody (or part of one) might jump out if unusually harmonized.

Compared to another collection heard recently, Christopher Brown’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, Johnson’s pieces are generally terser, more varied and yield more surprises. The continually disguised BHEA unifies the entirety. Johnson employs his expertise as a scholar of 18th-century Scottish music, but unlike Brown, Johnson is never stuffy or academic.

“Weinberg: String Quartets, Vol. 4.” Mieczysław WEINBERG: String Quartet No. 6, Op. 35 (1946); String Quartet No. 13, Op. 118 (1977); String Quartet No. 15, Op. 124 (1979). Arcadia Quartet: Ana Török, Răsvan Dumitru (vln), Traian Boală (vla), Zsolt Török (vlc). Chandos CHAN 20281 (1 CD) (www.chandos.net).

Honestly, I have appreciated but have not understood all the fuss about Weinberg. I am awed by his two escapes from the Nazis: In 1939 he fled from Warsaw to Minsk, and again in 1941 from Minsk to Tashkent. He eventually landed in Moscow, in 1943, where he stayed the rest of his life (until 1996). I listen to Weinberg’s music and I am reminded of so many Soviets who couldn’t untangle themselves from Shostakovich’s influence. However, Shostakovich was a close friend to Weinberg, and it’s unfair to constrain Weinberg to Shostakovich’s shadow. In the early 1940s, Weinberg was clearly the more advanced string quartet composer, but all he got for his Sixth quartet was to be labelled a formalist and consequently his career suffered. The later quartets (Nos. 13 and following) appeared in a burst. No. 13 is in a single movement and No. 15 has nine movements. Both are inscrutable. Ironic bits and japes at traditional tonality echo Schnittke’s enduring attitude. But despite the workmanship, these aren’t particularly memorable (except for the mood) or musical. Of course, Ives tells us that music has nothing to do with sound, so perhaps Weinberg is tapping into something deeper, eschewing beauty and tunefulness.

“Cage².” John CAGE: Mysterious Adventure (1945); The Unavailable Memory of (1944); Primitive (1942); In the Name of the Holocaust (1942); The Perilous Night (1944); Root of an Unfocus (1944); Daughters of the Lonesome Isle (1945); A Valentine Out of Season (1944); Tossed as it is Untroubled (1944); Bacchanale (1940); Our Spring Will Come (1943); And the Earth Shall Bear Again (1942). Bertrand Chamayou (pno). Erato 2173227516 (1 CD) (www.warnerclassics.com).

Who would believe that Cage’s prepared piano sounds have been around for more than 80 years! This recording documents a program which Chamayou developed in partnership with dancer / choreographer Élodie Sicard. Most of these pieces were written to accompany dance – many were written for Merce Cunningham. Chamayou uses four pianos, each prepared differently which enables variety when most of these pieces employ a tight pitch gamut and motivic repetition. Chamayou performs crisply and the recording captures all their exoticism.

With their unexpected and gently disfigured sounds, prepared pianos can still surprise. Cage’s music is more percussive than traditionally expressive (but isn’t that always the case with Cage?). Without the precisely placed bolts and scraps, neutral pitches stew in simple harmonies. Collected into a program, the twelve pieces’ titles grow overtly suggestive, perhaps indicating the stress at the end of Cage’s marriage with Xenia Kashevaroff and the start of his relationship with Cunningham. Or maybe these titles reflect the first half of the 1940s.