May 13, 2014

  • American Music from Seattle!

     

    Ives: Symphony No. 2; Carter: Instances; Gershwin: An American in Paris
    Seattle Symphony/Ludovic Morlot
    Seattle Symphony Media 1001
    Total Time:  78:29
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    For his third release with the Seattle Symphony, Ludovic Morlot has chosen three very different works by quite divergent American composers.  The choices are a mark for the sort of unique programming the orchestra has always been known for, though this release may be the most diverse in their catalogue.  The primary piece of interest is Elliot Carter’s final orchestral work, Instances.  Recordings of Ives’ second symphony have appeared often with the composer’s own music.  The same could be said of Gershwin’s familiar An American in Paris.  Bringing them all together here is a rather interesting idea.  The performances are taken from the past 3 years at the orchestra’s concert performances in 2011 (Gershwin), 2012 (Ives), and 2013 (Carter).

    Charles Ives’s music is filled with the sounds of his time.  The abundance of melodies both from classical repertoire and that of American hymnody, dance tunes, and folks songs often come together to form the sort of melting pot in music that the country hoped to become.  This often results in some intense harmonic, polyharmonic, moments as Ives tended to simply place melodies into his works in the key he heard them in and thus creating a variety of dissonant harmonies.  But, his music is equally informed about structure and takes its models from the latter 19th Century (there is even a quote from Brahms’ third symphony).  The polyphonic writing, often quite dense, can also open into often striking harmonic moments.  In this work, one might say Ives was trying to move from the European influences of music to embrace the rich heritage of American music.  This constant piling of material results in some of the most nose-thumbing moments in Ives’ music, especially in the final movement.  Each movement’s primary tonal area is also a minor third apart from the previous one which is rather unusual as well.

    There are several good Ives recordings worth seeking out and which are used for some slight comparison here to give a sense of the general concept of the work by two other very different conductors: Leonard Bernstein (in a Deutsche Grammophon live recording with the New York Philharmonic in 1990); and Kenneth Schermerhorn with the Nashville symphony which used the Ives Society Critical edition of the score.

     

    Bernstein

    Schermerhorn

    Morlot

    Andante moderato

    6:16

    6:18

    5:37

    Allegro

    11:06

    13:57

    11:08

    Adagio Cantible

    11:41

    8:30

    9:13

    Lento maestoso

    3:05

    2:23

    2:05

    Allegro molto vivace

    10:05

    10:20

    10:17

    TOTAL TIME

    42:26

    41:40

     

     

    If nothing else, it is just refreshing to hear someone more removed from the discovery of Ives’ music or with a longer connection to American music specifically but working with an American orchestra.  It appears he is using the more traditional version of the score, not the critical edition.  The first movement feels a bit breezy at times, but this is offset by warm, very romantic, swaths of sound with rich playing from the strings.  Crisp articulation in the winds helps provide good contrast.  There is a really gorgeous moment for flute,  that has just the right amount of ritard before moving into the center of the movement and later helping signal its final bars.  What makes the performance work well is that the many quotations are allowed to just flow out of the general structure of the music without too much attention being called to itself placing the work in line with its 19th-Century roots better.  The melodies become important signposts that alert the listener to how life has been altered previously but the great memories of things past sometimes just bring a greater joy as this second movement grows.  Even the third movement “Adagio” has moments that are so strikingly beautiful and there almost Mahlerian weight and style, though perhaps crossed more with Dvorak/Chadwick, are handled with great attention to detail and lyrical expression, itself some of the composer’s most passionate music.  The fourth, brief moment, is rather a longer transition into the final exciting finale but it still teases as it comes to a somewhat quiet close.  One has almost forgotten how we have not really heard many tune quotes until the final movement begins and we are cast back in time to thoughts of the Civil War as Ives’ own nostalgia for a time gone by perhaps sneaks into the music.  The performance overall works quite well and feels very well-balanced without the sort of chaotic approach that was common when Ives’ music first gained attention.  Here is a work that is far more rooted in the sound of the final decade of the 19th Century with its own unique majesty and joy and not without a great bit of smirking at times.  Being composed between 1900-02, we can appreciate the work for its assurance and its spirit and this is captured beautifully in this performance that takes it on for the pieces many beauties letting the surprises work without too much histrionics.  The result is a captivating performance that points out the symphonies many wonderful features.  Enthusiastic applause is heard briefly after the final chord.

    Carter’s often equally dense and intense music can be hard to access at first hearing but can grow on the listener over time.  In Instances, receiving its world premiere performance on this recording, Carter focuses on a few “characters” of music and unfolds these through a variety of different sonorities or ideas that appear at that outset of the work.  There is a dense chord, a 3-note motif introduced by trumpets, a scurrying woodwind idea, and a more lyrical idea initially assigned to brass.  These elements will make up the materials for this short work.  After an intense climax, the work dies away until only a solo violin remains.  This is a rather interesting performance that still provides a rather lyrical approach to the music.  The piece in its own way might seem to almost be reflective at times and its brevity may have you hitting the repeat button to get at the work again.

    When Morlot programmed Gershwin’s An American in Paris, he did so as part of an exploration of modernism in music.  The program included Varese’s Ameriques and Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps both unique expressions of modernism (and also another example of the diverse programming).  The orchestra gets a real chance to show off its ability to move from touching lyricism to jazzier rhythmic ideas.  This is an overall warmer performance that still manages to move along quite well and is a great demonstration of what great material Morlot was working with in this recording from his second subscription performance with the orchestra.  The different sections are certainly excellently captured in this recording.

    Live recordings like this can often be geared to an orchestra’s immediate fan base recalling exhilarating moments in concert.  In this case, the release is a rather great way to get to know three very different musical voices.  It is a representation of what the Seattle Symphony has been while also demonstrating where they are headed as they move into this new relationship with director Ludovic Morlot.  Most surprising is that this varied repertoire works well here together.