April 13, 2015

  • Boston Romantics: The First Generation of American Composers

     

    American Romantics: The Boston Scene
    Artem Belogurov, Chickering Piano 1873
    Piano Classics PCL 0080
    Total Time:  69:56
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    American music tends to get short shrift when it comes to the many composers who were carving out a more “serious” voice at the end of the 19th and dawn of the 20th Century.  Composers like John Knowles Paine, Horatio Parker, George Whitfield Chadwick, and Amy Beach came from the same Germanic training that many of their European counterparts undertook as well.  The problem was that by the 1920s, composers were tending to head to Paris, many studying with Nadia Boulanger, and thus these “older” styles were quickly abandoned for the jazzier modernism that would soon proliferate.  But, with the improvements of manufacturing, the piano would become an important instrument in the New World indelibly changing the landscape for both professional musicians and those many parlors where they would also find a home.  Coupled with a burgeoning demand for sheet music, it is no wonder then that many piano works found their way into these homes where the trained musician, or dedicated amateur, would have a great deal to choose from.  The present release explores some of these romantic miniatures inherited from the traditions of Schumann, Mendelssohn, and the more contemporary Brahms, in this well-chosen program of pieces by New England composers.

    The CD opens with Arthur Foote’s (1853-1937) Suite No. 1 in d, Op. 15 (1886).  This is a four-movement work that does what many American works strove to do: stand equal to Europe.  Foote demonstrates his interest in the Baroque period and compositional mastery with an opening Prelude followed by a three-part fugue, though with very romantic period tendencies.  A “Romance” follows with a gentle lyrical idea and the final “Capriccio” slowly grows into a bit of a showpiece in its final bars.

    Arthur Whiting (1861-1936) is perhaps the least familiar composer on the disc.  He composed a great number of songs and piano pieces and was a student of Chadwick and Joseph Rheinberger.  This set of four Bagatelles was first published in 1895.  One can perhaps hear some of the influences of Chopin most in the beautiful “Idyll”.  Each is a wonderful miniature in its own right.

    Of the composers who are represented here, John Knowles Paine (1839-1906) is undoubtedly one of the first who gained some critical acclaim and wrote arguably the first large-scale American work with his Mass in D.  This contemporary of the more flamboyant Gottschalk, would become the first professor of music at Harvard indelibly shaping American compositional heritage well into the 20th Century.  Belogurov has chosen several selections from Paine’s popular collection In the Country, Op. 26 from 1876 and to prove again the capability of such composers the “Fuga Giocosa” from the composer’s Three Piano Pieces, Op. 41.  The “Woodnotes” movement is a wonderfully evocative beginning to the country selection revealing a tad more Liszt-like piano style.  “The Shepherd’s Lament” though does have a more Brahms-like feel with a touch of Schubert (“The Mill”, “Welcome Home”) perhaps which is of course the period’s musical sound overall generally, though it is still distinctly different.

    Two of Chadwick’s (1854-1931) Five Pieces, published in 1905, represent this composer whose ability for light and colorful effects translates well in the “Dans le canot”, which one might hear more as an Impressionistic piece well within Romantic harmonic language and style; and there is also the more humorous “Les grenouilles” with its jumping frogs.  It is worth noting the French titles in use here signifying the shift already towards more French models and may find some parallels in Chabrier’s piano work.

    Ethelbert Nevin (1862-1901) may be considered more of a genteel composer who preferred a more Chopin-esque compositional style.  He was among the important musical circle of Hans von Bulow and would be a touring pianist while also teaching in Boston and Europe.  Many of his little piano pieces were best sellers.  Among them in its day is the fourth movement of his Water Scenes, Op. 13, “Narcissus”—perhaps one of the most familiar works of his or the period.  This collection is a very delightful and important example of Nevin’s music across the picturesque five movements of the set each with a water connection that might find parallels with Realism.

    Among the people Nevin studied with was B.J. Lang who was the father of the composer whose work closes this delightful program, Margaret Ruthven Lang (1867-1972).  The young Margaret had the distinction of sitting on Richard Wagner’s lap once upon her family’s visit to Bayreuth, her father being an ardent lover of the composer’s music.  She owns the distinction of being the first woman composer to have her work performed in concert (Boston 1893!).  Her composing career though ended when her father died in 1909 and she would instead turn to writing religious tracts, though maintained a BSO subscription until her death (holding the record for longest subscription).  Unfortunately, she also decided to destroy a great deal of her orchestral music .  As one might suspect, her Rhapsody in e, Op. 21 is a work filled with the harmonic language of Wagner and Brahms with an equally Lisztian conclusion.  A great Delos disc of her music is also worth tracking down.

    Piano Classics likes to highlight the instruments used in its recordings as much as the repertoire.  In this case, Belogurov is using a period Chickering piano built in 1873.  The instrument is at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Charlestown, Massachusetts, where the recording was also made.  It was restored a few years ago.  One might wonder too if some of the composers represented here might have visited this landmark church in their own lifetimes.  The sound of the instrument is striking at first, but one soon warms to it within a few minutes.  This is a very engaging program well-performed by Artem Belogurov who manages to take on these different styles well without trying to make them seem “like” European masters, or like one another.  The result is that the character of this music really shines well in an excellent program highly worth the time of American music fans.