November 2, 2018

  • A Step Back in Time: Romantic Piano Music by Kuhn

     

    Piano Works of Kenneth A. Kuhn
    Chiharu Naruse, piano
    Big Round Records 8954
    Total Time:  58:06
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    Pianist Chiharu Naruse explores a variety of music by Alabama composer Kenneth A. Kuhn (b. 1954) that span across the composer’s life time from early works in the 1970s to more recent compositions.  Kuhn’s music will feel anachronistic at first as he composes in the rich Romantic tradition of the 19th Century and the way this then extended into the 20th Century film or the Neo-Romantics (i.e, Howard Hanson).  The titles of the album have a connection to the American Classical tradition with their titles exploring, or suggesting, folk tunes, hymnody, or landscapes.  But there are some more formal, abstract titles as well.

    The first of these is also the opening work.  The Prelude no. 3 in g is an unabashedly romantic work with a full, lush theme that is repeated several times before moving into a slight variation with left hand arpeggios.  It brings to mind pieces like Charles William’s piano piece “The Dream of Olwen” from the late 1940’s thriller While I Live.  This stream of updated Romanticism can be heard in the Schubert-like Impromptu No. 1 in d.

    The somewhat folkish style of An Alpine Song has a simple melodic line that feels like a distant memory.  Here is the sort of romantic salon music one recalls from the 19th Century.  Beautiful melodies and traditional harmony abound here in a free-flowing piece that is episodic and tends to move to new sections through repeated sequences of motives.  In Fantasia on a Folk Tune, the simple melodic idea is presented simply with the accompaniment providing forward motion to Kuhn’s exploration of a three-note motif.  The music tends to be reflective with a good ebb and flow, though is a tad long.  The Prelude on a Hymn Tune has an almost music box quality with the higher register presentation of the thematic thread at the opening.  This idea will be treated to some slight variation with emotional shaping that moves toward the climactic chordal statement (almost like bell tones).

    The Ode to Memories (1974) has a decidedly more art music feel with more dramatic interplay in the ideas than what preceded it here.  It seems a deeply personal work with its emotional writing and intensity.  Again, melodic ideas are quite engaging here.

    The final Song of the American Frontier is another earlier work (composed in the mid-1970s).  This is a piece that could be misconstrued as a work by MacDowell.

    The collection of pieces is an engaging release that displays Kuhn’s gift for melodic writing.  The style of the writing grows out of the 19th Century Romantic and salon traditions which also allows for it to be quite accessible.  It is the sort of album one grabs for an hour of piano music that you can allow to wash over you basking in these rich harmonies and melodies.  Naruse provides committed performances here with some equally gorgeous playing.