Many film music fans will recognize John Morgan from his extensive reconstruction work on a variety of classic film scores recorded with William Stromberg and the Moscow Symphony.  This new collection of music features selections from several of his scores for short films and audioplays.  As one might suspect, Morgan’s affinity for classic film music spills over into his own musical language.
The album opens with music from the 2004 critically acclaimed short film, The Visage.  This is a little creepy score with gothic romantic music that comes to the forefront in its dark main title.  As the score progresses, it is most reminiscent of a classic Herrmann score with its dark orchestral textures that swirl around Morgan’s theme.  Anna Bonn Stromberg contributed a brief noir-ish “Saxophone Source Piece” and William Stromberg provided some additional music as well.  With the Moscow Symphony at their disposal, the sound of the score is quite marvelous bringing out the rich, dark colors of Morgan’s score.  Towards the end of the score a series of linked cues (“Pesky Corpse-Unrest-Harmonic”) give the listener a chance to hear some of the different orchestral techniques that Morgan uses to blend theme with even creepier musical styles to add tension.  It makes for a fine introduction to this release.

At the center of the release are selections from an anthology film and a radio play.  First is a suite from The Headless Horseman of Halloween (1996) which is sort of variant on the classic Irving story.  The music here incorporates the Dies irae chant as well as some additionally Hermann-esque stylings and delicate flute and oboe writing.  Here too the orchestral writing is stunning.  The Trials of Mrs. Surratt (c. 1982) is from an audio play about the first woman tried through a military tribunal and executed for her part in Lincoln’s assassination.  Some fourteen minutes or so of score appear here.  Scored for brass and winds, it has a rather wistful Americana feel at times, with a beautiful opening trumpet theme.  As it plays out, is feels like a long-lost Twilight Zone episode score.  It is framed by a larger suite from the anthology film series for the episode “The Eggs”.  The music here has been arranged into a longer concert work for chamber orchestra.  It has a rather quirky feel part Herrmann, part Elfman, with nice wit in its orchestral hits and overall thematic development.  The wind writing here is really a highlight.  It is reminiscent of The Trouble With Harry.

Closing off the album is music from the The Medal (1992).  Directed by Andrew DeCristofaro (an Oscar-nominated sound editor), the story follows a man who reflects back on a military medal he received as a youth and it becomes a symbol for him to carry on after his wife’s death.  The film has a nostalgic and sentimental quality that comes across in Morgan’s beautiful score using a reduced chamber-size orchestra.  “Graveyard” features a heart-melting thematic idea to open this often moving score with a truly inspiring “Finale”.

Morgan’s own style is an extension of the vintage film music he lovingly reconstructs.  Gorgeous orchestral writing, a nod to Herrmann here and there, and engaging themes all make this release a delightful discovery.  The release is available through the BuySoundtrax.com website.

For the Peace of Cities: Works for Orchestra
, violins. Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra/Paul Nadler
Hamilton-Fairfield Symphony Orchestra/Paul John Stanbery
Rutgers Wind Ensemble/William Berz
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra/Antoni Wit
Philadelphia Orchestra/Christoph Eschenbach
Ravello Records 8015
Total Time: 67:34
Recording:   (*)***/****
Performance: (*)***/****

Composer Philip Koplow (1943-2018) created music that connected with his own call for social justice and how the arts can help us deal with painful issues faced by society.  In Ravello’s new release, For the Peace of Cities, two of his works provide listeners with a sample of his orchestral writing.  They are paired with three additional pieces that connect thematically with music that reflects on the horrors f war.

The album begins with two pieces by Koplow.  For the Peace of Cities (1998) was composed for the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra who performs it here from a recording made in 1999.  The piece is a reflection on the Dayton Accords that helped bring an end to the Bosnian War.  Koplow incorporates folk melodies, including a tune connected to Sarajevo.  A folk dance also is incorporated.  Moments of beauty are often overcome by brutal, dissonant clashes.  Touching scoring also helps connect the listener emotionally in the more traditional harmonic sections.  Two violins provide a sort of commentary and guide through the intriguing orchestral textures Koplow creates.  The second work of Koplow’s on the album was originally a piece for cello and piano, How Sweet the Sound.  As the title suggests, the music is informed by quotations of the hymn Amazing Grace whose motives rise up out of the orchestra in beautiful ways.  It is a more Americana style of writing that informs this piece, with some very Copland-esque writing.  The Hamilton-Fairfield Symphony was commissioned to also honor one of the orchestra’s late benefactors.  Ravello presents the world premiere performance recorded in 2001 and overall a good performance of a piece that seems to connect well with the orchestra.

The remaining works on the release are licensed from Naxos and have appeared on their releases.  Two of these are perhaps most familiar.  Karl Husa’s Music for Prague 1968 (1968) was commissioned by Ithaca College and explores the Soviet Union’s crushing of the Prague Spring movement in Czechoslavakia.  Husa’s work has fascinating moments where Morse code is woven into the music and one can discern other musical folk references used in the material of the work.  The second movement “Aria” is an intense, and often visceral work while the “Interlude” is an exploration of color and subtlety.  The work concludes with a final brilliant toccata and chorale.  The work is a classic of wind band literature and is filled with excellent descriptive writing handled well here by the Rutgers players.  Also included is Penderecki’s moving Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima (1960).  It is an intense work of tone clusters that tries to grasp the horrors of this first use of atomics.

Perhaps the bigger surprise on the album is a rarer work by Martinu.  Pamatnik Lidicim, H. 296 (1943) was one of the first works to address the Nazi massacres in the city of Lidice in 1942.  Composed the same year as his second symphony and second violin concerto, it is an intriguing tone poem with Martinu exploring two key centers that form the musical depiction of the struggle and horror.  He also uses quotation of a hymn by St. Wenceslas and a moment of hope in the use of the motive from Beethoven’s fifth symphony.

The album is a great introduction to Koplow’s music but also works well as a concept album.  The other pieces are all important works in their respective composer’s catalogs with the Martinu being a great surprise that might have been overlooked.