Ineffable Tales: The Music of John Alan Rose

John Alan Rose, piano. Jung Won Choi, cello. Moni Semeonov, violin.
Sing Rose, soprano. Tyler Bunch, narrator.
Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra/Miran Vaupotic

Navona Records 6157
Total Time:  74:26
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

In this new Navona release, composer John Alan Rose’s music for soloists with orchestra is highlighted.  The Ohio-based composer explores here music inspired from Tolkein, folk and Native American music, and theater across these four works that have an undercurrent theme of time past, present and future.  Rose is also a pianist and performed the opening concerto with the Moravian Orchestra in November 2015.  The recordings also were completed during that time.

The piano concerto is cast in a traditional three-movement structure and is informed by connections and inspirations Rose had while reading The Hobbit, hence the subtitle, “Tolkien Tale.”  Though not specifically based on the novel, the music takes on the concepts of the hero’s quest and the various obstacles and battles faced along the way.  At its center is a “Lullaby” written at the birth of his daughter.  The first movement opens with a splash of Romantic-Impressionistic color and a slight motif that soon becomes dark and slightly more turbulent.  Sometimes the harmonies have an almost modernistic quality (a la Bartok, or Neo-Classical Prokofiev) as well as this somewhat episodic opening movement takes us along “Setting Out on a Great Adventure.”  The result is a movement that has an almost cinematic quality reminiscent of those mid-century film piano concertos with folk-like hints in its pentatonic melodies.  A celesta opens the lyrical, and touching little central movement.  Here are some rather delightful moments for orchestral wind solos that further explores Rose’s orchestral handling.  The piano takes an almost recessed roll here often joining these melodic threads.  The final movement is a “March” that bursts with a swath of Prokofiev-like dissonance before the piano and orchestral style returns to a Bartokian modernism.  It is a fascinating blend of musical style amidst that move between the stark harmonic areas and burst of colorful romantic gestures.  The music moves away from this march-like feel in its more dramatic central section.  The finale moves to a sense of joy and celebration, and even a little Gershwin.  In some respects, Rose’s style is most reminiscent of the amalgam of John Alden Carpenter’s orchestral music in its blend of 20^th-Century style and musical language.  Overall, a rather fascinating work that draws the listener in and receives a committed performance from the orchestra.

“Old Father Time” is a single-movement work for cello and orchestra.  The idea here is based on this flow of birth to death and the way time, and musical ideas as well, evolve.  The beautiful Korean folksong “Arirang” is referenced at the work’s climax.  Rose proves here as well that he is an apt colorist and dramatic composer who uses thematic and motivic transformation to move through a variety of musical scenarios that alternate between larger orchestral swaths of sound, and even quite intimate interaction between soloist and orchestra.  There are some truly achingly-beautiful harmonic arrivals in this work that strike the listener are Rose invites them on this walk through time.  An early waltz-like moment is quite exquisite.  The writing explores both the rich depth of the cello’s sound as well as plenty of fine virtuosic moments to display technique.  These are handled excellently by JungWon Choi.  The music overall is in a welcome Neo-Romantic mode.

After a long solo violin intro, 25,000 Years of Time shifts into a tango-like dance between another fine soloist (Moni Simeonov) and orchestra.  More unique here is the incorporation of Native American musical material though in this rather intriguing blend of melody that incorporates slightly bent pitches.  Rose’s view here is along a romantic thread as well creating often magical interludes between the various ideas woven together.  The violin solo explores these melodies with a variety of virtuosic gestures that alternate with some full, lyrical orchestral writing in the early parts of the work.  Rose intends this work as an homage to Native peoples incorporating their various melodies, rhythms, and lifestyle into a work that seems to lay these ideas bare in a more cinematic way.  They feel less transformed here from their sources which may make the work feel stranger at times with tropes that can feel all too familiar.  But somehow the piece holds together with a good finale.

The final work is in some ways a more amusing little work for narrator, soloist, and orchestra.  The composer’s wife, soprano Sing Rose, is the soloist here.  Ticket to the Theater is intended as a sort of condensed dramatic work where the orchestra must take on more responsibility.  The narrator begins with the assumption that we are in for a full cast ready to go, but that turns out not to be the case.  The multi-movement work explores aspects of comedy and tragedy in music that is best perhaps described as “eclectic”.  The narrator explains what might have been and the story has as many faux “improvised” moments written into the orchestral accompaniment.  Rose’s orchestral writing shines a bit more as it becomes itself more virtuosic for the ensemble as well.  The piece is certainly unusual and more contemporary in style as it shifts gears quickly.  There are some equally beautiful moments here as earlier with plenty of more macabre segments as well.  Sing Rose is taken through some paces here as well having to shift from lyric lines that really highlight her fine tone, to more angular lines—a sort of mash of Broadway and contemporary opera all in one.

Ineffable Tales is a full album of very engaging orchestral music.  Any of the works here should stand up to repeated listening, at least in the instrumental concertos.  The orchestra is fine here throughout with a recorded sound that is quite immediate and allows good attention to detail.

 Mozart/Beethoven: Violin & Cello Duos

Boris Abramov, violin. Carmine Miranda, cello.
Navona Records 6118
Total Time:  77:32
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

With a fine Schumann/Dvorak release, and as one of the youngest cellists to record the Bach suites, Carmine Miranda turns to the music of Mozart and Beethoven for this new Navona release.  Lest one think that some new musicological discoveries have been unearthed, this release of duos are arrangements for violin and cello.  Boris Abramov is the violinist here.  He is currently on the faculty of Columbus State University.

Perhaps at first glance one might balk at the “rewriting” of Mozart or Beethoven.  It was not uncommon into the latter 18^th Century for chamber music to be available for different combinations of instruments, but the practice that had been “normal” through the previous 200 years was beginning to change as composers focused on exploring the capabilities of the improving instruments and virtuosi of the time.  In Mozart’s case, the String Duos, K. 423/4 (1783) were dashed off for the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg.  They were included in a set by Michael Haydn to see whether or not the Archbishop could detect any difference.  Michael Haydn’s music, as adept as his more famous brother, maintains a classical poise and tends to be more cautious.  Mozart’s duos, originally for violin and viola, are mostly “safe” structurally, but brought the two instruments more closely to an even footing.  One can also hear in the opening allegro of K. 423 the somewhat Baroque-like counterpoint that Mozart tended to blend into the more typical phraseology and structure of developing Classical style.  The slow movements are likely where one gets a better glimpse of the melodic and lyrical beauty of Mozart with the outer movements providing some flashes of wit.  The central slow movement of K. 424 has some quite exquisite harmonic turns that one finds in the quartets.

Though the rich quality of the viola is one of the interesting components of these duos, the shift to cello will likely fluster purists.  It is certainly aided by Miranda’s excellent lyrical playing here in the upper register.  Abramov also has a fine command of this music.  The performances work rather well with those slow movements really be the highlight of this recording.

Beethoven wrote three duos for clarinet and bassoon (WoO 27)which were published in 1815, but more likely written earlier.  The composer had hoped to study with Mozart but the latter died before that occurred and so had to work from whatever published music was available to him.  At least one of the duos bears a key similarity.  While in terms of register, the shift to strings here is not a big leap, but here is more a case where the original lets us here Beethoven seeing what the clarinet can do and we might even be so bold to think he was interested in these particular wind colors for a reason.  That said, these arrangements allow us to hear this music in this new light.  We can glimpse some of the possible similarities between what Beethoven was trying to “copy” in terms of counterpoint and line.  The arrangement has been filled in a bit to allow for some double stops and string-specific effects that help with the shift to the strings here.  Both performers feel very comfortable here in this music with the interactions making the music even more enjoyable.  This comes through quite well in the final rondeau of the C-Major Duo.  The ”aria” slow movement for the F-Major duo is also quite beautiful.

The balance here is excellent.  Sometimes the cello line might be a bit too much bass, but this is easily remedied and more an issue of taste.  It is most noticeable in the Mozart, and nonexistent in the Beethoven.  The album notes that these are performances made without edit.  This is equally impressive as it gives the listener a chance to hear essentially a “live” concert without the extraneous noise.  But more importantly, it allows us to hear the longer shape of these pieces unfold in real time.  The result is that the architectural shape of the music is clear and the repeated sections have that sense of just slight variation that comes in live performance in a good way.