'I believe thoroughly
in the dignity and worth of American
folk music', thus John Powell.
Powell remains a controversial
figure. The issue is not with his music
but his world view. He was an advocate
of eugenics and was one of the instigators
of the Anglo-Saxon Club of America dedicated
to 'maintaining the quality and purpose
of the Anglo-Saxon race.'
His 1919 Sonata
Virginiaesque for violin and piano
harks back to plantation negro days,
picturesque and idealised from reality.
Outside music his main interest was
astronomy. He had no time for jazz.
His collection of Virginia
folk tunes is reflected in the orchestral
overture In Old Virginia (1921),
Natchez on the Hill (1931) and
A Set of Three. Moiseiwitsch
introduced his hour long Sonata Teutonica
to London in 1914. It has been recorded
in a cut-down version by Roy Hamlin
Johnson on Folkways.
The melodic material
of this Brucknerian-length Symphony
is founded on Powell's field trips in
the Virginia countryside during the
1930s. During these he collected tunes
that date back well before the first
Queen Elizabeth. These give a faintly
'olde worlde' feel even if they are
cocooned in grand orchestrational technique.
The style is sometimes Tchaikovskian,
as in the first movement, and at others
neo-classical à la Moeran Serenade
or Sinfonietta. This is not
the transcendental folksiness of Copland;
it is much more English. The second
movement has some magical haunting touches
as in the cloaked sighing sentiment
of 3.23. This music evinces a sweetness
and emotional responsiveness; not a
clod of atonality. There are some superb
pianissimi such as that concluding the
15 minute adagio. This is an amiable
and cheery work ending in a celebration
of familiarly packaged late-romantic
gestures.
The Carmen Dragon arrangement
drips with stardust-harp decoration
and baritonally well-heeled string tone;
tender though.
This introduces us
to a shadowy figure in U.S. musical
annals. The music is not compelling
but it is a curious and amiable experience
for those prepared to accept that those
with views we may find odious are capable
of writing music that provides a pleasing
distraction.
Rob Barnett
Virginia Symphony/JoAnn Falletta