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Dan LOCKLAIR (b.
1949) Symphony of Seasons (Symphony no.1) (2002) [31:06] Lairs of Soundings (A Triptych for Soprano and String
Orchestra) (1982) [10:58] Phoenix and Again (An Overture for Full Orchestra)
(1982) [5:51] In Memory – H.H.L. (for String Orchestra) (2005)
[5:16]
Concerto for Harp and Orchestra (2004) [22:03]
Janeanne
Houston (soprano); Jacquelyn Bartlett (harp)
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/Kirk Trevor
rec. 11-15 September 2006, Concert Hall of the Slovak Radio, Bratislava, Slovakia.
DDD NAXOS AMERICAN
CLASSICS 8.559337 [75:14]
This is, as the liner-notes suggest, a
CD of attractive and colourful music. Though most of the
works are very recent, Locklair writes in an idiom that is
perfectly accessible to anyone who has even a quite limited
knowledge of 20th century music. His influences
are fairly easy to discern – not only Copland, but other
more international voices such as Martinů and Shostakovich
occasionally shine through. However these soon fade from
the attention, as Locklair has his own strong stylistic personality.
The Symphony of Seasons is, naturally,
in four movements, proceeding from a ceremonial opening ‘Autumn’ to
a warm and expansive ‘Summer’, via the longest movement, ‘Winter’,
and a sprightly ‘Spring’. Locklair uses some well-known melodies
along the way, notably the Lutheran chorale Nun danket
alle Gott, which is heard in ‘Autumn’, and the round Sumer
is icumen in, which duly appears in the finale.
The most striking section for me is ‘Winter’,
an extended slow movement cast in the form of a Chaconne,
that is to say variants over a repeated harmonic sequence.
Though I could probably have done without the wind machine
- especially after the summer we’ve had in the UK - I nevertheless
found this a powerfully atmospheric movement. Also striking
is the restraint with which ‘Summer’ is treated; it begins
in a magically hushed vein, with a fine, broad melody, and,
though Sumer is icumen in brings life and dance rhythms
into the music, it dies away in an atmosphere of mystery.
The earliest work on the disc is Lairs
of Soundings, a three movement piece for soprano and
strings dating from 1982. Movements 1 and 3 are settings
of parts of poems by Ursula Le Guin, and are both fraught,
nervous pieces. They are offset by a strikingly lovely
slow central section, in which the voice is wordless, the ‘text’ being
pure vowel sounds. Attractive music, though the work as
a whole seems a little short – perhaps it needs one more
movement. Janeanne Houston is the soloist, well able to
deal with the very high tessitura, but slightly unsteady
in tone and intonation here and there.
Phoenix and Again is a short, straightforward
occasional piece, while In Memory – H.H.L. is an elegiac
movement for string orchestra paying tribute to the composer’s
mother. Like all the music on the disc, it is well crafted
and carefully planned. To claim, however, as the disc’s conductor
Kirk Trevor apparently has done, that this is a ‘worthy successor
to the Barber Adagio’ is the sort ofwild assertion
that really does the piece no favours at all, and does call
the conductor’s musical judgement somewhat into question.
The concluding item on this enjoyable and
entertaining disc is the three movement Harp Concerto, delivered
with great aplomb by Jacquelyn Bartlett. This is a charming
work, with a beautiful central slow movement, Variants, in
which the soloist often provides a soft yet sumptuous accompaniment
to woodwind and string melodies. This underlined for me the
impression that Locklair is most himself in his slow music,
where he often achieves a rarefied atmosphere that is very
affecting.
To be fair to Kirk Trevor - having taken
him to task above! - he does a fine job of steering the Slovak
Radio Symphony Orchestra through this inevitably unfamiliar
music. They mostly play very well, with some excellent woodwind
playing. The brass occasionally show the strain, particularly
in more demanding parts of the Symphony, and the strings
sound as if they could perhaps do with a couple more desks
in each section. But these shortcomings are not serious,
and the strong personality of Locklair’s music is projected
successfully throughout.
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