The BBC’s Rob Cowan once had a slot called The Innocent Ear
(and before that Robert Simpson, ed.), in which listeners were
invited to sample music without knowing quite what to expect.
To some extent the same principle applies in this review, for
apart from some recordings conducted by Howard Hanson
I’ve not encountered his compositions before. Although this
Delos disc was released long before Gerard Schwarz’s recent
Naxos offerings – all of which have garnered rave reviews from
my colleagues – I’ve fond memories of his spectacular Delos
version of Alan Hovhaness’s Mount St. Helens Symphony,
also with the Seattle band. More recently, I much admired his
disc of camp and ghetto songs, as both conductor and composer
(review).
Hanson, the first American to win the Prix de Rome, subsequently
spent two years in Italy studying with Ottorino Respighi. Still
ensconsced in the warm south he composed his first symphony,
subtitled Nordic, which certainly looks north for its
inspiration. That said, nothing prepares one for the generous
Romanticism of this work, from the noble string theme at the
start to the Sibelian grandeur that follows. Perhaps one also
needs to look east, to Charles Ives, for the stranger harmonies;
in any event, Schwarz fuses these disparate elements into a
compelling whole that never flags or succumbs to empty rhetoric.
Both the playing and recording are beyond reproach, the climactic
moments growing majestically in this warm, sympathetic acoustic.
As for the idyllic interludes of the Andante solenne,
they’re phrased with the utmost sensitivity and care, this movement
ending – somewhat peremptorily – with Ivesian suddenness. That
abiding generosity of spirit informs the Andante teneramente
as well, Schwarz’s expansive reading allowing the music
to breathe most naturally. The level of invention is never in
doubt, and there’s not a redundant bar in sight. And what a
radiant close; goodness, what open-hearted music this is, and
how affectionately played.
Thankfully, Schwarz doesn’t hug the score too tight, the Allegro
con fuoco clean of limb and clear of eye. That admirable
clarity extends to the recording, the contrasting woodwind trills
and pulsing timps – not to mention those muted bass-drum thwacks
– very well rendered. Perhaps there’s something of Respighi’s
Roman trilogy in the music’s sonorities and Appian weight, but
taken in toto this piece speaks with its own, very distinctive
voice. A deeply felt performance of a work that surely deserves
more than the handful of recordings it’s received thus far.
Concert planners would do well to include it in their programmes
too.
Equally mystifying is the neglect of Hanson’s early choral work,
based on the eighth-century epic, Beowulf. From its dark
introductory landscape through to its simple melodies and quiet
singing this is a piece of remarkable restraint and power. Hanson
uses his forces sparingly, and to maximum effect, the Seattle
Chorale crisp and refined throughout. As for Schwarz, he catches
the ebb and flow of this piece to perfection, so that even in
the subdued moment there’s no hint of impending stasis. But,
more than anything, it’s the inexhaustible flow and freshness
of musical ideas that keeps one gripped to the very end.
To paraphrase Fitzgerald, this disc has increased my store of
enchanted objects by one. Indeed, this could be my first Record
of the Year 2012, such are the rewards offered here. And
then there’s the exemplary sound; really, what more could one
ask for?
Dan Morgan
http://twitter.com/mahlerei
See also reviews by Rob
Barnett (this release) and Ian
Lace (Delos)
Naxos resources
An
American Champion – Gerard Schwarz interviewed by Jeremy
Siepmann
Gerard Schwarz’s Naxos
interview – interviewer Stephen Schafer
The Complete Schwarz Hanson symphony series (not all
released as yet)
Vol. 1 - Symphony No. 1; The Lament for Beowulf Naxos
8.559700
Vol. 2 - Symphony No. 2; Lux aeterna; Mosaics
Naxos 8.559701
Vol. 3 - Symphony No. 3; Merry Mount Suite Naxos 8.559702
Vol. 4 - Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5; Elegy; Dies natalis
Naxos 8.559703
Vol. 5 - Symphonies Nos. 6 and 7; Lumen in Christo Naxos
8.559704
Seattle Symphony Orchestra and Chorale/Gerard Schwarz 