In
both 2011 and 2012 Delos released discs of songs by the
almost-forgotten American Margaret Ruthven Lang. These recordings
showed Lang to be a unique voice among American song-writers of her
time and were very well-received (see reviews: DE3407
and DE3410).
On this new disc, Lucy Mauro, the accompanist on the afore-mentioned
discs, presents a programme of Lang’s music for piano. While the piano
works do not have the same intensity as the songs they are still quite
inspired.
Margaret Ruthven Lang was the
daughter of Benjamin J. Lang, a pre-eminent musical figure in Boston in
the latter half of the 19th century. She received her first music
lessons from her father and later studied with Chadwick and MacDowell.
She wrote extensively in almost all forms, but stopped composing at
about the age of fifty, even though she lived for more than a
half-century after that.
At first glance Lang’s piano works seems to have a lot in common with
those of MacDowell. They are mostly short evocations of nature or of
various emotions. However, Lang’s works possess a rhythmic variety and
a searching use of harmony rarely found in MacDowell’s piano music
although his works have a wider emotional range. Another notable
feature of the Lang pieces is the thematic consistency in the
multi-movement works, best seen in the Petit Roman
in which a semi-Wagnerian use of leit-motif technique is used to tell a
chivalresque tale of doomed love. The same techniques appear in the
simpler One Summer Day and the Pieces for
Children. Both
of these works also feature an almost Baroque use of figuration as a
tool in the thematic development. It should also be said that both
these works give an insight into the child’s mind without themselves
being childish.
Of the single-movement pieces two that stand out are Twilight,
with its effective use of dissonance, and Meditation
in which the development is much more varied than the title would
suggest. The most impressive is The Spirit of the Old House
in which the elegiac main theme is slowly fragmented by progressively
more dissonant harmony, finally generating a deep sense of regret. Of
the remaining works Springtime and Starlight
are the most effective.
Lucy Mauro would deserve the highest praise just for bringing Lang’s
piano music to our attention, but her performances on this disc are so
committed and fluent as to be equally noteworthy. Most impressive are
her presentation of Lang’s unique harmony and her sensitivity to the
emotional content of these pieces. This disc merits high praise both
for performance and as another step in reviving the fame of an
important American composer.
William Kreindler
Full track-listing
1. The Spirit of the Old House: Elegy for Piano, Op. 58 [3:21]
2. Revery, Op. 31 [3:35]
3. Starlight (1894) [2:42]
4. Rhapsody in E minor, Op. 21 [6:53]
Petit Roman pour le piano en six chapitres, Op. 18 [24:16]
5. Le Chevalier [4:08]
6. Madame la Princesse [3:43]
7. Bal chez Madame la Princesse [5:14]
8. Monsieur le Prince [3:36]
9. L’Épée de Monsieur le Prince [3:24]
10. La mort du Chevalier [4:10]
Three Pieces for Young Players, Op. 60 [3:44]
11. Happy Days [1:21]
12. Day-Dreams [1:21]
13. Rondoletto [1:02]
One Summer Day, Op. 59 [7:30]
14. Hide and Seek in the Barn [1:17]
15. Morning Lessons [1:43]
16. Picnic in the Woods [1:10]
17. Knitting for the Soldiers [1:58]
18. Driving to the Blacksmith [1:22]
19. A Spring Idyll, Op. 33 [2:49]
20. Springtime, Op. 30 [3:13]
21. Meditation, Op. 26 [3:25]
22. Twilight (1894) [3:40]
