WILLIAM HENRY FRY
(1813 -1864)
Santa Claus, Christmas Symphony
Overture to Macbeth
Niagara Symphony
The Breaking Heart
Royal Scottish National
Orchestra/Tony Rowe
NAXOS (American Classics)
8.559057
[61.13]
Crotchet
Amazon
UK
William Henry Fry was a nineteenth century American composer whose music
betrays the influence of Liszt, but is nothing like so subtle and unassuming(!)
In fact this is a fascinating and often hilarious disc, which Naxos deserve
praise and admiration for producing. It's part of their American
Classics series, and brings us the work of one of the very first significant
US-born composers.
Fry's music is brightly coloured, spirited and naïve, rather like a
child's picture book. It's certainly not without its attractions, though
these are unfortunately balanced by many passages of incredible corniness
or horrendous bombast. The Christmas Symphony is in reality a symphonic
poem in a number of short sections. Few are particularly memorable, though
the massed string glissandi for the snowstorm stick in the mind, as does
the jocular bassoon solo for the appearance of Santa himself. There is
originality and imagination here, but very little in the way of talent.
Macbeth has some powerful tuttis, but far too much repetition, and
The Breaking Heart is overwhelmingly sentimental. Perhaps the most
striking piece is the Niagara Symphony, with its rolls by eleven
timpanists, after the manner of Berlioz, capturing the distant roar of the
mighty waterfall.
Despite the reservations, this disc is worth hearing, particularly for anyone
with an interest in American music. Fry shows the same mixture of serious
artistic intent and blatant populism that you find in many other American
composers from Ives to Bernstein and beyond, so in that sense alone the music
is of importance. The Scottish National Orchestra plays bravely under Tony
Rowe, and the recorded sound is highly acceptable, with good balance and
clarity.
Gwyn Parry-Jones
See also review by Christopher Fifield
