Already impressed by another of Naxos’s releases of Paul Moravec’s
music, the Time
Gallery, I didn’t expect to be disappointed by this new disc
from Naxos. The Chamber Symphony is, as you might expect,
full of fresh and transparent instrumentation, introducing flexible
compactness to this more usually symphonic genre. Composed in
four movements, the initial Lively movement does what it
says on the tin, with lots of swift and energetic notes packed
into its 4:44 duration. The second movement is of equal length,
but has an elegiac, reflective exoticism which put me in mind
of Roussel at times. The third is Quick, and has a punchy
L. Bernstein jazz feel. The fourth movement is in two sections,
Serene and Vivace! As the other movements build
on the themes in the opening movement, this final movement gathers
in and sums up the moods in the whole piece, right up to a gloriously
triumphant set of progression in the penultimate bars. There is
a romantic but thankfully unsentimental feel to the slower music,
and the faster material is highly stimulating and must be great
fun to play. Certainly, the Bridgehampton musicians play out of
their skins, and convey a passion and joy which I sense would
be hard to equal.
Autumn Song is
a ‘song without words’. Marya Martin the flute soloist in this
duo with piano is the founder and artistic director of the Bridgehampton
Chamber Music Festival, and clearly has as a strong a musical
personality as that of an organiser. This piece is true high
romanticism, but transparent in conception, avoiding difficult
chromaticism in its arching an expressive lines.
Cool Fire is
also a flute solo, this time a chamber concerto accompanied
by piano quintet, and commissioned by Marya Martin. As with
the Chamber Symphony and many other of Moravec’s works,
the importance of thematic unity and an integration of musical
material is emphasised by the composer in his notes. This is
an aspect of the music which I suspect will work more subconsciously
with many listeners, as the complexity of the music is such
that the ideas pass too swiftly to be immediately identified.
The music isn’t complex in an avant-garde squeaky-gate sense,
but the sheer rapid-fire flow of inventiveness is quite breathtaking.
The first movement is a true virtuoso tour de force out of the
Ibert stable, with rapid notes and an equal partnership between
flute solo and accompanying band. This Quick! Is followed
by a Tenderly, singing movement, whose lyrical lines
are less immediately teased out as in a piece like Autumn
Song. Some of the close harmonies and clashes have a Martinů-esque
sense, and the fairly late introduction of the piano heightens
this feeling to my ears, although the idiom is in no way derivative.
After a passionate climax, the music winds down through an extended
and beautiful coda. This is a fascinating movement which, while
superficially simple in conception and construction, doesn’t
give up its secrets all at once. Driving ostinati characterise
the final Con fuoco, attacked again with gusto by the
musicians, and providing a substantial and gripping close with
plenty of witty whirlpools of changing mood.
While you may sniff
at the short playing time on this disc, I can’t imagine many
people feeling short-changed by the end. There is so much going
on in many of the movements that concentrated listening will
leave you invigorated and a little exhausted, and I certainly
had the feeling that there was enough here to be going on with.
The performances are magnificent and the recording excellent
in the now familiar American Academy of Arts and Letters acoustic,
with clarity an essential part of genuine enjoyment of these
works. Paul Moravec’s music has broad appeal, but is also that
of a personal voice which defies short-lived trendiness. It
vibrates with all of the sparkling energy which reflects the
best in the American spirit. The result is a disc which will,
once heard, should call out to you for a long time to come.
Dominy Clements
Musicians of the
Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival 
