Charles Tomlinson GRIFFES (1884-1920)
Roman Sketches, Op. 7 (orch. Griffes and Craig Leon) (1915-6, 1919/2004)
[22:48]
Erich Wolfgang KORNGOLD (1897-1957)
Symphonic Serenade, Op. 39 (1947) [25:57]
London Symphony Orchestra/Simone Pittau
rec. Abbey Road Studio No 1, January 2004
ASV GOLD GLD 4020 [59:21]
The American Impressionist composer Charles Tomlinson Griffes enjoyed a brief
vogue in the earlier part of the last century, but then fell into obscurity,
perhaps because a little of his favored faux Orientalism - like the
ersatz Americana of Carlisle Floyd and Douglas Moore - goes a long way.
Griffes originally wrote the four Roman Sketches for piano, though he
only got around to orchestrating two of them, with the first, The White
Peacock, attaining independent status as a concert piece. The producer
of the present disc, Craig Leon, who claims expertise as both an arranger and
an ethnomusicologist, has completed the task, matching Griffes's own orchestral
style nicely. Not examining the booklet carefully until after I heard the disc,
I had no idea that the arrangements weren't all the composer's.
The White Peacock goes nicely; the gorgeous liquid woodwind solos are
a delight. Night begins with a harder edge before blossoming into coruscating
sonorities, with full-bodied horn duets answered by the woodwinds. The Fountain
of the Acqua Paola remarkably works a Debussyan harmonic palette, generating
activity from strings of parallel chords, into rich, Ravelian textures. In
the concluding Clouds, the celesta accents in the more lightly-scored
passages represent perhaps too obvious a pictorial stratagem, but the music
again opens out voluptuously at peak moments.
The title Symphonic serenade may seem oxymoronic, and, indeed, Korngold's "serenade" for
strings is no trifling one: the score is laid out on a "symphonic" scale,
with the first and third of its four movements each running for over ten minutes.
Surprisingly, it's not the rich, Romantic style of the composer's film music
that dominates this score. The outer movements are driven by the vigorous,
strongly profiled rhythms of Neo-classicism. The finale's third theme, at 2:09,
would have fit right into Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks! The pizzicatos
of the Intermezzo are aggressive, even spiky - nothing like the Playful
Pizzicato of Britten's Simple Symphony. The broad, concentrated
chorale that begins the Lento religioso suggests Bruckner, but other
influences make themselves felt as the movement proceeds: vaulting leaps out
of late Mahler, hints of the slow movement of Nielsen 2, and even a bit of
anguished Expressionism. Yet Korngold's craftsmanship fuses this potpourri
of influences into a persuasive musical stream with a compelling, impeccable
logic.
The young Italian violinist-turning-conductor, Simone
Pittau, finds just the right touch for Griffes, touching in detail with
a light hand - as noted, the LSO woodwinds shine - while maintaining a firm
rhythmic backbone, and he has a good grasp of Korngold's arching structures
as well. The wide-ranging engineering strikes a good balance between detail
and warmth in the Griffes; the Korngold sounds a bit blurry, perhaps because
the string playing, while basically accurate, doesn't quite offer pinpoint
precision. For those interested in these less-well-trodden corners of the repertoire,
this definitely merits a recommendation.
Stephen Francis Vasta