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Monday, August 13, 2018

Aaron Copland - Appalachian Spring; Short Symphony; etc. (Orpheus Chamber Orchestra)


Information

Composer: Aaron Copland
  1. Appalachian Spring (Suite)
  2. Short Symphony (No. 2): I. Tempo [Quarter note] = 144 (incisivo)
  3. Short Symphony (No. 2): II. Tempo [Half note] = circa 44
  4. Short Symphony (No. 2): III. Tempo [Quarter note] = 144 (preciso e ritmico)
  5. Quiet City, for cor anglais, trumpet and strings
  6. Three Latin American Sketches: 1. Estribillo: Bold, sharply accented
  7. Three Latin American Sketches: 2. Paisaje Mexicano: Soft and sad, in a moderate tempo
  8. Three Latin American Sketches: 3. Danza de Jalisco: Lively and fast

Stephen Taylor, cor anglais
Raymond Mase, trumpet
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Date: 1988
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/4273352


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Review

With exceptionally vivid sound, bright and immediate, giving a realistic sense of presence, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra's collection makes for a very distinctive Copland record of four works in which the composer is at his most approachable. The version of Appalachian Spring recorded here is neither the usual orchestral suite nor the ballet version, but a combination of the two which I cannot remember hearing on record before. In this version, published in 1958, Copland simply makes the same cuts as in the orchestral suite, but keeps the light, transparent scoring of the 13-instrument ballet version, though on his authority the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra augment the string section. The result is a delight, with each instrument cleanly identifiable, underlining the wide-open-spaces freshness of Copland's inspiration. The rhythmic bite is sharpened with the prominent piano giving the texture a distinctive colouring. The extra strings add a degree of sweetness without inflation.

The scale of performance in the other works, too, is most winning. The jaggedly obvious Stravinskyan echoes in the first movement of the Short Symphony are underlined by the closeness of the performance. Though this work, written between 1931 and 1933, uses triple woodwind, horns, trumpets, piano and strings, the absence of heavy brass and percussion prompted the composer himself to suggest that it is ''an enlarged chamber orchestra''. That is just the impression that a performance on the Orpheus scale conveys, with the relatively intimate acoustic of the Performing Arts Center at New York State University, Purchase, concentrating the sound, adding to the impact, though without aggression.

The hushed musical city-scape of Quiet city on this scale may not be quite so mistily evocative as with a full orchestra, but the intensity is if anything even greater, particularly when the trumpet and cor anglais soloists are so characterful. The Three Latin American Sketches date from several decades later. The second and third were written for the 1959 Spoleto Festival, and in 1971 Copland added the first to make the present effective triptych of fast, slow, fast, with the Latin-American rhythms of the final ''Danza de Jalisco'' particularly catchy.

In all this music the cutting edge of Copland's invention is enhanced in performances as immaculately drilled as these. Though there is nothing heartless about them there is a consistent sense of corporate purposefulness, of live communication made the more intense by the realism of the recording.

-- Edward Greenfield, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/May11/Copland_9207.htm
https://www.amazon.com/Copland-Appalachian-Symphony-American-Sketches/dp/B000009I79

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Aaron Copland (November 14, 1900 – December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor. His works are consider by many to be the sound of American music, evoking the vast American landscape and pioneer spirit. He is best known for the works he wrote in the 1930s and 1940s in a deliberately accessible style, such as the ballets Appalachian SpringBilly the Kid and Rodeo, and his Third Symphony. In addition to his famous ballets and orchestral works, he produced music in many other genres including chamber music, vocal works, opera and film scores.

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The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (founded 1972) is a classical music chamber orchestra based in New York City. It is known for its collaborative leadership style in which the musicians, not a conductor, interpret the score. With 71 albums, including the Grammy Award-winning Shadow Dances: Stravinsky Miniatures, and 42 commissioned and premiered original works, Orpheus rotates musical leadership roles for each work, and strives to perform diverse repertoire through collaboration and open dialogue. In March 2007, Orpheus became one of the first winners of the Worldwide Award for the Most Democratic Workplaces.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpheus_Chamber_Orchestra
http://orpheusnyc.org/

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7 comments:

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  2. Both links are dead. A re-up would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!

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  4. any chance you might re-up this, please, ronald...?

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  5. Choose one link, copy and paste it to your browser's address bar, wait a few seconds (you may need to click 'Continue' first), then click 'Free Access with Ads' / 'Get link'. Complete the steps / captchas if require.

    https://link-target.net/610926/copland-orpheus
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