These days American composer Leo Sowerby is remembered best for his church music, but he also composed in other genres.
The works on this American Recording Society disk from the early 1950s were from relatively early in his career. Their titles - Prairie and From the Northland - may suggest that they come from the heyday of Copland-style populism in the 1940s, but they actually were written in the 1920s and stylistically are of that time. Burnet Tuthill (whose own music was featured in this blog's first post) says in the liner notes that Sowerby's style looks back to Brahms, but there is surely as much impressionism in these works. You also may hear similarities to the music of Howard Hanson, who conducted the professional premieres of both compositions.
The performances here - by an anonymous orchestra under Dean Dixon - are enthusiastic and as refined as you might expect considering the circumstances. The recording is vivid.
I'll probably offer more of Sowerby's music down the road apiece.
Dean Dixon... Now that's a name I haven't seen for a very long time. In the mid-1950s I had a Vox EP with Dixon conducting and Vivian Rivkin playing Rhapsody In Blue over both sides of the EP.
ReplyDeleteDixon was notable for being the first African American classical music conductor, which must have been quite a breakthrough in those days.
I don't know Sowerby at all - looks interesting.
I've admired Dean Dixon for quite a while now. I said on my blog that it was such a shame that he pretty much centered his career around Europe rather then his homeland. Europe was more liberal in the 50's and 60's on the issue of race. I believe that Dixon was a man before his time...anyway, thanks Buster. One note, I believe that the American Recording Society Orchestra was really located in Vienna and not American at all!...I read this somewhere a while ago.
ReplyDeletePlease, Buster, could you re-up the Sowerby LP and maybe just check that Roy Harris link again? I am most grateful for all your wonderful and I think rather rare uploads.
ReplyDeleteNew link - remastered version (Apple lossless):
ReplyDeletehttps://mega.nz/#!qVUHmY5Q!TwL9phZGxndyWB5Eq1AiAwqEh00Q9mSqd80UDYy1cCM