26 October 2011

Sonatas by Delius and Robert Russell Bennett

Following the recent post of the Victory at Sea music, I wanted to provide an example of Robert Russell Bennett's own composition, and one that doesn't rely on his prodigious skill in orchestration. So here we have A Song Sonata, a modest violin-piano item.

Robert Russell Bennett and Louis Kaufman
The work may well have been written for the violinist on this recording, Louis Kaufman, who commissioned quite a number of works during his lifetime. Kaufman was active in the film music colony and made many records of contemporary works for such labels as Concert Hall Society, as here. He was heard here previously in an excellent recording of the Barber violin concerto.

I have to report that Bennett's sonata is as insistently unmemorable as the other compositions I have heard by him. As he himself described it, it is "friendly," but perhaps not a friend one would invite over all that often.

The balance of the record is devoted to what I believe was the initial recording of Frederick Delius' first violin sonata. Kaufman's intense sound and tendency to push ahead is perhaps not right for this music. The pianist in both works is Theodore Saidenberg, a well-known accompanist and the brother of Daniel Saidenberg.

The truth is, I have had this performance recorded for some time, but didn't offer it because of the reservations above. Sorry for the lukewarm endorsement. The sound is good, though! [Note (June 2023) - the sound is even better now, remastered in ambient stereo.] The recordings come from 1947; this LP is from 1951.

The photo portrait of Kaufman below is by Man Ray, who thought the violinist would look best with a bull fiddle coming out of his forehead.

Louis Kaufman

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18 comments:

  1. RonH27 October, 2011 03:10

    Hi Buster.

    Thanks for Delius. Beautiful music. I've been searching a very long time for Appalachia. Delius wrote that when he lived in Florida. That theme is used for the movie The Yearling with Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman. It is based on a old slave song. You must listen to it. It moves me.

    Anyway thanks for this one. RonH

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  2. Kevin WOlf27 October, 2011 11:17

    Thanks very much for this and all your posts! Some great stuff I'd never heard.

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  3. coppinsuk27 October, 2011 13:13

    Hi Buster,

    You dredge up some very interesting,different and non-mainstream material.

    Thanks a million - may you ever continue to provide this service.

    Cheers,

    Douglas (UK)

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  4. Buster27 October, 2011 14:41

    Thanks, all, for the comments!

    RonH - If you want to leave your email, I can help out with Appalachia.

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  5. Satyr28 October, 2011 03:20

    Thanks a lot! Always curious to hear a Delius interpretation.

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  6. MusicalGuy3829 October, 2011 05:06

    Thanks! Was curious about Bennett, but yes, I prefer Delius, too!

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  7. luckymike29 October, 2011 11:02

    What an intriguing choice! I look forward to listening. Thanks for deciding to share in spite of your "reservations". Perhaps this recording is all the more interesting because of these issues. Your blog is a wonder; the resurrection of these recordings (that would otherwise disappear into the ages) is a gift to all. My warmest thanks.

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  8. RonH30 October, 2011 13:15

    Hi Buster,

    Thanks for your offer. In the meantime I bought a cd with Appalachia.

    Thanks anyway. RonH

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  9. аффтор02 November, 2011 22:20

    one more fascinating discovery.
    thank you? Buster, for the gift and for the work excellently done.

    ReplyDelete
  10. аффтор04 November, 2011 23:20

    wow... '?' insead of ',' after 'thank you' :(
    i evidently thought and typed it having in mind Russian Cyrillic keyboard layout. sorry, friends. of course, simple comma instead of question mark...

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  11. Buster04 November, 2011 23:32

    And thanks so much for your notes!

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  12. Pablo Varela07 November, 2011 16:08

    Thanks a lot Buster, great recording :)

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  13. xerxes gorgias05 December, 2011 20:00

    Buster, I want to thank you for posting this recording. I'm looking forward to hearing it. I've always liked his work as an orchestrator. Although you expressed some reservations about Bennett's music, I'm still curious about this composition.

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  14. violim05 August, 2014 11:53

    Dear Buster, thank you so much! if I may ask, more of Louis Kaufman's bewitching tone please? :)

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  15. Buster06 August, 2014 13:05

    violim - I am sure I have other Kaufman recordings. I'll upload one if I can find something.

    ReplyDelete
  16. MMusicbox Record Club02 June, 2023 20:55

    Caro Buster, estou de volta a incomodar, O enlace Mediafire para Flac está desativado há hipótese de criar um outro? Obrigado

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    Replies
    1. Buster02 June, 2023 21:05

      Posso reenviar os arquivos, mas primeiro tenho que encontrá-los, depois vou querer limpá-los. Mas farei isso o mais rápido possível!

      Delete
  17. Buster03 June, 2023 13:46

    Remastered version in ambient stereo, Apple lossless format:

    https://mega.nz/file/jNM0RJKC#G_MO6stfRYgtu-gvqeIbaXhyZ8l5oDljOmEtURoUQjE

    ReplyDelete

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