In the aftermath of the Great Depression and World War II, there was a profound hunger for peace, normality and simple, homespun virtues in the US. In this environment, the naive, idealized, country paintings of octogenarian Anna Mary Robertson Moses became very popular.
Grandma Moses, as she became known, was "discovered" by an art collector who saw her work in a small town drug store window (or so the story goes). This was in 1938, and in only a few years Moses' paintings had become quite well known and began to be used for commercial purposes. (One obvious use was Christmas cards - see the 1948 Hallmark ad below.)
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| "Country Fair" - 1950 |
It didn't hurt that Moses was a good looking woman who was the very image of the idealized Grandma; nor that she was highly quotable. (It's hard to say at this remove whether she was truly a font of bon mots, or if reporters embellished to make a better story.)
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| Anna Mary Robertson Moses |
As for her art, it displays a kind of rural transcendentalism, with the perspective usually that of an observer in a low-flying blimp. Not that I am against this kind of thing - it is undoubtedly charming and evocative, and I have to admit that there is a pretty good example of the genre in my basement.
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| Alec Wilder and Hugh Martin |
"Charming and evocative" is also a apt description of the music on this disc, which dates from 1951. It contains music from a film documentary on Moses, composed by Hugh Martin, better known for Broadway and Hollywood musicals such as Best Foot Forward, Meet Me in St. Louis and Athena. Martin was primarily a vocal arranger, so he called on fellow composer Alec Wilder to "develop and orchestrate" his tunes. The result is firmly in the Americana genre - one I find irresistible. It's a nice tribute to two of my favorite composers. Daniel Saidenberg conducts; there are vocals by the excellent studio singer Sally Sweetland.
[Note (June 2023): These recordings have now been remastered in atmospheric ambient stereo.]
Thanks Buster, Hugh Martin is one of my favorite composers as well!
ReplyDeleteThis is marvelous. I had never even heard of this one. Thank you, Buster.
ReplyDeleteIt's become more and more clear in the past few years how much Hugh Martin contributed to a new kind of vocal harmony in musicals. He contributed to lots of shows besides his own -- a great example is "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," which just got a spiffy new recording that shows off his exciting work. And he was a fine songwriter as well, of course. And continued to the end to give witty and informative interviews; he died just last year at 97.
this is a lovely pc of music... I have it on CD paired with Harold Arlen's "Blues Opera"
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this...
I have the same CD.
DeleteHey, I just read his autobiography and longed to hear this.
ReplyDeleteYou read my mind, Buster. Thanks!
Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Buster!
ReplyDeleteDownloading as I use two fingers to type my thanks. I am truly amazed at what depth of knowledge folks have that visit the music blogs and can only wish I were in their class and realm. Again, thanks for the posts
ReplyDeleteJust getting around to listening to this -- great stuff! Thank you, Buster. Like fixxitt, I feel like a hack among experts, but I'm so grateful for your sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm with the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteBill and fixxitt - Every "expert" was a hack at one time. Thanks for your comments!
ReplyDeleteHello
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Not only a great piece of history, but the original music & arrangements are fantastic.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful sound on you rip too.
Thank you, thank you!!!
Remastered version in ambient stereo, Apple lossless format:
ReplyDeletehttps://mega.nz/file/KN8i3YJT#sdrJ8Q5WdYOWzLUypVyfc5VWdpmQgd5pb6g8NONx_vI
thanks, I'll give it a listen
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