Previn Plays Hindemith, Barber and Martin

André Previn, who died this week, was a thoroughly remarkable musician. Several of his pop and jazz recordings have appeared here over the years:

• His astonishing early jazz recordings from 1947-50, made while he was still a teenager.

• His wonderfully eclectic score for one of the three segments in Gene Kelly's film, Invitation to the Dance. Previn manages to wedge in echoes of Britten, Khachaturian, Gershwin, Kenton, blues piano, salon music, mood music and much more.

• A set of songs written with his then-wife, Dory Langdon Previn, and performed by the superb jazz duo, Jackie and Roy.

• His pop success, the Secret Songs for Young Lovers LP, with its hit song, "Like Young," all featuring his piano and backing by David Rose.

For some reason, I've never featured Previn in the classical repertoire, and now, sadly, will need to do so posthumously.

Previn in 1961

The beginning of Previn's classical recording career is sometimes marked by his Britten/Copland orchestral session in St. Louis on March 25, 1963. But his recordings as classical pianist date back to the early 1950s, when he did a series of short works for RCA Victor. As far as I can determine, his next outing was a duo-piano Mozart record with Lukas Foss for Decca in 1956. In March 1960, Kostelanetz engaged him as soloist in two Gershwin works. Then, in November of that year, Previn taped the program for US Columbia that I'm presenting today.

Rather than sticking to the standard repertoire, Previn took on three works by living composers dating from the preceding 25 years - Paul Hindemith's Piano Sonata No. 3 from 1936, Samuel Barber's Excursions from 1944, and Frank Martin's Prelude No. 7 from 1948.

Previn plays these as naturally as he did the Art Tatum-like pieces that he recorded for RCA Victor a decade earlier. The Hindemith is something of a neo-baroque work. Barber's Excursions are his closest approach to writing in the Americana style that was popular in the 1940s. Surprisingly, Previn seems a little too chaste in his approach to this music. Martin's music is not to my taste, and this dour Prelude did little to change my mind.

The Hindemith was recorded on November 3, 1960; the Barber and Martin on November 29, 1960, all at Radio Recorders, Hollywood. While the LP was issued in stereo, this transfer is from my mono copy. The sound is good, though. I'm not sure what the circuit board graphic on the cover is supposed to represent.

Much or all of Previn's orchestral output has been reissued. I'll have to search around to see if I can locate something in my collection that isn't in print.

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