Gould Conducts Shostakovich Symphonies

Two of the least known symphonies by Dmitri Shostakovich are his second and third, both dating from the 1920s, when he was in his 20s himself.

Both symphonies have patriotic themes - the second is subtitled "To October," referring to the October 1918 revolution, and the third "May Day." Both conclude with choral sections with revolutionary texts. And neither was particular liked by the composer in later years.

The young Shostakovich

The result has been to give the works a reputation that is mostly unwarranted. Despite its complexity, the music a century later does not seem particularly extreme. It is experimental, and it does have patriotic texts seemingly tacked on to the ends of both symphonies. (The composer roundly disliked Alexander Bezymensky's text for the second symphony's finale.)

There is much that is striking and enjoyable as well. The opening movement of the second symphony begins with an extended passage of rumbling in the basses, which is sometimes taken to be a depiction of life evolving from the primordial ooze, but more likely signifies the stirrings of revolutionary feelings preceding the October revolution. Subsequently, the composer builds up numerous contrapuntal lines, possibly depicting the conflict itself. This seemingly programmatic basis does give the work some cohesiveness.

Morton Gould

Its successor symphony is more of a collage. "The Third Symphony is full of false starts, false climaxes, tonal passages interrupted by high-pitched discords, sudden eruptions from the bass drum which interrupt a melody...even an apparent quote from the beginning of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony," the critic Royal S. Brown wrote in his High Fidelity review (enclosed).

Composer-conductor Morton Gould did much to rescue these works from obscurity via his 1968 recording for RCA Real Seal. The cover proclaims the LP as containing two world premiere recordings, but the second, at least, had been recorded the previous year by Ladislav Slovák for Supraphon, and Melodiya issued a performance under Igor Blazhkov in 1968 as well. Still, these were generally unknown works before Gould championed them.

His performances with the Royal Philharmonic are a fine accomplishment, well played and recorded, although note that the bass rumblings at the open of the Second Symphony are cut at such a low level as to be almost inaudible. My only other complaint would be that the chorus perhaps lacks the appropriate revolutionary fervor in the second's finale.

It could be that the singers disliked the text as much as the composer. Even the record company supplied neither texts nor translations, perhaps fearful that the words would turn the American record buying public into fervent Bolsheviks. Undeterred by such fears, I have included them in the download. Also in the package are the usual scans, reviews. etc. 

To my knowledge, the recordings have not been reissued. This transfer was requested on another forum; I thought some followers here might be curious about it as well.

September 1968 Gramophone ad

Bronislaw Kaper's 'Auntie Mame' Score, Plus Bonuses

I came to post this LP via a circuitous route. First I was going to offer a selection of the 1940s recordings by vocalist David Allyn. But then I realized not many people know him and his early efforts might now be the best introduction to him.

Then I thought I would post a few of his later singles, which are more representative of his best work. One of them was "Drifting," which is the vocal version of Bronislaw Kaper's theme for the delightful 1958 film Auntie Mame. I wasn't happy with the sound of the 45, so I went downstairs in search of the soundtrack LP.

I remembered that I liked the album, decided to transfer it, and when I was done I thought to myself, "Hey, this is from 1958, I wonder if it came out in stereo." It did, and Internet Archive had a copy, so I cleaned it up and here it is.

Willard Waterman, Rosalind Russell, Coral Browne

In the process I discovered that Allyn's "Drifting" actually doesn't appear on the Auntie Mame LP, so I plucked a stereo version off an Allyn LP and included it.

"Drifting" is a heartfelt, moody piece, and as far as I can tell, even the instrumental version does not appear in the film as such. The LP (and the flip side of Allyn's single) present the serious version as "Auntie Mame" after the finale. Kaper does use the theme (which represents Mame) in a light-hearted manner several times in the film score.

The musical cues for Auntie Mame are abbreviated; they only take up one side of the album. The second side contains the serious "Auntie Mame" treatment, along with four of Kaper's greatest hits - "On Green Dolphin Street" from the movie Green Dolphin Street, "Invitation" from Invitation, "Take My Love" from The Glass Slipper, and "Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo" from Lili. (The latter has appeared here and is still available.)

These are all well worth hearing, and make for a most enjoyable (and well recorded) LP. Please note that this material is not direct from the soundtrack; it from a separate recording session and is billed as the "Original Film Score." Both the soundtrack and LP recording were led by Ray Heindorf.

Rosalind Russell

Auntie Mame started off as a novel by Patrick Dennis, then became a 1956 Broadway show with book by Lawrence and Lee, before hitting the big screen. Rosalind Russell is spectacularly good in the title role; she must have been wonderful on stage.

David Allyn

Also spectacular is David Allyn's singing in "Drifting," an exceptional and little known record. The vocalist started off in big bands while still a teen, notably with Jack Teagarden and Boyd Raeburn, then set out on his own. It wasn't until the late 1950s that he came into his own - "Drifting" was recorded when he was about 35. I'll have more from him soon.

The download includes many Auntie Mame posters, lobby cards and stills.

Vaughan Williams - 'Riders to the Sea' and 'Magnificat'

This is one of the more significant in my series of Vaughan Williams recordings from the original UK pressings, although the two works are not among his most popular.

I believe these were the first recordings of the Magnificat and Vaughan Williams' one-act opera Riders to the Sea, although both have been done once or twice since.

Magnificat

The record begins with the shorter work of the two, Vaughan Williams' 1932 setting of the Magnificat.

The setting is unlike any other I have encountered, and was much influenced by Holst, per Vaughan Williams expert Michael Kennedy in his sleeve note. He relates it to the composer's Flos Campi, recently heard here.

Helen Watts

"Religious exaltation, human feeling and oriental fervour [I believe he is referring to Holst's influence] are combined in the solo part and in the orchestral writing," Kennedy wrote. Contralto Helen Watts is entirely convincing as Mary. Christopher Hyde-Smith handles the important flute part, signifying the Holy Spirit, very well.

Riders to the Sea

The British Youth Opera production of Vaughan Williams' opera

The principal work on the LP is the composer's near verbatim setting of John Millington Synge's Riders to the Sea. The play dates to 1904; Vaughan Williams finished his setting in 1932.

Both play and opera are extraordinary. Synge's powerful drama of life and death on the Aran Islands is concentrated and affecting, and Vaughan Williams' music complements and elevates the text, as he often did in his settings.

The play - like life on the Aran Islands, which Synge knew well - is bleak, being the tale of the widow Maurya, who has lost her husband and four songs to drowning, and will soon experience the deaths of her two remaining sons. Virtually all the play involves dialogue between Maurya and her daughters Cathleen and Nora, with her youngest son Bartley insisting on taking horses to the mainland to be sold, against his mother's wishes. One of the horses - the pale one - knocks him over a cliff to be drowned.

A 1906 Abbey Theater staging of the play, with the Allgood sisters - Annie, Sara and Molly (Máire O’Neill)

"They are all gone now, and there isn't anything more the sea can do to me," Maurya laments, while achieving peace in knowing that her pain is ended. "No man at all can be living forever, and we must be satisfied."

I am not doing justice to this compelling play - or Vaughan Williams' setting - so I urge you to read the cogent notes by Michael Kennedy on the sleeve. I also found this article on the symbolism in the Synge play to be illuminating. 

Synge was an remarkable talent who died young. I might mention that I posted Cyril Cusack's mid-50s production of Synge's Playboy of the Western World a decade ago. It is still available.

Benjamin Luxon, Norma Burrowes, Margaret Price

This performance could hardly be better. The soloists are all exemplary: Helen Watts as Maurya, sopranos Norma Burrowes and Margaret Price as Nora and Cathleen, and baritone Benjamin Luxon as Bartley. All were among the leading singers of the time in this repertoire. (Only Luxon is English. Burrowes is Irish; Watts and Price were Welsh.)

Meredith Davies

In both works, the soloists are complimented by the eloquent performances of the women's voices of the Ambrosian Singers and the Orchestra Nova of London, as led by Meredith Davies. The conductor made only a handful of recordings, all of Vaughan Williams and Delius and all worth hearing. He also was closely associated with Benjamin Britten, and was music director of the English Opera Group for a few years. The production, with its relatively subtle use of sound effects in Riders to the Sea, is first-rate, too. It's amazing that so much atmosphere could have been created in Abbey Road Studio No. 1.

My UK pressing is far superior to the US equivalent, as usual, although it was by no means perfect. It did clean up very well. The text insert was missing from my copy of the UK issue, so I have appended the US equivalent. As usual with these posts, the download includes several reviews.

Jackie Paris on Mercury

This wonderful 1956 album was Jackie Paris' follow-up to Skylark, which I included in my last post on this great jazz vocalist.

For his second LP, the singer moved from Coral-Brunswick to Mercury. The new album was initially called Can't Get Started with You, after the Gershwin-Duke song that leads off the second side of the LP. It had a cover of several people draped all over one another on a beach.

Mercury must have thought better of the cover or the title - the LP's second pressing was called Songs by Jackie Paris, and sported the striking photo of the singer that you see above.

Jackie Paris

My transfer is from a later Japanese pressing that switched the label from Mercury's Wing subsidiary to the jazz-focused EmArcy marque, and changed the second color on the cover from blue to orange. (All these permutations can be found in the download.) The reprint also included two bonus songs - and I have added yet another, which we will get to in a moment.

The LP proper consists of standards such as the previously mentioned "I Can't Get Started," plus songs by Fred Fisher and his offspring. For this collection, the patriarch contributed the lyrics to "Whispering Grass," with music by his daughter Doris. It's s striking song, made more so by the intensity and sincerity of the vocalist, who imbues the words, "Whispering grass, don't tell the trees / For the trees don't have to know" with a spooky quality.

Doris Fisher also wrote the music for "That Ole Devil Called Love" with words by frequent collaborator Allan Roberts. Paris' reading is not inferior to Billie Holiday's famous 1945 version.

Also contributing songs was Fred's son Marvin, who wrote the lovely "Cloudy Morning" and "Strange." 

Manny Albam

The LP is very successful, not least because of the sterling charts by Manny Albam, one of the busiest arrangers of the time. One example of his imaginative work is the striking bass clarinet figure in "Heart of Gold," played by Romeo Penque. Albam's band included many of the finest studio musicians of the time, with a superior rhythm section of Barry Galbraith, guitar, Milt Hinton, bass, and Osie Johnson, drums. 

Bonus Songs

The sessions for Songs by Jackie Paris were held in November 1955. The singer had a follow-up Mercury date later in 1956, which yielded the single coupling of "Don't Hurt the Girl" and "Tell Me Something Sweet," both enjoyable without being memorable. No arranger is credited for his date. The two songs were included on the Japanese pressing of Songs by Jackie Paris, as I mentioned above.

For this post. I've also included one of Paris' earliest recordings. It comes from a 1949 session that also produced a coupling of "The Old Master Painter" and "Goodbye Sue" that was issued on the short-lived National label. The third song recorded at that session, "'Round Midnight," was certainly the most notable of the group, although it was initially unissued.

By the time of this session, "'Round Midnight" had become a bop anthem but Thelonious Monk actually had written it as an instrumental as early as 1941. Paris' recording was notable as the first one using Bernie Hanighan's lyrics. Even so, it remained on the shelf until EmArcy issued it as part of a 1955 compilation LP, Advance Guard of the 40s, which is the source of this transfer.

Vaughan Williams: An Oxford Elegy, Dives and Lazarus, Flos Campi

Here is more of Ralph Vaughan Williams' music in the classic 1960s recordings led by David Willcocks, transferred from early HMV pressings.

This disc contains three of the composer's most interesting works. The longest piece is "An Oxford Elegy" from 1947-49. Sharing the other side of the disc are the "Five Variants of 'Dives and Lazarus'" from 1939 and "Flos Campi" from 1925. Cecil Aronowitz is the viola soloist in the latter work.

As before, my transfer comes from a vintage UK pressing, which is much more full-bodied and atmospheric than the later CD release - and superior to the US vinyl pressing as well.

An Oxford Elegy

"A Oxford Elegy" is among the most unusual works in Vaughan Williams' catalogue. It is a setting for speaker and orchestra of passages from two related poems by Matthew Arnold (1822-88), "The Scholar-Gypsy" and "Thyrsis."

Matthew Arnold

As is the case in many of the composer's works, the theme has to do with the loss of innocence and a spiritual quest. As were many of his contemporaries, Arnold was concerned with the Industrial Revolution's impact on society. The disillusioned "scholar-gypsy" of his poem left Oxford University behind to wander with a troupe of gypsies in search of meaning in life. In his excellent dissertation on this work, Robert Joseph Taylor explains that the poet imagines that the scholar has achieved immortality by pursuing the secret of human existence, and that his spirit can still to be found in the countryside near Oxford.

John Westbrook

It is a contemplative work, but also a most beautiful one that will be of interest both to those who love Arnold's poetry and Vaughan Williams' music. Even so, some critics believe that the juxtaposition of spoken word and music serves neither well. And clearly it does take concentration on the poetry to make the music come alive.

Fortunately, the performance at hand has an excellent speaker - the actor John Westbrook (1922-89) could hardly be bettered in the role. The performance of Vaughan Williams' music by the choir and orchestra also is very fine.

The download includes Taylor's dissertation, which contains a detailed explanation of how the composer combined and edited the two related Arnold poems into his text, as well as the final text itself.

Five Variants of 'Dives and Lazarus'

The "Five Variants of 'Dives and Lazarus'" is a gorgeous work, one that deserves some of the popularity of "A Lark Ascending" and the "Serenade to Music." Vaughan Williams first encountered the folk song "Dives and Lazarus" as far back as 1893. Through the years, he collected several variants of the tune, and it is these that constitute the raw material of his work.

Vaughan Williams and Willcocks

The "Five Variants" were written for the 1939 New York World's Fair. Adrian Boult led the premiere in Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic. (That was quite an occasion - the program also included the first performances of Bliss' Piano Concerto and Bax's Seventh Symphony.)

Flos Campi

Cecil Aronowitz

Vaughan Williams' work for viola, wordless choir and orchestra, "Flos Campi," was inspired by passages from the Biblical "Song of Songs." Over time, this text has become seen as a metaphor of God's love for Israel, the church or his people, but the original meaning was frankly erotic. The composer himself wrote, "The title 'Flos Campi' [which translates as 'flower of the field'] was taken by some to connote an atmosphere of 'buttercups and daisies...' In reality, the piece is unabashedly sensual and lushly orchestrated, which is quite appropriate considering its subject matter."

The suite has six movements, played without pause, each headed by an unspoken passage from the "Song of Songs." The lover is represented by a solo viola, played at the work's premiere by Lionel Tertis and here by Cecil Aronowitz (1916-78), one of the founders of the Melos Ensemble.

Reginald Jacques

In this work and the "Oxford Elegy," the choral parts are taken by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, which Willcocks then headed. The Jacques Orchestra appears in all three works. Conductor Reginald Jacques (1894-1969) founded the orchestra in 1936; its twin specialties were baroque and contemporary music. He also was the longtime conductor of the Bach Choir. (On this site, you can hear Jacques conducing that choir in their 1950 recording of Christmas carols.)

Jacques himself retired from conducting in 1960; succeeding him at the Bach Choir was Willcocks. The two had a close relationship, collaborating on the first volume of "Carols for Choirs" in 1961. The Jacques Orchestra continued recording after the founder's retirement; it produced a disc of carols and an LP of the music of Robert Still and Edmund Rubbra. This Vaughan Williams LP, which dates from 1968, may have been its last.  

HMV Ad in the February 1970 Gramophone 

Carol Bruce Special - Music from Film, Transcription and Radio

Over time, we have been examining the recordings of actor-vocalist Carol Bruce, from her debut on the Broadway stage to her solo recordings of the 50s. I've had the help of vocal connoisseur Bryan Cooper for this series - including today's three-part epic. 

For this post, we'll hear from Carol in songs from her second film musical, on the radio with Buddy Clark just after her great success as Julie in the 1946 revival of Show Boat, and on an Army-sponsored transcription from 1950.

Behind the Eight Ball

Bruce was one of the leads of 1942's Behind the Eight Ball, in quick succession to Keep 'Em Flying of 1941, meaning she went from the Scylla of Abbott and Costello to the Charybdis of the Ritz Brothers. Here's the IMDb precis of Eight Ball:

"The shooting and murder of two guest stars at the Shady Ridge Summer Theatre, operated by Joan Barry [that's Carol], threatens to close the musical 'Fun For All.' To bolster the show, Joan induces Bill Edwards [Dick Foran], who shares joint ownership with her, of the farm the theatre is located on, and Sheriff McKenzie, to hire the Jolly Jesters [aka Ritz Brothers]. They steal the show and, along the way, uncover a spy ring and a bullet-shooting clarinet." Actually, it sounds engagingly goofy.

Carol Bruce and Dick Foran

Besides Carol, Foran and the Ritzes, the movie featured trumpeter Sonny Dunham and his band in their only feature appearance. Dunham was an even-more blaring version of Harry James.

Thanks to Bryan's stellar collection - and his willingness to share its treasures - we already have had on the blog Bruce's studio promos from Keep 'Em Flying. In that set, Universal managed to issue a recording of the Gene de Paul - Don Raye masterwork "You Don't Know What Love Is," even though it was dropped from that film. The great song did then show up in this Ritz Brothers epic.

In today's post, Bryan has uncovered Carol's other recordings from the Eight Ball soundtrack, where she is accompanied by Dunham's band. These come from a rare Universal glass transcription disc (at right) that Bryan recently acquired.

The first of the two songs is "Golden Wedding Day," which had been a 1941 hit in a much different instrumental version by Woody Herman, with drum solo by Frankie Carlson. The song is thought to date back to 1887, when Jean Gabriel-Marie composed it as "La Cinquantaine." I suspect the clever English lyrics - which Bruce handles beautifully - are by Don Raye.

"Golden Wedding Day" leads directly into the Raye-De Paul "Wasn't It Wonderful?" which is very accomplished except for its strong resemblance to a famous movie duet of a few years before. It was as if the producer showed up at the door and instructed the songwriters, "Hey, give me something just like 'Thanks for the Memory'." Carol's fresh reading is perfect.

A 1947 Melody Hour with Buddy Clark

Our next rarity is a April 1947 Melody Hour radio program where Carol guested with the great Buddy Clark and bandleader Percy Faith.

Carol had just completed a year on Broadway as Julie in the highly successful revival of Show Boat. This show, appropriately, gives her the opportunity to perform one of her Show Boat specialties, the famous "Bill," and she is all that one could want in the song (and, I am sure, in the part).

Carol Bruce with Buddy Ebsen and Max Showalter in Show Boat

She also is given the chance to do a number then on the pop charts, the awful "Managua, Nicaragua," which should have been left to Freddy Martin and Guy Lombardo.

Al Gallodoro

For his part, Clark is his sunny and polished self in "I've Got a Pocketful of Dreams," "Old Devil Moon" (from the current Broadway hit Finian's Rainbow) and "There's a Small Hotel." Faith leads a few instrumental numbers, including the concluding showpiece for alto saxophone, Jimmy Dorsey's "Oodles of Noodles," with the remarkable virtuoso Al Gallodoro.

The sound on the broadcast is quite good, but the lossless Internet Archive transfer of the transcription did have several skips, which do not affect Bruce's numbers.

Songs by Carol Bruce (Voice of the Army Transcription)

The third part of our set comes from my own collection. It's one of a series of 16-inch transcription discs sent to radio stations by the U.S. Army to promote recruitment. This entry in the "Voice of the Army" series comes from early 1950, and gives Bruce a chance to perform her other feature from Show Boat - "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man."

The musical backing is by Johnny Guarnieri, who made his name a decade before with Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw and here is leading his own quintet. Its members probably included George Walter (trumpet), Charles Di Maggio (clarinet, sax), Leo Guarnieri (bass) and Frank Garisto (drums), who recorded with Johnny at about the same time.

Johnny Guarnieri

Guarnieri's many-noted style would not seem ideally suited to Bruce and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man," but they work together smoothly. Johnny's also good in his own numbers, including the peppy "Toot-Toot-Tootsie" and "El Relicario."

Carol's concluding numbers are "Somebody Loves Me" and "It Had to Be You," which show off her versality and which she handles beautifully. Both songs date from 1924, and Bruce's vocal shadings are appropriate to that era.

The sound from this transcription - a product of my new turntable - is very good indeed. The radio station KWIK - then in Burbank CA - apparently didn't care for the program, with the program director scrawling "NG" across the label in grease pencil. The station must have preferred the Peter Lind Hayes program on the other side (which I've not transferred).

Thanks again to Bryan for his contributions to this enterprise!

Carol Bruce appearing on an early television program performing one of her numbers from Show Boat