Hanson Conducts Gould, Barber and Hanson

Howard Hanson

The composer and Eastman School of Music head Howard Hanson (1896-1981) conducted a large number of American music recordings for the Mercury label in the 1950s and 60s.

Recently I posted the first in their "American Music Festival Series," a disc of choral music by Hanson and Randall Thompson. That post also has a link to other entries in the series previously offered here.

Today we have two related entries in the series: Vol. 3, with music by Morton Gould (1913-96) and Samuel Barber (1910-81); and Vol. 15, music by Barber and Hanson.

Hanson was a proponent and exponent of conservative, tonal music These two LPs are good examples of the genre.

Music by Gould and Barber

Vol. 3 of the American Music Festival Series, recorded in 1952, is one of the best entries in the collection. It starts with Morton Gould's wildly colorful Latin-American Symphonette (1940), followed by three popular Samuel Barber compositions, all in Hanson's typically taut readings with the Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra.

Morton Gould

Not all the critics were pleased, of course. The American Record Guide sniffed at the Gould, calling it a "slickly stylized travelogue." Others were more sympathetic. The Gramophone: "A four-movement Sinfonietta is no novelty, but one based on four Latin-American dances is; orchestral arrangements of a rumba, tango, guaracha, and conga by good musicians are no novelty, but ones done with musical rather than commercial ends in view seem, unfortunately, to be so."

Writing in High Fidelity, Alfred Frankenstein complimented Barber's early works, the Overture to The School for Scandal (1931), Adagio for Strings (1936) and Essay No. 1 (1938), as "small-scaled, fine-grained, highly lyrical pieces." He also enjoyed Hanson's conducting. "All these works have been recorded before, but never with such conviction, understanding and deftness," he wrote.

Some writers commented that the sound lacked warmth, a result of Mercury's typical recording style: "There is stridency in his strings but this is a blessing in disguise because it puts a bite in Barber instead of lending the usual lachrymose character to his mighty miniatures," was the American Record Guide's verdict.

Music by Hanson and Barber

For Vol. 15, recorded in 1955, Hanson combined his new Sinfonia Sacra (Symphony No. 5), and his choral work The Cherubic Hymn (1949) with Barber's Symphony No. 1 (1936).

Alfred Frankenstein was taken with the performances: "Whatever reservations one may have about Howard Hanson as a composer, one must go all out in admiration of his conductorial gifts. His performance of the Barber symphony forces a complete revision of one’s attitude toward that far from obscure work. Previous recordings and performances have made it seem pale and well-mannered and guaranteed to do nothing much to anybody; Hanson, however, makes it sing, gives it body and strength and a genuinely impressive symphonic thrust."

Samuel Barber

Meanwhile, the critic did like at least one of Hanson's two compositions: "Hanson’s own Fifth Symphony, subtitled Sinfonia Sacra. is all right, but the Cherubic Hymn is a major achievement. It is a tribute to the spirit and color of the Eastern Orthodox liturgy, and a very good one."

The reviewer of the American Record Guide was more measured: "Hanson is a skilled craftsman, a very skilled craftsman, whose expressive message always has eluded these ears. But composers should compose and they should be heard, and the steady stream of Hansoniana on LP has been a small enough price to pay for his unrelenting dedication to the cause of others."

Howard Hanson

Mercury later combined the Barber recordings on one LP. Cover scans for that album can be found in the Vol. 2 download. Complete scans of the other LPs are included as always, along with reviews and a few ads.

LINK to Vol. 3 - Gould and Barber

LINK to Vol. 15 - Hanson and Barber

For more by these composers, follow the links below this post. Also, vintage recordings of the School for Scandal Overture and Adagio (by Ormandy and Toscanini) can be found on my other blog.

Finally, four of Hanson's earliest recordings, dating from 1939, can be found in a new post on my singles blog, with music by Charles Tomlinson Griffes, William Grant Still, Charles Vardell and Kent Kennan.