Previn Conducts Britten's Spring Symphony

My recent upload of William Mathias' This World's Joie was surprisingly popular. Mathias had at least two inspirations - the Vaughan Williams choral works that have appeared in this series (notably Hodie and Sancta Civitas) and in particular Benjamin Britten's brilliant Spring Symphony from 1949.

Britten himself led the first commercial recording of the work in 1960, but today we have a transfer of André Previn's 1978 reading, beautifully performed and recorded. It has been a favorite of mine since it was issued. This transfer is from an original EMI Electrola pressing.

André Previn and Benjamin Britten in 1976

As with the other recordings in this series of choral works, this production offers some of the finest artists then active in Britain - soprano Sheila Armstrong, contralto Janet Baker and tenor Robert Tear. Previn conducted the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the St. Clement Danes Boys' Choir.

The recording also is notable for its superb late-analogue sound, as derived from Kingsway Hall by producer Christopher Bishop and engineer Michael Sheady. To pick one example, I like the way the important tuba part is notably clear while remaining part of the ensemble. (Edward Greenfield in his Gramophone review identified the tuba player as John Fletcher, who is not credited.)

Front: Janet Baker, Sheila Armstrong, Robert Tear. Rear: Christopher Bishop, André Previn 

Britten called the work a symphony, but it actually is a song cycle with texts chosen primarily from the 13th to 19th century - "Sumer is icumen in" through to John Clare. The 20th century is represented by "Out in the lawn I lie in bed" from W.H. Auden's 1933 poem A Summer Night. The Auden piece, sung by Janet Baker, takes up the central portion of Britten's work, which points up its ominous reference to "Where Poland draws her Eastern bow," adding, "Now ask what doubtful act allows / Our freedom in this English house / Our picnics in the sun." Greenfield notes, "Both Previn and Baker are children of the inter-war years, Previn in Berlin very immediately so."

The London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Kingsway Hall

But the majority of the work is notably sunny, appropriate to one celebrating spring. "Previn goes farther [than Britten] in realizing the dramatic-evocative aspects of the work, as shown in the pointing of instrumental witticisms and the unrestrained enjoyment of the open-end cadenza or bird sounds in 'Spring, the sweet spring'," writes Richard Freed in the Stereo Review. "The overall effect is one of mystic fantasy, evoked to a degree that Britten did not attempt in his own recording." It is this atmosphere that makes the Previn recording such a source of delight.

Britten's music has appeared several times on this blog - vintage recordings of his Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge and A Simple Symphony are newly remastered.

1979 Gramophone ad

Completing the Early André Previn Collection

My good friend Scoredaddy, one of this blog's earliest supporters, asked me for more early André Previn piano recordings. Specifically, he wondered if there were more items from Previn's years with RCA Victor (1947-53).

There were, and this post presents all such Victor recordings that have not previously appeared on this site, mainly drawn from two 10-inch LPs in my collection, Piano Program and Plays Harry Warren. Both albums came out in 1951, although the sessions were held mainly in the previous year. In addition to the LPs, we have two songs from a 1947 single that hasn't been offered here before.

As far as I can tell, if you combine this post with my previous efforts, you will have all of Previn's early piano sessions on RCA Victor. You also will have the even earlier recordings he did for the Sunset label, and a bunch of later material - a film score, songs, pop records and a classical date. Previn could - and did - do it all in the realm of music.

I also want to plug a related new post on my other blog - it consists of four live recordings released by the Modern label. These apparently came from a 1947 "Just Jazz" concert held in Pasadena. Also on the singles blog, you'll find an earlier post presenting several Previn V-Discs dating from 1946.

André Previn Piano Program

The André Previn Piano Program LP includes the following songs that will be new to those who have been collecting my Previn posts: "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year," "Dearly Beloved," "I've Got My Eye on You" and "September in the Rain." The other two songs on the album also appeared on Camden reissues I've uploaded previously.

Previn's accompanying trio on the LP includes Bob Bain, guitar, Lloyd Pratt, bass, and Ralph Collier, drums. Several of the songs also have string arrangements, which Previn presumably wrote.

The cover above may look familiar to those who have followed these posts. One of my earlier collections included an EP that had the same busy graphics as this LP, but different contents. This is the opposite of the usual record company approach, i.e., the same contents with different covers.

André Previn Plays Harry Warren

By 1950, Previn was an old Hollywood hand, having worked in the studios since he was in high school. For this LP, he paid homage to another LA luminary, the songwriter Harry Warren.

For a renowned songwriter, Warren was unusual in that he wrote primarily for the movies. All eight tunes in this collection were first heard on a sound stage. The liner notes mention that Warren did not achieve the same fame as other leading songwriters, even though he had won three Academy Awards. But his compositions were known far and wide, as you will discover when you scan the contents for this disc.

The following songs have not appeared here before in a Previn version: "I Only Have Eyes for You," "I'll String Along with You," "Lullaby of Broadway," "I Know Why and So Do You" and "Jeepers Creepers."

Bain, Pratt and Collier again compose the backing trio, but there are no strings arrangements in this set.

"I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and "Should I"

Our final Previn record on RCA is a 1947 single coupling of "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and "Should I." As far as I can tell, it has not been reissued.

The backing musicians are Al Viola, guitar, Lloyd Pratt or Chic Parnell, bass, and Jackie Mills, drums.

This record comes to us from Internet Archive, cleaned up for posting here.

To close out, let me add one more plug for the post of Previn's four 1947 live recordings issued on the Modern label, new on Buster's Swinging Singles.

André Previn and Duke Ellington Play Ellington, Plus Much More

Two items featuring the music of Duke Ellington today - one with pianist André Previn and one with the Duke himself.

Also, we have a fine playlist of songs for those quarantined, courtesy of reader Eric, who was kind enough to leave a link in the comments to the Mary Healy post. More below.

André Previn on Sunset

The 16-year-old Previn,
already on the radio

In this blog's series devoted to André Previn, we've previously heard some of his early recordings for RCA Victor. Today, we explore the output of his earliest sessions, done for the short-lived Sunset label in 1945-46 when he was 16 and 17 years old. Six of these recordings feature the music of Duke Ellington, which Sunset issued in a 78 album (cover above).

Previn was still in Hollywood High School when he began making records. Not only that, he was already playing dates and working at M-G-M Studios - and had been on the radio for a few years. Just an ordinary kid.

Eddie Laguna of Sunset Records brought him into the studio for an October 1945 date, which saw Previn accompanied by the highly accomplished Dave Barbour on guitar and John Simmons on bass. This set includes the Goodman standard "Good Enough to Keep" (aka "Air Mail Special"), "Blue Skies" and a Previn number called "Mulholland Drive," which, in common with other jazz tunes, was based on "I Got Rhythm."

Previn's next dates were in March 1946, when he produced the six Ellington-associated numbers that Sunset collected into the 78 album above. This time, his accomplices were the well-regarded Irving Ashby on guitar and Red Callendar on bass. Ashby was soon to join the King Cole Trio. Previn's playing is sometimes compared to Cole's, although I believe Art Tatum was the stronger influence.

In addition to five Ellington standards, Previn included "Take the 'A' Train" by the Duke's close associate Billy Strayhorn.

In November 1946, Previn went on to make a few recordings as pianist in a group led by alto saxophonist Willie Smith. This set includes "I Found a New Baby" and two takes of "All the Things You Are."

Finally, the download also includes several solo numbers that were recorded by but never issued on Sunset, but were to appear on a Monarch 10-inch LP, along with a few that were not brought out until much later.

All told, there are 16 songs in the set. My source for these materials are lossless needle-drops found on Internet Archive and a 1970s reissue LP from my collection. The 78s can be hissy; my apologies in advance. I substituted the LP dubs where possible.

Mood Ellington

Our second offering today is a remastering of the first album made by Duke Ellington for Columbia, collecting items from 1947. Ellington's greatest records are usually considered to be those he made with the so-called "Blanton-Webster" band earlier in the decade, but there is much to like in the impressionist masterpieces heard in the Mood Ellington LP.

I first posted this early LP back in 2013, and now have had a go at redoing it, in response to a request. As I wrote back then, "Ellington was very interested in tonal colors at the time [i.e., the mid-40s], and his song titles reflect that - here we have 'On a Turquoise Cloud,' 'Golden Cress' and 'Lady of the Lavender Mist.' For Musicraft he had recorded 'Transbluency,' 'Magenta Haze,' and 'Blue Abandon,' among others. But there also are straightforward items like 'Three Cent Stomp.' All are unmistakably Ellington."

The link to this LP can be found in the comments on the original post. My transfer comes from a Philips pressing originally issued in Singapore.

Quarantine Songs

Thanks again to reader Eric for his playlist of "Quarantine Songs." Here we have such things as Polly Bergen doing "All Alone (By the Telephone)" and Otis Blackwell with "I Face This World Alone" along with items by Herb Jeffries, the Ink Spots, Brenda Lee and many other favorites. Again, you can find Eric's link in the comments to the Mary Healy post. Good stuff!

Previn Plays Gershwin Songs, Plus Reups

One of the first songs André Previn recorded for RCA Victor was Gershwin's "But Not for Me." That was in 1947. Except for a 1949 reading of "Who Cares?", he would not return to the composer until his final piano-and-rhythm sessions for that label, in May and June of 1953.

The result was this splendid LP, which RCA did not get around issuing until 1955. And that was it for Previn's tenure with the label, save for his 1956 Collaboration album with Shorty Rogers.

André Previn

Previn was closely associated with Gershwin's music, as you might expect of a virtuoso pianist, star conductor and Hollywood orchestrator all combined into one person. He recorded the orchestral works three times (with Kostelanetz, the London Symphony and the Pittsburgh Symphony), accompanied Ella Fitzgerald and Diahann Carroll in Gershwin songs, and did a song album himself for DG in 1998. He and Ken Darby won Academy Awards for their work on the 1959 film version of Porgy and Bess.

On the RCA album, Previn has a accomplished trio of studio musicians backing him - Al Hendrickson, guitar, Artie Shapiro, bass, and Irv Cottler, drums. The results are delightful and the recording is excellent.

A few of these songs have appeared on my previous Previn collections. Eventually I hope to present all his early RCA Victor recordings.

Reups

Here are my most recent attempts at remastering my early work, all done by request. The links below take you to the original posts.

Dardanelle - Piano Moods. Unlike Previn, the virtuoso pianist Dardanelle's fame did not last, despite a late career renaissance. I can assure you that if you like Previn, you will enjoy this fine artist. The LP is from 1950.

Louis Bellson - The Exciting Louis Bellson. This LP is primarily a showcase for drummer Bellson's powerful all-star big band - Maynard Ferguson, Wardell Gray, etc. The sessions date from 1953 and 1954.

Three for the Show (OST). An obscure soundtrack record for Betty Grable's final musical, issued in 1955. She shares the vinyl with Marge Champion and Jack Lemmon. Amusing, even though the singing ranges from toneless to croaking.

Omar Khayyam / The Mountain (OST). Two colorful scores dating from 1956-57: Victor Young's music for Omar Khayyam and Daniele Amfitheatrof's for The Mountain. Good sound - highly recommended!

More André Previn on RCA Victor

Several years ago I offered two EPs and a 10-inch LP of Andre Previn's 1947-53 recordings on RCA Victor, a post I re-upped last year. Today we have two LPs from my collection with further examples of Previn's remarkable pianism from that era drawn largely from two Camden reissues - Mad About the Boy from 1958 and Love Walked In from 1964.

Now, record companies being record companies, there are a few duplications in this collection from my previous post. Heck, there are even duplications between the two Camden LPs, although I have eliminated those repeats in the download.

In addition to the 19 songs from these two LPs, I've added one non-LP single as a bonus. It comprises a tricky Latin-tinged arrangement of "The Gypsy in My Soul" with a unwanted revival of the 1919 chestnut "Dardanella," which has a vocal from Mack McLean of the Six Hits and a Miss vocal group. As far as I can tell, this the only time a vocalist appeared with Previn on his RCA records.

The songs in this collection feature three rhythm sections with some of Hollywood's finest accompanists. On the earlier sessions Previn used Al Viola on guitar, Chic Parnell or Lloyd Pratt on bass, and Jackie Mills on drums. Viola and Pratt were two-third of the Page Cavanaugh Trio at the time. Like that trio, the sound of Previn's groups throughout this period were influenced by the highly influential King Cole Trio, although Previn himself was an Art Tatum disciple.

In the second combo, Al Viola was replaced by Bob Bain and Jackie Mills by Ralph Collier. This group can be heard on the 1949-51 recordings, which sometimes also included a string complement. Finally, there are a few excerpts from a 1953 Gershwin session that included Al Hendrickson on guitar, Artie Shapiro on bass and Irv Cottler on drums. I have the complete Previn Plays Gershwin album and will post it at a later date.

Throughout, Previn chooses the best standards (Dardanella aside) and presents them with amazing fluidity and imagination. The sound is excellent. I can't help but give this a strong recommendation.

On my other blog, I've just uploaded a set of the four songs that Previn recorded for V-Disc in 1946, the year before he joined Victor.

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At a 1947 jazz conclave: Buddy Childers, Lee Young,
Previn, Eddie Laguna, Vido Musso, Jimmy Mundy,
Willie Smith, Eddie Safranski (click to enlarge)

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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André Previn Meets David Rose

Today’s post comes to us courtesy of friend-of-the-blog Stealthman, who previously contributed the lone Conrad Salinger LP in stereo. Today he comes to us with a stereo copy of the first collaboration of blog-favorite André Previn with composer-arranger David Rose. M-G-M brought them together for a 1958 LP called Secret Songs for Young Lovers. (Apparently these were songs that had been kept hidden from Frank Sinatra when he recorded Songs for Young Lovers earlier in the 50s).

Rose and Previn were among M-G-M's leading lights, although Previn also recorded for Contemporary, and would soon defect to Columbia. (See his outing with Jackie & Roy here.) This album was a winner for the pair, ending up in the Billboard album charts for several weeks and spawning a popular single in the form of Previn’s composition, “Like Young,” and then an LP sequel, Like Blue.

Among the Grammy winners for 1960 were (from left): David Rose, André Previn,
Bobby Darin, Jonah Jones and Shelley Berman

The sedately funky “Like Young” was likely the inspiration for two other notable compositions that came along in the next year or two – Nelson Riddle’s “Route 66 Theme” and Cy Coleman’s “Playboy’s Theme,” the latter of which has appeared on my other blog here. But as I have opined previously, all three compositions owe a debt to the work of such artists as Horace Silver and especially Bobby Timmons.

That said, this is quite a good LP that is at once easy listening and jazz - or at least jazzy. “Like Young” also was somewhat popular in the R&B market, hitting both those charts and the pop listings in 1959.

The album includes two compositions from Rose (“Young Man’s Lament” and “Young and Tender”) and two from Previn (“Too Young to Be True,” written with then-wife Dory Langdon, along with “Like Young”) plus standards, including David Raksin’s memorable theme for The Bad and the Beautiful in its guise as the song “Love Is for the Very Young.” The sound is superb early stereo, with solid piano presence and Rose’s sweet strings.

Many thanks to Stealthman for this gem!

Jackie & Roy Sing Dory and André Previn

For a final salute to the music of Jackie & Roy, we have this 1963 LP of songs by André and Dory Langdon Previn. It's a fine record that languishes in obscurity and has not been reissued, as far as I can tell.

This may be the best introduction to the Previns as songwriters, along with Michael Feinstein's recent Previn CD. André had of course already made his name as a Hollywood prodigy and virtuoso pianist in the pop, jazz and even classical modes. He had begun working as a classical conductor as well, and in 1962 issued his first recording in that role, with the St. Louis Symphony.

In 1958, Dory Langdon had recorded an album of her songs (improbably titled The Leprechauns Are Upon Me) with Andre's accompaniment. She went on to record several albums as a singer-songwriter in the 1970s and 80s, under the names Dory Previn and Dory Previn Shannon.

By the time of this recording, the Previns' songs were being used in films (they received two Oscar nominations already by the time of Like Sing), and such artists as Doris Day had taken up their work. Day's LP with André, Duet, featured "Yes" and "Control Yourself," which are also on this record, as well as "Daydreaming."

Dory and André Previn

Jackie & Roy are at one with the Previns' material. Jackie is, as always, extraordinary, with her exquisite performance of "Where, I Wonder" a particular highlight. It is a gorgeous (and difficult) song that should be much better known.

The title song is a close relative of André's 1960 instrument hit with the similar title of "Like Young." Both songs, along with such other hit compositions as Nelson Riddle's "Route 66 Theme" and Cy Coleman's "Playboy Theme," were under the spell of Bobby Timmons' influential "Moanin'" of 1958.

We don't know for certain who is responsible for the piano backing or the arrangements. The pianism does not sound like André Previn, so it is probably Roy Kral. The backings are possibly by André. In his notes to his Previn CD, Feinstein makes reference to the arrangement of "Change of Heart" as being by Previn, although I suppose that may just be the singer's assumption.

The cover shows the two couples as being very much in the Kennedy mode of the time, with Roy and André in their sack suits and Dory in a Jackie-esque pink ensemble. A handsome group - and so talented!

Invitation to the Dance - Music by Ibert and Previn

Despite being made right after An American in Paris and Singin' in the Rain, Invitation to the Dance was not a successful venture for the great Gene Kelly. It was a departure in that it was an anthology film with three separate stories, all told entirely through the medium of dance. The studio did not have faith in the result, so it was shelved from 1952 to 1956.

This soundtrack LP contains the original music for two of the three segments - "Circus" and "Ring Around the Rosy." The third section, was set to music adapted from Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. This part, which matches Kelly with cartoon characters, may be more familiar than the other parts of the movie because it has been anthologized.

Gene Kelly as sad clown

The first story in the trilogy is "Circus," a laugh-clown-laugh story with Gene as the broken-hearted and ultimately tragic figure. So the film started on a dour story - and an overly familiar one, at that. The music, however, is excellent. It came from the contemporary French eclectic Jacques Ibert, best known for Escales, recorded in the 50s by both Munch and Ormandy, with their respective ensembles. Here the good performance is by the Royal Philharmonic and John Hollingsworth.

With Tamara Toumanova in "Ring Around the Rosy"

Accomplished as it may be, that music is eclipsed by the wonderfully varied score for "Ring Around the Rosy" from composer-pianist-conductor André Previn, then still a Hollywood wunderkind. (He was 23 when the film was shot and 27 when it came out.) You will hear echoes of Britten, Khachaturian (!) and Gershwin, Kenton-style stentorian jazz, blues piano, salon music, mood music and much more. "Ring Around the Rosy" is a La Ronde-inspired journey that follows a bracelet as it passes from one person to another, with Previn switching styles at least as often as the bauble changes owners. The score is brilliantly played by the M-G-M Studio Orchestra with Previn himself at the piano.

The sound is better for Previn's contributions than Ibert's, but fine in both cases.

Early Andre Previn

Andre Previn has been a world class artist as jazz pianist, film and classical composer, and classical conductor. Even his wives have been noted artists - songwriter Dory Langdon, actor Mia Farrow and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter.

Previn's remarkable ability has shown itself since the beginning of his career. In 1945 and 46, while he was still in high school, he recorded on piano for the Sunset and Monarch labels. He even made V-Discs at that time.

This particular post concentrates on the recordings he made for RCA Victor from 1947-50. The earliest (originally in a 78 album) were  collected in the 45 box set above, "Andre Previn at the Piano," in 1950. Lineups and dates are as follows:

Andre Previn Quartet: Andre Previn (p) Al Viola (g) Charles Parnell (b) Jackie Mills (d)
Los Angeles, October 20, 1947
But Not for Me
This Can't Be Love
Mad About the Boy

Lloyd Pratt (b) replaces Parnell
Los Angeles, November 3, 1947
I Didn't Know What Time It Was
My Shining Hour
Hallelujah
Just One of Those Things

The group setting may remind you of Nat Cole, but the pianism is certainly inspired by Art Tatum. It is dazzling - remarkably facile and inventive, as are all these recordings.

The next set of recordings were originally collected in another box of singles in 1950, and abridged to an EP titled "By Request" in 1952. They were as follows:

Lloyd Pratt (b) + unknown string section
Los Angeles, April 13, 1949
Who
Bewitched

Unknown strings out
Los Angeles, May 4, 1949
Anything goes

Los Angeles, October 21, 1949
Who cares?

In 1950, Previn was the music director for a biopic of songwriters Kalmar and Ruby called "Three Little Words." In honor of that assignment, he recorded songs from the movie for an album of the same name. This must be one of the first jazz versions of a musical. Several years later, Previn was part of a group headed by drummer Shelly Manne that recorded the songs from "My Fair Lady". It became a best seller and started the fashion of jazz versions of musical scores. "Three Little Words" is a precursor. The recordings were made on March 31 and April 14, 1950.

The sound on all these is reasonably good, although the pressings are variable. The three sets comprise about 40% of the RCA Victor recordings by Previn.