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.

The Iturbis in Gershwin, Debussy and More

Those of you who have been paying attention to things around here will be aware that the music of George Gershwin is among the most popular of my subjects. The Rhapsody in Blue, in particular, has been the topic of many posts, including ones covering the original recording, a version with a chorus, jazz interpretations, and what have you.

But there is always more to discover, and today we have two different versions for two pianos - one with orchestra and one without. These are part of a collection by duo pianists Amparo and José Iturbi that also includes several unusual examples of mid-century Americana, plus their recordings of Debussy's En blanc et noir and two Andalusian Dances by Manuel Infante.

The 1949 Rhapsody in Blue recording

10-inch cover

Siblings Amparo (1898-1969) and José (1895-1980) were virtuoso pianists who often performed together.

When this 1949 recording of Rhapsody in Blue was made, they (particularly José) were at the height of their fame. They appeared together in several Hollywood films, with José taking a speaking role in most of them.

As sometimes happens, the more the performers became familiar to the general public, the less they were held in regard by the audience for classical music.

The pair took the Rhapsody into the recording studio twice, both in arrangements by José. The first was in 1938 in a duo piano arrangement without orchestra (discussed below); the 1949 version included orchestra.

Both are well worth hearing. The earlier version, made in New York, strikes me as a bit more refined than the 1949 orchestral arrangement. But then, José in particular was not known for subtlety and both can be brash. I will say that the 1949 version is dramatic, and is in excellent sound.

José Iturbi in Anchors Aweigh

In addition to his piano duties, José also conducted the orchestra in the 1949 Rhapsody, made in Hollywood. He had just appeared as himself in the Kathryn Grayson-Mario Lanza epic That Midnight Kiss, managing to be billed above Lanza, who was in his first leading role.

The 1949 version came out on EP and 78 sets, later migrating to 10-inch LP (cover above) and 12-inch LP. The LP versions included additional works, as described below.

Chambers - All American - A Satirical Suite

Both the LP versions included the duo's recording of a brief All American satirical suite by avocational composer J. Clarence Chambers, who at one time was the general medical superintendent of the New York City hospital system. Dr. Chambers' suite is perhaps the only work of his that has been recorded. It comes from a 1946 session in Hollywood, where José was appearing in the Jane Powell movie Holiday in Mexico.

The suite's titles will give you a good sense of what it's about - "Chicken in the Hay," "Lush," "Bloozey-Woozey" and "Parade of the Visiting Firemen."

Debussy and Infante

12-inch cover

The 12-inch version of the LP also included works by Debussy and Infante. The bigger LP came with a much better looking cover, the work of artist and illustrator Robert J. Lee.

Debussy's En blanc et noir is a turbulent wartime work, written in 1915, when the composer, afflicted with cancer, had but a few years to live. The work is dedicated to Serge Koussevitzky, Jacques Charlot (a business associate who was killed in the war), and Igor Stravinsky.

Debussy was passionately anti-German at the time; he deconstructs Martin Luther's hymn, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, in the second movement.

The Iturbis' intensity is well suited to this work; at the same time they inject more light and shade into this recording than some of their other efforts. The 1950 sessions were held in Hollywood.

Manuel Infante

José championed the music of Spanish composer Manuel Infante (1883-1958). He and Amparo often played Infante's suites for two pianos. The LP includes two of the three Andalusian Dances - No. 1 and No. 2. (The LP sleeve gets the markings wrong - No. 1 is Ritmo; No. 2 is Sentimento.)

These are highly attractive characteristic pieces that are just right for the performers, who carry them off with panache. The recordings were made in November 1946 in Hollywood.

All the works discussed so far were transferred from my copy of the 12-inch LP.

Music by Gould and Reddick

Morton Gould

I've added three brief American works to the program. The first is the Blues movement from the American Concertette No. 1 by Morton Gould, here in a version for solo piano by José, for whom the work was written. The Concertette is usually called Interplay, after the ballet that Jerome Robbins produced using the score. You can hear the complete work in a recording by Cor de Groot that I posted many years ago.

Also from Gould is a highly idiomatic and convincing Boogie Woogie Étude that is powerfully played by José. The work dates from 1943. Iturbi recorded the two Gould pieces in November 1944 in New York.

Willam J. Reddick

Finally we have an unusual orchestral piece by William J. Reddick called Espanharlem. Not sure what program Reddick had in mind for this work, but it's an attractive piece in the Gershwin vein. This comes from a V-Disc with Iturbi conducting what the producers called the "Rochester Symphony." This is very likely the Rochester Philharmonic, which Iturbi conducted from 1936 to 1944. He made a few RCA Victor recordings on May 9, 1942 with that ensemble, per A Classical Discography. The V-Disc came from an unissued master from that date.

Reddick was known for his arrangements of spirituals and a collection of roustabout songs from the Ohio River. He was producer and director of radio's Ford Sunday Evening Hour from 1936-42, then again after 1945. This was probably the connection with Iturbi - José and the Rochester orchestra sometimes appeared on the program.

The 1938 Rhapsody in Blue

The Iturbis

Gershwin himself transcribed the Rhapsody in Blue for two pianos, but the Iturbis' 1938 recording was arranged by José. The pair made the recording in August and September 1938 for Victor. This transfer comes from HMV pressings.

Just as with the 1949 version, the performances are skillful and forthright, conveyed in very good sound from Victor's New York studios. The 1938 recording, issued on 78s, has not been reissued, to my knowledge. However, a set of Iturbi's complete RCA Victor recordings will be released this week, I believe.

This version of the Rhapsody in Blue, along with the Gould and Reddick works, come from cleaned-up transfers found on Internet Archive.  

A Musical Christmas Tree from Morton Gould

Today's holiday offering is a circa 1968-69 recording of Christmas music arranged and conducted by the distinguished composer Morton Gould.

It's a good program that was essentially a stereo remake of a 1949 Gould set called Christmas Music for Orchestra.

The stereo version is dubbed A Musical Christmas Tree, which fir seems to be exploding on the cover above. 

Most of the stereo LP is devoted to Gould's "Serenade of Carols" and "Suite of Christmas Hymns," also found in the 1949 set. The suite is not identified as such on the later album and the various hymns are dispersed throughout the set.

The stereo album does include two items that were new to Gould's recorded canon. First is his composition "Home for Christmas," an attractive piece of Americana that dates from as long ago as 1939. Also new was "The Little Drummer Boy," a song first called "The Carol of the Drums" as written (or arranged) by Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. Harry Simeone recorded the song to great success in the 1950s, attributing it to him and his producer, while replicating an arrangement previously recorded by Jack Halloran.

Morton Gould

Gould's stereo LP was split between the New Philharmonia Orchestra of London and the RCA Symphony Orchestra, a studio group. Although the album came out in 1969, it's not certain when the recordings took place. We can guess that the New Philharmonia recordings come from October 1968 and Walthamstow Town Hall, a frequently site of London recordings. That's the only Gould-New Philharmonia date in the orchestra's discography, which says the session was devoted to the music of Grieg. Even so, it's possible that the holiday songs were set down at the same time.

As for the RCA Symphony, Alan Rich's liner notes make reference to some of its recordings being made in "mid-summer." That presumably means 1968 or 1969, but more likely the former because Rich's note is dated July 17, 1969.

The RCA recordings are pleasing, and are recommended if you want stereo sound. But don't discount the excellent results that Columbia obtained in its 30th Street studio 20 years earlier. That mono LP is newly remastered and is available via the original post and the comments to this post.

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

Tchaikovsky's 'The Seasons' with Morton Gould and Lev Oborin

Detail of Tchaikovsky portrait by Nikolai Kuznetsov

The headline says this post is devoted to Tchaikovsky's The Seasons. So why does the Morton Gould record cover below say The Months?

That's something we would have to ask Gould, were he still around. The composer called his suite The Seasons, and most other recordings I have seen call it the same.

Gould did have logic on his side. Tchaikovsky wrote the work on a month-by-month basis for the publication Nuvellist in 1875-76, and the individual pieces are subtitled for the appropriate month. But the composer and the publisher still called the suite The Seasons.

By whatever name, we have two versions of this piano work for you: one an arrangement by Gould for piano and orchestra, the other a Russian recording by Lev Oborin of the original suite.

The Months with Morton Gould

The title was not all that Gould changed. The suite was written for piano, but Gould orchestrated the work in Tchaikovsky's style, retaining a piano part.

It all works quite well in this 1951 recording, made in Columbia's 30th Street Studio, and a bit more steely sounding than usual from this source. It's a light suite, most similar in approach to the composer's ballet scores. (He was orchestrating Swan Lake at about the same time.)

The best known selections are probably the "Barcarolle" (June) and "In the Troika" (November). The latter is sometimes heard at Christmas, even though the composer assigned it to the previous month. Tchaikovsky's composition, however, is not heard as often as Prokofiev's "Troika" from the Lieutenant Kijé Suite.

I don't want to slight Tchaikovsky's December piece, which is one of his most felicitous waltzes.

Morton Gould in the recording studio

The Seasons has been arranged for orchestra several times. Most recordings use the orchestration by Russian conductor Aleksandr Gauk. As far as I can tell, this is the only recording of Gould's version. It has not been reissued for many years, to my knowledge.

The Seasons with Lev Oborin

Although his name is not often heard these days, Lev Oborin (1907-74) was a distinguished Russian pianist who won the first International Chopin Competition in 1927. Oborin often performed with David Oistrakh, and Aram Khachaturian dedicated his Piano Concerto to him.

Lev Oborin

Oborin's recording dates from 1950. This version is from a 1963 LP issued on the small Bruno label, possibly a quasi-bootleg. The LP was reissued many times on LP in Russia, but I haven't turned up any CD issues nor any other Western releases, save for a UK Parlophone album (that was, incidentally, titled The Months).

The recording is adequate; the performance is splendid, although Oborin's troika just ambles along, apparently in no hurry to get to Babushka's house. The pianist does, however, excel in the concluding waltz.

Thanks to my friend Ernie, who alerted me to the Gould LP on Internet Archive.

Morton Gould's Music for Cinerama Holiday

Quick: what was the most popular film of 1955? Well, it probably doesn't take much imagination to guess Cinerama Holiday, the subject of this post and the correct answer.

Now then, who were the stars of this spectacle? Ha! Got you there. They were non-professionals, John and Betty Marsh and Beatrice and Fred Troller. The movie got away with having zero star power among the actors because the film projection system itself was the principal attraction.

The premiere of This Is Cinerama

Cinerama was a three-projector system that played on a huge curved screen in specially equipped theaters. The first such film, This Is Cinerama, dates from 1952. Cinerama Holiday was the second. The process underwent some changes as time went on, and production fizzled out in the 1960s. A few Cinerama theaters are still hanging around for revivals, and the films have appeared on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Promotional postcard for Cinerama Holiday

As the name suggests, Cinerama Holiday was a travelogue of sorts, following two couples on their journeys. The Trollers, from Switzerland, came to the Americas. The Marshes, from Kansas City, traveled to Europe.

Morton Gould

The score for Cinerama Holiday is credited to Morton Gould, but the LP cover says that additional music was contributed by Van Cleave (aka Nathan Van Cleave). Jack Shaindlin is credited as conductor and musical director. Mysteriously, a few of the album selections are attributed to Shaindlin on the labels, and none to Van Cleave. The Argentine composer Terig Tucci contributed "Holiday in Rio."

When you examine the musical credits in the film's souvenir booklet, you find that the movie itself had a much more varied soundtrack than the LP. It presented such attractions as a "traditional Chinese orchestra," the Dartmouth Glee Club, the congregation of the Second Free Mission Baptist Church, yodelers, an excerpt from Rameau's Les Indes Galantes, and Papa Celestin's Original Tuxedo Dixieland Jazz Band - among others.

None of these appear on the album, which is almost entirely orchestral, with the notable exception of a awful piece called "Hail to Our Land," which ends the LP.

Scene from Cinerama Holiday on the curved screen

This is not to say that the record is unpleasant; quite the contrary. As always with Gould, the melodies and orchestrations are apt and enjoyable.

Oddly, Gould decided to compete against himself in the market by recording an EP of the Cinerama Holiday music for RCA Victor, which I unfortunately do not have. I did locate two numbers by Papa Celestin, which Columbia issued on a single purportedly as being from the soundtrack. The musical credits mentioned above, however, claim that Celestin and band only performed one of the two during the film - "Tiger Rag." I've included both sides as a bonus.

Papa Celestin picture sleeve

The sound is quite good for both LP and single. The film soundtrack was recorded in stereo, but Mercury's 1955 issue was mono-only.

This is another one of the LPs I transferred many years ago that has never appeared on the blog.

Souvenir booklet

Morton Gould - Music of Lecuona / String Time

We return to old friend Morton Gould this week with a 1951 LP that repackages two of his 78 sets from the 1940s, with a few other items tossed in, all in a handsome Alex Steinweiss cover.

Music of Lecuona

The first side is mainly devoted to the music of Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona (1895-1963), whose songs became popular in the 1930s and 1940s. Gould chose four of Lecuona's best known pieces, arranging them for orchestra, in this case the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra of Philadelphia. This is the Philadelphia Orchestra, appearing under the name it assumed for its summer concerts at Robin Hood Dell.

Ernesto Lecuona

The Lecuona works are "Andalucía" (which became a hit as "The Breeze and I"), "Malagueña" (still widely heard), "La Comparsa" and "Jungle Drums." All these melodies may be familiar even if you don't know their names.

Morton Gould

Gould was apparently fond of this music, re-recording it for RCA Victor in 1956 for the LP Jungle Drums. The title tune was at the time widely popular with the bandleaders who specialized in what has become known as "exotica," a name derived from a Martin Denny LP. Denny himself recorded all four of these songs, including "Jungle Drums" on his 1959 Afro-Desia LP.

These particular Gould renditions date from August 1947, although they were not released until 1949. Columbia filled out the first side of the LP with Gould's arrangements of Jessel's "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" and Polla's "Dancing Tambourine." These were from the same August 1947 recording session, but were issued separately as a single. The former piece will certainly be familiar. The latter dates from 1927, when it was recorded by any number of bands.

As a bonus, I've added Gould's V-Disc recording of "Jungle Drums," which predates the commercial recording. This version apparently is an aircheck from a 1945 radio program, "Shower of Stars," where Gould was a regular participant. The performance is slightly quicker and less refined, as you might expect.

I'm very interested in the music of Lecuona and its popularity in the US during the 30s and 40s. One of my next posts will bring together a few dozens versions of his compositions -  the four on this Gould album, "Siboney," "Say 'Si, Si,'" the songs from the 1947 film Carnival in Costa Rica, and other items.

String Time

Gould's 78 album String Time came out in 1947, although judging by the matrix numbers it was probably recorded the year before. (Update: discographer Nigel Burlinson writes to say the sessions were probably in July 1946.) It contains his arrangements of eight standards for strings, with the performers are identified as "Morton Gould and His Orchestra."

Cover of 78 album

The cover notes to the 78 release claim, "It is questionable if anyone today can do a consistently better job of spinning the fine cocoon of symphonic ornamentation around a popular melody and then conducting the new arrangement to the best possible advantage." That may have been correct, but I suspect that Andre Kostelanetz of the same Columbia record company would have disagreed.

The sound for the String Time numbers, probably a product of Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York, is very good. (Update: Nigel Burlinson writes that the recording was likely in Liederkranz Hall rather than 30th Street, which did not open until 1949.) In Philadelphia, the engineers were not so lucky, but I've done my best to clarify the opaque sound. I think you will find it pleasing.

Two from Morton Gould, More Christmas Presents, Plus Limited-Time Uploads

As usual, things have been hectic in the comments pages of this blog; I can hardly keep up with our friends 8H Haggis and David Federman. But before I provide my usual synopsis of their activity, I have a few contributions of my own.

Morton Gould - After Dark and Movie Time

I am always happy to return to the records of Morton Gould - such a remarkable musician. Today I have two LPs for you, both rescued from the impenetrable depths of Internet Archive, where I go searching for hidden treasure every once in a while. I had to do a fair amount of work on these vinyl jewels to get them sounding right, but the results are worthwhile. (The irony is that I believe I own both of these records.)

The earlier album is After Dark, a compilation of smoky standards dressed up in Gould's handsome arrangements. This 10-inch LP dates from 1951.

The second LP is Movie Time, another 10-incher, from circa 1952. Here, Gould takes on songs from musical productions, casting himself in the role of solo pianist. The results are just right.

Gould has often appeared on this blog as composer, arranger, pianist and conductor. Follow this link if you want to check out some of my earlier uploads, which go back many years.

Pre-Climate Change Christmas

David F. has completed his second Christmas compilation, and it it just as delightful as his first. Dubbed a "Pre-Climate Change Christmas," this collection again looks back to when we all were much younger. It includes several songs I have not encountered before, so I am particularly excited to cue them up for the holidays. David tells us that "these selections mostly date from the 1930s and 40s when winters were expected to be white and, in 1941, bitter enough to stop Hitler in Russia."

UPDATE: the link I posted previously contained only 17 of the 30 songs in David's collection. I've now uploaded the complete set - you can download it by following this LINK.

More Paul Whiteman

A quick note for those of you who have been following Lee Hartsfeld's massive upload of Paul Whiteman 78s from the 1920s and early 30s. Lee has posted his fifth compilation (go here) and promises more to come. His transfers are amazingly vivid.

Limited-Time Uploads

Speaking of skilled artisans in sound, here are the latest products from the workshop of the industrious 8H Haggis. As always, see the comments to the posts below for what 8H has for you. I suggest searching on the composer or artist to minimize scrolling. Note that these are limited-time uploads - the links may not last for more than a few weeks.

In the A Little More Bizet from Rodzinski comments

Bizet - Symphony in C/Artur Rodziński
Franck - D-Minor Symphony/Artur Rodziński
Saint-Saëns - Piano Concerto No. 4/Artur Rubinstein, Artur Rodziński

In the More Limited Time Uploads comments

C.P.E. Bach - Orchestral Symphonies/Leslie Jones
J.C. Bach - Sinfonias for Double Orchestra/Leslie Jones
Haydn - Symphonies Nos. 3, 39, 73/Leslie Jones

In the Reups, Remasters, Limited-Time Uploads, and the Christmas Season Begins Comments

Brahms - Double Concerto/Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Enrico Mainardi, Wilhelm Furtwängler
Bruckner - Overture in G minor, Symphony No. 7/Willem van Otterloo
Chopin - Piano Concerto No. 2/Menahem Pressler, Hans Swarowsky
Glazunov - Stenka Razin/Leo Borchard
Handel - Water Music/Eduard van Beinum
Haydn - "Quinten" and "Joke" String Quartets/Pascal Quartet
Mendelssohn - Piano Concerto No. 1/Menahem Pressler, Hans Swarowsky
Mozart - Piano Concertos No. 17, 24/Menahem Pressler, Wilfried Boettcher
Mozart - Piano Concertos No. 12, 13/Cor de Groot, Willem van Otterloo
Nielsen - Symphony No. 1/Thomas Jensen
Rodgers - "Victory at Sea" Suite/Charles Gerhardt
Saint-Saëns - Violin Concerto No. 3/Arthur Grumiaux, Jean Fournet
Schubert - Rosamunde Excerpts/Jean Meylan
Schubert - Symphony No. 8/Hermann Scherchen
Schumann - Piano Concerto/Walter Gieseking, Wilhelm Furtwängler
Shostakovich - Symphony No. 7/Arturo Toscanini
Suppe - Overtures/Georg Solti

Plus these series:

Westminster Keyboard Kornucopia
Albéniz - Iberia/José Echániz
C.P.E. Bach - Keyboard Works/Nina Malkina
Cimarosa - Harpsichord Sonatas/Robert Veyron-Lacroix
Schumann - Fantasy Pieces, Fantasy in C/Jörg Demus

Historic Recordings of Edvard Grieg

Holberg Suite/Boyd Neel

Homage March from Sigurd Jorsalfar/Constant Lambert

Lyric Suite/Landon Ronald

Norwegian Dances, Symphonic Dances/Erik Tuxen

Peer Gynt Suite No. 1/Eugene Goossens

Peer Gynt Suite No. 2/Fabien Sevitzky

Violin Sonata/Fritz Kreisler, Sergei Rachmaninoff

Recordings by Werner Janssen
Henry Cowell - Ancient Desert Drone
Henry Gilbert - Dance in the Place Congo
Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1
Friedrich Witt - Jena Symphony

In the Hanson Conducts MacDowell comments

Chávez - Toccata for Percussion/Gotham Percussion Players

Granados - Dances/Georges Sébastian

Respighi - Brazilian Impressions/Georges Sébastian

Schubert - Symphonies No. 3, 6/Georges Sébastian

In the Prokofiev Suites for Children comments

Reicha and Voříšek - Symphonies/Prague Chamber Orchestra

In the Whiteman, Previn and a Profusion of Limited-Time Uploads comments

Grieg - Piano Concerto/Yuri Boukoff, Artur Rodziński
Scriabin et al. - Concert Works/Paul Badura-Skoda, Artur Rodziński, Henry Swoboda

Follow @BusterBig10Inch

Gould Conducts Gould, Direct to Disc

When I recently posted the first recording of Morton Gould's Spirituals for Orchestra, dating from 1946, longtime blog reader Centuri asked me if I had this rendition, conducted by the composer and recorded direct to disc in 1978.

I have owned a copy of the record almost since it came out, so I am pleased to be able to fill Centuri's request with this post - particularly so, because it also includes a definitive account of Gould's Foster Gallery. That composition, dating from 1939, makes mischievous use of Stephen Foster tunes in one of Gould's most interesting scores

Morton Gould at work

All this is presented in what was then considered state-of-the-art sound. For those not versed in the short-lived "direct-to-disc" fad, it involved cutting the master disc for the subsequent vinyl record right at the recording site, eliminating tape recording and the post-production procedures that dimmed the sonics of most vinyl records by removing them several generations from the original sound.

In this instance, the results are mixed. The performance itself is all one could wish, with Gould leading the London Philharmonic at Watford Town Hall, a frequent recording site for the London orchestras. But the sound is recessed, in a manner that was then coming into fashion - a taste that has persisted to this day. I find it frustrating to have the sound of a great orchestra clouded by the resonance of an empty hall. But many disagree, of course, and you may love it. I will say that the sonics are vivid, present and wide-ranging, so in that sense the direct-to-disc approach was a success. The engineer on site was Bert Whyte, who guided the well-regarded Everest classical recordings in the early years of stereo.

Although we may differ on the quality of the sound, perhaps we can agree that the cover is hideous. It either represents a microscopic view of the world's most elaborate stylus approaching the world's dirtiest record groove, or a cheap brooch suspended over a menacing purple valley. Either way, it doesn't seem to have much to do with Morton Gould and his music.

One final note on the sound: although direct to disc was a short-lived phenomenon, digital recording was not. Just before his Crystal Clear sessions, Gould had conducted the London Symphony at the same location for the first digital recordings ever made in England. These would eventually come out on the Varese Sarabande label as vinyl pressings - CDs were five years in the future.

Bert Whyte in the early 1950s

Early Copland and Gould Recordings, Plus Reups

My recent post of a Copland for children record on my other blog reminded me I wanted to offer this 10-inch album that couples early recordings of music by Aaron Copland and Morton Gould.

For the LP issue, Columbia top-billed the first recording of Gould's Spirituals for Orchestra, even though its companion item, Copland's Lincoln Portrait, has turned out to be a far more popular composition than the Gould, worthy though that may be.

Cover of 78 set

Both recordings date from 1946, the Copland from February and March sessions, and the Gould from May, with the New York Philharmonic under the characteristically taut direction of its then-music director, Artur Rodziński. The sound from Carnegie Hall is excellent.

The sonorous narrator in the Lincoln Portrait is actor-singer Kenneth Spencer, who at the time was on Broadway in an acclaimed revival of Show Boat. In the previous few years, Spencer had been in several films, including A Walk in the Sun, whose soundtrack turned up on this blog last year. Spencer moved to Germany in 1950.

1947 ad

A few words about the performance history of A Lincoln Portrait. This was its second recording; the first was by Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony, only a few weeks before Rodziński and the New Yorkers. The work had been written in 1942, through a commission by Andre Kostelanetz, and premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony. Kostelanetz himself did not record it until 1958.

I mentioned that this was the first recording of Gould's Spirituals. The second recording appeared on this blog some years ago, emanating from the unlikely source of the Hague Philharmonic and Willem van Otterloo. Gould himself did not get to tape it until 1965, when he led the Chicago Symphony for RCA Victor. Then in 1978 he conducted the London Philharmonic in a direct-to-disc effort for Crystal Clear.

Now on to a few reups.

Raymond Scott - Raymond Scott's Drawing Room (remastered). An early LP compiling some of Scott's best known compositions in their 1930s recordings, including those cartoon staples "Powerhouse" and "The Toy Trumpet." (Also see my other blog for a recent post of a Scott-scored trip to the moon.)

So This is Paris (OST). Tony Curtis warbles on this obscure soundtrack from a 1954 musical. Also features Gloria De Haven and Gene Nelson, who actually could sing.

Danny Thomas and Peggy Lee - Songs from The Jazz Singer (remastered). In 1952, the Warner Bros. figured they would remake The Jazz Singer and cast a non-singer in the lead role. What could go wrong? You can find out here, in this, another obscure soundtrack (actually "songs from the film"), with Danny Thomas, who was long on charm but short on chops. I've added the three songs from the film recorded for another label by co-star Peggy Lee, who, again, actually could sing.

The links above lead to the original posts. Download links are in the comments there; also in the comments to this post.

Columbia goes overboard for Rodziński in 1945 ad

Morton Gould, Oiltown, U.S.A., Plus Reups

I have been out sick for a number of weeks, but now that I am restored to health, what better way to celebrate than to address some of the many requests I've received lately.

To start off, we have a new offering - one of the earliest LPs of Morton Gould's easy listening recordings. This 10-inch album primarily consisted of standards to accompany a romantic interlude, anticlimactically leading up to "Goodnight, Sweetheart" and "Let's Turn Out the Lights (and Go to Sleep)".

Gould and the band recorded these songs in December 1947, during a session in New York's Liederkranz Hall, which Columbia would soon abandon for its 30th Street studios. Notable among the eight items is the gorgeous "My Silent Love," written by the now forgotten Dana Suesse in her early 20s as "Jazz Nocturne." Gould pays homage to Suesse's own piano recording in his arrangement.

The sound here is good, but there is some background rustle from my early pressing. As Columbia sometimes did with its "better" artists, this appeared on the Masterworks label.

Also on today's docket:

Oiltown, U.S.A. I've had a couple requests for the soundtrack to this 1953 film produced by evangelist Billy Graham, which I shared back in the early days of this blog. The original transfer is now lost, but I recently rerecorded the 10-inch LP (my copy is actually in double EP form). Artists featured are Cindy Walker, Redd Harper and George Beverly Shea. Read more about it on the original post.

Jo Stafford - Garden of Prayer. Jo's recordings of gospel material are treasurable. This 10-inch LP from 1954 compiles 1950-53 recordings.  I have remastered the lossy originals and the sound is much improved.

Jo Stafford - Sings American Folk Songs. If anything, this early 10-inch LP is better than Garden of Prayer. Again, I've remastered the lossy originals for the best sound from the available files. The recordings come from the late 1940s.

Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1 (Rudolf Serkin; Pittsburgh/Fritz Reiner). This is the companion recording to Serkin's Brahms 2, which I reposted last month. It comes from February 1946. The lossless transfer has been remastered.

Fran Warren Singles. I posted a variety of material from singer Fran Warren following her death a few years ago. I have reupped her early single with Charlie Barnet, her EP Sings for You, both from my other blog, as well as an extensive collection of RCA singles posted here

Links to all of these are in the comments to this post.

Christmas with Morton Gould

Let's begin the Christmas season a little early with some presents from longtime blog favorite Morton Gould.

First we have Gould's own Serenade of Carols and his Suite of Christmas Hymns in their original 10-inch LP packaging. This replaces my earlier posting of the 12-inch reprint. The earlier issue has much better sound.

As a substantial bonus, there is a terrific two-LP traversal of "The Serious Gershwin" in its original 1955 packaging, with Gould as pianist and conductor.

Gould recorded the Christmas works in April 1949 in Columbia's 30th Street studios in New York. His arrangements are felicitous and the sound is excellent. Alex Steinweiss did the cover.

The Gershwin album was Gould's first big assignment at RCA Victor after leaving Columbia. It was recorded in nine sessions from January 14 through April 6, 1955 and came out in the fall. The "Serious Gershwin" was accompanied by a "Popular Gershwin" set, with RCA artists taking on the composer's songs.

I believe the concert works were also parceled out into separate LPs, one with an improbable cover scene at the Arc de Triomphe, the other depicting a languorous woman reclining atop a piano while brandishing a cane and bowler hat.

The Gershwin set consists of the Rhapsody in Blue, Concerto in F, An American in Paris, Three Preludes, the Jazzbo Brown piano music from Porgy & Bess, and Gould's own suite from that opera.

The Rhapsody's clarinet glissando is by Vincent "Jimmy" Abato, a veteran of many big bands (including Whiteman's),
who had also played in the Met orchestra and the CBS Symphony.

The Gershwin records were possibly taped in New York's Webster Hall, which had become RCA's main East Coast recording studio a few years before. The sound is exceptionally fine mono.