Mitch Miller Plays Mozart and Bach

Yes, it's the same Mitch Miller, he of the sing-alongs, children's records, Botch-A-Me and Mama Will Bark. The man who never met a novelty tune he didn't like. The sworn enemy of rock and roll. That very same fellow was a fine oboist who made classical records such as this one.

Our friend Joe Serraglio, who has contributed two superb Virgil Thomson recordings to this blog, now wants to draw attention to Mitch's other life as a classical musician - less well known than his work as A&R king of Mercury then Columbia records, and sing-a-long honcho on television and on records that are widely available at your local thrift store.

Here Miller assays works by Mozart, J.C. Bach and J.S. Bach, with the backing of the Saidenberg Little Symphony. Just a few words about Daniel Saidenberg, a most interesting figure in his own right. A cellist, he won the Naumburg Competition and then joined the Chicago Symphony. Upon moving to New York, he formed his chamber orchestra, which was in residence at the 92nd Street Y for several years. At the time of this recording, he and his wife also operated the Saidenberg Gallery, which purveyed masterpieces of 20th century art.

These works were recorded in March 1952 and October 1953 in Columbia's 30th Street studio.

Thanks so much again to Joe for making them available!

LINK

Schuman and Kirchner

Here by fervent request from David is Schuman's Credendum, together with Leon Kirchner's piano concerto - all courtesy of our friend Rich, a most knowledgeable collector. And because Rich is so informed, I think I'll let him provide the commentary, along with the transfer and scan:

"Here is the long awaited Credendum. I must say it's been a while since I got the record out and listened closely to it. While I admire the recent recording by the Albany Symphony under David Alan Miller, the Ormandy really does harken back to a time when music was played to the hilt, for all the intensity it was worth, and with all due regard to the current generation of highly accomplished musicians, this is the Philadelphia Orchestra, with very special characteristics and qualities.

"I've also included the Kirchner Piano Concerto on the other side. Not because people have been clamoring for it, but because it was part of the release, and if it weren't included, some people might be disappointed. To be perfectly, honest, I never much cared for it, sounds like Schoenberg wannabe to me. Actually, the concise and succinct Music for Cello, recorded by Yo-Yo Ma, strikes me as a much better piece. It is after all, a lifetime away in maturity.

"Here are the details. Separate folders in MediaFire for the Schuman and the Kirchner. The Schuman contains three mp3 files for each of the movements, and a jpeg for the album cover. The Kirchner contains three mp3 files for each of the movements.

William Schuman: Credendum
I. Declaration
II. Chorale
III. Finale
Eugene Ormandy, The Philadelphia Orchestra

Leon Kirchner: Piano Concerto
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Rondo
Leon Kirchner, Piano
Dimitri Mitropoulos,
Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York

Source: Columbia ML 5185 mono

Thanks Rich! The only thing I have to add is that the Kirchner was recorded in February 1956 in Columbia's 30th Street studio, and the Schuman was taped the next month in the Academy of Music.

NEW LINK

Stars and Stripes Forever

Like most people, I get the urge to listen to marches every 40 years or so, and recently the urge struck. So here is the result! (Don't wait around for the urge to strike again - I will be over 100, and even more disagreeable. Besides I've exhausted my supply of Sousa records.)

Before the military music lobby comes down on me, let me explain that I am joking. I am sure I listened to Sousa compositions on at least one other occasion since 1970, and probably enjoyed the experience, as I did this time around.

What we have here is the soundtrack of a film biography of march king John Philip Sousa, as produced by 20th Century-Fox in 1952. Very few biographies of military bandmasters are being issued from Hollywood these days, and it may seem unlikely that they hit upon the idea even in the early 1950s. Sousa had been dead for 20 years, and his heyday was years before that. But for whatever reason they went ahead, and cast Clifton Webb in the lead. That's not the first name that leaps to mind when you think "military bandmaster," but the reviews on the Internet would have us believe that he did quite well in the role, and moreover, that the film is a good one.

Not having seen the movie, I can't comment on its quality, but I can tell you the soundtrack is a convincing recreation of the sound of Sousa's band. The liner notes make a big deal out of conductor Alfred Newman sending to the University of Illinois for the parts and all that, but presumably he had to send somewhere for the parts, no? To get the sound and tempos right, I suspect Newman listened to Sousa's own recordings, and for comparison purposes I've also uploaded an RCA Victor EP of 1925-28 Sousa recordings that was reissued at the time of the film (see below). This demonstrates that the brisk pace of the title march on the soundtrack is very much in line with Sousa's own rendition. I also hunted up an earlier acoustic recording of the same march and included it. The only real differences that I can discern are that the Newman version features the alternate triple-piccolo obbligato in the trio, and the acoustic recording includes a repeat.

The sound on all these records is pretty good, even though M-G-M didn't do its best work in transferring the recording from its rival studio. (This was the first time M-G-M had issued someone else's soundtrack.) Even the acoustic recording sounds good if you don't mind that the frequency response falls off a cliff at 4.5kHz.

The soundtrack includes several non-Sousa items, to vary the pace I'm sure. These include Hail to the Chief, the Light Cavalry Overture, and Turkey in the Straw, which I am sure you are looking forward to. The version of the Battle Hymn of the Republic features a choir, which is nameless on the record but identified on IMDB as the Stone Mountain Church Choir.

The soundtrack was transferred from the double-EP version of the 10-inch LP.

More Jeri Southern Singles

At long last here is my second set of unre-released Jeri Southern singles. These 11 songs (except for the promo above) are from old store stock, so the sound is just about as clean as it can be. Of course, we are talking Decca products here, so don't expect sonic miracles.

The songs begin with Baby Did You Hear?, which is listed as being written by Katie Lee, although I think it's a traditional song. This is from 1952, and is the flip side of Southern's breakout song, You Better Go Now. Baby Did You Hear? is perhaps better known in the Dinah Washington rendition.

Next is Give Me Time, one of Alec Wilder's lesser works, backed with What Good Am I Without You. The final 78 is Jeri's take on The Man That Got Away, with Joey on the other side. This record sold fairly well - look below and you'll see the record store's inventory on the sleeve.

We move on to a number of 45s - starting with Stop Me and Would I, from 1956. Next is 1957's I'm Gonna Try Me Some Love, a Jon Hendricks song, with There Is Something In My Eye, an attractive melody with a trite lyric.

Finally, also from 1957, there are two songs from Bells Are Ringing, the expected Just in Time and an excellent version of the title tune.

There's much here to enjoy and admire, I think. Hope you like the selection.

Beethoven from Vienna and Böhm

Come Wednesday, this blog will have been around for two years. I thought it might be time to feature some artists who are favorites of mine, but have not made an appearance yet.

So here we have conductor Karl Böhm and the Vienna Philharmonic, who both are on my most admired list. In fact, in my classical records room, Böhm is the only conductor with his own section.

Am I passionate about Böhm the way some are passionate about Furtwängler or Toscanini? Not really. Do I think this is the greatest performance of Beethoven's eighth symphony I have heard? No, I don't (although I am not one for anointing things as the best or greatest). So why do I want to play the record again as soon as it is done? Not completely sure, but in my experience Böhm's recordings always feature excellent balances, a rich but not overly plush sound (of course, recording with the VPO helps!) and an understated approach that always seems just right to me.

Böhm had a reputation for being a little cranky and pedantic, and some find him dull. (I looked up the Gramophone review of this LP, and sure enough, the reviewer thought it was uninspired.) I read his autobiography years ago, and it betrayed a man with no interest in self-analysis, reading like a very extended press release.

So if you listen, you may wonder why I am so enthusiastic. If so, you'll just have to indulge me - hey, it's my second anniversary here!

This very well recorded 10-inch LP was taped in the Musikvereinsaal in May of 1953.

REMASTERED VERSION - OCTOBER 2014

The Jazz and Classical Music Society

The recent post of Rolf Liebermann's Concerto for Jazz Band and Orchestra was amazingly popular, so I've come up with a few more items that mix the two genres in some way - or more accurately, mix musicians from the two genres. 

Here is the first such item, a Columbia LP from 1956 from the Jazz and Classical Music Society, which was formed the previous year by Gunther Schuller and John Lewis - the former from the classical realm, the latter from jazz. The idea was (as the name suggests) to bring together composers and instrumentalists from both sides to form something new. This effort would later adopt the name "third-stream" music. 

In this, the earliest example of such music, we have several pieces for a large brass ensemble. Side one is a Schuller symphony that was not written for this ensemble. Here it is conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos, who apparently also programmed it with the New York Philharmonic. 

The second side has compositions by three famous jazz artists - Lewis, J.J. Johnson and Jimmy Giuffre. None of these compositions are in any recognizable form jazz, nor are they what we would usually consider classical music. They are a form of concert music that many musicians were interested in pursuing at the time, perhaps concerned that jazz was not "serious" enough. 

This music does indeed sound very serious - it is at times attractive and at times impressive, and often both. What it is missing, however, is what made the Reiner-CSO performance of Liebermann's piece stand out - wit and swing. Even so, there is much here to enjoy - particularly the superior instrumentalism of the band and soloists Miles Davis, J.J. Johnson and Joe Wilder. 

This was one of those transfers from hell - two turntables, three cartridges and four styli later I have an acceptable product, although some restle remains in the Schuller. The next post in this line will be pianist Friedrich Gulda, who managed to straddle both the jazz and classical worlds successfully.

More Virgil Thomson in Philadelphia

I feel fortunate to follow up last week's post of rare Virgil Thomson with more Thomson from Philadelphia, again courtesy of Joe Serraglio.

This is if anything even more worthwhile, with some of Thomson's most successful scores. The Three Pictures are simply superb - I suggest you read the composer's note for a lucid discussion of both his intent and his technique. On the latter topic, Thomson writes, "The value of the procedure lies, of course, not in its ingenuity but in whatever suggestive power it may be found to have." In the case of these works, that power is considerable.

The William Blake songs are just as successful, if in one case controversial. One of the songs here is a setting of Blake's The Little Black Boy, intended as a plea for racial equality, but at times interpreted as itself racist. With hindsight, it is easy to understand why - Blake's poetry contrasts the boy's black face and white soul, for example. These recordings have been reissued twice - in both cases without this song. Accounts differ about whether this was with the consent or against the wishes of Thomson. I certainly hope I don't offend anyone by posting the full set. I am sure, though, that everyone will agree that the music is exceptional - both simple and sophisticated, in Thomson's usual manner - while Mack Harrell's singing is faultless. The songs were written for him and it shows.

The Pictures were recorded in February 1954 with the composer conducting, and the songs in November 1952 with Eugene Ormandy on the podium - both in the Academy of Music.

Again, the transfer and scans are by Joe - I was on the clean-up detail. Thanks again, Joe!