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William Schuman: Symphonies Nos. 4 and 9
Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwarz
(Seattle Symphony Website)
2005 www.Naxos.com
Publicity: Cohn Dutcher Assoc.
Symphony No. 4 – tracks 1-3
Orchestra Song -- track 4
Circus Overture -- track 5
Symphony No. 9 (“Le fosse ardeatine”)
Anteludium - track 6
Offertorium - track 7
Postludium - track 8
Professor Josephine Reiter
May 13, 2006
The music of William Schuman, the neo-romantic 20th-century composer, is now available in two first-rate affordable recordings thanks to the collaboration the Seattle Symphony under its conductor of the past twenty years and Naxos of America. Both CDs were recorded entirely in Benaroya Hall, the Orchestra’s acoustically fine home. This disc is the first release in a series devoted to Schuman’s complete symphonies.
#1 The Symphony No. 4 begins with a kind of soloistic orchestration featuring a solo English horn and double bass in an evocative introduction that builds to a bold section (Vigoroso con spirito) that has a decided “American” flavor, reminiscent of Aaron Copland or Roy Harris in it’s sharply delineated rhythms. The movement ends with a bold brass climax.
#3 After a more introspective slow middle movement, the third movement (Finale) returns to the energy of the main part of the first movement. In addition to colorful writing for the wind instruments and pizzicato lower strings, there is a lively fugato prior to the powerful, grand final cadence.
#4 Orchestra Song --- Schuman reveals his humor and ability to write a very accessible kind of music in the Orchestra Song. This is a simple theme and variations on an Austrian folk-song. The theme itself is short and memorable; and the orchestration is witty. The next track [#5], the Circus Overture is longer but also in the more popular idiom, intended for use in a Broadway musical revue.
#7 Symphony No. 9: Offertorium --- The final three tracks feature Schuman’s programmatic ninth symphony, subtitled “The Ardeatine Caves.” This compelling work grew out of Schuman’s visit to the Ardeatine Caves (outside Rome), the site of a horrific Nazi massacre of 335 innocent Italian men, women, and children. In the composer’s own words, "The mood of my symphony, especially in its opening and closing sections, is directly related to emotions engendered by this visit…The work does not attempt to depict the event realistically….” All three movements are played without pause. However, the enormous climax of the middle movement (Offertorium) is memorable for the sheer volume of the sound of the full orchestra following the gradual build-up.
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