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William Schuman: Symphonies Nos. 7 and 10
Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwarz
(Seattle Symphony Website)
2005 www.Naxos.com
Publicity: Cohn Dutcher Assoc.
Symphony No. 7
Largo Assai - track 1
Vigoroso - track 2
Cantabile intensamente - track 3
Scherzando brioso - track 4
Symphony No. 10 ("American Muse")
Con fuoco - track 5
Larghissimo - track 6
Presto Andantino - track 7
Professor Josephine Reiter
May 13, 2006
The second recording in the projected Complete Cycle of Schuman’s Symphonies by the Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwarz on the Naxos label features two works commissioned in the latter half of the 20th century: Symphony No. 7 to commemorate both the 75th anniversary of the Boston Symphony and the memory of Serge and Natalie Koussevitzky in 1960 and the Symphony No. 10 for the National Symphony in anticipation of the American bicentennial celebration in 1976. Both CD recordings were made possible with the generous support from the William Schuman Music Trust and were recorded entirely in the Orchestra’s excellent Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle.
#1 Largo assai - Symphony No. 7 opens with a lengthy dramatic, somber movement, which is more dissonant than any music on the first disc. Although no percussion is involved, increasing tension in mood evolves out of the chromatic, dissonant harmonies and the dark sonorities, e.g., the bass clarinet and clarinet that join in a cadenza at the end of the movement to create a bridge to the second movement.
#2 Vigoroso - Although this seventh symphony is in the traditional 4-movement classical symphonic format, the work is played without a pause as a single continuous entity. Hence, the short second Vigoroso movement with its brilliant brass fanfare contrasts greatly in length, color in its focus on the percussion section, and mood, with both what has come before and what is to follow.
After an expansive Cantabile intensamente movement, the symphony ends with a lively Scherzando brioso, as the CD liner notes say, “dance-like with echoes of jazz,” reflecting the celebratory nature of the BSO commission.
#5 Con fuoco - Symphony No. 10, subtitled “American Muse,” begins violently (“with fire” as the movement indication signals) in a dissonant harmonic language with and bold, colorful orchestration, contrasting dramatically with the lengthy slow, introspective middle movement.
#7 Presto—Andantino - This 10th Symphony ends with wonderful movement filled with tempo changes, wildly colorful timbre, and rhythmic vitality. It is the perfect vehicle to show-off the orchestra and to celebrate our nation’s experience. Schuman dedicated this work “to the country’s creative artists, past, present and future.”
We are fortunate indeed to have such first-rate recordings of William Schuman’s orchestral legacy come alive through these splendid performances of Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony and recorded for posterity by Naxos of America’s American Classics Series.
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