A collection of new albums celebrates works by American composers, from former Chicago Symphony Orchestra Mead Composer-in-Residence Anna Clyne, to early 20th-century immigrant Victor Babin, and child prodigy Dana Suesse. Black Moon trio presents works by Indigenous American composers in an album exploring humans and the natural environment around them. On the other side of “the pond”, Graham Ross and the Choir of Clare College Cambridge celebrates the 80th birthday of one of their alumni – English composer and conductor Sir John Rutter. Plus, discover music written by Vaughan Williams’ friends in the latest album from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
New Releases Oct. 21: American Composers
Anna Clyne (Photo: Victoria Stevens)
The “American dream” is the thread that connects two works for two pianos and orchestra with a third piece for piano duo, presented by pianists Ludmilla Berlinskaya and Arthur Ancelle with the Victor Hugo Orchestra. Dana Suesse was born in Kansas City in 1909. She played her own compositions on the radio from the age of thirteen and composed hit songs, notably for Bing Crosby. She refused the attractions of Hollywood and studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Her works disappeared from the repertory after her death, although the Berlinskaya-Ancelle duo are keen to revive her music with this 1943 concerto, described as “romantic, but mixed with modern harmonies and chords straight from jazz.” Victor Babin was born in Moscow in 1908 and emigrated to the United States with his wife Viktoria Vronskaya in 1937. As a successful piano duo in the US, they gave the first performance of Babin’s virtuosic Concerto No. 2 for Two Pianos under the direction of George SzelI in Cleveland in 1957. The program is rounded out by Amy Beach’s monumental suite for two pianos inspired by the Romantic tradition and based on ancient Irish melodies.
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) led by Marin Alsop present four orchestral works from the last two decades by Anna Clyne, the former Chicago Symphony Orchestra Mead Composer-in-Residence, including world premiere recordings of the title work Abstractions and Color Field. Alsop, a regular collaborator of Anna Clyne, commissioned both Abstractions (for the BSO) and Restless Oceans (for her Taki Concordia Orchestra); and premiered Color Field, inspired by Mark Rothko’s series of paintings of the same name, with the BSO. Also included on the album is Within Her Arms, Clyne’s most-performed work.
Following their acclaimed series of music by Ralph Vaughan Williams, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra led by Andrew Manze presents a collection of works by two composers influenced by Vaughan Williams. George Butterworth left a small but enduring body of work. He was introduced to folk music by Vaughan Williams, but he was also a dancer and collector of folk songs and dances – especially those from Sussex. However, it is his A.E Houseman inspired orchestral rhapsody A Shropshire Lad that has become his most famous composition, conjuring up a powerful sense of the countryside, and melancholy at the waste and futility of war. Gustav Holst was also a friend of Vaughan Williams. Together, the two of them collected folk songs from around England, some of which can be heard in Holst’s Two Songs without Words, Op. 22. The program also includes Butterworth’s Two English Idylls (founded on folk tunes) and The Banks of Green Willow, as well as Holst’s Egdon Heath, A Fugal Concerto, and St. Paul’s Suite.
Black Moon Trio’s sophomore album is an immersive journey into the heart of the natural world, where the trio is joined by author/scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer, a decorated professor and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Together, they explore the relationships between humans and the environment in a program that weaves together music and spoken word. The album features the world premiere recordings of Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate’s”Tochchi’na” and Juventino Rosas’s “Sobre las Olas” in a new arrangement by Jeremy Vigil; as well as Henry Mancini’s “Moon River” and Harry Burlow’s “Indiana Dunes.” Perfect for reflection, moments of gratitude, or meditative practice, Flourish creates sonic spaces that invite healing and balance.
Led by Graham Ross, the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge celebrates the 80th birthday of legendary English composer and conductor Sir John Rutter with an album of choral works. The album includes pieces that Rutter wrote when he was a student himself at Clare College, then director of the Choir in the mid-1970s. Also included are pieces commissioned or gifted to Clare over the years, including two world premieres: A Ukrainian Prayer and Bard’s Eye View. Graham Ross says the album “is as much a personal tribute as it is public: the success that Clare music enjoys today owes much to John, and I am much indebted to him for his friendship and support throughout my career to date. This is truly A Clare College celebration of one of our College’s most distinguished musical alumni.”
