Music for Easter from Autry, Stoki and Many Others

The headline above is slightly misleading. I have nothing new for the holiday; instead I am resurrecting (forgive the terminology) a few posts from so long ago I barely remember them. The records are newly shined up and dressed in their best Easter finery.

These two varied items define the limits of what can be considered Easter music, because they range from Gene Autry records to the compositions of Wagner and Rimsky-Korsakov.

Details follow, along with links to several other, more recent posts of a seasonal nature.

Gene Autry - Easter Favorites

Singing cowboy Gene Autry didn't confine his holiday warbling to the Christmas season; he also produced enough Easter material to fill a Columbia 10-inch LP, which I duly offered in the early days of this blog.

Gene's big gun, so to speak, was "Peter Cottontail," which was a hit in 1950 for Autry and song authors Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins.

The rest of the bunny litter isn't wasn't as successful, but the songs are still enjoyable if you have a taste for kiddie material, or have young ones who enjoy such fare. The titles are "Funny Little Bunny," "Easter Mornin'," "Sonny the Bunny," "Bunny Round-Up Time" and "The Horse with an Easter Bonnet."

Good sound here, and the performances are just what you would expect - Western swing with kiddie sound effects.

LINK to Gene Autry Easter Favorites

Stokowski Conducts Wagner and Rimsky-Korsakov

You may notice that the cover doesn't herald the appearance of Leopold Stokowski - odd, considering he was one of the most famous conductors of the 20th century. Nor does it mention the Philadelphia Orchestra, which he led for many years, as he does on this record.

RCA Victor's budget Camden label used pseudonyms on its classical reissues for a few years in the 1950s, I suppose to avoid pulling sales from the Red Seal line. So for this outing, Stoki and the Philadelphians were dubbed the Warwick Symphony.

Stoki in full flow

Under whatever name, these are enduring performances. The Russian Easter Overture from Rimsky-Korsakov comes from as long ago as early 1929, yet sounds splendid.

Even better are the excerpts from Wagner's Parsifal, an opera that takes place on Good Friday. The conductor programmed the usual extracts - the Prelude and "Good Friday Spell." The excellent performances and recordings come from late 1936.

LINK to Leopold Stokowski - Music for Easter

More Music for Easter

Here are links to some of the other Easter items I've shared over the years.

An Easter Bouquet from Buster: This encompasses 32 numbers, everything from Duke Ellington to the Brown's Ferry Four. Also an alternative version of "Peter Cottontail" by Jimmy Wakely, for those who dislike Gene Autry.

Robert Shaw's Treasury of Easter Songs. A seasonal program from the august choir director - Bach, Brahms, traditional songs of many countries, and a bonus of "Easter Parade." No "Peter Cottontail," though.

An Easter Symphony from Czech Composer Josef Foerster. A highly attractive Romantic symphony from a lesser known composer, with the Prague Symphony under Václav Smetácek.

Bach for Easter with Robert Shaw. Shaw returns with a program of Bach's profound Cantata Christ lag in Todensbaden (Christ Lay in the Bonds of Death). Fine performance from 1946.

Music from Handel's Messiah from Christopher Hogwood. Finally, a post from last year presenting the exceptional performance of excerpts from Messiah with Christopher Hogwood conducting the Academy of Ancient Music, the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and several splendid soloists.

Music for Holy Week from King's College

I'm happy to welcome back the Choir of King's College, Cambridge in this selection of music for Holy Week, which begins Sunday.

The choir has often appeared here, although more frequently under an earlier director, David Willcocks, than under Philip Ledger  (1937-2012), the choir's leader from 1974-82.

Philip Ledger

The King's/Ledger combination was previously featured here in music by Henry Purcell, a recording I strongly recommend.

Today's program is composed of music from the Renaissance and Baroque, leavened with four English hymns, and capped by a setting of George Herbert's Let all the world in every corner sing by the 20th century composer Kenneth Leighton.

The documentation on the LP is not overly user-friendly, so let me list the contents of the program, along with the composers (or sources), their dates and nationalities as relevant:

• Antonio Lotti (1667–1740) [Italian] - Crucifixus (Crucified)

• William Horsley (1774-1858) [English] - There is a green hill far away

• Tomás Luis de Victoria (c. 1548–1611) [Spanish] - O vos omnes qui transitis per viam (All of you who pass by)

• Thomas Morley (1557-1602) [English] - Nolo mortem peccatoris (I desire not the death of a sinner)

Orlando Gibbons, Thomas Morley, Orlando di Lasso

• Orlando di Lasso (c. 1532-94) [Netherlands-Germany] - Tristis est anima mea (My soul is sorrowful)

• King John (João) IV (1604–56) [Portuguese] - Crux fidelis (Faithful cross)

• Tomás Luis de Victoria (c. 1548–1611) [Spanish] - Videte omnes populi (Let all peoples see)

• Orlando Gibbons (c. 1583–1625) [English] - Drop, drop slow tears

• Edward Miller (1731 or 1735–1807), Samuel Webbe (1740-1816) [English] - When I survey the wondrous cross

• John Taverner (c. 1490–1545) [English] - Dum transisset Sabbatum (When the Sabbath was over)

• Traditional - Jesus Christ is risen today

• Traditional [arr. George R. Woodward (1848-1934)] - This joyful Eastertide

• John Sheppard (c. 1515–58) [English] - Haec dies (This day)

• Kenneth Leighton (1929-88) [English] - Let all the world in every corner sing

The performances were hailed by reviewer Stanley Webb in The Gramophone - at least the early music component: "All lovely things to sing and to hear and nowhere is such music better sung than by the choir of King's College Chapel, under Philip Ledger."

He, however, was not taken with the 19th century music: "After such august company the listener comes down to earth with a bump to Victorian sentimentality with the texts of Mrs Alexander's hymn There is a green hill and my namesake's (S. Webbe, 1820) When I survey. The Anglican tradition produced better things than this, however, in Orlando Gibbons's Drop, drop slow tears and Jesus Christ is risen today. Easter Day is indeed reached at last with a vigorous performance of Kenneth Leighton's Let all the world, with its taxing accompaniment brilliantly played by the new [King's] organ scholar, Thomas Trotter."

Thomas Trotter

The cover note by Cambridge musicologist Iain Fenlon similarly is dismissive of the hymn tunes, which undoubtedly were included to provide some variety in texture: "Three of the hymns are taken from The English Hymnal, that erratic though panoramic account of English hymn tunes produced under the musical editorship of Vaughan Williams."

Kenneth Leighton

The mention of Vaughan Williams reminds me that he too produced a setting of Let all the world in every corner sing which is far more jubilant than the angular music by Kenneth Leighton (a composer I admire). You can hear Vaughan Williams' setting here, as part of his Five Mystical Songs.

The sound on this 1977 analogue recording is quite good; the choir's voices and the resonant King's College Chapel are captured perfectly.

LINK

Two More Jerry Gray LPs

My earlier post of three of Jerry Gray's Decca LPs met with some favor from the big band aficionados in the audience, so here's a follow-up.

Today we have Jerry's other two Decca albums - his first, from 1950, and his last, from 1955.

As with the first set, these albums display the same intricate charts, superior ensemble work and pleasing solos - much of it couched in the Glenn Miller style that Gray did so much to establish. For me, these records are pure listening pleasure.

Dance to the Music of Jerry Gray

Perhaps unexpectedly, the first side of this 10-inch LP consists of standards - Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies," Rodgers and Hart's "This Can't Be Love," Hoagy Carmichael's "Star Dust" and Jerome Kern's "All the Things You Are."

Side 2 is more diverse - starting with Vincent Youmans' "Carioca" (from Flying Down to Rio, which introduced Astaire and Rogers).

Next, Gray indulges in the Miller trope of turning innocent songs into marches - here the unlikely source is Harold Arlen's "Stormy Weather."

"By the Waters of Minnetonka," by James Mulloy Cavanass and Thurlow Lieurance, dates from 1915. It will be familiar to anyone who has been around as long as me.

Finally we have an excellent Gray original, "Crew Cut."

Billboard ad - click to enlarge

LINK to Dance to the Music of Jerry Gray

Big Dance Tonite

Decca liked to work the word "dance" into the title of most Gray albums, so that no one would mistake his ensemble for the blast-and-blare approach of Stan Kenton. And so it did for this 12-inch LP.

Big Dance Tonite collects songs from throughout Jerry's tenure at the label. It contains five Gray originals, a few Latin songs, some novelties and just two standards.

Rodgers and Hart's "Thou Swell" leads off - it's a tune suited to a dance tempo, and this one is just right. 

Following is the Mexican composer Maria Grever's attractive "Júrame" from 1926. This, and three of the other songs in this set can be found in their original versions on my other blog.

Gray's "Champagne Boogie" highlights (if you can call it that) an enthusiastic band vocal. It is followed by Jerry's "Off Limits." One of the greatest of all standards is next - Kern's "The Way You Look Tonight."

Much different is "Off the Wall," which Little Walter made an R&B hit in 1953. This shows Gray's interest in changing his approach with the times. No wailing blues harp here, but Jerry does adopt the chugga-chugga beat of the original - which can be found on my other blog.

The second side begins with another change of direction: Enric Madriguera's song "Adiós." It comes from 1931, when the Barcelona-born composer was a New York bandleader. My other blog has two Madriguera recordings of the song - from 1931 as "Adíos Linda Morena" and from 1947 as plain "Adiós."

Harry Babasin, Don Lamond

The "Darktown Strutters' Ball" was a huge success for composer Shelton Brooks in 1917. The first recording was by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (found here). For the Gray version, Jerry's brother Tony provides a vocal in the Louis Prima mold. Bassist Harry Babasin received a label credit for his solo. 

Next is a novelty, Joe Hornsby's "Kettle Drum Hop," a specialty for the powerful drummer Don Lamond.

The album concludes with three Gray compositions - "Oomp-Chuck," "Coronado Cruise" and "Baby's Lullaby." The latter is in the nature of a slow "last dance," customary in dance dates of the time.

Finally, let me add a bonus cut. Perhaps Gray's most famous composition was "A String of Pearls," a big hit for Glenn Miller. Jerry's own version is on his In the Mood LP, posted here. Gray also prepared an alternate version of the tune, called "Re-stringing the Pearls (A Ball of Twine)," which was issued on a single in 1950, and then on EP and a Vocalion reissue LP. That's our bonus for this post - and thanks to musicman1979 for the suggestion!

LINK to Big Dance Tonite

Wagner from Furtwängler and Flagstad

Richard Wagner in 1871

Continuing a series of conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler in programs of famous works, today we hear him and the Vienna Philharmonic in the music of Richard Wagner.

The program concludes with (and switches orchestras for) the final scene of Götterdämerung, with soprano Kirsten Flagstad as Brünnhilde. The Philharmonia is the orchestra for this famous recording.

These overtures, preludes and other excerpts are all what are sometimes called "bleeding chunks," an epithet that seems to have driven them from the concert hall. Well, I happen to love these pieces as the brilliant works they are. And these Furtwängler recordings are among the finest of their kind.

It is often said that Furtwängler's live performances were more powerful than his records. The critic Andrew Porter referred to this in his obituary for the conductor:

His monument, so far as the gramophone is concerned, is the complete Tristan und Isolde. Fidelio, the Beethoven and Brahms symphonies, will be treasured; the Mozart, the Schubert and the Haydn discs are valuable. But something of the incandescence that one knew in the concert hall and the opera house is gone from them. In the Tristan it remains, and also in those Wagner extracts, the final scene from Götterdämmerung with Flagstad and the Philharmonia Orchestra, recorded at the same time as Tristan, and the Rhine Journey and Funeral Music with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. It is to these records that we shall turn first when we wish to show our children what manner of great conductor he was.

And it is to many of those records that we turn today. 

Die Meistersinger: Prelude and Dance of the Apprentices

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg) is famed as Wagner's only comedy. Set in the 16th century Reformation, it concerns the guilds of the time, with the Mastersingers devoting their talents to music.

The Prelude is an intricate piece of music that stands marvelously well on its own (as do most of the works in this program). Of this performance, W.R. Anderson in The Gramophone wrote: "Our friends [i.e., the conductor and orchestra] at their best, I think: scarcely a twinge, and above all, dignity, breadth, and a reproduction conveying full tonal virility and blend. The reverberation period of the chamber seems just right."

Ad in The Gramophone, 1950

This transfer comes from a German EMI (Electrola) reissue "Unvergessen (Unforgettable) Wilhelm Furtwängler." The LP was processed in the label's then-popular synthetic stereo, which I have turned into mono. The sound is quite good for 1949.

The Prelude is accompanied by short and delightful "Dance of the Apprentices" from Act III. This is followed in the opera and on most concert programs by the "Procession of the Masters." But not here - the dance was used as a fill-up on the 78 set and apparently there wasn't room for the Masters to promenade on that particular side.

Lohengrin Prelude; Tannhäuser Overture

Furtwängler's 1954 recording of the Prelude to Lohengrin is coupled here with his 1952 traversal of the Overture to Tannhäuser. These are splendid performances of what used to be concert staples. Denis Stevens wrote in The Gramophone that they are "well played and excellently recorded, and there is an impressively wide dynamic range in the Tannhäuser Overture, where the woodwind engages our attention by its splendid ensemble work."

Ad in The Gramophone, 1955

Stevens also makes me happy by casting aspersions on the LP's bedmate, Liszt's Les Preludes (not included here): "One of Furtwängler's most remarkable qualities was his ability to lend an air of epic majesty even to the relatively meretricious productions of certain 19th century composers who should have known better."

Siegfried Idyll

Let me call in Wikipedia to set the scene of this Romantic masterwork: "Wagner composed the Siegfried Idyll as a birthday present to his second wife, Cosima, after the birth of their son Siegfried in 1869. It was first performed on Christmas morning, 25 December 1870, by a small ensemble of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich on the stairs of their villa at Tribschen (today part of Lucerne), Switzerland. Cosima awoke to its opening melody."

The composer wrote the piece for a small ensemble, later publishing a version for an orchestra of 35. I suspect Furtwängler (like many conductors) employed a larger ensemble for his 1949 recording.

Lionel Salter was taken with the performance in The Gramophone: "The immediate thing which strikes one about this recording is the sensuous beauty of the string tone, warm and caressing, pure and beautifully controlled. The violins in the Vienna Phil. not only have perfect unanimity ... but they are obviously all real artists."

Note: this now contains the complete performance. Originally I inadvertently posted a truncated version. Thanks to dgrb for his note about this!

Götterdämmerung - Siegfried's Rhine Journey and Funeral Music

The program notes of the Los Angeles Philharmonic set the scene: "'Siegfried’s Rhine Journey' functions as an orchestral interlude between the Prologue and Act I of Götterdämmerung, as Brünnhilde sends Siegfried off to seek new adventures, riding her horse and carrying her shield toward the Rhine and his fate. The music progresses from the near silence of the dawn (in the brass) to moments of intense string writing that gives way to the 'Hero' motive as Siegfried sets out on his river journey."

Ad in The Gramophone, 1949

Götterdämmerung is of course the final opera in Wagner's so-called "Ring cycle" - more formally Der Ring des Nibelungen. And Siegfried here is not Wagner's son, he is the son of Siegmund, the mortal son of Wotan, king of the gods. Brünnhilde, Siegfried's lover, is the immortal daughter of Wotan and Erda, the goddess of earth, wisdom and prophecy.

More from the LA Philharmonic: "Following his murder at the hands of Hagen, the death knell of 'Siegfried’s Funeral March' opens with funereal timpani as Siegfried’s body is placed on his shield and carried off by the vassals. The music vacillates from deep mourning and rage-filled outbursts to the majesty of the 'Hero' motif, brought out in bold relief at the center of the movement."

Alec Robertson in The Gramophone on this performance: "Siegfried’s Journey is not so brightly recorded as on Toscanini’s disc and seems a little foggy at the start: but the noble performance of the Funeral Music, in which the conductor dispenses with the ritardandos that very slightly marred his earlier 78's recording, is better recorded than before, and is, indeed, excellent. Be warned to listen to these pieces first of all. The Closing Scene is so tremendous that nothing can be heard after it for some considerable time!"

This comment leads us on to the end of this program, below.

Götterdämmerung - Brünnhilde's Immolation Scene

Wilhelm Furtwängler and Kirsten Flagstad

The LA Phil annotator again: "Upon removing the ring from Siegfried’s finger, Brünnhilde orders his funeral pyre to be built and launches into the 'Immolation' aria. The fire spreads to Valhalla, bringing about the death of the gods and the destruction of the old order, accompanied by many of the leitmotifs heard throughout all four operas."

As I mentioned above, this is a renowned recording. Alec Robertson's comments in The Gramophone: 

This magnificent recording of the Closing Scene from Die Götterdämmerung awakens the keenest regret that steps were not taken to record the whole of The Ring before Kirsten Flagstad’s retirement. Brünnhilde was her finest part and one with which she identified herself more completely than she was always able to do with Isolde, wonderful though her singing of that part was. But we must be thankful for what we have. There is the superb complete recording of Tristan: and now with the great singer in as fine a voice, Furtwängler and the orchestra as inspired as in that set, and a recording as worthy of them all, there is this outstanding issue. As the first bars sound, one feels the thrill that heralds a great performance: and it is indeed, and superlatively, that.

The download includes texts and English translations of the scene.

The LPs above were made for the German market; the notes are entirely in that language. I've included Google Translate versions of each back cover, which provide English versions.

LINK to the complete Furtwängler Wagner program

More from Furtwängler and Flagstad

One of the finest vocal compositions of the 20th century was the set of Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss. We are fortunate to have an exceedingly beautiful and touching live recording of the first performance, given in 1950 by Flagstad, Furtwängler and the Philharmonia Orchestra in the Albert Hall. The problem is that the only surviving copy of the recording was a set of battered transcription disks, which have been transcribed several times over the years.

I have now revisited and improved the gritty sound on my copy of the recording, which I first offered in 2018. The results can be found in the original post here, together with a more modern recording of the songs featuring soprano Elisabeth Söderström.

Buddy Clark: 1936-41 Transcriptions

Continuing an exploration of vocalist Buddy Clark's early recordings, in this set we turn to transcriptions dating from about 1936-1941. These come from two sources: transcriptions from the radio program Your Hit Parade, which sponsor Lucky Strike pressed for promotional purposes of some type, and a set of Associated Transcriptions made for radio station use. The sound is good, as are the performances. There are 19 selections in all.

Lucky Strike Transcriptions

Your Hit Parade began its long tenure on radio and television in 1935, with Lucky Strike cigarettes as sponsor. Clark was one of the first vocalists to be featured, appearing from 1936-38. The sponsor pressed some of the recordings, and it is a selection of those that appear here. Mark Warnow is the conductor, except as noted.

Harry Warren and Al Dubin wrote "September in the Rain" for James Melton to sing in the 1937 film Melody for Two. 

Mark Warnow

"Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" has a curious history. Lyricist Jacob Jacobs and composer Sholom Secunda wrote it as "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" ("To Me You're Beautiful") by  for a 1932 Yiddish language musical, I Would If I Could. There are a variety of stories about how lyricists Sammy Cahn and Saul Chaplin came upon the song, but their version of it became a giant hit for the Andrews Sisters in 1937. Richard Himber conducts Buddy's performance.

Richard Himber

Allie Wrubel and Herb Magidson wrote "Goodnight Angel," a very pleasing but now forgotten song. Hal Kemp recorded it with Bob Allen on vocals.

Al Goodman

As was noted here recently, the Gershwin brothers wrote "Love Walked In" for Kenny Baker to sing in the film Goldwyn Follies. Al Goodman conducts Clark's performance.

Associated Transcriptions

Associated was a major supplier of transcriptions to radio stations, but the first two songs actually come from a disc the company produced for Muzak. This was in the early years of the service, when it was employing recognizable artists for its product.

The two Muzak songs are likely from 1936. Both were written by Mach Gordon and Harry Revel. "A Star Fell out of Heaven" was recorded by any number of bands that year. "When I'm with You" comes from the Shirley Temple epic Poor Little Rich Girl, where Shirley, Tony Martin and Alice Faye all had a crack at it. Mark Warnow conducts for Buddy.

In about 1938, Associated produced a recording of the famous tango "Caminito" with Clark singing in English and a singer only identified as Chico in Spanish. Lon Gladstone is listed as the conductor, but that was a baton name for Lud Gluskin.

Lud Gluskin

"Will Love Find a Way" is from the 1934 Stags at Bay show at Princeton University. The author was the short-lived Brooks Bowman, who also wrote the far better known "East of the Sun" for that production. Gladstone/Gluskin again is the bandleader. Buddy is uncredited on the label.

Shortly after the Hammond company introduced the first commercial synthesizer, the Novachord, Associated employed it for some of its transcriptions. It may have been a technical marvel, but it still sounds to me like an anemic organ.

Buddy's first encounter with this scourge was "Let There Be Love" with music by Lionel Rand and lyrics by Ian Grant, published in 1940, a tune still beloved of cabaret artists. (Bobby Short's version can be heard here.)

"From Another World" is from Rodgers and Hart's 1940 show Higher and Higher. Shirley Ross was among the vocalists who introduced the song - her big solo number was the far better-known "It Never Entered My Mind." Shirley's commercial recordings of songs from the show can be found here.

For the next several songs, Clark gets what Associated called a "Novelty Orchestral Accompaniment," but they can't fool me. It's the Novachord again, at times with an organ and a clarinet.

"Trade Winds" was a product of Charles Tobias and Cliff Friend. Crosby and Sinatra both had a go at it in 1940.

For "There's a Great Day Coming Mañana" Buddy unexpectedly breaks into an Al Jolson imitation halfway through the number. He had a reason - Burton Lane and Yip Harburg wrote the piece for Jolie to sing in the musical Hold Onto Your Hats, which ran on Broadway for five months in 1940-41.

I think "When the Lilacs Bloom Again" is a version of "Wenn der weiße Flieder wieder blüht," written by Fritz Rotter and Franz Doelle in the 1920s.

Next we have two famed songs from Rodgers and Hart's musical Pal Joey of 1940 - "Bewitched" and "I Could Write a Book."

"Because of You" was written by Arthur Hammerstein and Dudley Wilkinson in 1940. It did well for Tommy Tucker and Larry Clinton at the time, but the big hit wasn't to come until Tony Bennett revived it in 1951.

Jack Tenney and Helen Stone wrote "Mexicali Rose" in 1923, but it wasn't on the charts until Bing Crosby recorded it in 1938.

Nat Brandwynne

Buddy wasn't liberated from the "Novelty Orchestra Accompaniment" until the final two songs in this set, which have a backing by Nat Brandwynne, who had accompanied the singer from quite a few Brunswick recordings a few years earlier. Nat was favoring a soupy Guy Lombardo sound at the time.

Buddy and Nat combined for two songs from Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin's musical Lady in the Dark - "My Ship" and "This Is New." Buddy doesn't suggest the neuroses of Liza Elliott, but this is worth hearing if you don't mind the ultra-30s backing.

LINK

Thor Johnson in Cincinnati: Decca Recordings

The conductor Thor Johnson (1913-75), while not a familiar name today, did make quite a few records. The ones that are remembered are principally with the Cincinnati Symphony on the short-lived Remington label. But before those sessions, he and the orchestra recorded in 1951 for the Decca company of the UK (London in the US).

UK Decca seldom if ever recorded in the States until the those sessions in the Cincinnati Music Hall. This was to be the only such recording date for the orchestra; even so, it resulted in three LPs worth of material, most of which has been assembled for this post, including music by Hugo Alfvén, Edvard Grieg, Hector Berlioz and Franz Schubert.

These are good records of - for the time - unusual repertoire. I believe only the Berlioz songs have been reissued.

About Thor Johnson

Johnson was born in Wisconsin to a family of Norwegian and German descent. His father was a Moravian minister, and he himself devoted quite a bit of time to music ministry for that denomination.

I've read that he studied with Serge Koussevitzky, but this is not mentioned in the biographical material available today, the most detailed of which is on the site devoted to Remington records. Before his 1947 ascent in Cincinnati, he had conducted the North Carolina Symphony, the Grand Rapids Symphony and, during World War II, a US Army band. For the 34-year-old Johnson to be appointed in Ohio was quite an accomplishment. His predecessors there included Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Ysaye, Fritz Reiner and Eugene Goossens.

Thor Johnson

Johnson led the Cincinnati ensemble until 1958, when he became a professor at Northwestern. He then headed the Interlochen Academy from 1964-67, becoming music director of the Nashville Symphony from 1967 until his death.

Johnson and the Cincinnati orchestra have appeared here once before - with a Remington recording of Robert Ward's Symphony No. 3 and Leon Stein's Three Hassidic Dances. (That recording is newly remastered in ambient stereo.) Johnson had a strong commitment to contemporary music, personally commissioning dozens of new works.

Alfvén - Midsommarvaka, Grieg - Suite from Sigurd Jorsalfar

We start with music reflecting Johnson's Scandinavian heritage: Hugo Alfvén's Midsommarvaka ("Midsummer Vigil"), the composer's Swedish Rhapsody No. 1, and a suite from Edvard Grieg's incidental music for Sigurd Jorsalfar, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's play about King Sigurd I of Norway.

These works played to Johnson's strengths - orchestral discipline and, in the Alfvén, his ability to build tension throughout the performance of an episodic work. Here and in the records below he also chose unusual pieces that were not in the catalogue.

Midsommarvaka actually had been recorded several times before, but only once outside Scandinavia. The Cincinnati recording was made a few years before the opening theme of the piece became famous as the "Swedish Rhapsody," in a pop performance by Percy Faith. (Go here for an elaborate discussion of the two popular Swedish Rhapsodies, along with several disparate performances.) The Cincinnati performance also took place a few years before the composer's own early-stereo recording, which can be found here.

The Sigurd Jorsalfar incidental music consists of three pieces: a prelude, "In the King's Hall"; an intermezzo, "Borghild's Dream"; and a vigorous "Triumphal March." This suite also was not often heard at the time. The Classical Discography shows only 1925 recordings conducted by Georg Schneevoigt and Frieder Weissmann.

Second cover - I have no idea what is going on here, but Johnson seems fine with it

The Gramophone's verdict was as follows: "The Grieg incidental music I find enchanting; he had a highly individual touch with the orchestra, making his points with care; and those points Thor Johnson treats with understanding, and holds Grieg’s exquisite balance between harmonic epigram and broad statement... As in the Grieg work, we meet in Alfvén’s Swedish Rhapsody excellent playing, sympathetic conducting, and excellent recording - more uniform in its best qualities, indeed, than its partner is... The Swedish Rhapsody is engaging enough as music - immensely skilful, painstaking, energetic, even inventive."

Saturday Review's Irving Kolodin added that "the really superb performance of Alfvén's colorful score leaps off the disc with startling vitality."

LINK to Alfvén and Grieg

Berlioz - Les Nuits d'été

Like the works on the disc above, the songs from Hector Berlioz's cycle Les Nuits d'été had not often been recorded before this disc came along. The English reviewers of this LP mention two numbers that had been done by Maggie Teyte, and the discography also suggests that Tito Schipa had recorded some or all of the six.

Not only was the material unusual, it demonstrated the range of the orchestra and conductor, and introduced US audiences to the Belgian soprano Suzanne Danco (1911-2000), who had begun recording extensively for UK Decca after the war.

Suzanne Danco

Desmond Shaw-Taylor wrote in The Gramophone: "Suzanne Danco earns our gratitude by singing, for Decca, the entire cycle of Nuits d’été, which shows Berlioz at his most lyrical, fresh and inventive. It is evident that these songs are not all intended for the same type of voice; 'Sur les lagunes,' for instance demands a high baritone of the type of Gérard Souzay. There is some monotony in the shrill tones of Mme Danco’s upper register, and in 'Absence' and 'Le Spectre de la Rose' she cannot match the warmth and subtle coloration of Maggie Teyte’s famous record. (By the way, she sings the 'Spectre' in the original key of B; Maggie Teyte transposed it up to D.) Whatever the drawbacks of this recording, made in Cincinnati with the Symphony Orchestra of that city, I count it as a most valuable possession..."

Irving Kolodin in the Saturday Review: "One is conscious at times of a little acidulous bite, a shrill edge in her vocal sound, but also - and much more consistently - of her really fine musical intelligence and sense of poetic line. I'd scarcely call Thor Johnson's direction of the score a magical evocation of mood, but he makes few false moves. The total may be termed satisfactory if not deeply satisfying."

For those curious about Maggie Teyte's record, I've just posted it to my singles blog.

The LP download includes texts and translations.

LINK to Berlioz - Les Nuits d'été

Schubert - Symphony No. 3

Schubert's third symphony, written when he was 18, is a delightful work that was seldom heard then, or now. The discography and reviews suggest that there was at most one other recording in the catalogue at the time the Cincinnati LP came out.

The Gramophone reviewer's comment on the symphony: "To have this work available on gramophone records is valuable indeed, for it makes a permanent possession of a work seldom played in public, if ever. It is lovable music, bubbling over with cheerfulness, and laughter, and love, and tenderness; but I should not call the whole a great work of art. The first movement shows much promise as well as considerable achievement. The second movement is couched melodically in too nearly a nursery-rhyme idiom to appeal to my taste. The scherzo is amiable. On the whole, I consider the last movement the best of the four."

The US cover - I detect a pattern here

As for the performance, Irving Kolodin in the Saturday Review was reserved in his comments, noting that it did not show Johnson as a distinguished stylist, but adding that "he obviously has the orchestra playing with zest and unflagging attention."

In the US, the Schubert symphony was coupled with one of Johann Christian Bach's attractive Op. 18 symphonies. For this post, I worked from an Internet Archive needle drop of that London release, but the J.C. Bach side of the disc was severely damaged. I could not find another copy, so I haven't been able to include it. That's why at the top of this section I used the cover of the UK Decca 10-inch LP, which is devoted solely to the Schubert symphony. 

LINK to Schubert Symphony No. 3

Haymes Sings Gershwin (American Pop Song)

Together with recent posts of David Allyn LPs, I've added a few of his appearances on the American Popular Song radio program of 1976, with composer Alec Wilder and pianist Loonis McGlohon. That was a National Public Radio series based on Wilder's influential 1972 book of the same name.

I've had some requests for more episodes of the show, which featured the great vocalists of the time. So I will be posting a few Dick Haymes appearances, starting with today's hour devoted to the music of George and Ira Gershwin.

The selections are generally well-known - "Who Cares?", "Someone to Watch Over Me," "How Long Has This Been Going On?", "Nice Work If You Can Get It," "They Can't Take That Away from Me" and "A Foggy Day," but a few deserve some additional commentary.

George and Ira

"Love Walked In" is from the last project George worked on. I described the scene in an earlier post as follows: "[D]iners often appeared in movies. The one that comes to mind is the Owl Diner in the Goldwyn Follies of 1938, with short-order cook Kenny Baker serenading Andrea Leeds via the Gershwins' 'Love Walked In.' You can see the clip here."

For "Bidin' My Time," Alec Wilder mentions seeing the Broadway run of Girl Crazy, which introduced the song in 1930. He was enthralled not just by the song but by the group that performed it, the Foursome - particularly because they played ocarinas in harmony, which Wilder found amazing. That group, a favorite of mine, has appeared on my other blog three times, with posts that include two different recordings of "Bidin' My Time." (I have the rest of the Foursome's complete Decca recordings if anyone is interested.)

Loonis McGlohon

The last Gershwin work that Haymes sings is "For You, for Me, for Evermore." Loonis mentions that Dick had the honor of introducing the piece in the 1947 film The Shocking Miss Pilgrim. Haymes recalls that composer Kay Swift, who was closely associated with George Gershwin until his 1937 death, was present during the filming, having prepared the songs with Ira Gershwin from unpublished melodies.

I recently posted a comprehensive look at Swift's own music, which also included the songs from The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, including both the soundtrack and commercial recordings of "For You, for Me, for Evermore."

Alec Wilder

All the American Popular Song programs included at least one song by Wilder. Haymes presented two. The first is "Night Talk," which Dick describes as being like "Lush Life," only better. Loonis was the lyricist. Alec wrote both words and music for the second song, "The Child I Used to Hold," which was new at the time. Both are worthwhile.

Dick's performances are not at the level he attained in the 1940s or 50s, but are still good, even though his pitch does waver a bit. I've mentioned before that these shows were not well recorded - I had a hard time getting Haymes to sound natural.

The program is fully tracked and tagged to facilitate repeat listening of the songs.

Coming up is a show devoted to the songs of Harry Warren.

LINK