Joshua Weilerstein & Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne - American and English Orchestral Music (2024) [Digital Download 24/96]

George Bernard Shaw once said that “England and America are two countries separated by the same language!” As an American living in London when these recordings were made, I can attest to that sentiment! Perhaps my own grappling with the ever witty Bernard Shaw is found on this set of recordings, with pieces from the UK and the USA that span nearly 122 years of musical history. While many of the musical materials used by these 5 composers are similar, with an emphasis on folk music, classical idioms, and a generally warm and Romantic sensibility, they could not be more different from each other.

Ethel Smyth and Edward Elgar were born just one year apart, and Smyth’s Serenade and Elgar’s Chanson de Matin and Chanson de Nuit were written in the same year (1889). They are early works, long before either of them had achieved notable success. Of course, Elgar would go on to become one of our most beloved composers, while Smyth’s music has only recently emerged from almost total obscurity. Smyth truly was one of the most interesting people who ever lived, with interests ranging from a career as a composer, as a prolific writer, to her social activism as a Suffragette in the UK. This activism was perhaps her most lasting legacy, with her March of the Women serving as the unofficial anthem of the Suffragette movement. There is not space here to detail Smyth’s political exploits, but they make for entertaining and inspiring reading. In the musical context, I have loved Smyth’s work since I encountered it for the first time nearly 10 years ago. Smyth studied for a brief period with Johannes Brahms, and Brahms apparently had some level of respect for Smyth’s music, quite high praise for someone with attitudes towards women like Brahms notoriously had. Her music, especially these two early works, shows this Brahmsian influence clearly. Smyth was a musical polyglot however, and one can hear allusions to the music of Wagner as well. Perhaps coming from outside of the so-called War of the Romantics allowed Smyth to pick and choose what she liked from each camp and to incorporate it into her own music. With all of this said, what I love about Smyth’s music, is that like all great composers, Smyth takes in all of these influences, and then creates something uniquely her own. The simple grace of her String Quintet is irresistible with its kind hearted melodies. On the other hand, I am always awed by the emotional variety of her Serenade, from its deeply Brahmsian D Major first movement to its raucous last movement. For those encountering Smyth’s music for the first time, I think these two early examples of her work are a perfect introduction.

It is one of my special passions to combine works of composers who are quite well-known with those who are less familiar to the general audience. It is an honor and privilege to be releasing the first commercial recording of Ethel Smyth’s String Quintet as arranged for string orchestra by the composer, only the second recording of her Serenade, and the first commercial recording of William Grant Still’s Mother and Child for string orchestra. I hope that this exploration of the unfamiliar and the familiar together will prove as rewarding to you as it was to myself and to the musicians of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, who were faithful and enthusiastic partners throughout the recording process.

I would like to add special thanks and appreciation here to the late John Heiss, a professor at the New England Conservatory of Music, and one of my great inspirations in taking on the challenge of recording Three Places in New England, as well as my parents, who were playing Ives’ music for me even before I was born, instilling in me a lifelong love for this American Maverick.

I would like to dedicate this recording to my wife Bernice, who always helps me explore the unexplored.

Tracklist:
CD1
01 - Three Places in New England, S. 7_ I. The St. Gaudens' in Boston Common
02 - Three Places in New England, S. 7_ II. Putnam's Camp, Redding, Connecticut
03 - Three Places in New England, S. 7_ III. The Housatonic at Stockbridge
04 - Suite for Strings, Op. 1A_ I. Allegro con brio (re-arrangement from String Quintet, Op. 1)
05 - Suite for Strings, Op. 1A_ II. Andantino poco allegretto (re-arrangement from String Quintet, Op. 1)
06 - Suite for Strings, Op. 1A_ III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace (re-arrangement from String Quintet, Op. 1)
07 - Suite for Strings, Op. 1A_ IV. Adagio con moto (re-arrangement from String Quintet, Op. 1)
08 - Suite for Strings, Op. 1A_ V. Allegro molto (re-arrangement from String Quintet, Op. 1)
09 - Mother and Child (from Suite for Violin and Piano)

CD2
01 - Serenade in D Major_ I. Allegro non troppo
02 - Serenade in D Major_ II. Scherzo
03 - Serenade in D Major_ III. Allegretto grazioso
04 - Serenade in D Major_ IV. Finale
05 - Entracte
06 - Two Pieces, Op. 15_ I. Chanson de matin
07 - Two Pieces, Op. 15_ II. Chanson de nuit


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