Beaser Orchestral and Vocal Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Robert Beaser
Label: Argo
Magazine Review Date: 8/1994
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 77
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 440 337-2ZH
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Chorale Variations |
Robert Beaser, Composer
American Composers Orchestra Dennis Russell Davies, Conductor Robert Beaser, Composer |
(7) Deadly Sins |
Robert Beaser, Composer
American Composers Orchestra Dennis Russell Davies, Conductor Jan Opalach, Bass Robert Beaser, Composer |
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra |
Robert Beaser, Composer
American Composers Orchestra Dennis Russell Davies, Conductor Pamela Mia Paul, Piano Robert Beaser, Composer |
Author:
''Anyone educated in the twentieth century knows that to return to the Age of Innocence is but thinly veiled nostalgia'', writes 40-year-old Robert Beaser who, in 1977, was the youngest American composer ever to win the Prix de Rome. The significantly talented Beaser alludes to a crucial issue, then makes reference to his own explorations of an idealized ''middle ground: where knowledge would no longer be suffocating, and originality no longer an end in itself''. Yes, quite; but what exactly is the ''Age of Innocence''? Beethoven? Mahler? Tchaikovsky (all of whom resonate clearly within the context of Beaser's music)? Certainly not in my book. These were profoundly knowing individuals, and our returning to them—either as listeners or as aspiring creators—marks an essential point of reference. It seems to me that the ghost of 'modernism' has forced tonality into spurious discredit by setting up house in our pooled conscience and blacklisting everything that's tonally accessible—an odd paradox, given that atonality is widely rated, along with other awkward symptoms, as socially undesirable. And that is not a side-swipe at the many fine fruits of serialism, but more a plea for accepting the likes of Beaser, who have much to say but who—to paraphrase the composer himself—have inherited the received stylistic strictures of 'historic necessity' and who wish to rebel.
That Beaser is an eclectic can be taken as read. Lucky for us, his most recent composition—theChorale Variations—opens this CD, and rings him in with a fighting chance. It's a terrific piece, dazzlingly colourful, fearless of gesture and visited by countless identifiable influences. And the guest-list is surprisingly varied: Copland (opening), Berg (1'47''), Mahler (4'43''), Tchaikovsky (7'39''), Janacek (17'09'') and with Stravinsky, Vaughan Williams, Steve Reich and John Adams, arriving together (12'00'')—speculative recognition on my part, of course, but notable elements in a beautifully fashioned and ingeniously constructed composition.
The Seven Deadly Sins are as many masterly settings of Anthony Hecht's abstruse but haunting poetry: ''The Mercy by which each of us is tried'', he writes, and a drum-roll reflects the 'trial'. Most movements are tailed by what I might term the reverberation of conscience, where Beaser lets his closing chord die to an implied question. Some vices occasionally appear to reflect each other—''Wrath'' and ''Avarice'' seem like half-brothers—while Beaser extends Hecht's ''Dies Irae'' idea, wrapping it in deep purple. For ''Lust'', he has his imaginary protagonist edge off the scene as if fazed either by shame or by calm acceptance. Bernstein is a probable influence, Adams too; but it's an excellent piece and would make a fine programme companion for, say, Bernstein's Songfest.
So far, so good: 42 minutes, and all of them eminently worth repeating. However, come the 34-minute Piano Concerto, which annotator Steven Ledbetter sees as ''a genuine recreation of the grand virtuosic Romantic concerto for our time'', and I was beginning to have doubts. True, there are original touches (such as the Beethovenian references in the second movement) and Pamela Mia Paul is a highly accomplished soloist, but the work is too long by half and the virtuoso element (Tchaikovsky, Litolff, Bartok, et al) rings rather shallow. My own view—for what it's worth—is that a 15-20 minute condensation would work wonders, but then there may well be pianists among you who are desperate for a modern, big-scale 'virtuoso' concerto—and, if so, then I'd certainly recommend you give Beaser's a try. Still, for me, it's the Chorale Variations and Seven Deadly Sins that most effectively trumpet Robert Beaser's arrival on our music scene—and I'm eager to hear more. The performances and recordings are superb, and the documentation is mostly perceptive and informative.'
That Beaser is an eclectic can be taken as read. Lucky for us, his most recent composition—the
The Seven Deadly Sins are as many masterly settings of Anthony Hecht's abstruse but haunting poetry: ''The Mercy by which each of us is tried'', he writes, and a drum-roll reflects the 'trial'. Most movements are tailed by what I might term the reverberation of conscience, where Beaser lets his closing chord die to an implied question. Some vices occasionally appear to reflect each other—''Wrath'' and ''Avarice'' seem like half-brothers—while Beaser extends Hecht's ''Dies Irae'' idea, wrapping it in deep purple. For ''Lust'', he has his imaginary protagonist edge off the scene as if fazed either by shame or by calm acceptance. Bernstein is a probable influence, Adams too; but it's an excellent piece and would make a fine programme companion for, say, Bernstein's Songfest.
So far, so good: 42 minutes, and all of them eminently worth repeating. However, come the 34-minute Piano Concerto, which annotator Steven Ledbetter sees as ''a genuine recreation of the grand virtuosic Romantic concerto for our time'', and I was beginning to have doubts. True, there are original touches (such as the Beethovenian references in the second movement) and Pamela Mia Paul is a highly accomplished soloist, but the work is too long by half and the virtuoso element (Tchaikovsky, Litolff, Bartok, et al) rings rather shallow. My own view—for what it's worth—is that a 15-20 minute condensation would work wonders, but then there may well be pianists among you who are desperate for a modern, big-scale 'virtuoso' concerto—and, if so, then I'd certainly recommend you give Beaser's a try. Still, for me, it's the Chorale Variations and Seven Deadly Sins that most effectively trumpet Robert Beaser's arrival on our music scene—and I'm eager to hear more. The performances and recordings are superb, and the documentation is mostly perceptive and informative.'
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