By Karl Nehring
Adam Schoenberg: Symphony No. 2: Migration;
John Corigliano: Concerto for Clarinet; Jennifer Jolley: The Eyes of
the World are Upon You; Stephen Montague: Intrada 1631. Jonathan
Gunn, clarinet; Brian Lewis, violin; The University of Texas Wind Ensemble,
Jerry Junkin, Artistic Director. Reference Recordings RR-150
enjoyed a well-deserved reputation for outstanding sound quality, and within
the first few measures of Adam Schoenberg’s Symphony No. 2: Migration,
it should be abundantly clear to most listeners that “Professor” Johnson has
delivered yet again. A brass fanfare followed in quick order by some BIG bass drum
whacks are impressive enough, but what really seals the deal, at least for
those with woofers and/or subwoofers sufficient for the sound, is the deep rumbling
resonant sound that lingers in the wake of the initial notes from the drum.
Such a rare but sublime surprise it is to enjoy such a sound in your very own
listening
space! So yes, Migration can be counted as an audiophile
release, but thank goodness, it is a release with substantial musical virtues
as well. As you can see from the header above, this is music for wind ensemble,
and the wind band from the University of Texas ranks as one of the very best in
the world. No, we are not talking about a small wind ensemble as might perform
chamber music, but rather a full-blown wind band comprising 60 or so members
including woodwinds, brass, and percussion – something like an orchestra
without the strings but with more sheer blowing power. Migration the
composition was commissioned for the ensemble and dedicated to Jerry Junkin. It
is in five relatively brief movements: I. March, II. Dreaming,
III. Escape, IV. Crossing, V. Beginning. From the dramatic
opening measures described above, the piece is a dramatic, lively, colorful,
and entertaining symphony that bears repeated listening,
Next on the program is a work from a composer
whose name is probably more familiar to our readers. Actually, however, the
surname “Schoenberg” is quite likely more familiar than “Corigliano,” although
the American composer of Migration, Adam Schoenberg (b 1981, is surely
much less well-known than either the Austrian-American composer Arnold
Schoenberg (1874-1951) or American composer John Corigliano (b. 1938), who originally
wrote this piece for full symphony orchestra. According to the liner notes, “the
original ‘Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra’ was written for Stanley Drucker,
the first clarinetist of Corigliano’s youth, and was premiered on December 6,
1977 by the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein. Craig B. Davis
created the wind ensemble version, and conducted its premiere on February 19,
2015 with Nicholas Councilor, clarinet, and The University of Texas Wind
Ensemble.” The concerto consists of three movements: i: Cadenzas, II. Elegy,
III. Antiphonal Toccata. Of special note is the second movement, Elegy, which
is a deeply moving tribute to his father wherein the sound of the clarinet
soloist is joined by the sound of a solo violin. Corigliano’s father served as concertmaster
of the New York Philharmonic for 23 years. The outer movements feature more
virtuosic and colorful playing, not just from Gunn on clarinet but the whole
ensemble, but it is that second movement that is the emotional heart of the
piece. The liner notes are adapted from Corigliano’s original program notes for
that original New York Philharmonic performance, a nice touch from Reference
Recordings.
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| UT Wind Ensemble |
are a pair of shorter single-movement pieces, beginning with The Eyes of the
World Are Upon You by American composer Jennifer Jolley (b. 1981), which
according to the composer is a celebration of life to those who died in the
1966 University of Texas Tower shootings as well to those who survived that
awful tragedy. As you might expect from that description, it is a
serious-sounding piece, but not morose. There is a section that seems to depict
the shooting itself, or at least evoke its violent memory, but there is also
music of comfort and hope to be heard withing the composition’s nearly 12
minutes. As an aside, I was excited to read in the liner notes that Ms. Jolley
is a professor at Ohio Wesleyan University, for the campus is a mere 15 minutes
from my home and I immediately fixated upon the possibility of a face-to-face interview.
How exciting! However, a quick check of the OWU website did not yield any
information about her, and a quick web search revealed that since the CD had
gone into production, she had taken a new faculty position in New York. In any
event, judging from her work on this release, she is certainly a talented
composer and a name to look out for in the future.
Closing out the program is Intrada 1631
by the American composer and conductor Stephen Montague (b. 1943) who now lives
in England. Montague writes of his 10-minute composition that it “was inspired
by a concert of early South American liturgical music directed by Jeffery
Skidmore at the Darlington Summer Music School in the summer of 2001. One of
the most moving and memorable works in the program was a Hanacpachap
cussicuinin, a 17th century Catholic liturgical chant written in
Quechua, the native language of the Incas. The music was composed by a
Franciscan missionary priest named Juan Pérez
Bocanegra, who lived and worked in Cuzco (Peru), a small village east of Lima
in the Jauja Valley during the early 17th century. Intrada 1631 uses
Bocanegra’s twenty-bar hymn as the basis for an expanded processional scored
for the modern forces of a symphonic brass choir with field drums.” The music
is stately, formal, and powerful. What it lacks in tunefulness, it makes up for
in solemnity and impact.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, Migration
is an audiophile recording, not only for bass extension and dynamic impact,
but also for the excellent sense of soundstage depth and width that it
presents. How rewarding it is to have a true audiophile recording with genuine
musical value; moreover, the liner notes are also excellent, with each of the
composers commenting on their works, plus biographical information on the
composers, soloists, and conductor as well as information about the University
of Texas Wind Ensemble. The good folks at Reference Recordings have done
themselves proud with this outstanding release.
