Frank Martin: Five Songs of Ariel and Other Festive Choral Music (Opus One)
Purchased at Jerry's Records, formerly in the Duquesne University collection
What do I choose for listening? A great deal of the time, it's due to having purchased the record or disc, and just need to take it in. I bought this today at Jerry's Records out of a bin of Duquesne recordings. The university sold off its vinyl collection to Jerry's, who in turn have been selling most for $3 apiece. I've made a few pretty amazing finds (BA Zimmerman's opera Die Soldaten being a good example), but at the price point, I've bought up things I might not have otherwise. This is an example.
I know nothing about Frank Martin, nor Steven R. Gerber, the other composer on this album. It's largely a choral album, one reason I wouldn't normally bite at this. I put out the money (really $2.50 each, frequently flyer discount) because of the Opus One label, one of the better composers' labels back in the pre-CD days.
Martin's music in the case of these pieces has a strong Renaissance-era flavor to it. I can't speak to how that might compare to his instrumental music, which as far as I remember I've never heard. The "Dédicace" of 1945, a song setting with piano, starts to bring the music much closer to the late 19th/early 20th centuries.
Ned Rorem's music has been a topic of discussion among friends after his recent passing. My position has been, I recognize his talents but have never been especially interested in the work itself. I give him credit however that he wrote very effectively for the voice. Composing for the voice has some limitations you don't have with most instruments, it's more challenging to really do it right. Frank Martin seems to write vocalistically, it all sounds very natural for the voice.
The five Dylan Thomas Settings by Steven R. Gerber would have recalled Stravinsky's vocal music to me, even if the maestro wasn't a dedicatee. In that sort of vaguely tonal-on the verge of atonality.
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