COOMAN: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3 / Violin Sonata

Album review

Naxos' album devoted to Carson Cooman's instrumental works, including symphonies, chamber music, and solos, represents an infinitesimal portion of his output; his opus numbers were in the 700s before he was out of his mid-twenties, and include pieces written in virtually every genre of Western music. Inevitably, there are some areas in which he will be stronger than others. His choral music is especially compelling: well written for the voice, with excellent text setting in a style that is not simple, but is also immediately engaging. The works on this CD, while for the most part securely executed, don't consistently have the substance of his choral music. Some of the pieces have strong appeal; Vision, for violin and organ, is hauntingly lovely, and the Sonata for violin and organ, the longest piece on the CD, is striking in its melodies and sonorities; this is evidently an instrumental combination that triggers some of Cooman's most expressive music, sometimes rhapsodic, sometimes meditative, sometimes exuberant. The two Symphonies No. 2 and No. 3, and the piano concerto lack an obvious structural coherence, and their motivic material isn't particularly memorable, or very fully developed. The brooding orchestral piece Songlines, Sun Dreaming, is more successful because its development feels organic, and it is clearer and more direct in its emotional appeal. Violinist Rachel Gough and organist Rupert Gough play Vision and the sonata with warmth and deep feeling. Kirk Trevor coaxes barely adequate performances from the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra in the symphonies and piano concerto.
© TiVo