Santa Claus Symphony / Niagara Symphony

Album review

This release by the Scottish National Symphony Orchestra under conductor Tony Rowe garnered a good deal of attention in 2000 when it first appeared. However, that hasn't translated into increased awareness of composer William Henry Fry (1813-1864), the first American to write large-scale orchestral works and, one learns here, possibly the first composer anywhere to write for the saxophone, in the so-called Santa Claus Symphony (in full: Santa Claus, Christmas Symphony). That work is hardly restricted to Santa Claus, a colorful work encompassing the birth of Christ, a Christmas party, a traveler lost in a snowstorm, Santa dropping down a chimney, a woodwind serenade, including the soprano saxophone, and a finale with strings intoning O Come, All Ye Faithful. It is certainly in the great American tradition of too much of everything, but it is exceeded by the Niagara Symphony, in which Fry deploys 11 timpani and atonal swirling strings to depict the majesty of the falls. These works had a good deal of popularity at the time; Americans who looked to Germany as the font of musical wisdom disdained them, but the French conductor Jullien praised and programmed them on tour. The Macbeth Overture and the short piece The Breaking Heart are a bit less interesting, although they're competent works with hints of Verdi and Berlioz; Fry's métier was a spectacle. The brash quality of his music makes one think of Ives, although it is unlikely that Ives knew about them; by the end of the 19th century, Fry had been almost completely forgotten. This album remains a worthwhile attempt to revive him, and a major U.S. orchestra, perhaps at a Fourth of July concert, could do wonders with this unusual repertory.

© James Manheim /TiVo