FUCHS, K.: Canticle to the Sun / United Artists

Albumbeschreibung

This is the second Naxos release devoted to orchestral and chamber music by American composer Kenneth Fuchs, who teaches at the University of Connecticut. His music is frequently inspired by contemporary visual artists, and this disc features two such pieces, Fire, Ice, and Summer Bronze, after two paintings by Helen Frankenthaler, and Autumn Rhythm, after the painting of the same name by Jackson Pollack. Fuchs' orchestral music frequently has the immediately appealing sound of high-quality film scoring, and it's easy to hear echoes of John Williams in his fanfare United Artists (with a few John Adams-isms thrown in). The most effective pieces are Quiet in the Land (Idyll for mixed quintet), which is inventively scored and atmospherically subdued in a mood evocative of Copland-esque Americana, and the similar, but livelier Autumn Rhythm for wind quintet. The most substantial work on the album is the single-movement concerto for horn and orchestra, Canticle to the Sun. It takes its thematic material from the seventeenth century tune that's best known as the hymn All Creatures of Our God and King. It's characterized by bright, colorful orchestration; conventional harmonic; and gestural language and a prevailing lyricism. While it doesn't have a strong enough profile to make it truly memorable, its accessible lyricism and use of a familiar tune make it a piece that could easily be appealing to concertgoers open to new music that doesn't challenge too many conventions. Timothy Jones plays the expressive horn part with warm tone and solid technique. JoAnn Falletta leads the London Symphony in committed, nuanced performances.

© TiVo

Informationen zur Originalaufnahme : 64:00 - DDD - Enregistré au LSO St Luke's à Londres en novembre 2006 - Notes en anglais