This is the fifth volume of the Anthology
of American Piano Music and is dedicated to an exploration of music that is
“related to the theme of dance.” The aim
is once again to show “the stylistic breadth, high musical quality and great
originality” of this repertoire. These aims are well achieved in this recital.
The CD opens with Amy Beach’s delightful Tyrolean Valse-Fantaisie, completed in 1911. It explores several different moods. It has been likened to a “Godowskian Strauss paraphrase” and even prefiguring Maurice Ravel’s La Valse, dating from 1919-20. The piece presents elements of improvisation, leading to a fantasy on three [presumably] Tyrolean folk songs. There are dissonant elements in these pages as well as a deliberate distortion of the themes, only resolving themselves towards the end.
William Grant Still was “the most celebrated African American [classical] composer of his time.” His massive catalogue includes nine operas, five symphonies and four ballets scores. Many of his works have evocative titles such as the American Scene, Highway 1, and Lennox Avenue. Cloud Cradles is the first number from Seven Traceries (1940). The listener is conscious of a winding, evolving sound that is more than a touch impressionistic.
Best recalled for his arrangements of Native American themes, Carlos Troyer has created in the dynamic Kiowa-Apache War Dance (1907) a work which has all the fire of Prokofiev’s Toccata written five years later. Cecile Licad writes that “one needs to build one’s stamina to play it brilliantly. It is a real wrist breaker.”
Henry F.B. Gilbert believed that American music should not rely on just European models but should explore indigenous sources. Despite being white, he was most successful when exploring African American and Creole themes. He is best known for his remarkable orchestral work, The Dance in the Place Congo (1908), later performed as a ballet. The Five Negro Dances date from 1914. Licad has chosen No.5 which balances light-heartedness and pathos.
Charles Th. Pachelbel was the youngest son of the great Johann, of Canon fame. He emigrated to colonial America in 1733. The liner notes suggest that Charles was “one of the very few musicians who became rooted in North America, whilst still belonging to the Baroque era.” Cecile Licad has chosen the Minuet (1744). It is believed to hold the honour of being the “oldest surviving keyboard work composed on this continent.” For that reason alone, this miniature holds a special place on this disc.
Samuel Barber’s Souvenirs (1952) exist in various versions, including for orchestra and the original, for two pianos. Barber’s own words are all that are needed to enjoy this delicious suite of pieces: “Had I been a choreographer, I might have imagined a divertissement in a setting reminiscent of the Palm Court of the Hotel Plaza in New York; the year about 1914, epoch of the first tangos.” There are six dances in all: Waltz, Schottische, Pas de Deux, Two-Step, Hesitation Tango and a final Galop. We are wise to listen to Souvenirs “with affection, not in irony or with tongue in cheek, but in amused tenderness.”
I did not get Micah Thomas’s Rotation. This was written during one of the Covid lockdowns. It is an “enigmatic dance” that is not sure whether it is jazz or something more “classical.” For me, the form is vague. That said there are some lovely moments in this piece’s progress.
Jazz Masks (1929) by Louis Gruenberg uses pre-existing music by composers such as Mendelssohn, Offenbach, Rubenstein, and Chopin. The present number takes Chopin’s “celebrated waltz” in C sharp minor as its source. This can be seen as an attempt at “jazzing the classics” although here he does not overdo the “swing” element.
Edward MacDowell’s Hexentanz is the second of Two Fantastic Pieces for Pianoforte, first published in 1884. The first, Legend, seems to suggest a quaint fairy tale. Hexentanz, translated as Witch’s Dance, became a major, if hackneyed, encore. The composer himself came to “detest its shallow outlook and the appeal it had to the flashy pianist” although he certainly played it himself. Rapid scales and arpeggios compliment a wistful trio section. The title is a bit of a misnomer: there is nothing scary or terrifying about MacDowell’s enchantress. In fact, she is witty and humorous, more in keeping with Mendelssonian fairies than Macbeth’s witches.
If ever there was a challenging piece, it must be Louis M. Gottschalk’s Grande Tarantelle, op.67 (1858-65). The tarantelle had its roots in southern Italy, and was an energetic dance in 6/8 time, once believed to cure people of snakebite. Countless composers have penned examples, including Liszt, Weber, and Chopin. The soloist writes that it “is a nightmare of technical hazards and is a dazzling piece of froth.” Clearly Gottschalk out-Liszt’s Liszt with this brilliant evocation of the sunny Mediterranean. Licad gives a stunning and technically brilliant performance of this hugely demanding work. It brings an excellent recital to a breathless conclusion.
The liner notes, signed by
“Cecile” are most helpful to the listener. The sound recording is up to
Danacord’s usual exacting standards. As in previous volumes, I find
that Cecile Licad’s performances are impeccable, illuminating, and inspiring.
Amy Beach (1867-1944)
Tyrolean Valse-Fantasie, op.116 (1911)
William Grant Still (1895-1978)
Cloud Cradles, No.1 from Seven Traceries (1940)
Carlos Troyer (1837-1920)
Kiowa-Apache War Dance (1907)
Henry F. B. Gilbert (1868-1928)
Dance No.5 from Five Negro Dances (1914)
Charles Theodore Pachelbel (1690-1750)
Minuet (1744)
Samuel Barber (1910-81)
Souvenirs (1952)
Micah Thomas (b.1997)
Rotation (c.2020)
Louis Gruenberg (1884-1964)
Jazz Masks II, op.30a (1929)
Edward MacDowell (1860-1908)
Hexentanz, from 2 Fantasiestücke, op.17, no.2 (1883)
Louis M. Gottschalk (1829-69)
Grande Tarantelle, op.67 (1858-64)
Cecile Licad (piano)
rec. 9-12 April 2022, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, USA
Danacord DACOCD 965
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