Chadwick: Symphony No. 2; Symphonic Sketches.Chadwick: Symphony No. 2; Symphonic Sketches. Theodore Kuchar, National Radio Symphony of Ukraine. Naxos 8.559213. It's been said that around the turn of the twentieth century George Whitefield Chadwick George Whitefield Chadwick (November 13, 1854 – April 4, 1931) was an American composer. Along with Horatio Parker and Edward MacDowell, he was a representative composer of what can be called the New England School of American composers of the late 19th century — the was America's most-prominent composer. Hard to believe, considering that today most ardent music lovers have hardly encountered him and that most everybody else has never heard of him. The fact is, he didn't have a lot of competition around that time, with Gershwin, Copland, Barber, Cage, Piston, Grofe, Thomson, and the rest coming well after him. Chadwick was a conservative neo-romanticist whose main rivals at the time seem to have been Sousa, in an entirely different medium; the more progressive Ives, whom hardly anyone could understand; and MacDowell, an old-timer by then. This Naxos issue couples two of Chadwick's most-popular pieces, the Second Symphony and the Symphonic Sketches on the same disc. Both of them are lightweight stuff, but of the two, it's the Symphonic Sketches that shows the most spark. The Symphony No. 2 begins in a rather lackadaisical lack·a·dai·si·cal adj. Lacking spirit, liveliness, or interest; languid: "There'll be no time to correct lackadaisical driving techniques after trouble develops" William J. Hampton. fashion but soon picks up with its bouncy little Scherzo scherzo (skĕr`tsō) [Ital.,=joke], in music, term denoting various types of composition, primarily one that is lively and presents surprises in the rhythmic or melodic material. , a Mendelssohnian ditty dit·ty n. pl. dit·ties A simple song. [Middle English dite, a literary composition, from Old French dite, from Latin dict that was introduced on its own and is often played by itself today. There follows a solemn, drowsy slow movement that builds to a grand climax, and a Finale that is quite jaunty jaun·ty adj. jaun·ti·er, jaun·ti·est 1. Having a buoyant or self-confident air; brisk. 2. Crisp and dapper in appearance; natty. 3. Archaic a. Stylish. b. Genteel. , if still featherlight. The Symphonic Sketches are really like a small symphony, divided into four brief tone poems: "Jubilee," a bombastically festive piece; "Noel," a slow, tranquil movement; "Hobgoblin hobgoblin: see goblin. ," the most creative composition on the disc and very reminiscent of Mendelssohn again or Mussorgsky; and "A Vagrom Ballad" (vagrant's song), a kind of impressionistic im·pres·sion·is·tic adj. 1. Of, relating to, or practicing impressionism. 2. Of, relating to, or predicated on impression as opposed to reason or fact: impressionistic memories of early childhood. , tongue-in-cheek affair. Conductor Kuchar's way with things is to let them unfold at their own pace, with, as I say, the "Hobgoblin" the most atmospheric. The sound is oddly bunched into the center of the soundstage and lacks a real dynamic punch. Otherwise, it serves the music well, being slightly lightweight itself. |
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