National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic: Copland / Creston / Kay / Piston
Naxos

A stellar presentation of Aaron Copland's The Tender Land Suite (1958) is certainly one compelling argument in support of this latest National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic (NOIP) collection, but the other three selections—Paul Creston's Saxophone Concerto, Ulysses Kay's Pietà, and Walter Piston's The Incredible Flutist—are also worthy of attention. The recording is the sixth in an ongoing partnership between the NOIP and Naxos to issue one album of American music each year. For this release, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra's music director JoAnn Falletta conducts the NOIP, which features exceptional conservatory students from across the United States and abroad. Enhancing the release's value, the works by Creston and Kay are world premiere recordings.

The works are by four mid-twentieth-century American composers but are extremely different in style and tone. Copland's affectionate tribute to the American rancher and farmer is far different from Piston's spirited evocation of a traveling circus and magical musician, and the same could be said for Creston's concerto, performed exquisitely by PRISM Quartet alto saxophonist Timothy McAllister, and Kay's Michelangelo-inspired elegy, which is likewise elevated by a soloist, here the Buffalo Philharmonic's English hornist Anna Mattix.

While Copland's The Tender Land Suite is less well-known than his iconic Fanfare for the Common Man, Rodeo, and Appalachian Spring, listeners familiar with them will recognize him as the suite's author right away. To call it quintessential Copland isn't off-base when it possesses many of the signatures we associate with his music: tender and poignant passages as well as exuberant ones. Derived from his sole attempt at a full-length opera (its 1954 premiere lasted for only two performances), the three-part suite, premiered in 1958, offers a thorough re-imagining of the original material as opposed to a stitched-together patchwork of instrumental excerpts. The story-line concerns a farm family in the 1930s and a daughter nearing high school graduation who falls for a drifter, with tension arising between them when, in Copland's words, “She associates him with freedom, and he associates her with settling down.”

Indicative of how extensively he reworked the original material, the suite begins with music from the third act before segueing into the love duet from the first. Tender voicings by woodwinds and strings establish the Copland persona early as the music swoons, and the rhapsodic expressions of love that arrive near the end of the movement are touching. Aptly titled and in its foot-stomping moments reminiscent of Rodeo, the good-time “Party Scene” is dynamism incarnate and a full-bore dance movement. Capping the eighteen-minute performance is “Finale: The Promise of Living,” which reinstates the lyrical tenderness of the opening for a majestic ending suffused with hope and thanksgiving.

Creston wrote Saxophone Concerto, Op. 26 (1941) in part to prove the saxophone (in this case the E flat alto) could be as effective a soloing instrument in a classical context as in jazz. Given its broadcast premiere by the New York Philharmonic (then known as the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York) in February 1944, the work frames an adagio-styled central part with two robust movements. An aggressive wrestling match is enacted between the orchestra and saxophonist in the “Energetic” opening, though lyrical and playful passages also emerge. McAllister is, naturally, excellent in the soloist's role, his tone and execution precise throughout the thrill-ride. His playing's flattered by the hushed pitch of the “Meditative” movement (McAllister's dazzling cadenza is memorable too) and the high-velocity of a closing “Rhythmic” whose staccato phrases demand from him light-speed tonguing.

Written for English horn and string orchestra during a stay in Rome, Kay's Pietà (1950) was perhaps inspired by the famous Michelangelo sculpture of the same name. English hornist Mattix discovered the ponderous work while doing research in her role as a teaching artist for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and distinguishes herself in a moving treatment, especially when the orchestra provides a serene backdrop for the soloist to emote against. The work's tone is mysterious and enigmatic, even if a general air of solemnity shadows the material.

While primarily known for eight symphonies and four influential textbooks on music theory, Piston also created the theatrical work The Incredible Flutist Suite (1940), and it has proved to be an enduring delight whenever performed. Commissioned in 1938 by Arthur Fiedler for the Boston Pops Orchestra, the piece first appeared in a ballet form and was fashioned into a suite soon after. Programmatic in design, the score begins with the scene-setting evocation of a siesta in a village square and moves from there to the spirited arrival of vendors and customers to an increasingly busy marketplace. After a rapturous tango (enlivened by a Hispanic-flavoured episode), the circus marches in, bringing with it excitement and cheers. It's at this point that the titular flutist appears, his presence announced with a seductive solo intended to not only charm a snake in a basket but win over a merchant's daughter. More dances arrive, a minuet first, a rousing, castanets-sprinkled Spanish waltz second, and elegant siciliana, danced by the flutist and merchant's daughter, third. Joining them in a lively polka are the village's other young people to guide the work to a joyous finale.

Falletta and the NOIP deliver sterling performances throughout, and the renditions are of such a professional calibre no one would think the orchestra's comprised of conservatory students. The release also earns its recommendation for giving the Creston and Kay works world premiere recordings. The Naxos series undertaken by the company has proved fertile and fruitful, with earlier volumes featuring the music of John Harbison, Carl Ruggles, George Gershwin, Samuel Barber, John Corigliano, and others. Considering the vast number of works by American composers from which to choose, the series could carry on indefinitely. Listeners have much to look forward to if it continues, as it should and hopefully will.

January 2024