Young America
Choral Works by Gordon Getty
Reviewed by San Francisco Classical Voice (September 20, 2005)
....Another choral CD that originates here is at least just as beautifully performed [as a recording made by the group Chanticleer] — Gordon Getty's "Young America" (SACD DDD on Pentatone Classics, 5186-040). It was composed here of course, and about half of it was recorded here, by the San Francisco Symphony and its Chorus, Michael Tilson Thomas conducting.
This is an entirely different music, a wholly different genre from the Chanticleer CD, direct choral lyricism, songs for many. Much of the lyrics are written by the composer and he has an easy direct way, producing what could easily be taken for traditional or folk poetry. Opening the set "Young America," "Hark the Homeland" evokes Whitman and it is a kind of accompanied choral recitative, a eulogy to America. The words carry the melody directly and easily. Getty seems to have heard the music as he wrote the words. That's the impression given by "Heather Mary" a dialogue piece (between two lovers), women choristers answered by the men. The orchestra's dramatic support changes with the tone of the dialogue. Julie Ann Giacobassi's English horn solos are lovely, characterizing the song. "My Uncle's House" has a large arch that spans feelings in recollection, from a moody orchestral introduction. The changes are sudden, and the piece leaves an after effect, as an art song should.
If there is a familiar influence on Getty's composing, Benjamin Britten might be heard hovering in the distance. As with Britten, the choral writing could not be more direct. While much of these pieces are sung in unison or octaves and could be sung by solo voices, they gain from the sound of the collective voice. Part of that is attributable to Vance George's preparation of the Symphony Chorus that produces a remarkably centered unity. Tilson Thomas catches the character of the parlante or speech rhythm to give these the feeling of immediacy and directness of expression. It comes right to you. "Daughters of Ashevile" is a charming, romantic waltz. "When Daniel Boone Goes By at Night" (to a quatrain by Stephen Vincent Benét) is brief, but summons a keen image.
There's a change of performing cast for the rest, the crack Eric Ericson Chamber Choir (of Stockholm) singing the "Three Welsh Songs," "Victorian Scenes" and, the Jerusalem scene from the opera Plump Jack with the Russian National Orchestra, Alexander Vedernikov conducting. The first Welsh song, "Welcome Robin" (the only one with new lyrics fitted to it by Getty), is a lovely, quietly lilting strophic piece, with a harmonization and gentle orchestral support that adds a touching quality. "Kind Old Man" (traditional text) is a surprise piece. It starts out as if it were a sorrowful number but the alternating stanza answers with a brisk, lively nonsense lyric. So it goes with three more verse/chorus pairs of indulgent sympathy/utter fun. Finally, there's Getty's setting of the great "All Through the Night" respecting its grace and blessedness, warmly. "Annabel Lee" has been performed in concert by the SF Symphony Chorus Men and here it is, the poem by Edgar Allen Poe in this dramatic, shadowy setting. An ostinato figure pushes the sad course of the poem and the writing for the male voices makes a deeply sympathetic impression.
Selective, effective orchestration
"Blow, Bugle Blow" (from Tennyson's The Princess) is tone painting, depictive rather than pursuing the rhythmic course of the poem. The orchestration selective and effective, and the restraint in the orchestral writing in all the music on the CD is admirable. There follows, three settings of A.E. Housman, "Loveliest of Trees" (warm and lyrical), "With Rue my Heart is Laden" and "Along the Field as We Came By" (touching), two by Tennyson, "The Time Draws Near the Birth of Christ" and "All Along the Valley," in the direct speech cadence style that Getty is drawn to naturally.
The CD concludes with the death of Henry IV, Act II, scene 7, of Getty's Plump Jack. It is an accompanied recitative giving the exchange between the King (Vladimir Chernov), his sons Clarence (Lisa Delan) and later, Hal (Mats Carlsson), the Chief Justice (Pavlo Hunka) and Warwick (Gunnar Birgersson). Chernov's Russian accent in English is inescapable and his sentences are broken into separated phrases. That lack of continuous flow impedes the drama in what could be an affecting scene.
The choral and orchestral performances throughout this CD are elegant, the music in its style and expressiveness, human, warm and sympathetic, giving song and voice to these poems.
Robert Commanday
San Francisco Classical Voice, September 20, 2005
(Robert P. Commanday, senior editor of San Francisco Classical Voice, was the music critic of The San Francisco Chronicle, 1965-93, and before that a conductor and lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley.) (c) 2005 Robert Commanday, all rights reserved
Posted with permission from San Francisco Classical Voice (September 20, 2005). For more information please visit their site: www.sfcv.org