HERITAGE Modern American Vocal Works - Barber, Copland, etc

This CD is a re-issue of premiere recordings, made by major performers during the years 1950 - 1953, of 23 vocal works by three well-known American composers: Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, and Virgil Thomson. Barber is represented by his well-known Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24, exquisite in its harmonies and lyricism and its poetic, nostalgic text by James Agee. This work is rendered in the clear-as-a-bell and honest tones of soprano Eleanor Steber, backed up by the Dumbarton Oaks Chamber Orchestra, conducted by William Strickland in a thoughtful reading. Barber's ten Hermit Songs follow, with their simple settings enhanced by the noble vocals of diva Leontyne Price, accompanied by the composer at the piano. Aaron Copland's Old American Songs (Sets 1 & 2) remove, by subtle rhythmic and harmonic shifts, any maudlin or overly sentimental characteristics that may be in the original traditional tunes, which were taken from campaigns, minstrel shows, religious groups, and children's songs. William Warfield sings these in a resonant and assured voice, accompanied by the composer at the piano. Arguably, the gem of this collection is Virgil Thomson's Stabat Mater, written in Paris in 1931, to a French text by Max Jacob. This piece, for soprano and string quartet, is a richly modal setting with superb musical responses to the changing imagery and moods in the text. Mezzo-soprano Jennie Tourel gives a remarkably accurate and emotionally riveting, yet properly restrained reading of the lovely vocal line. The concluding piece is the delightful Capital, Capitals for four men and a piano (1927), to a text by Gertrude Stein. The text is delivered in a direct manner, and like the operas Four Saints in Three Acts and The Mother of Us All, gradually unfolds its beauties through changing perspective and variation.