MahlerFest XXXIV: Sawyers: Symphony No. 5; Mahler Symphony No. 5 (CD review)

Kenneth Woods, The Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra. Colorado MahlerFest.

By Karl W. Nehring

We have previously encountered American conductor Kenneth Woods in his role as conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra, where he has championed the works of contemporary composers, among them the English composer Philip Sawyers (b. 1951), several of whose previous compositions Maestro Woods has recorded with various U.K. orchestras. But Woods wears another hat as Artistic Director of the Colorado MahlerFest and conductor of their orchestra. Colorado MahlerFest is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1988 that presents an annual, weeklong festival celebrating Mahler’s life and music as well as the works of composers who influenced Mahler and by composers whom Mahler in turn influenced. The Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra draws together young professionals, conservatory and university students, and advanced amateurs. In 2005, the International Gustav Mahler Society of Vienna awarded Colorado MahlerFest its rarely bestowed Mahler Gold Medal. MahlerFest was honored alongside the New York Philharmonic, joining such past recipients as the Vienna Philharmonic and Leonard Bernstein.

In the program notes for the Mahlerfest performance, which occurred in August, 2021, Woods writes of Mahler’s Fifth that “it charts a journey from darkness to light not unlike that of Beethoven’s Fifth, a work with which it often compared. But where Beethoven’s Fifth ends in the unambiguous triumph of hope over despair, Mahler’s Fifth is more equivocal and more ambivalent. As Mahler began the new century, he seemed to be saying that tragedy and adversity are forever part of the human condition, that there can never be such a thing as ‘happily ever after,’ but that when storms pass, we must embrace life, seize the moment, and celebrate. The performance by Woods and his orchestra is lithe and flexible, never sounding melodramatic or exaggerated for effect. Just for fun I thought it would be interesting to compare it to one of my reference versions, that by the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Leonard Bernstein (also a live performance). What hit me right away was just the sheer power of the Vienna Philharmonic; this was not really surprising, as the Vienna forces outnumbered the Colorado forces and were playing in a mighty fine acoustic space. Still, the MahlerFest forces have produced an attractive interpretation of this work, well worth an audition. The recording quality of these discs is more than acceptable – very good, in fact – but the plain truth is that the Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra is simply not going to sound like the Vienna Philharmonic, especially in Mahler. No shame in that.

But the real attraction of this release is the world premier recording of another Fifth Symphony, that of British composer Philip Sawyers (b. 1951), of whom. Woods observes: “Composer Philip Sawyers has become recognized as one of the most important symphonists of the past 50 years. Like so many musicians, Sawyers saw many long-anticipated projects disappear overnight following the emergence of Covid-19. However, like Mahler, he has chanelled his energies back into hi creative work, and since then he has produced a new Viola Concerto, a Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, a string orchestra piece, and most recently, his Fifth Symphony. Whether by coincidence or design, Sawyer’s Fifth is also in five movements, and, like the Mahler, it shows a composer at the height of his powers exploring new musical territory.” From the very opening, this symphony announces itself as the work of a serious, major composer. There is a strong sense of mystery in the opening movement, of something brewing beneath the surface. The second movement ups the energy level, giving the brass opportunity to shine, while the third movement, marked Lento, is more brooding and searching in tone. With some plaintive writing for the woodwinds. The fourth movement begins with swirling strings and continues in an energetic romp. The finale opens with boisterous brass and percussion and continues along with high energy until shifting gears and ending subtly, as if in a dream – simple, but striking.

The Sawyers Symphony No. 5 is a remarkable work that deserves wider recognition. It can be purchased here: https://mahlerfest.org/product-category/mfaudio/.

KWN

Sawyers: Symphony No. 4 (CD review)

Also, Hommage to Kandinsky. Kenneth Woods, BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Nimbus Alliance NI 6405.

It may seem to the casual observer that conductor Kenneth Woods is championing mainly lesser-known modern composers in his recordings. This is probably because Maestro Woods really is championing lesser-known modern composers in his recordings. Hans Gal, Christopher Gunning, John Joubert, Ernst Krenek, David Matthews, and Philip Sawyers are not exactly household names except among the most-dedicated classical music enthusiasts. Yet these are some of the people Woods has been recording. Am I complaining? Certainly not, because these composers have one thing in common: They all write real music instead of random noise, and I think Woods appreciates that, as we should.

This time out, we have British composer Philip Sawyers (b. 1951) and his latest symphony, No. 4, written in 2018, conducted by Woods leading the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. I had the pleasure of reviewing Woods's previous two recordings of works by Sawyers, the Symphony No. 3 and the Violin Concerto, and enjoyed them both. So there was no reason for me to dislike the Symphony No. 4. It may not be Beethoven, but it beats a lot of what passes for music these days.

Sawyers wrote his Fourth Symphony in only three movements, which is right away a bit untraditional. Yet most of the music is squarely in a traditional or conventional vein. In fact, Sawyers has admitted that his music was "distinctly out of fashion" for much of the twentieth century. It's no surprise; he still appears to believe in things like melody, tonality, harmony, and rhythm, things that have largely gone out of favor in much modern music. So, why three movements? Sawyers says that by the time he finished the third movement, he had nothing more to say. Fair enough; quit while you're ahead.

Kenneth Woods

The first movement is dramatic and serene by turns. Certainly, the drama starts with the opening notes, which would have made Beethoven proud. It goes on with a whole series of contrasting outbursts, which Maestro Woods seems to relish. While it's all fairly dark in mood, even during its calmer stretches, it keeps the listener on his toes, wondering what's coming next. By the time the movement finishes, it appears downright combative, as Woods himself admits in the booklet notes.

The second movement is a scherzo, as though we needed more commotion. Yet it's light and playful, as most good scherzos are. The composer calls it "a quicksilver affair," and it surely sounds mercurial and impulsive. But it's also the most delightful section of the piece, with Woods unafraid to extract all the color he can from it.

The final movement is the most rhapsodic of the lot, its melodies the most pronounced and emphatic. It's a slow Adagio that begins as a kind of funeral march, moves on to more robust themes, and dissolves into a tranquil vein, with a resplendent final outburst. Memorable? Perhaps not, but only time will tell. Fun? Entertaining? Meaningful in the moment? To be sure.

The accompanying work is titled Hommage to Kandinsky, which Sawyers calls "a symphonic poem for orchestra," written as a commission from the Grand Rapids Symphony in 2014. The inspiration for the music was a 2006 exhibition the composer attended of paintings by Russian abstract artist Vasily Kandinsky (1868-1944). Still, these are not literal responses to the paintings as, say, Mussorksky's were in Pictures at an Exhibition. They are, as Sawyers explains, primarily "an emotional response to Kandinsky's work." Abstract music responding to abstract paintings, so to speak. I rather enjoyed this sequence of five movements, at least as much as Sawyers's new symphony. It's quite lovely, and Woods and the players in his charge perform it in lovely fashion. I do wish Nimbus had provided separate tracks for the piece, though, even if I can understand their wanting to encourage the listener to view the music as a unified whole

Producer Simon Fox-Gal and engineer Simon Smith recorded the music at Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff, Wales in January 2020. As always, Nimbus produces a realistic sounding disc, with plenty of depth and breadth and ambience. Detailing is good, too, as well as dynamics. It's a fine, smooth, balanced presentation that may not be entirely audiophile but is pleasing, nonetheless.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Sawyers: Violin Concerto (CD review)

Also, Trumpet Concerto; Valley of Vision; Elegiac Rhapsody. Alexander Sitkovetsky, violin; Simon Desbruslais, trumpet; Kenneth Woods, English Symphony Orchestra, English String Orchestra. Nimbus Alliance NI 6374.

British composer Philip Sawyers (b. 1951) has found some of his major fame no doubt from the Nimbus recordings of his works conducted by Kenneth Woods, with four discs now available. In 2015 the English Symphony Orchestra, of which Woods is Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, appointed Sawyers their John McCabe Composer in Association, with various commissions including a song cycle, the violin and trumpet concertos found here, and several symphonies, of which I reviewed the Third a year or so ago.

Sawyers's Web site informs us that his "works have been performed and broadcast in many countries worldwide including the USA, Canada, Spain, Austria, Czech Republic, France and UK." Music-web International described his orchestral work as "music of instant appeal and enduring quality."

So, on the present disc we get two longer Sawyers pieces of almost thirty minutes each and two slightly shorter pieces. It seems to be a good representation of the man's output, which runs high to somewhat dark, moody, sorrowful, yet completely accessible, never sad tunes.

The program begins with the Violin Concerto, completed in 2016, with violin solo by Alexander Sitkovetsky and accompanied by Maestro Woods and the English Symphony Orchestra. Sawyers is also a violinist, and when Woods suggested he do a violin concerto, he jumped at the opportunity. The piece opens with a theme from Sawyers's Third Symphony, so it may sound familiar. To be honest, though, as I said above, Sawyers's music often appears dark and moody to me, so it all tends to sound familiar.

Anyway, the violin dominates the proceedings, as expected, alternating agitated solo passages with tempestuous dialogues with the orchestra. Woods has a good instinct for where the soloist is going, too, and the two work seamlessly together. The opening movement ends calmly, leading into a melodically reflective Andante touched by melancholy. Again, the violin towers above the orchestra, sounding ever more unsettled as the music moves along, reaching a final movement that is surprisingly playful. Sawyers describes it as all "hustle and bustle" and tells Woods "the violin is my instrument, and if it didn't make me happy, it will have been a bit of a waste to have played it my whole life." It's all quite attractive, with Mr. Sitkovetsky playing brilliantly and Woods and the English Symphony supporting him with conviction.

Alexander Sitkovetsky

Next, we get The Valley of Vision from 2017. It is Sawyers's musical response to some of the paintings of English artist Samuel Palmer (1805-1881), which themselves represented the countryside around Palmer's home in Shoreham, Kent. Sawyers tells us he did not intend for the five sections of the work to be programmatic but, instead, I guess more impressionistic. Here, Sawyers sounds more than ever like the English pastoral composers of the previous century--Arnold Bax, perhaps, Frank Bridge, Frederick Delius, Percy Grainger, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and the like. In any case, the music is lovely and evocative.

And so it goes with the Concerto for Trumpet, Strings, and Timpani (2015), with trumpet solo by Simon Desbruslais and accompaniment by Woods and the English String Orchestra (the English Symphony Orchestra began as the English String Orchestra in 1978, and as their repertoire expanded the orchestra grew larger and today performs under both appellations as the occasion demands). As one might expect for a combination of trumpet and timpani, the music is more dramatic, more martial, and more aggressively rhythmic than anything else on the program. Still, there's a charming central movement that is both lyric and ardent. Certainly, it is well performed by everyone involved, yet it failed to affect me the way the violin concerto did, perhaps because of its blunter edges.

The agenda concludes with the Elegiac Rhapsody for trumpet and strings (2016), performed by Desbruslais, Woods, and the English String Orchestra. The work's title aptly describes its content, the work commissioned as a remembrance of the death of British composer and pianist John McCabe (1939-2015). Although on a more somber level, this final piece sounds almost like a continuation of Sawyers's trumpet concerto and could probably have as well served as the slow movement. Whatever, it is a radiant tribute to McCabe, performed with discernable compassion.

Producer, editor, and engineer Simon Fox-Gal recorded the first four tracks at Hereford Shirehall in February 2018; producer, editor, and engineer Adam Binks recorded tracks five through eight at the Church of St. George's, Worcester in October 2017. The folks at Nimbus have always produced good sounding recordings, and this one continues the pattern. It seems a tad closer than most of their work, especially the solos, but it delivers excellent clarity, with a fine sense of depth and space. Detailing is fine as well, accompanied by a realistic but not overpowering dynamic range and impact.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Sawyers: Symphony No. 3 (CD review)

Also, Songs of Loss and Regret; Fanfare. April Fredrick, Soprano; Kenneth Woods, English Symphony Orchestra; English String Orchestra. Nimbus Alliance NI 6353.

Although English composer Philip Sawyers (b. 1951) has been around for a good many years, he is probably not yet a household name. Indeed, his major fame has no doubt come from the Nimbus recordings of his works conducted by Kenneth Woods, with three records now available with four different orchestras. In 2015 the English Symphony Orchestra, of which Woods is Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, appointed Sawyers their John McCabe Composer in Association, with various commissions including a song cycle, a trumpet concerto, and the Third Symphony that we find on the present disc.

Still, as his Web site informs us, "Sawyers's works have been performed and broadcast in many countries worldwide including the USA, Canada, Spain, Austria, Czech Republic, France and UK. Music-web International described the Nimbus Alliance CD of Sawyers's orchestral work as 'music of instant appeal and enduring quality.' Robert Matthew-Walker writing in Classical Source described the premiere of the Second Symphony by the London Mozart Players as a "deeply impressive work, serious in tone throughout, and genuinely symphonic… one of the finest new symphonies by a British composer I have heard in years…'" High praise for a fellow who, as the Web site continues to note, "began composing as a teenager, shortly after picking up the violin for the first time at the age of 13. However, it has only been in the last few years that his talent has begun to be recognised with major commissions and performances by orchestras in the USA and frequent performances in Europe."

Thus, we come to the Symphony No. 3 and its accompanying pieces on the album under review. Maestro Woods says the programme "reveals Philip Sawyers as a composer at the height of his powers whose music ranges across a relatively wide spectrum of harmonic intensity." Of the Third Symphony, Woods says it "stands very much in the tradition of the great 'darkness to light' symphonies, including Beethoven's 5th, Bruckner's 8th, Brahms' 1st and Shostakovich's 5th." Imposing company, indeed.

Woods goes on to say, "This is turbulent music for a turbulent era, its defiant ending all the more hopeful for being so hard-won. In this respect, I believe this symphony marks a powerful and badly-needed renewal of the symphony as an expression of universal hope and personal will, an archetype which may reach back to Beethoven's iconic Fifth, but the message of which is more relevant than ever."

Kenneth Woods

The Third Symphony exhibits all the hallmarks of modern music, meaning you may not go away humming any memorable tunes, yet it's all quite accessible, even for a Neanderthal like me. The opening movement establishes a dark tone, powerful, with continuing tensions throughout. That is to say, this is the way Woods approaches it, and I assume this was the composer's intention. Without any other recorded interpretations with which to compare it, we have to accept Woods's performance as authoritative, at least for now.

A longing Adagio provides a moment's respite, although even here we notice a good degree of underlying pressure that builds over the course of the movement. But eventually it settles into what Woods calls "a fragile calm." A brief intermezzo follows, which appears at first blush wholly unrelated to anything that went before it, being rather light and fanciful in nature. Then we get a finale that storms onto the scene in rowdy fashion, negotiates its way through a series of themes, both tumultuous and gentle, before ending on what seems like a note of hope, perhaps triumph. It's all a tad disconcerting at first listen, but there's no question its shifting moods do make for a pleasurable experience.

Next on the agenda is the 2015 song-cycle Songs of Loss and Regret, a cycle commissioned to mark the centenary outbreak of World War One, the text of which includes lines from A.E. Housman's "A Shropshire Lad," Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Break, Break, Break," Wilfred Owen's "Futility," Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard," the Apocrypha's "Wisdom of Solomon," and William Morris's "The Earthly Paradise." Soprano April Fredrick sings the vocals with Woods and the English String Orchestra, the whole thing enjoyably moving.

The final track is Sawyers's Fanfare (2016), in which the composer tells us he set out to write not another short work "to mark some state or royal occasion" but a "memorable and substantial concert piece." Well, short it is (under four minutes) but substantial it surely is, too, of its kind. Woods is not afraid to let the guns loose, and more power to him.

Producer, engineer, and editor Simon Fox-Gal recorded the Symphony No. 3 and Fanfare at Wyastone Concert Hall, Wyastone Leys, Monmouth, England in February 2017 and the Songs of Loss and Regret at Hereford Cathedral, Hereford, England in October 2017. Nimbus Records have always produced natural-sounding recordings, so it's no surprise this one sounds so realistic. The engineers are more into room ambiance and warm reverberations than ultra-close, clinical accuracy, and more's the better for it. In this case, the big orchestral parts come off with power and authority while still admitting a good deal of detail and clarity. Dynamics and frequency range are strong and wide, stage width is appropriate to the recording's moderately distanced perspective, and stage depth is more than acceptable. Moreover, the solo voice sounds equally lifelike, without a hint of brightness or edge. Very pleasant stuff.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below: