Lukas Foss (1922-2009)
Ode (1944 rev. 1958)
Renaissance Concerto (1985)
Three American Pieces (1944-45, orch. 1989)
Symphony No.1 in G major (1944)
Amy Porter (flute), Nikki Chooi (violin)
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra/JoAnn Falletta
rec. 2022, Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, New York
Naxos 8.559938 [75]
Even a quick look at Lukas Foss’ CV reveals a genuinely remarkable all-round musician. By discography alone you will find him conducting orchestras – including the Buffalo Philharmonic that play here (he was their Music Director from 1963 – 70) – in repertoire from Ives to Ruggles and Stravinsky. As a formidable pianist he features as the soloist in the first recording of Bernstein Symphony No.2 ‘Age of Anxiety’ as well as the famous “Composers Play Les Noces” conducted by Stravinsky. But it is as a composer that you imagine his main creative focus rested and as the Wikipedia article devoted to a list of his compositions here shows, there is a substantial body of work. However this has not translated into a large collection of his recorded music. I was slightly surprised to realise that given the scale and range of the Naxos “American Classics” series, this is the first disc devoted to his music [there is a disc in the sub-series from the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music – but even there Foss shares the disc].
All of the music presented here can be found in other collections dotted around the catalogue but this proves to be an excellent and informative – as well as attractive – one disc introduction to Foss’ work. As so often with this series, Frank K. DeWald provides the helpful and informative liner note. A couple of quotes stand out; “despite his European roots [Foss was born in Berlin], he strongly identified as an American composer. He employed many diverse styles in his music…never wholly committing to one –ism or another”. Foss himself said; “I think that, if you are going to have a big foot in the future, you’ve got to have a big foot in the past. That creates real strength.” That willingness to draw on influences and styles is a clear strength but also does mean that when listening to a range of works as offered here, the listener is never quite sure which one is the real voice of Lukas Foss. Perhaps it just changed.
Straight off the bat it is worth saying that all the performances here – recorded in Foss’ centenary year of 2022 – are genuinely excellent. As mentioned the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is one of his old ensembles but included in the liner is a nice archive photograph of conductor JoAnn Falletta with Foss who encouraged and mentored her during her early career as a conductor. Falletta and the BPO are hugely experienced and adept at this kind of music and frankly it sounds just like that. The four works presented give a good overview with two purely orchestral works from early in his career and two concertante works. The CD cover describes three of the works – the Renaissance Concerto being the exception – as being from “his early neo-Classical period”. I must admit I hear the sweep and passion of this music as more neo-Romantic than Classical but ultimately that is just a question of semantics.
The disc opens with the 1944 Ode which originally was titled Ode to those who will not return. Several things are instantly clear; this is a very impressive, deeply felt and well-crafted work for a twenty two year old composer. The musical vernacular shows someone who has remarkably quickly absorbed the gestures and language of his new chosen culture. The complete absence of anything that might suggest a European let alone Germanic musical heritage is notable and I would imagine a conscious choice by Foss. He described the work as being about “crisis, war and ultimately faith”. At just 10:38 this is a concentrated and moving work that impresses not just by its sincere emotional impact but also the skilled confident handling of the musical material. The innocent ear would almost certainly place this work as American sharing a similar expressive feel to William Schuman and Samuel Barber – especially the latter’s Symphony No.1. The performance here by JoAnn Falletta and The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is excellent. I have no other version to make a comparison but this strikes me as sweepingly confident and convincing – as indeed the performers are throughout the entire disc.
The orchestra has a direct connection with the next work – the Renaissance Concerto for flute and orchestra from 1985. The orchestra were one of the commissioning organisations and gave the premiere in 1986 under Foss’ baton with Carol Wincenc as soloist. In terms of performance again this is first rate with Amy Porter the excellent soloist. As a work I enjoyed this least on the disc. The idea behind this 20:24 minute four movement work is to present different types of Baroque or Renaissance music in modern guise. Foss took material by Rameau and Monteverdi amongst others as the springboard for this suite of contrasting pieces. Certainly Foss’ use of the orchestra is effective but for me the contrast between the different periods of the music chosen makes for a not wholly convincing mix. There are moments that seem to echo Stravinsky in Pulchinella mode or Respighi’s pastiche wrong-note Baroquery right down to the tinkling harpsichord but in neither case do I really know what Foss is aiming to express. The other three works on the disc seem to have clear emotional goals – this concerto shows off Foss’ considerable skill as a composer/arranger but feels emptier in expressive terms. However, the performance is once again exemplary.
The only work I had previously encountered was the Three American Pieces. These were originally written for violin and piano again in 1944 but were orchestrated in 1989. Foss acknowledged directly the influence of Copland on this score and its “open air quality”. I have never heard the original version but it must be said the later orchestration is very effective indeed. In that orchestral version they formed part of an album called “The American Album” on EMI/Warner where Itzhak Perlman played them with Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. That collection – which included the Barber concerto and Bernstein’s Serenade won a 1995 Grammy. The soloist on this new disc is the Buffalo PO’s own concert master Nikki Chooi and it is a measure of how well he plays that he is in no way put in the shade by the great Perlman. However, on balance I do prefer the earlier recording. In part this is down to the performance – but that is nip-and-tuck throughout; Perlman is lighter, more playful and capricious in the closing (very entertaining) Composer’s Holiday – Allegro than Chooi.
My greater issue – and this is something that I became increasingly aware of as I listened to the disc is the actual recording. The Buffalo venue is the Kleinhans Music Hall which is their regular recording location. The engineer/producer is Bernd Gottinger who likewise has overseen many of their recent discs. However, I was more aware of the extended acoustic overhang present for this disc than I have noticed before. As recorded the hall sounds massive with an ambient decay lasting several seconds. Previously this has perhaps helped the sumptuous soundscapes of a Respighi Roman Trilogy or Scriabin Symphony but here it makes Foss’ leaner textures cluttered. This is least of an issue in the weighty Ode but in the two concertante works the solution is highlighting the soloists and spotlighting specific orchestral contributions. Certainly in the EMI/Boston recording of the Three American Pieces ‘feels’ like it has a more natural balance – not something that could always be said of Perlman recordings – and somehow the work emerges as lighter in the best sense. This Naxos recording places Chooi very much front and centre which is no problem as far as his technique is concerned but somehow over-inflates the spirit of the work..
This becomes even more of an problem in the Symphony No.1 in G major that completes the disc. What an impressive work this is! Again a product of 1944 when Foss was just 22. This is written in four traditional movements that combine to last 30:40. As with the Ode the sheer confidence and style of the work is striking. If there is a criticism to be levelled at the work it is that Foss scores quite enthusiastically thickly – there is often a lot going on with multiple layers of material and counterpoint – you can almost hear the ideas pouring out of the composer. Falletta and the Buffalo PO are excellent – easily virtuosic or warmly expressive as required – but too often textures blur and congeal because of the chosen venue. I am sure the playing itself could not be cleaner or more articulate but ideally the recording should be. The very ending of the work is a case in point – it is viscerally exciting with climax piling on climax and the energy and dynamic force of the work building towards a cathartic ending – which here sadly becomes a welter of noise. When the final chord finishes the ‘echo’ can be clearly heard for a considerable amount of time and I had the sense that the recording stops before the resonance. But even with that important caveat I would urge listeners who enjoy American Symphonies to seek this out. Foss went onto write a further three symphonies but in his typically exploratory manner the later works are not as ‘traditional’ as this one. While it might not be the great American Symphony – not that anyone is claiming it is – it is extremely interesting and well worth hearing. This performance, in purely musical terms, is genuinely excellent.
For the music and the performances this is a richly rewarding and valuable disc. Some may enjoy the generous acoustic more than I – certainly it has never impacted me in the past with the other recordings from this location that I have heard (not always with the same engineer/producer mind). I hope that Naxos will want to explore more of Foss’ output as he proves to be a stimulating and individual musical voice.
Nick Barnard
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