Kenneth Fuchs (b. 1956)
Light Year (2022-4)
Eventide (2023)
Bass Trombone Concerto (2018)
Points of Tranquillity (2021)
Timothy McAllister (alto saxophone), James Buckle (bass trombone)
Sinfonia of London/John Wilson
rec. 2022/23, Church of St Augustine, Kilburn, London
First recordings
CHANDOS CHSA5326 SACD [73]
Dr Fuchs is currently Professor of Composition at the University of Connecticut. He studied at the University of Miami and The Juilliard School, where his composition teachers included Milton Babbitt, David Del Tredici, David Diamond, Vincent Persichetti, and Alfred Reed. These composers all wrote in very different styles, but all fundamentally believed that a composer should have a thorough grounding in the traditions of Western music. Dr Fuchs has absorbed this and has an impeccable technique which has enabled him to write fluently in an attractive accessible modern idiom. Much of his music has been recorded. This is the Sinfonia of London’s second album of his music, and it features four world première recordings two of which are concertos, and one was written for them.
The six movement orchestral suite Light Year was composed for and dedicated to these performers following the success of Vol 1’s Cloud Slant (review). The titles of the movements once again come from paintings by American artist Helen Frankenthaler, and it captures the breath-taking scale and mysterious nature of the universe. With reminiscences of Americana and Hollywood the work is tailor made for these performers and they play superbly. Not an entry is missed, and every change of dynamic and orchestral colour is vividly captured. Be careful with your volume control as the pianissimos are very quiet and the fortissimos very loud. The second movement Stellar Polaris the North Star proves my point. It is a brilliant space time odyssey that Jerry Goldsmith would have been proud of. The brass and tuned percussion are perfectly pitched against scurrying passages in wind and strings. Beginning with a loud resonant chord (the Big Bang?) the infinity of space is eloquently painted. It dies down quietly and leads seamlessly into Lunar Valley a portrait of a desolate landscape punctuated by flourishes from burning meteors. The final movement from which the suite takes its name is a brilliant fleet foot toccata that shows this brilliant group at their virtuoso best.
Eventide, for alto saxophone and orchestra, is a re-working of an earlier concerto for cor anglais written in 2003 for Thomas Stacy principal cor anglais of the new York Philharmonic. Its timbre translates well onto the alto saxophone and Tim McAllister is a convincing advocate for the work. As the title suggests it has relaxed early evening feel to it. As Fuchs has explained his inspiration for the work came from seeing ‘the mysterious quality of the sunset light’ through the stained-glass windows of the Riverside Church in New York City. It is not written in a conventional concerto form but as set of fantasy variations on two Spirituals, ‘Mary had a Baby’ and ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’, though such is the composer’s ingenuity they are well disguised. It is not all tranquillity though and a fire fly quick scherzo adds bite to the form. He does insert a short section with multiphonics for the soloist which are the only unwelcome distraction. Inspired by a church and recorded in the acoustic of St Augustine’s, Kilburn, what’s not to like.
There are very few bass trombone concertos composers tending to go for the more versatile tenor instrument so this one of more than welcome. The bluesy overtones of the opening follow on perfectly from the end of Eventide. The bass trombone is very different to its higher cousin and the composer makes very effective use of its growling lower register. But he also shows its versatility in some rathe boozy sounding high range melodies. A night club never seems far away, and I can see the work being used for a ballet. Mr Buckle is a winning advocate for this neglected instrument, and I would not be surprised if he has composers lining up to write for him. Again it is another work perfectly tailored to these players, I doubt the composer could hope for better.
Point of Tranquillity which ends the disc is a reworking of a work originally composed in 2017 for wind band, but Fuchs prepared this orchestral version at the request of JoAnn Falletta for her Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in 2021. It is subtitled an ‘Idyll for winds, brass, strings and percussion after a painting by Morris Louis’. Louis’ painting is a wash of rainbow colours that to me look like petals of a flower but is one of the paintings. like a Rorschach daub. very open to interpretation. Like the painting it is study in colour and texture. And what textures. Dr Fuchs is a master orchestrator and here every part of the orchestra is combined and recombined in an ever changing and ever fascinating kaleidoscopic palette. Mr Wilson who knows a thing or two about orchestral colour shapes the movement exquisitely.
The whole production and recording are flawless. Dr Fuchs writes music we need to hear in these difficult times, and I eagerly look forward to what I hope will be a another volume in this series.
Paul RW Jackson
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