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The Song of Songs, The Poet in Exile: Works by Walter Arlen
The Song of Songs, The Poet in Exile: Works by Walter Arlen in Bloomington, MN
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The scope of the events witnessed by composer
Walter Arlen
is dizzying enough: at 18, he saw his father dragged off to a concentration camp and he barely made it out of Austria before suffering the same fate. Landing in the U.S., he changed his name from Aptowitzer to
Arlen
, without having heard of
Harold Arlen
. His talent was recognized by
Roy Harris
, who hired him as an assistant, and he continued to compose. He then landed a job as music critic for the Los Angeles Times, where he felt it would be improper to have his own music performed. He lived long enough to see gay marriage legalized in California, and indeed to approve the performances here before his death in 2023 at age 103. Although
Signum Classics
doesn't seem to be claiming these performances as world premieres, they apparently are, and they're wonderful. Especially strong is his
Song of Songs
, written in 1953 in California. It originally had an orchestra of 112 musicians but was slimmed down to the 38 heard here, and
always hoped to hear it performed; it is indeed inspiring that he finally got to.
composed in a late Romantic,
Strauss
ian idiom, but the flavor of his music is unique. Here his treatment of the biblical
may be the only one to do justice to the eroticism of the text, with flowing but not ethereal performances by the
BBC Women's Chorus of Wales
and impressive contrasting soloists led by mezzo-soprano
Anna Huntley
, who give some guts to the text. Conductor
Kenneth Woods
, leading the
English Symphony Orchestra
, had a hand in editing the music. He shifts gears effectively in the more inward
The Poet in Exile
, a quintet of orchestral songs to texts by
Czes¿aw Milosz
, a work that naturally enough held deep personal significance for the composer. Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff gives space to this ambitious music, which may well lead listeners to other
works; much of his music remains unrecorded. ~ James Manheim
Walter Arlen
is dizzying enough: at 18, he saw his father dragged off to a concentration camp and he barely made it out of Austria before suffering the same fate. Landing in the U.S., he changed his name from Aptowitzer to
Arlen
, without having heard of
Harold Arlen
. His talent was recognized by
Roy Harris
, who hired him as an assistant, and he continued to compose. He then landed a job as music critic for the Los Angeles Times, where he felt it would be improper to have his own music performed. He lived long enough to see gay marriage legalized in California, and indeed to approve the performances here before his death in 2023 at age 103. Although
Signum Classics
doesn't seem to be claiming these performances as world premieres, they apparently are, and they're wonderful. Especially strong is his
Song of Songs
, written in 1953 in California. It originally had an orchestra of 112 musicians but was slimmed down to the 38 heard here, and
always hoped to hear it performed; it is indeed inspiring that he finally got to.
composed in a late Romantic,
Strauss
ian idiom, but the flavor of his music is unique. Here his treatment of the biblical
may be the only one to do justice to the eroticism of the text, with flowing but not ethereal performances by the
BBC Women's Chorus of Wales
and impressive contrasting soloists led by mezzo-soprano
Anna Huntley
, who give some guts to the text. Conductor
Kenneth Woods
, leading the
English Symphony Orchestra
, had a hand in editing the music. He shifts gears effectively in the more inward
The Poet in Exile
, a quintet of orchestral songs to texts by
Czes¿aw Milosz
, a work that naturally enough held deep personal significance for the composer. Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff gives space to this ambitious music, which may well lead listeners to other
works; much of his music remains unrecorded. ~ James Manheim
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