1985 [DDD]

{CD}

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Perhaps against expectations the stronger impression here is left by William Schuman's "Three Colloquies" for horn and orchestra (composed in 1979 for the performers on this recording). Not a wildly exciting title, is it? But within the limitations of the medium —- a horn concerto in all but name -— it is a really exciting piece. Schuman has a marvellous ear for harmonic and instrumental colour and he channels his ideas in intriguing directions; witness the way the horn's solo persona is gently held in check in "Ruminations" (the first of the Colloquies) whilst the orchestra is already well into its stride. The scherzo material of "Renewal" then diverts perilously close to West Side Story territory, this being the first passage which has American nationality clearly stamped on it; but there is not race of glibness in the lyricism of the Trio section or of the final colloquy, "Remembrance". Slight worries re-surface with the parallel triads which supply a kind of epilogue. They give an impression of thinness which is probably inadvertent, and I would be reluctant to ascribe this to the performance or recording, both first rate.
   The nearest counterpart I can think of to Schuman's unselfconscious and uncategorizable modernity is the music of Dutilleux, though, in general there is a confidence and self-possession about Schuman's work which seems to come more easily to transatlantic composers than to their European colleagues.
   Whether or not that's a good thing is an open question. George Crumb's A Haunted Landscape, composed in 1984, is not lacking in confidence either, nor in sensitivity to orchestral colour. But its constant striving after effect seems to betoken the wrong kind of compositional effort. Part of the attraction of Crumb's best pieces is the astonishingly precise and evocative soundworld he can conjure up from economical resources. Give him a full orchestra, including Cambodian angklungs, Japanese Kabuki blocks, a Brazilian cuica, Carribean steel drums and an Appalachian hammered dulcimer, and it all sounds rather thinly spread. Not an unpleasant experience, though, and in a way it makes for an effective coupling for Schuman's more substantial and rewarding Colloquies.