The DWS has made many recordings over the years for Reference, both under the baton of Junkin as well as Frederick Fennell. This may be one of the most spectacular due to its brilliant combination of brass, percussion, and one of the largest concert pipe organs. The venue is the already-acclaimed Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas with its Fisk Concert Organ. Audiophiles will have to have this one – unless they’re part of that sad organ-hating clan. Now that I have proper decoding for HDCD discs once again, I found this a much cleaner and higher-resolution recording of organ and orchestra than the SACD of similar fare I reviewed in these pages just recently. (But it still sounds terrific without the decoding.)
The regal musical celebrations held in St. Marks, Venice in the 17th century pioneered the concept of spatial music, so it’s appropriate to have one of the pieces from the Gabrielis in this program – even if it isn’t in surround sound. William Walton’s 1937 march represents the epitome of British royal grandeur and it’s understandable why it became the title tune for this CD. Percy Grainger’s arrangement of Danny Boy injects a lighter, tuneful mood and prepares us for the major work in this collection – the quarter-hour-long organ concerto by Hindemith which is one of his series of chamber concertos, the Kammermusik. The organ is joined by an ensemble of three brass and eight woodwinds plus cello and bass for a three-movement concerto in the Baroque style but full of spicy modern sounds a la Hindemith. The cheeky contemporary composer from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, wraps things up with his “ten-minute musical ride over the Niagara River.” Energetic and strongly influenced by American pop culture and sounds as in all his music, Michael Daugherty’s Niagara Falls was commissioned by the University of Michigan Bands.
– John Sunier
