“American Souvenirs” = DELLO JOIO: Variations and Capriccio; BOLCOM: Second Sonata; ADAMS: Road Movies; PAUL SCHOENFELD: Four Souvenirs – Blue Violet Duo – Blue Violet Duo 192914643036, 60:54 ****:
Though this album might seem a collection of relatively unknown works (except for the Adams), upon hearing it you may wonder why. For each of these pieces is as ingratiating and enthralling as can be imagined. If you know these composers then you know that there is going to be a splattering of blues, jazz, American pop song, ragtime, you name it. If you don’t know them, well, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Norman Dello Joio is known to thousands of band students for his many wind compositions, but his total catalog has music from all genres. Finely crafted, lyrical, and rhythmically-honed, his work seems almost too easy to like, but this is a tribute to his skills, not his lack of substance. William Bolcom has been all over the map in his creative life, but the root of everything he does is linked to Americana of some degree. This Second Sonata is a wonderful demonstration of his determined but well-thought out methodology, a mélange of music seemingly disparate, yet brought into perfect conformity in his always-gifted muse.
Four Souvenirs is typically Schoenfeldian—if such a moniker can apply, for I doubt there is a composer today that so beautifully uses the contemporary popular music scene in a manner so convincingly classical, and memorable at that. Road Movies, by the always surprising John Adams, shows the amazingly compact way he uses his material. If you can imagine an easy, relaxed, meandering trip through the desert on a moderately hot day, with points of interest appearing as you approach them, and receding into the rearview mirror, you get a good idea of what this work is all about.
The Blue Violet Duo (Kate Carter, violin; Louise Chan, piano) are a Chicago-based ensemble formed in 2013 to further promote unknown and lesser-known works. Their chemistry is palpable, technique firm, and musicality beyond reproach. This debut album gathers together some of their favorite pieces, brilliantly recorded, and released under their own auspices. Such formidable music making won’t go unrewarded, and I look forward to further efforts from this fine duo.
— Steven Ritter
