The Philadelphia Orchestra: Grand Celebration for The Historic Grand Court Concert for Macy’s 150th Anniversary = DUPRE: Cortege and Litany, Op. 19, No. 2; JONGEN: Symphonie concertante, Op. 81; ELGAR: Pomp and Circumstance Military March No. 1 in D Major, Op. 39, No. 1 – Peter Richard Conte, Wanamaker Organ/Philadelphia Orchestra/Rossen Milanov – Gothic Records G-49270, 56:16 [Distr. By Allegro] ****:
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Macy’s Department Store — formerly Wanamaker’s — the Philadelphia Orchestra, under the direction of Rossen Milanov staged a 27 September 2008 concert at Macy’s Grand Court in Philadelphia, featuring the 1926 Symphonie concertante that had originally been commissioned by Rodman Wanamaker specifically for the newly-enlarged Wanamaker Organ. The inaugural concert had to be cancelled due to the deaths, respectively, of Jongen’s father and Rodman Wanamaker.
The concert opens with a stately piece by Marcel Dupre (1886-1971), perhaps the foremost composer-organist of the 20th Century. Dupre conceived the work for organ and chamber orchestra as part of a play mounted in Paris. At the behest of Alexander Russell, Wanamaker Stores’ music director, Dupre arranged the piece (1925) for organ and full symphony orchestra. The piously noble piece evolves two themes in the form of a devotional march that rises up into a sweeping procession of inflamed inspiration.
Given the “unfortunate” delays in the premier of the Jongen Symphonie concertante, the massive work did receive its debut in Brussels in 1928; it made its American premier at Carnegie Hall in 1935. A favorite of the late organ virtuoso Virgil Fox, the Symphonie demands of its soloist a daunting prowess, since its aim is to create what Eugene Ysaye called “a symphony for two orchestras. . .the organ clearly a second orchestra that enriches the first.” A huge fugue opens the work, paradoxically thick and weightless–perhaps an homage to Cesar Franck–the Allegro molto moderato’s moving with feline grace into kaleidoscopic heights that eventually dissipate into transparent harmonies and a lyrical chord and pedal tone that ends the movement. The second movement–marked Divertimento: molto vivo--has the organist improvising at first in quick colors, to be joined by a more expressive theme in 7/4 that resembles a carousel’s processional. The tone changes to become more formal and solemn, and the color mix achieves an aerial effect through the interplay of organ diapason, harp, and flute arpeggios that rises to a tincture of triangle and organ pedal. At its more transparent moments, Jongen’s style has the breeziness of the boulevardiers, Poulenc and Ibert.
The slow movement–marked Lento misterioso–Appassionato–Tempo I–opens with a flute evocation of Debussy’s Syrinx that evolves into an alchemy fed by harp droplets, suspended strings, woodwinds, all wrapped in silky gauze. The spatial effect stretches towards the stratosphere, slowly and evanescently, ineluctably reaching an inflamed climax of plucked harp chords, organ swell and clarion brass. With the da capo to Tempo I, the music regains its sense of exalted mystery and wafts its way to eternal rest. Those who know Charles Widor’s Fifth Symphony will recognize its immediate influence: the whirling Toccata: Moto perpetuo: Allegro moderato takes its cue directly from Widor, except two “orchestras” vie for supremacy through a series of alternately punishing and irradiated climaxes that prove texturally intense and emotionally urgent. The swirling witches’ brew has everything Cecil B. De Mille about it, a Technicolor extravaganza in blazing lights, courtesy of recording engineers Charles Gagnon, Jim Stemke, and Alex Martin, all of whom must have had their hands full to contain the mountain of sound that unfolds to the aural delight of the awed audience. [Another case crying out for hi-res surround reproduction…Ed.]
Finally, the eternal Pomp and Circumstance March in D (1901), that “graduation music” par excellence, to mark Jongen’s coming-of-age into the manner it was meant to be realized. The G Major tune, designed by Elgar to “knock ‘em flat!” certainly produces the desired effect, its cymbals and tympani raising the moment at Macy’s to full glory.
–Gary Lemco
