Philip Swanson teaches as Salem State College, and has had many years as principal trombonist of the Miami Symphony, and other orchestral associations. He has one piece on this program that provides the name for the CD: Variations on Veni Creator Spiritus, the great sequenced hymn of Pentecost in the Roman Catholic Church (and others that have inherited it). The four variations are modal in flavor and work nicely with the organ. The piece is quite fine, not terribly demanding on either instrument, but musically satisfying. The Rachmaninoff is the famous Vocalise, done for practically every instrument ever invented, and I must say that as nicely as it is done here, the combination of instruments doesn’t exactly contribute to the work’s romantic sensibilities.
The work by Hungarian Frigyes Hidas (b. 1928), Domine, Dona Nobis Pacem, is a sensitive, lyrical work of no great demand, but pleasant nonetheless. Both players give it more than it’s due perhaps, but the result is something that you would be quite pleased with if heard in a church or concert, but probably won’t return to it much. Organist Barbara Bruns is given a solo shot in a Partita on the Lutheran chorale Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, by Hugo Distler (1908-1942), a German organist who held some noted positions in his time. Troubles in Germany with the Nazis forced him to choose to end his own life. The piece has some interest, one might say spots of brilliance, especially the second movement chorale and variations, but then we get to the final Toccata, where a series of tonally ambiguous ramblings take place over a long pedal point, ending with a final strong major chord. This sort of device is rather cliché in many organ works of the period, and seems a bit of a cop-out here.
The sound is fine, and I am especially appreciative that MSR did not see fit to over-mike the trombone, but instead allows it a natural acoustic in relationship to the organ. And the 1967 Beckerath at St. Michael’s Church in New York City is a fine instrument from the sounds captured here. So not a bad effort, but truthfully Mr. Swanson’s own piece is the best thing here, and I am not sure that is enough to warrant a general recommendation except to trombone players.
— Steven Ritter
