JAVS Fall 2008

Charles Martin Loeffler, the Berlin-born Alsatian who became a principal member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, for his Two Rhapsodies. These are expan sive pieces of a luxuriating Romanticism, which illus trate vividly the decadent images of the text (also offered in English translation). Richard Young achieves here particularly expressive moments on his Peregrino di Zanetto viola from ca. 1560, drawing from it a truly amazing rainbow of tone-colors. He also writes eloquently about these compositions—and about the Hindemith Trio—in the carefully produced booklet. Axel Klein, former principal of the Chicago Symphony, draws a bitter-sweet, plangent tone from his oboe. I was intrigued to see that the bass oboe Klein uses in the Hindemith was built by the same French maker (Lorée) as his regular oboe. Its seduc tively “Gallic” sound is quite different from that of the Heckelphone (built by the German company, Heckel) that Hindemith had in mind, but none the worse for it. The instrument comes into its own in Part I’s “Arioso” second movement (the piece’s longest sec tion), after which it is joined by the viola in a viva cious “Duett.” The final section (about half the piece), titled Potpourri, packs quite a wallop, thoroughly enjoyed by the three players before they land on Hindemith’s trademark final unisono . The longish title of the Englishman Felix White’s composition is that of the poem by Andrew Marvell that inspired it. The piece won a Carnegie Award in 1922, and was appar ently admired by Ralph Vaughan Williams. It exudes a haunting melancholy in its outer sections, contrasted by a scherzo-like middle part. Melancholy spills over into the mournful Modinha , a short Brazilian morsel written for Klein (who was born in Brazil). This is a most enjoyable CD, truthfully recorded in an agree able acoustic. The eloquent playing contained therein will hopefully encourage adventurous players to try out this most rewarding repertoire.

V OLUME 24 NUMBER 2 71