Thursday, March 05, 2020

Andre Kostelanetz: Cambodian Suite, Mosquito Dance, more!








I received a request to feature side 2 of Andre Kostelanetz's 1955 recording of Hudson River Suite, and I'm glad, because the music is quite lovely, beginning with the Cambodian Suite, composed by "His Royal Highness," Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.  It's tempting to wonder if John Lennon cribbed the opening bars for Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds--I doubt it, but the similarity is striking.  And, in case it needs to be noted, despite the countless recordings credited to Andre Kostelanetz "and His Orchestra," including this one, Kosty didn't have an orchestra in the Paul Whiteman, Glen Miller, or Art Mooney sense--he had the cream of the Columbia label studio pros, including Mitch Miller on some occasions (Miller, of course, was a world-class oboist).  Is his autobiography, which I used to own, Andre pointed this out, adding that, in the sense that many of the same studio guys played pretty regularly for him, there was sort of/kind of an Andre Kostelanetz orchestra.  All I know is that the musicianship on his tracks gives me goosebumps.  It's ridiculously good.

And the Prince's Cambodian Suite is first-rate, too, setting its moods with great skill and imagination.  I love Grofe's Hudson River, but it's one of Ferde's most understated pieces (took me many listens to grow to love it), whereas Cambodian speaks its piece in swift, no-nonsense fashion, following a languid, dreamy, but captivating movement (actually, two movements, say the notes) with a wake-up-and-listen uptempo portion.  This is someone with Ferde's flair for light concert fare (flair for fare?), and such composers don't grow on trees.  Terrific piece, even if my ears conflated the first and second movements.  Hey, Columbia didn't include a score....

Manuel de Falla's Spanish Dance is nice, but the composer spoiled me for life with his life-altering Ritual of Fire (from the same opera, La Vida Breve).  He's one of those composers who people compare to himself.  With Grofe, it's "I was expecting the Grand Canyon Suite."  With de Falla, it's The Fire Dance.  And with Gustav Holst, it's The Planets, of course.  Sometimes, composers with hugely popular works are insulted by reviewers as "one-hit" composers, which makes me want to reply, "How many huge hits do you have, smarty-pants?"  This is a family blog, so I'm staying in mild-invective mode.

I'm having a tough time Googling info about composer Paul White (1895-1973; Mosquito Dance), partly because there's a British Paul White (born in 1954) who keeps coming up.  White's brief Mosquito Dance is as short and to the point as light works come.  Lots of totally appropriate dissonance, and an ending that had me laughing out loud.  Ingenious.  I won't give it away, except to say it's a, um, arm-slapper.

Any orchestral version of La Bamba de Vera Cruz works for me, and this one, by Argentine composer Terig Tucci (1897-1973), is maybe the most fabulous setting of them all.  One of Kosty's "most popular encores," the notes tell us.  I'd be wanting at least two repeats.  Some sources list Tucci as the composer, but I'm pretty sure the music is of folk origin, to use the fancy phrase.  I'm betting that any number of internet pages credit the composition to Richie Valens, which shows us the negative side of cyberspace--the part that promotes and perpetuates misinformation.  The part that credits House of the Rising Sun to Eric Burdon or Josh White.  Burdon did make the song his, in a way, but....

Back to topic, Heshey Kay's Saturday Night, from his Western Symphony, leaves me cold.  Maybe it's because I'd rather listen to genuine country and square dance music than a "Pops" version thereof.  It seems unnecessarily pretentious.  Keep in mind I don't care for Copland's brand of Americana, either, so....  Off the top of my bald head, Morton Gould is the only person, imo, who did a memorable job in this symphonic genre.  This is too "PBS at the Pops," however expertly orchestrated and organized.  Many in the art music world would classify this work as a treatment of folk themes, but this is because pop and folk used to get confused on a regular basis.  Country, including fiddle tunes and barn dance, fall into the popular, not folk, realm.  But no one did light orchestral fare better than Andre, so we have that, at least.  Kay fans, feel free to voice your complaints.

Thanks to Eric for his flip-side request.  I would probably have never gotten around to listening to it.





DOWNLOAD: Cambodian Suite, more



Cambodian Suite (H.M. King Norodom of Cambodia)
Spanish Dance (Manuel de Falla, from "La Vida Breve")
Mosquito Dance (Paul White, from "Five Miniatures")
La Bamba de Vera Cruz (Terig Tucci)
Saturday Night (Hershey Kay, from "Western Symphony")

Ferde Grofe: Hudson River Suite--Andre Kostelanetz and His Orch. (Columbia CL-763; 1955)


Lee


15 comments:

RonH said...

Thanks Lee. Fantastic!!

Buster said...

I just came across this LP the other day and thought it contained an odd assortment of materials. Now that your undoubtedly fine transfer is before me, I'll have to see for myself.

Could you say more about why you think fiddle tunes and such are pop rather than folk?

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Well, because popular music has existed for ages--long before we had pop charts and such. Many standard country fiddle tunes go back to the late 1700s and were probably danced to by our founders. "Popular" is often confused with "mass." And because country music has been a major force in sound recordings since the 1920s. Even into the 1940s, a strict distinction wasn't made between folk and popular--Stephen Foster's tunes, which were clearly popular songs, were referred to as part of our folk heritage. Even songs that became folk numbers in the New World--passing orally, and with any number of variations--began as popular numbers in their home countries. Nowadays, "folk" is just a category of pop, anyway. Hence, Dylan and Baez are folk artists, though I regard them as pop-folk, even though they're clearly less mainstream than the Brothers Four or the Kingston Trio. NPR surprised me a while back when it showcased the black musicians who influenced the Dylan/Baez era--something I wasn't fully aware of. Then I discovered Blind Willie McTell's 1928 "Statesboro Blues," which I featured at the blog as a lost Dylan track. Fooled a lot of people. One visitor was annoyed, but fooling people was the whole point. Of course, Dylan wrote a song about McTell. Anyway, especially during the 1930s and 1940s, anything vernacular was considered folk in the art music world, it seems. Ironically, much of that "folk" was finding a wider audience beyond its original one. Popular culture causes problems with defining folk culture, since "popular" doesn't necessarily mean mass. I tend to go with pop/popular unless I have a reason to designate something as the product of a small, specialized audience. Hard to do in the age of recordings....

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Hopefully, I made a little sense there. A little stream-of-consciousness, maybe.

Buster said...

Thanks, Lee - enlightening as always! I remember first hearing "Statesboro Blues" as performed by a "folk-rock" group, the Youngbloods. Most of the popular groups in my adolescence had a strong folk-blues influence, which led people like me to investigate the originals.

I was surprised much later when I learned that people like Josh White and Leadbelly were considered cabaret artists in the 1940s. White even had an act with Libby Holman, who turned herself into a quasi-folk singer later in her career. Many years ago I featured a 1954 album of hers that included "The House of the Rising Sun."

Buster said...

I might add that I enjoy the Hershy Kay piece, which was written as a ballet. I posted a complete recording of it (the first) many years ago.

Diane said...

Wow, that IS enlightening. Thanks, Lee.

Lee Hartsfeld said...

My pleasure! Thank you.

A man for whom Christ died said...

I've been told, somewhere in my past, that, country 78s, from The Carter Family, etc, when they were originally issued, were promoted among foreign language records in catalog's ads. Was that really the case? 'Til later, love and prayin' for ya!

Romans 11:33-36 KJB

Josh
Podcast: http://www.jeremiah616.sermon.net
Callcast: (563) 999-3967
Blog: http://www.brojoshowens.wordpress.com
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Andrew said...

from the Eastman School of Music website: Before coming to Rochester, violinist, conductor, and composer Paul White (1895-1973) had already studied with some of the virtuosi of his era: George Chadwick and Eugene Ysaÿe. White attracted the attention of George Eastman, and accepted his invitation to perform with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He also wanted to study conducting with Eugene Goossens at the Eastman School. In 1928 he was invited to join the Eastman faculty, and remained for the next 37 years. He initially taught violin, but soon became professor of ensembles, for which he is best remembered. From 1929 to 1953 he was assistant conductor of the Rochester Civic Orchestra, which brought music outside the concert hall by performing in high schools. He became the orchestra’s conductor in 1953, a position he held until his 1965 retirement. White taught two generations of Eastman students, performed as second violin in the Kilbourn String Quartet, and appeared as guest conductor with the Boston Pops Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and the Rochester Philharmonic. He also composed more than a dozen works. The Boston Pops recorded his Five Miniatures for Orchestra for the RCA Victor label.

Andrew said...

and this,Lee, from the NY Times (June 1973): ROCHESTER, June 1 — Paul Taylor White, composer, conductor, violinist and former teacher at the Eastman School of Music, died yesterday at his home in suburban Henrietta. His age was 77. Mr. White was one of the first musicians brought here by George Eastman, founder of the Eastman Kodak Company, when he organized the Rochester Civic Orchestra in 1923. Mr. White was later the ensemble's conductor. He had been a guest conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Symphony and the Boston Pops orchestras.His compositions included “Pagan Festival,” an overture; Symphony No. 1 in E Minor; “Five Miniatures,” and “Sinfonietta for Strings.” A native of Bangor, Me., he graduated from the New Eng land Conservatory of Music and studied violin with Eugéne Ysaye, and conducting and composing with Sir. Eugéne Goossens. Mr. White had been concert master at the New England Conservatory and later first violinist, with, the Cincinnati Symphony. He retired from the Eastman School in 1965. Survivors include his widow, Antoinette; 4 daughters, Mrs. Josephine Vaughan, Mrs. Mary Lou Dunn, Mrs. Grace Carmen and Mrs. Paulina Yancich, and 13 grandchildren. A memorial service will be held tomorrow in the Hedges Memorial Chapel.

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Josh,

I don't know, but that sounds unlikely!

Andrew,

Thanks for the information on White. I was rushing to get the post up and didn't have time to do a thorough search....

A man for whom Christ died said...

I thought when I heard it, that it was a stretch, but ya never know when you're dealing with Yankee recording executives of that era LOL! 'Looking forward to more SMGs, love and prayin' for ya!

Romans 11:33-36 KJB

Josh
Podcast: http://www.jeremiah616.sermon.net
Callcast: (563) 999-3967
Blog: http://www.brojoshowens.wordpress.com
Google Group: http://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/preacher-friends

Lee Hartsfeld said...

I have an exceptionally down home bluegrass gospel family from Kentucky (who settled in Indiana). I think you'll like it!

A man for whom Christ died said...

Yeah buddy, sounds like something right down my alley, even if I probably didn't spell that right LOL! Looking forward to it, love and prayin' for ya!Romans 11:33-36 KJB

Josh
Podcast: http://www.jeremiah616.sermon.net
Callcast: (563) 999-3967
Blog: http://www.brojoshowens.wordpress.com
Google Group: http://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/preacher-friends