Music of George Frederick McKay (1899-1970)

Naxos 8.559143 [release date September 17, 2002]

McKay was, for most of his adult life, professor of music at the
University of Washington.  He was the first graduate of the composition
program at the Eastman School of Music and his teachers there were Christian
Sinding and Selim Palmgren.  He was an early teacher of William Bolcom.

  Caricature Dance Suite
  From My Tahoe Window - Summer Moods and Patterns
  Americanistic Etude
  An April Suite
  Dance Suite No. 2
         William Bolcom, piano

  Dancing in a Dream
         William Bolcom, Logan Skelton, duo-pianos

  Excerpts from Five Songs for Soprano
  Every Flower That Ever Grew
         Joan Morris, mezzo-soprano; William Bolcom, piano

  Suite for Viola and Piano
         Mahoko Eguchi, viola; Sanford Margolis, piano

The main performer on this disc is the eminent composer/pianist William
Bolcom, who is involved in all the performances save that of the Viola
Suite.  And, of course, he is well-known for his way with a rag; all the
better, then, that the first piece, cutely named 'Snickertyskip', comes
on like something by Zez Confrey or Billy Mayerl.  Indeed, most of the
music here is fairly light in nature.  And I must say that it also tends
to be somewhat generic; character pieces like 'Storm Clouds' sound little
like their titles to me.  Nonetheless, this music is winning in its low-key,
soft-spoken way.  It seems, in retrospect, that the only piece that ventures
for very long above a gentlemanly mezzo-forte is the Suite for Viola and
Piano.

The first piece in 'An April Suite', called 'To the Blue Eyed Days of
Spring,' is lushly romantic and stands out from the surrounding pieces by
its delectable melodies and jazz-inflected harmonies.

The four songs sung by Bolcom's wife, Joan Morris, are unpretentious
but telling.  I was particularly moved by 'Every Flower That Ever Grew,'
written near the end of McKay's life to an ancient Irish text.  Morris's
style, well-known from the 20 or more albums that she and her husband have
recorded, is quite apt for these gentle, sometimes humorous, sometimes
melancholy songs.

The Viola Suite, altogether stronger meat, with anger, irony, wit,
near-resignation but ultimately resolute determination is convincingly
played by Mahoko Eguchi, viola, and Sanford Margolis, piano.

Naxos is to be commended for their continuing series of recordings of
virtually unknown music by American composers.

Scott Morrison