Eric Schissel <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>The mention of Kenins gives me a welcome opportunity to point out that
>that composer, now resident in Canada, is .always. worth keeping an ear
>out for- and (sigh) rather underrepresented on CD.  <snip>
>His 4th symphony was available on a Canadian CD set but that's
>hard to find now, unfortunately.

Oh, thank you, Eric!  Kenins definitely belongs to the great composers in
my opinion, even though his accessible idiom requires repeated auditions
to grasp his full dimension.  The recording of the Piano Quartet No. 2
gives access to a very convincing work, and although the performance could
be more committed and masterly perhaps, it is too rare an opportunity which
one cannot afford to overlook.  I am not sure but the 4CD-set with the 4th
symphony, Violin Concerto and other pieces may still be available from the
Canadian Music Centre, for instance in Toronto.  These are not his own
favourite pieces, I think, but they are excellent nonetheless.  His
biographer Paul Rapoport once said that his Symphony No.4 was his best
concerto and his violin concerto was his best symphony!  For myself, I
find the 6th symphony still better, impressive in contrapunctic and timbral
terms, deeply moving but devoid of sentimentality, as usual.  In its own
terms, one of the most profound masterpieces among 20th-century symphonies.
The Swedish label BIS is considering an integral series of the symphonies,
and this would fill a major gap.

>I thought Sessions did .not. study under Boulanger...

According to the Larousse de la musique, he did, although his other
professor at the time (Ernest Bloch) certainly left a deeper influence
on his early works.

Best regards,

Thanh-Tam Le
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