Aaron Rabushka: Concerto Vocale (1993)
   Barbara Pietrzak, Soprano
David Fetherolf: Unattainable Peace,  Symphonic Poem No. 1 (1997)
Tsippi Fleischer: Symphony No. 2: The Train (2000)
Sonja Grossner: Destiny (1998)
Theldon Myers: Toccata-Fantasy (2000)
Margaret Shelton Meier: Mass for the Third Millennium (1993)

Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, cond.  Jiri Mikula (Fetherolf, Fleischer,
Grossner, Myers); cond.  Toshiyuki Shimada (Rabushka).  Ars Brunensis
Chorus, cond.  Roman Valek (Meier)
Vienna Modern Masters VMM 3050  TT: 73:09
(Music from Six Continents: 2000 Series)

Rabushka's Concerto Vocale is stylistically akin to his exciting Concerto
for Harp and Chamber Orchestra (VMM 3032.  See my review on Classical Net).
In particular, the wonderfully satisfying writing for the flute in this
piece clearly came from the same pen as the earlier concerto.  The ensemble
is similar also, mainly a string orchestra with which the soloists contrast
clearly.  The flute solo here is extended enough that it might have found
its way into the title.  However, the work is meant to be primarily a
setting of Psalm 126, in Aramaic, sung by soprano.  The soloist is
exceptional, with a strong, clear voice, perfect breathing control and no
affectations.  The vocal range is relatively low for a soprano.  The text
is presented without repetition, with instrumental passages between verses.
Following the phrase "we were rejoicing" Rabushka surprises us with a
polka.  This is not your beer garden variety polka, though, and its rhythms
are very appealing.  This concerto is going to be a permanent part of my
listening repertoire.

To take the other vocal work here out of turn, Meier's missa brevis is
for me also a real find, and the most refreshing work I have come across
in this form since Britten's Missa Brevis.  (Since I don't make a point
of seeking these out, I may of course be overlooking a great deal, but
I expect that this work will bear a lot of repetition also.) The small
mixed choir is excellent.  The musical treatment ranges from monodic to
polyphonic; there are antiphonal passages, most notably when high and low
voices alternate in the Christe eleison section.  The mood of the music
ranges from peaceful to exuberant, but not solemn except perhaps in the
Benedictus.  Angst is completely lacking.

That cannot be said of the other works on the disk, with one exception,
and the programmatic notes of several of the composers underscore that.
Musically, although they are all expressive, some of these works cannot
carry all the associations their composers suggest.  (For instance
Fleischer says that each note of her twelve tone row represents a month.
I don't think so.) At any rate, Fetheroff's Unattainable Peace, perhaps
the strongest of these works, is a musical meditation on the Nazi camps;
in three movements, the first represents arrival at Dachau.  Musically,
there is effective writing for percussion, brass and woodwinds; the opening
is very attention-getting.  The second movement, Der Teufelspielplatz,
gets its name from the many tritones (the devil--Teufel--in music) that
Fetherolf says he noticed only while scoring it.  It begins quietly with
brass and woodwind and includes a plaintive oboe solo.  The finale,
Unattainable Peace, which had an earlier version on another VMM release,
is quiet and brooding, with bird calls and bells, and ends with a sound
resembling a lion's roar (which I assume must have been produced in the
studio by slowing down the playback speed.)

Tsippi Fleischer's train symphony begins with realistic effects of chugging
and whistle blowing before continuing, through six short movements adding
up to about ten minutes, with purported expressions of love, cruelty,
depression and the "monotonous vector of the mind," none of which I can
hear in the music, which is, however, varied and interesting musically.
Grossner's Destiny is a seven and a half minute work in four sections.
Extra-musically, the composer suggests the possibility of creating one's
own destiny.  Musically the music ranges from growly bass to quiet high
strings, with percussion and brass standing out also.

Myers' Toccata-Fantasy, composed originally for piano in 1987 and
orchestrated between 1998 and 2000, carries no heavy baggage.  In a short
6:22 it offers a wide range of effects:  tinkly percussion, brass that is
brash, then perky, quiet string writing, an oboe solo with percussion
accompaniment.  The piano has not been entirely written out, either.

In sum, there is a wide range of expression on this disc.  Despite the "six
continents" in the series title, four of these composers are from the US,
one from the UK (Grossner) and one from Israel (Fleischer).  All in all, a
very interesting release.

Jim Tobin