Quincy Porter.  Symphonies 1 & 2; Poem and Dance.  Sinfonia Varsovia,
cond.  Ian Hobson.  Albany Records, Troy 574.  TT 60:23.

The more I listen to this recording the more I like it.  Occasionally I
hear a work I looked forward to rehearing and ask myself what I thought
I heard in it, so I take the reverse to be a promise of enduring interest,
even delight.

Until about a year ago I had never heard anything by Porter, although
his name was long one I thought I knew, and a favorable account of his
music came up in Struble's History of American Classical Music (my review
of which is at http://www.classical.net/music/books/reviews/081602927Xa.html)
in a chapter on "Copland, Thomson, Harris and Their Generation." Struble
says Porter "held a commanding position" among chamber music composers
of the mid-twentieth century, and that his most significant works were
a Viola Concerto and his Concerto Concertante, which won a Pulitzer in
1954.  Neither appears to be on an available recording and I have not
heard either of them.

The first work of his that I finally did manage to hear was his 22 minute
long New England Episodes, which for me immediately joined Ives' Three
Places in New England, Schuman's New England Triptych, and Piston's Three
New England Sketches as associationally apt for Thanksgiving Day listening.
The Porter memorably includes some evocative quiet bells, and I loved
it at once.

Porter's Symphony No. 1 (1934) opens brashly, to assure the attention
of the audience, no doubt, because that tone does not linger.  Exuberance
rather than angst ensues.  There is plenty of forward melodic motion,
clear textures, and fine orchestration.  Porter writes especially well
for woodwinds and he is particularly fond of muted trumpet sounds, which
occur in all of these works.  An energetic andante segues quietly into
the third and final movement.  Mellow tones yield at the end to a rousing
conclusion with horns and drums.

Symphony No. 2 (1962) opens quietly with solo passages given to each
of the woodwinds and horn, then builds to a climax at midpoint in the
movement.  The Scherzando is spritely, with cello, percussion and, again,
muted trumpet standing out.  The adagio is memorable for strings playing
against the brass; and the final Allegro has a brisk opening and an
abrupt ending (with some unmuted brass.)

The Poem and Dance (1932) are similar in character to the symphonic
writing, including a brash sounding opening to the Dance movement.

The Sinfonia Varsovia began as the Polish Chamber Orchestra, and its
music director is Krzysztof Penderecki.  Hobson is English and has
conducted (and played piano) internationally.  I have no fault to find
with the playing or recording.

You would not be wrong in assuming I recommend this disc.  What I would
recommend to Albany is that they record the other Quincy Porter works I
mentioned, if such a project is not already underway.

Jim Tobin
Copyright 2003 by R. James Tobin