Word: tonal
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Barenboim Conducts Elgar's Symphony No. 2 in E-Flat, Opus 63 (London Phil harmonic Orchestra, Columbia; $5.98). Wildly famous in his day, the stately, sunlit tonal landscapes of Sir Edward Elgar withered before the 20th century's neoclassic revolt. Elgar died nearly forgotten in 1934. In this stylish reading of the E-flat symphony Daniel Barenboim takes a fresh look at the elegant Edwardian, holding a course of gentle restraint against an exuberance of leaping octaves and rolling timpani. Barenboim reclaims the Elgar grandeur without losing any of the buoyancy that captivated 19th century audiences...
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor (Charles Rosen soloist, John Pritchard conducting the New Philharmonia Orchestra, Odyssey; $2.98). Each time a new Rosen record appears, one wonders why more is not heard from him. His attack is confident, his approach intelligent, and he achieves a tonal purity that is best described as supremely musical...
...classic pieces for symphonic band, such as those by Hindemith and Schoenberg, this year's concert drew almost exclusively on recent works. In Aaron Copland's "Outdoor Overture," the earliest work performed, brass fanfare was emphasized to a point where all harmonic subtlety was lost, but in the surprisingly tonal ending of "Music for Prague 1968," the band showed strong ability to play in chorale fashion...
Martino used tonal centers strong enough to appease the eighteenth century ears with which most listeners are equipped, but he did not do so in a blatantly reactionary fashion. It is an accomplishment to expand the appreciation of an audience without offending it: at best, the result is a Mozartean perfection of pre-established forms; at worst, it is misguided invention better spent writing yet another Bach chorale. In between those extremes, only the passage of time can determine whether the effort was a mere transitionary stroke or a truly original statement...
ONCE AGAIN the English have given American rock musicians something to think about. No longer content to ape twelve bar blues patterns, several English groups like Emerson, Lake, and Palmer and King Crimson have struck out in a new direction to create carefully arranged and precisely executed tonal patterns and musical textures...