William Schuman. Orchestral Works.
Symphony No. 8. (1962)
Night Journey (1947)
Charles Ives arr. Schumann: Variations on "America", 1891-1964)
Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz.
At the time all this music was released of William Schumann, I bought every single disc with his music, and connected with it in every way. When after many years I did return to the 6th symphony I could not believe my ears, it left me stone cold, literally. Now I return to the 8th symphony, and can be more precise about what I hear, and did not hear years ago, when it greatly appealed to me.
What irks me first of all is the dense scoring, the absence of melodic material, and the general aural landscape. The colours are black and white to me. I get visions of the North Pole, the white and cold outlook of snow, almost giving me frostbite. Desert strewn with rocks and pebbles, bare and shiny surfaces that blind my vision, an impression of impeccable technical prowess, but at all times chaos to me, in which there is no true North.
It is just to modern for my taste, what else could it be. Maybe my musical mind is not as flexible as in past?
So they go unloved back in my collection. On a positive note, I like the Ives arrangement greatly, and appreciated the sonics of this disc, it's superb.