Howard Hanson in more from Mercury's "American Composers" series. Here he conducts very tonal, enjoyable music - Quincy Porter's "Poem and Dance," Richard Donovan's "New England Chronicle" and Wells Hively's "Tres Himnos." With the exception of Porter, the other two composer-teachers are all but forgotten and its too bad.
Here's a little bit from the Saturday Review of August 27, 1955 regarding this lp.
"It is gratifying to see Richard Donovan receiving attention at last (Mercury MG-40013). "New England Chronicle" (Eastman-Rochester Symphony, Hanson conducting) seems to me more solid than Porter's Poem and Dance, filling out the side. But both works have more to offer than "Tres Himnos" of Wells Hively, on the reverse side. Donovan's rhythmic and contrapuntal devices suggest Hindemith, but he has a quality of his own, as well as a drive and expertness not to be found in many a more touted composer's works."
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A little bonus now. Several years ago, I transferred a Forum lp of Gershwin featuring Joyce Hatto (yes! a real JH record) playing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with George Bryd conducting the Rhapsody and An American in Paris. Here's a new and better transfer. Surprisingly, it was recorded rather idiomatically in Hamburg of all places. Conductor Byrd was, like the admired Dean Dixon, an African American music who found that he could practice his art more effectively in Europe rather than the United States. Byrd became known in Germany as an expert in Gershwin and he certainly has the measure of the music here. Recorded in 1960, this stereo record was touted as Joyce Hatto's debut recording. She acquits herself well.
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