While Sam Phillips of Sun Records is known as one of the architects of rock and roll, he also dabbled in other genres - 1960's The Martini Set is a great example of his jazzy side. Featuring pianist Graham Forbes and his trio, this midcentury lounge music gem has interpretations of standards like "Autumn in New York" and "The Lady is a Tramp." Fans of romantic jazz can raise their glass to the shimmering version of "Adios" that provided the soundtrack to an episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

The most internationally acclaimed opera composer of Brazil, hailed by Verdi as a “real musical genius”, Antonio Gomes is today all but forgotten outside his native country (where the brilliant overture to Il Guarany is regarded as a national artistic treasure). The opera itself is known largely from books and from a recording by Caruso and Destinn of the love duet at the end of Act 1. After the enthusiastic reception in Rio of a couple of his operas, Gomes, who came from a family of modest musicians, was awarded a grant enabling him to study in Milan. There he wrote Il Guarany, which was produced at La Scala in 1870 with huge success.

The story is set in sixteenth-century Brazil and deals with the love of Cecilia, daughter of the Portuguese nobleman Don Antonio, and the ‘noble savage’ Pery, chieftain of the Indian tribe of Guarany (who eventually accepts baptism). They are threatened both by the hostility of the cannibal Aimore tribe and by Spanish adventurers led by Gonzales, who has designs on the silver mine owned by Antonio and on Cecilia. The opera ends spectacularly a la Meyerbeer when Antonio, to save his daughter, blows up his castle with himself and his enemies in it. The work is categorized as an ‘opera-ballet’, but, at least in this performance, there is no music for dancing.

So Italianized was Gomes that except for a very few bars there is no real local colour: indeed Cecilia’s first aria, rich in coloratura, is a polacca! Overall the music, for Indians and whites alike, is purely Italian, similar to middle-period Verdi, but the atmospheric orchestration is far more adventurous and inventive – one example being the sinister opening to Act 2. Highlights other than the duet mentioned are Pery’s aria at the start of Act 2, a jaunty adventurer’s song by Gonzales, Cecilia’s Act 2 soliloquy (which however leads to a rather conventional ballad with quasi-guitar accompaniment), and the duet scene for the lovers in the savages’ camp. The stars of this performance, given before an excited but discriminating audience, are Domingo himself in the title-role – ardent and committed (though, as elsewhere, he will not alter the intensity of his projection for asides), Villarroel on the most brilliantly stunning form I have heard her, and the capable and intelligent Alvarez; too many of the others are afflicted with tiresome wobbles. Both chorus and orchestra are excellent, and John Neschling (who I think has not come our way before) invests the whole with a real dramatic sense. Those who like full-blooded romantic opera should not miss this.

-- Lionel Salter, Gramophone [5/1996]

If only the standard symphonic recordings of this music could boast sound this good! Actually, in "Pines" I still have a slight preference for the version recorded by the "President's Own" Marine Corps Band, but if you're looking for all three "Roman" tone poems, this stunningly recorded disc will be pretty hard to beat. The transcriptions, by Lawrence Odom, are amazingly faithful to Respighi's original concept, and you'll be surprised at how little you miss the presence of the strings. The soft, delicate passages ("The Pines of the Janiculum", or the outer sections of "Fountains") sound just fine here, though the very opening of "Festivals" lacks the slashing attack of the violins. Never mind.

The brass and winds of the U.S. Air Force Band play with a boldness and confidence that's breathtaking. Just listen to the trombones and other low brass in the "Trevi Fountain" (and to the way conductor Graham builds the section's climax). "The Pines Near a Catacomb" sounds even darker and more menacing than in the original, while the concluding sections of "Pines" and "Festivals" will blow you away, if your speakers can stand it.

It's also worth pointing out that Col. Lowell E. Graham's conducting is not just strong and forthright, but it's remarkably sensitive to balance and color, even in heavily scored passages. The very opening of "Pines" gives the harps a welcome prominence that they haven't enjoyed since Reiner's classic RCA recording. In short, even if you're not normally a collector of band music recordings, you might want to give this disc serious consideration. Great music-making, after all, speaks for itself.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

CELEBRATION • Col. Lowell Graham, cond; United States Air Force Band • KLAVIER K11176 (66: 01)


COPLAND An Outdoor Overture. SCHUMAN New England Triptych. HOLST Hammersmith. BENNETT Suite of Old American Dances. CRESTON Celebration Overture


This collection of band repertoire staples benefits from performances that are never less than first-rate, captured in stunning sound. All were either originally composed for band or transcribed for the medium by the composer.


The two transcriptions—Aaron Copland’s An Outdoor Overture and William Schuman’s New England Triptych— are perhaps the least successful works on the program, especially when compared to their orchestral counterparts. This is especially true of Schuman’s three-movement suite based on Revolutionary War songs by William Billings, the band transcription of which is substantially inferior to its orchestral cousin. Schuman prepared the band version of the third movement, “Chester,” around the same time he composed the original work, altering and expanding the music until it essentially became a new piece. The resultant work, the brilliant Chester Overture, is more often than not performed as a freestanding, independent piece. Sadly, the other two movements of the triptych did not fare as well. For the band transcription of the first movement, “Be Glad Then, America,” Schuman added a good deal of gratuitous ornamentation, as well as additional percussion parts that can only be described as perfunctory. The mystery and ominous foreboding of the original introduction are completely absent here. This movement also suffers from thick, turgid textures, as does the second movement, “When Jesus Wept,” which was originally scored very transparently for strings with solo parts for oboe, bassoon, and tenor drum. In the band version, Schuman reassigned the oboe and bassoon solos to trumpet and euphonium. Why I don’t know, but as a result, the music’s poignancy and pathos are substantially diminished. There are also a couple of notational errors (actual wrong notes printed in the sheet music) in the solo euphonium part that are not corrected in this performance (though to be fair, they rarely are).


The remaining works are all band originals. Gustav Holst’s Hammersmith of 1930 was inspired by the composer’s evening walks along the Thames during which he not only absorbed the sounds of the river itself, but also the revelry and gaiety emanating from the numerous pubs and taverns along the river’s banks. A somber, dirge-like prelude, constructed over a brooding ground bass, gives way to a boisterous, rollicking scherzo, only to eventually return as the work’s solemn coda. Though considered to be something of a “sacred cow” in the band repertoire, I must admit that the work has always left me a bit cold. (Heresy, I know.) Robert Russell Bennett’s Suite of Old American Dances is exactly what the title describes, each of its five movements—“Cake Walk,” “Schottische,” “Western One-Step,” “Wallflower Waltz,” and “Rag”—perfectly evoking the simple nostalgia of bygone Americana. The program comes to an exhilarating conclusion with a rousing account of Paul Creston’s exuberant Celebration Overture , a masterly three-part work highlighted by a particularly lovely ballad as its central section.


These recordings, all of which are among the finest this music has ever received, were originally available only through official Department of the Air Force channels. First released in 1996, though only to schools, libraries, radio stations, and other “official” recipients, these superb performances are now available to the general public for the first time. As there are many other first-rate recordings from this source still in the vaults, we can only hope that this disc will be followed by many, many more.


FANFARE: Merlin Patterson

The term "dress parade" originally referred to a military parade where soldiers marched in formal uniforms and often carried their weapons. Dress parades are now so uncommon that the term has fallen out of use, and even out of most dictionaries, but in a very real way the United States Air Force Band continues this wonderful tradition. The Band has traded the instruments of battle and has replaced them with musical instruments of patriotism and goodwill. On Dress Parade captures the sound and feeling of the forgotten dress parade. This recording features compositions of renowned march composers Chambers, Goldman and Sousa, while simultaneously exploring the works of many lesser-known march composers whose legacies would have been lost had these musical treasures not been recorded.

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All tracks have been digitally mastered using 24-bit technology.

Strong collection of march favorites from composers such as Fillmore, Losey, Jewell, King, Richards & Sousa. Tracks include "Riders for the Flag," "Bullets & Bayonets," "His Honor," "Sarasota," "Royal Scotch Highlanders," "Black Jack," "Invincible Eagle," "Stars & Stripes Forever," "Voice of America," "Shield of Liberty," "Screamer," and more. (Klavier)

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Experience some of the world's most beautiful music, as performed by the U.S. Air Force Band, Col. Lowell E. Graham, Commander/Conductor. This album, the third in a series highlighting the art of transcription, displays all of the color, passion and flair that have made these musical works concert favorites. Featuring works by Emmanuel Chabrier, Jules Massenet, Camille Saint-Saëns, Claude Debussy, Jacques Ibert and Maurice Ravel.

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This recording presents new music composed for, and commissioned by, the U.S. Air Force Band that is immediately accessible, joyful as well as powerful, and most of all, lasting. Col Lowell Graham's Grammy-winning recordings have been recognized in Stereophile's "Records to Die For" list and Absolute Sound's "The Super Disc List."

There's no stopping the Price/Johnson bandwagon just now. Here is yet another profoundly enjoyable and well-considered offering from the pair. With Johnson to devise intelligent, logical programmes, Price and himself to interpret them, a remarkable unanimity of thought and confidence of manner is being achieved, the delights there for the taking.

Here we begin with six contrasted settings of Heine, all reasonably familiar songs, each given with a nice balance between breadth of phrasing and warmth of feeling, on both sides admirably tailored to the Brahms ethos and melos in the matter of song-writing. Some of these pieces appeared some years ago on an Orfeo recital by Price (2/87): the readings have matured like a good wine and now-as in Sommerabend-go to the very heart of the matter with a marvellous intertwining of voice and piano. The account of its companion-piece, Mondenschein, not before recorded by the soprano, fully realizes its autumnal melancholy in phrases that seem to linger endlessly in the air. As an emotional relief comes the charm and lightness of Es liebt sich so lieblich im Lenze!.

The judicious choice of Volkslieder settings once more indicates Brahms's deep understanding of the originals and just how to clothe them in appropriate harmonies, as in the antique Dorian mode of Sehnsucht and Vergangen ist mir Gluck und Heil, both sung and played here with an exquisite sense of longing. The singer changes colour, brightens her tone, for the bantering duologue of Spannung. Then there is the Schwung given to the repeated lines at the end of Madchenfluch, characterizing the girl's spite and frustration. Da unten im Tale is entirely free from the sophistication, admittedly effective, brought to it by Schwarzkopf on so many occasions: here the sad little plaint is allowed to speak for itself, but the verdict goes the other way in Vergebliches Standchen where Price is a trifle too staid.

Finally, the partnership lavish a winningly uninhibited elan on the Zigeunerlieder. If we are occasionally aware of a momentary strain on Price's present resources, we are consoled by the passionate spontaneity of the results. The recording is ideally balanced, intimate yet open.

Price must surely now be placed in the royal line of female Lieder singers that runs from Gerhardt and Lehmann, through Seefried, Schwarzkopf and Ludwig, to Ameling. The length of her actual discography of Lieder must now at least rival theirs. Being greedy, I wish she and Johnson would now turn their attention to Hugo Wolf.

-- Alan Blyth, Gramophone

Includes song(s) by Roger Quilter.

Includes song(s) by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Somervell's four songs on poems from William Blake's Songs of Innocence were written in 1889, dedicated to Dolly and Gwen, and simple and child-like in form and appeal, perfectly crafted examples of such work. The song cycle based on Tennyson's monodrama Maud dates from 1898. There are thirteen songs in the whole work that traces the story from the memories of the suicide of the protagonist's father, ruined by unfortunate speculation, making his son's match with Maud, daughter of his father's closest friend, and his betrayer, impossible. Three of these are included here. Maud's family return to the Hall and gradually the young man at the heart of the drama falls in love with her again. In the fifth song of Somervell's cycle, Birds in the high Hall-garden, the lovers meet, before Maud returns to the house, with the flowers she has picked. The verses that tell of the arrival of another to woo her are omitted. The seventh song, Go not, happy day, expresses the love of the couple. The first part of the poem ends with the words that provide the ninth song of Somervell's cycle, Come into the garden, Maud, words perhaps more familiar in the setting by Balfe. The singer calls Maud to the garden, as he hears the sound of music from the Hall, where he has not been invited. As she approaches, he is in ecstasy, but the song does not tell how their meeting is to be interrupted by Maud's brother, his quarrel with her lover, and her brother's death in the dreadful hollow, where the drama had started. In the remaining songs Maud's lover seeks exile abroad and goes out of his mind, while Maud, in his absence, dies. The cycle ends with the singer's resolve to meet his fate in war for his country. The song cycle derived from Robert Browning's James Lee's Wife was published in 1907 with a dedication to Marie Brema, a Liverpool-born singer of German-American parentage who, in 1894, was the first English-born singer to appear at Bayreuth, where she sang Ortrud in Lohengrin and Kundry in Parsifal. James Lee's Wife first appeared, under the title James Lee, in 1864 in Browning's Dramatis Personae and from the original nine poems Somervell takes five. The first version has an orchestral accompaniment, but the songs were later arranged for an accompaniment of piano quintet, and then simply with a piano accompaniment. As in other dramatic monologues by Browning, the woman of the title reveals her story, telling first of changing love, more dramatically in the second song, By the Fireside, as she tells of the rot and rust, run to dust, of a ship seemingly safe in port, as she and her husband had seemed. The same idea continues in the third song, In the Doorway, from which the middle two verses of the original poem are omitted. In the fifth of Browning's poems, On the Cliff, she sings of the parched vegetation on the rock and how from this may come color and life, as with the minds of men. The cycle ends with the seventh of Browning's poems, Among the Rocks, in which she proclaims her message that If you loved only what were worth your love, / Love were clear gain.

Music has been a part of military functions for thousands of years. From the time that it was used to incite or distract the enemy to the concert halls and ceremonies of today, the primary role of ceremonial music has not changed: to promote pride, devotion to duty, and esprit de corps. This album, performed by The United States Air Force Concert Band, Ceremonial Brass and Singing Sergeants is comprised of a collection of fanfares, honors, marches, hymns, military songs and bugle calls. Each track was recorded with the intention of providing appropriate, dignified music for military ceremonies when a band is otherwise unavailable. Specific selections are included for a retirement ceremony, parade, retreat ceremony and a military funeral. Led by Colonel Lowell E. Graham, the United states Air Force Concert Band plays with distinction on each selection, making Esprit de Corps a memorable, distinguished album.

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