Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Naxos

American Classics - Piston: The Incredible Flutist, Etc

$19.99

Details

Composer
PISTON
Artist
Gerard Schwarz
Format
CD
Label
Naxos
Released
Apr 01, 2003
Catalog #
8559160
UPC
636943916025

About

In case you missed this recording of Walter Piston works when it was first released by Delos in 1993 (under the title "The Incredible Walter Piston"), now's your chance to hear it again in the same sound and at a lower price. As part of its acclaimed "American Classics" series, Naxos has licensed several previously issued recordings by the Seattle Symphony as part of a new collaboration to bring these performances back into circulation. Nothing has changed, except that the source tapes were re-mastered by Albert G. Swanson, the former associate engineer to John Eargle on the original recording made more than 10 years ago. The new sonic treatment offers little other than to preserve the slight predominance in the bass and the dark hues of the winds. The liner notes by Steven Lowe are neatly parsed and edited from Shirley Fleming's first edition text.


Listeners new to Piston's music would do well to audition this disc, as it includes a nice cross-section of the composer's output, from his first published work (Suite for Orchestra) to his last (Concerto for String Quartet). In between and opening this disc is the delightful ballet suite to The Incredible Flutist, a piece that features a slithering tango, a lusty Spanish waltz, and a spirited Circus March that concludes with a barking dog (a real one named Nori!). This quirky work--a sort of cross between Petrushka and Parade--alone belies the academic patina that has plagued Piston's name for decades. The fact that he wrote the leading textbook on orchestration should lead more people to think that maybe he actually knew something about it.


The dynamic Suite will excite anybody who loves Bartók, full as it is with resounding canonic brass fanfares, pounding percussion (watch out for the bass drum in the third movement), and chattering strings. Piston also had a flair for elegiac melodies, as evidenced by his soulful English horn writing (a bit aridly played and closely miked in this performance) in the Fantasy for English horn, harp, & strings, and by the slow, calmer parts for string quartet in the Concerto (especially the quixotic concluding viola solo).


Piston's orchestral expertise finds expression in the superbly crafted choral works that close this disc, works that are as buoyant as they are mysterious--and unforgettable. Of course, there are other superlative performances of these individual works (Bernstein's Incredible Flutist on Sony), but Schwarz's surveys remain essential listening for both lovers and newcomers to this great American composer.
--Michael Liebowitz, ClassicsToday.com

Tracklist 18 tracks

  1. 1 Introduction - Siesta in the Market Place 01:03
    Track
    1
    Title
    Introduction - Siesta in the Market Place
    Duration
    01:03
    Composer
    Walter Piston
  2. 2 Entrance of the Vendors 02:24
    Track
    2
    Title
    Entrance of the Vendors
    Duration
    02:24
    Composer
    Walter Piston
  3. 3 Entrance of the Customers 00:34
    Track
    3
    Title
    Entrance of the Customers
    Duration
    00:34
    Composer
    Walter Piston
  4. 4 Tango of the Merchant's Daughters 03:04
    Track
    4
    Title
    Tango of the Merchant's Daughters
    Duration
    03:04
    Composer
    Walter Piston
  5. 5 Arrival of the Circus 00:34
    Track
    5
    Title
    Arrival of the Circus
    Duration
    00:34
    Composer
    Walter Piston
  6. 6 Circus March 00:34
    Track
    6
    Title
    Circus March
    Duration
    00:34
    Composer
    Walter Piston
  7. 7 The Flutist 02:16
    Track
    7
    Title
    The Flutist
    Duration
    02:16
    Composer
    Walter Piston
  8. 8 Minuet 00:39
    Track
    8
    Title
    Minuet
    Duration
    00:39
    Composer
    Walter Piston
  9. 9 Spanish Waltz 01:18
    Track
    9
    Title
    Spanish Waltz
    Duration
    01:18
    Composer
    Walter Piston
  10. 10 Siciliana 03:08
    Track
    10
    Title
    Siciliana
    Duration
    03:08
    Composer
    Walter Piston
  11. 11 Polka Finale 02:08
    Track
    11
    Title
    Polka Finale
    Duration
    02:08
    Composer
    Walter Piston
  12. 12 Fantasy for Cor Anglais, Harp and Strings 08:26
    Track
    12
    Title
    Fantasy for Cor Anglais, Harp and Strings
    Duration
    08:26
    Composer
    Walter Piston
  13. 13 Allegro 04:00
    Track
    13
    Title
    Allegro
    Duration
    04:00
    Composer
    Walter Piston
    Ensemble
    Seattle Symphony
    Conductor
    Gerard Schwarz
  14. 14 Andante 06:30
    Track
    14
    Title
    Andante
    Duration
    06:30
    Composer
    Walter Piston
    Ensemble
    Seattle Symphony
    Conductor
    Gerard Schwarz
  15. 15 Allegro 03:45
    Track
    15
    Title
    Allegro
    Duration
    03:45
    Composer
    Walter Piston
    Ensemble
    Seattle Symphony
    Conductor
    Gerard Schwarz
  16. 16 Concerto for String Quartet, Wind Instruments and Percussion 09:55
    Track
    16
    Title
    Concerto for String Quartet, Wind Instruments and Percussion
    Duration
    09:55
    Composer
    Walter Piston
  17. 17 Psalm: "O sing unto the Lord a new song" 05:26
    Track
    17
    Title
    Psalm: "O sing unto the Lord a new song"
    Duration
    05:26
    Composer
    Walter Piston
  18. 18 Prayer of David: "Bow down thine ear, O Lord" 11:46
    Track
    18
    Title
    Prayer of David: "Bow down thine ear, O Lord"
    Duration
    11:46
    Composer
    Walter Piston