Music from the 1940s by Blacher, Weill, Milhaud, and others

I found this gem of a CD at the Dayton Public Library, which typically doesn't have much of interest from the 20th Century. 

Testimonies of War / Kriegszeugnisse

Music of Blacher, Weill, Vaughan Williams, Milhaud

I first have been listening to the works of Boris Blacher (1903-(1932)-1975), which are the largest part of the 2-disk CD. The Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin under the conductor Noam Sheriff perform three works. 

Alla Marcia  (2:26)

This march is a very short piece that has bright orchestration of a simple tune, which is enlivened by juxtaposing the march with underlying, constantly changing rhythms (for example, 4/4 over 3/4 drums). The result sounds truly of its time rhythmically, but the melodic component depends greatly on simple folk influences that seem to be sorely out of context.

Dance Scenes "La vie" (1938). 1. Intrada; 2. Pas de Deux; 3. Scherzo; 4. Rag-Caprice; 5. Valse, 'La Vie'; 6. Carnival; 7. Episodes; 8. Tango; 9. Intermezzo; 10. Theme And Variation I (Rumba); 11. Variation Ii (March); 12. Danzon; 13. Envoi. Total time about 33 minutes.

This dance suite generally has an open scoring that is very reminiscent of the orchestral textures of Mozart. Some interpolations of larger masses of the orchestra occur, but their appearance works more as commentary on the generally spare textures. Blacher uses tonality in a fluid way, similar to Debussy's use of modal centers and free, unresolved dissonance. Each short piece has a clear central harmonic focus (though not always a "key" in a traditional sense), and the pieces have a clear harmonic relationship to each other. Some pieces have a strong affinity for popular and cinematic music idiom. All have a consistent, convincing dance drive. The "Danzon" is especially nice, providing a penultimate thrill for the full orchestra, and "Envoi" seems a gentle let-down or after-thought.

Chiarina (1946). 1. No. 1 Promenade (Theme); 2. Variation I; 3. Variation II; 4. Variation III; 5. Variation IV; 6. Variation V; 7. Coda; 8. No. 2 Adagio; 9. No. 3 Rondo-Finale. Total time: about 23 minutes.

This work, also originally a dance work, explores a mix of theatrical content in a modified symphonic form. The theme of the first movement is pleasant—almost too pleasant—and light dance music that becomes ever more revealed at each variation, some of which derive nicely from contemporary ballroom dance styles. The second movement brings the piano to higher prominence, giving it a slowly rising, scale-based melody that is answered by descending replies in the strings and a lightly-textured swinging chorus that has strong elements of jazz-based harmonizations. Notable is the reliance on repetitions that are nearly exact, a heavy-handed emphasis (to a modern ear, at least) on the formal organization based on simply stated elements. The third movement again places the piano in prominence, and again uses many jazz-based figures, some as incongruous to the 1940s as ragtime.

The remaining three works by Blacher are performed by others.
Partita for Strings & 6 Percussion (1945). 1. Allegro; 2. Andante; 3. Vivace molto. Total time about 17.5 minutes.

Andrzej Borejko, leading the Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra. This tip of the hat to the Baroque form has compellingly independent lines for the strings, with a rational, free treatment of dissonance that results from that independence. Though the percussion battery is fairly broad (excepting most of the pitched instruments), the writing for the instruments does not push toward the freedoms afforded in the latest years of the 20th C. The second movement starts with an especially nice, long melody.

Sonatine No. 2 for piano. 1. Moderato; 2. Allegro.

Sylvie Lechevalier at the piano performs a very charming, off-tonal piece reminiscent of the neoclassical Stravinsky. Total time about 2.5 minutes.

Drei Psalmen. 1. Ich schreie zum Herrn mit meiner Stimme; 2. Herr, ich rufe zu dir, eile zu mir; 3. Ich hebe meine Augen auf zu den Bergen. Time 6.5 minutes.

Michael Kraus, baritone, and Walter Moore at the piano perform these relatively astringent settings of the psalms, which turn out to be quite a test of the strength of a singer's character—and security of pitch. Though the vocal lines are indeed melodic, as is the piano at an independent pace, seldom does the voice produce more than one tone for each syllable, which makes for a quickly moving survey of long passages from the source. This tone-for-syllable setting assigns a difficult task to the singer: make a suitably emotional result. Michael Kraus does not meet this challenge.