Carpenter: Adventures in a Perambulator / Symphonies 1 & 2

List Price: $8.99
Our Price: $4.80
You Save: $4.19 (47%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.33 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details

CD Details

Music reviews of Carpenter: Adventures in a Perambulator / Symphonies 1 & 2

Music Review: A Fine Introduction to an All-but-forgotten Composer
Rating: 5 Stars

They have the quirky, syncopated rhythms of jazz, and a melodic contour that just sounds American, despite Gallic overtones. The first symphony, a 1940 reworking of a piece that first saw life in 1916-17, is a work whose sound world isn't very distant from that of "Adventures," even though Carpenter overhauled the earlier work pretty drastically. It's a kaleidoscopic piece that might well on some hearings sound like a suite and at other times sound like a genuine symphony. That's because the piece is in one movement though five distinct sections that examine different moods in the manner of character pieces or brief tone poems. But then the two "slow" movements of the work frame on that clearly corresponds to a symphonic scherzo, and the largo finale also clearly builds to an effective peroration that is very symphonic. All these sections are marked either moderato or largo, but there are so many tempo variations that the work has none of the statis of, say, a late Shoshtakovich string quartet in which the tempos seem all to be slow and slower yet. Carpenter's orchestration is colorful and highly skillful with lots of high percussion such as celesta and glockenspiel, as it is in "Adventures," though it also seems a bit too populist for its own good and might remind some of movie music. Still, this is an enjoyable work that deserves an airing in the concert hall.

Even more distinguished is the Second Symphony of 1947, again a reworking of an earlier piece. This symphony is built more along traditional symphonic lines, with a first movement that starts in very dramatic style and then develops into a cheerful, balletic affair that balances rumbustiousness with episodes of seductive langor. The second movement has is a blend of drama and longing in the manner of Samuel Barber, while the last movement, based on an Algerian melody that Carpenter heard on vacation, is a strong, driven piece, jazzy and with a sort of tongue-in-cheek martial air about it.

This ripely colorful music might not appeal to all, but it is certainly skillfully put together by a true musical craftsman. The performances by John M. Williams and the Ukrainian orchestra are fine indeed, matching the many moods of the music. And Naxos has supplied one of the finer recordings in its American Classics series: big, bright, yet airy. Give this one a try.

Description of Carpenter: Adventures in a Perambulator / Symphonies 1 & 2

Classical CDs

• Music > Styles
• World Music