Uploaded by Epogdous on Oct 25, 2010
Irving Fine (1914-1962)
Serious Song: Lament for string orchestra (1955)
The Louisville Orchestra/Robert Whitney
Painting: "Christina's World" by Andrew Wyeth
Through most of his abbreviated life (he died in his forties), Irving Fine was essentially a neo-Classicist who at the end moved toward a dissonant style influenced by 12-tone techniques. Yet his Serious Song, written near the height of his career, is a deeply lyrical, almost Romantic work. The composer called it "an extended aria for string orchestra," and it is as direct in its form as in its expression.
Fine composed Serious Song on commission from the Louisville Orchestra. Carefully avoiding any overripe harmonic effects that would draw comparisons with Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, the piece begins with a searching yet severe unison statement by the violins of its first principal theme. The key is a constantly fluctuating E major and minor, so modal that Fine settled on calling it "E Phrygian." This theme receives a flowing, contrapuntal development, but soon gives way to the piece's extended, more animated central section essentially in C minor and calling to mind certain passages of Stravinsky's Apollo. This second section itself falls into three parts: first, a new, more active theme, then its development with what Fine called "considerable tonal digression," and finally a restatement of the theme as it originally appeared, but with a climax leading to the third section of the overall work, which returns to the material from the very beginning. Here the tonality is mostly E major and the textures thin out, but constant tremolando and pizzicato effects preclude any sense of peace. The work fades out into a couple of glum, triple-pianissimo plucked notes. ~ James Reel
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Soulful and melodic a la Stravinsky Apollo or Copland Nonet. But a better recording is warrented.
hotplate85 1 year ago 3