Schurmann: Piano Concerto; Gaudiana; Man in the Sky; Romancing the Strings

by BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Overview

It is difficult to classify composer Gerard Schurmann as to nationality. He was born in Dutch colonial Java in 1924 to Dutch and Hungarian parents (his mother studied with Bartók as a pianist). Perhaps in the layered textures of his music, one can detect a hint of Indonesian gamelan music. Schurmann was trained mostly in Britain. He also wrote Hollywood film scores, lived for some years in Los Angeles, and died there in 2020, remaining active until the end of his very long life. The film music is sampled on this Chandos release with an excerpt from the music for the thriller The Man in the Sky, but the biggest influences in his music were British, and if one is curious about the possible sound of a composer who followed Elgar to the edge of tonality, check Schurmann out; this album is a fair tribute. His music is essentially lush and neo-Romantic, qualities that didn't serve his reputation well during the modernist tyranny. Sample the Piano Concerto, which is the most substantial work here and perhaps the strongest. It was written for pianist John Ogdon and gets a muscular performance here from Xiayin Wang in its unusual opening cadenza. The lushness is offset by subtle shifts in orchestral color and by passages in which tension rises as the tonal center disappears but is then recovered. Schurmann's music will probably be unknown to most listeners, and this spaciously recorded album (from the MediaCity studios in the U.K.) offers a good introduction. It made classical best-seller lists in the late summer of 2024. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	10/04/2024
Label:	Chandos
UPC:	0095115234129
Rank:	49185

Tracks

1. Man in the Sky
2. Piano Concerto~I. Cadenza. Lento sostenuto
3. Piano Concerto~II. Molto adagio
4. Romancing the Strings~Theme. Andante -
5. Romancing the Strings~Variation I. L'istesso tempo -
6. Romancing the Strings~Variation II. Adagio -
7. Romancing the Strings~Variation III. Vivace -
8. Romancing the Strings~Variation IV. Comodo -
9. Romancing the Strings~Variation V. Allegro decisio - Doppio meno -
10. Romancing the Strings~Variation V. Adagio
11. Gaudiana~Carole. Pietà
12. Gaudiana~Andante - Allegro
13. Gaudiana~Adagio molto tranquillo
14. Gaudiana~Allegro brillante
15. Gaudiana~Lento
16. Gaudiana~Allegro vivace

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Xiayin Wang   Primary Artist,Piano
Ben Gernon   Primary Artist,Conductor
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra   Primary Artist,Orchestra

Technical Credits

Gerard Schurmann   Composer
Stephen Rinker   Engineer
Mike George   Producer
Simon Highfield   Assistant Engineer