Gunther Schuller: 7 Studies on the Themes of Paul Klee
Bloch: Sinfonia Breve
Gershwin: An American in Paris
Copland: Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo
Antál Dorati / Minneapolis (Minnesota) Symphony (Mercury)
(scroll down for English review)
四首美國作品，兩首輕快易聽，兩首較為嚴肅但又未去算前衛，我為的當然是後兩首，但從頭聽也可以，不過我就不談了。
舒勒《七首克利主題練習曲》（軌六至12）就是我聽此碟的原因，一來克利是我很有興趣的畫家（喜歡又談不上），二來就是因為此曲把繪畫化成音樂，尤其是克利的抽象畫風，能怎樣化成音樂？以一般音樂口味來說，第三首《小藍惡魔》（軌八）及第五首《亞拉伯村莊》（軌十）最易聽，因為前者用了爵士樂，後者以長笛及雙簧管去吹中東風旋律，弦樂也做得出沙漠的神秘感覺。其他幾首都是像描繪氣氛，用抽象刻畫抽象當然合適，只是聽完音樂再看畫就會覺得遠不及原作特別，而且我覺得舒勒寫得太像荀伯格《五首管弦小品》，但已是早他半世紀的作品。布慕蓮教授寫過一篇文章談此作品，並附上畫作。https://interlude.hk/art-and-music-paul-klee-and-gunther-schuller/
布洛赫《簡短交響曲》（軌13至16）四個樂章一共只是20分鐘，如題所示。不算傑出的作品，但我覺得布洛赫把自己較多稜角的浪漫派旋律，緊扣在古典交響曲的形式上，很精要的說到想說的東西，也值一聽，尤其是聽了《所羅門》之後。
CD reissues of Mercury’s Living Presence catalogue was quite a presence in the CD market of the 1990s. Two items of this all-American album by Dorati are suited for all tastes but it’s the other two that caught my attention.
Gunther Schuller’s 7 Klee Studies (tracks 6-12) is the reason I picked up this recording. I’m intrigued by Klee and the transformation of his abstract works into music sounds promising. There are two pieces that are readily enjoyable by tonal ears: the jazzy Little Blue Devil (track 8) and Arabian Village (track 10) that evoked a steamy Arabian desert by the melismatic solos of the flute and oboe. The other pieces can best be describes as atmospheric, but I accept the musical abstractism, it’s just that it was too close to Schoenberg Five Orchestral Pieces which was written half a century before Schuller’s work. You may find the original drawings and a listening guide on this webpage: https://interlude.hk/art-and-music-paul-klee-and-gunther-schuller/
The four-movement Sinfonia breve (tracks 13-16) by Bloch is as its title suggests, a short symphony in just 20 minutes. I don’t think it’s outstanding but Bloch’s attempt to fit his angular melodies and orchestral colours in the confines of the classical symphony form works out quite well.