02. - 06. Morton Gould - Spirituals for String Choir and Orchestra [18'18]
London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walter Susskind
Everest (Omega - Vanguard) VSD504 (recorded 16 August 1958, issued as Everest LP SDBR 3002 in 1958; this SACD issue 2000)
(24bit/96kHz rip from SACD, cover, inlay and booklet scans)
Recording venue: Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London
Recording engineers: Bert Whyte & Aaron Nathanson; Producer: Bert Whyte
These Everest recordings have been reissued at various times in various couplings and in varying sound quality. The many Vanguard - Omega issues of Everest originals seem to have received the greatest care in the transfer process and even the CD releases are usually at the top of the heap. Usually, Omega - Vanguard included additional music to present a more acceptable playing time but here we have the original LP couplings.
This SACD, not my rip - many thanks to the original uploader, came to me with only scans of the cover and inlay card so I have included the booklet from the later Countdown Media issue. Note that in the Countdown Media download, Appalachain Spring is split into eight brief tracks instead of the single track here (and as on the original LP issue).
Although not much remembered nowadays, Walter Susskind produced some excellent recordings blessed with fine sound recording and this is a favourite Appalachian Spring, although I do wish that he had recorded the complete ballet. Other fine recordings include a superb Kodaly collection with London Philharmonic for EMI Classics for Pleasure (here on MIMIC) and Holst's The Planets and Setana's Ma Vlast both with Saint Louis Symphony for Vox (both can be downloaded from Thang Nguyen's blog).
Of course, the Copland work is in his most popular style (Brooklyn prairie) as are the much less well known Spirituals of Morton Gould, published in 1941. The quality of the latter is well summed up by James North in Fanfare magazine: "The spirituals are original melodies sung by the strings to full-orchestral accompaniments which range from somber to jazzy to bombastic. This is music that impresses mightily at a first live hearing but then fades, leaving a grudging admiration for the composer's ability and workmanship."
The usual superb recorded sound applies to both works.
Download from MEGA