Amazon.co.uk Review
Virgil Thomson studied composition under the tutelage of Nadia Boulanger in Paris, remaining there for nearly two decades before the invading Germans forced him to flee back across the pond to New York (where he became the notoriously sharp-tongued music critic of the
Herald Tribune). His
Symphony on a Hymn Tune (1928) serves up a witty mix of American vernacular (listen out for those two Southern-Baptist favourites, "How Firm a Foundation" and "Yes, Jesus Loves Me") with the surrealist, Parisian cool of Erik Satie and Les Six. It's an engaging, unpredictable creation, by turns serene and clowning, and rather more compelling than the Second Symphony of two years later (beautifully scored though that is). The Third Symphony started out as Thomson's 1932 String Quartet No. 2 but wasn't heard in its orchestral guise until pressed into service as the ballet music for his 1972 opera,
Lord Byron. You'll probably either love or hate its sophisticated artlessness. That just leaves the 1964 essay
Pilgrims and Pioneers, which tends to fall off in quality after a promising start. These are, however, really fine performances under James Sedares's sensitive lead, and a very good recording too. --
Andrew Achenbach