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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Attractive but uneven, 3 May 2004
An averagely well informed listener hearing this symphony without knowing who it was by or when it was composed, might guess that it is English and was written around 1920, by a minor follower of Vaughan Williams, perhaps. Such a guess would be as reasonable as it is wrong! In fact, it is American and the final version of the work dates from as late as 1951! Virginian folk songs from composer's collection form the thematic basis of the symphony and - since these songs mostly originated in the British Isles - explain symphony's distinctly British accent. The opening two movements are highly effective. The first movement's jaunty, modal flavour brings the lighter Vaughan Williams to mind; the tunes are infectious, memorable and confidently handled. The second movement is very beautiful: slow, reflective and rather mournful, with lovely passages for various solo instruments. Instead of the traditional scherzo third movement, Powell gives us another slow movement, and I for one missed the contrast a livelier episode would have provided. It begins with a wonderfully intense, strongly modal passage but thereafter the movement loses its way and rambles unmemorably for about twelve more minutes. Yet more slow music opens the finale which, though very ambitious and full of grandiose Elgarian climaxes, never quite achieves the confident coherence of the first movement. The recording is good and the performance excellent. This is a record which many listeners will enjoy very much and I do hope Albany will record more of Powell's music.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Attractive discovery, 25 April 2004
The most comprehensive book I know on American music, John WarthenStruble's "History of American Classical Music", makes scant reference toJohn Powell, merely including him in an index of US composers born inVirginia. He died in 1963; his most important work seems to have been acollection of folk songs from his native state, and it is these songswhich provide the thematic material of this symphony. Since American folksongs mostly orginiate in the British isles, the resulting symphonynaturally has an Anglo-Saxon flavour. The first and second movements arehighly effective; the first is jaunty, confident and full of good tunes,like Vaughan Williams in 'Folk Song Suite' mode. The second movement is alovely adagio, featuring ballad-style melodies and beautiful passages forvarious solo instruments. For me, the main fault of the work is the lackof a scherzo in the third movement. Instead, Powell gives us another slowmovement and I for one missed the contrast a more lively episode wouldhave provided. The symphony returns to form in the fourth and finalmovement which brings the piece to a rather gandiloquent conclusion. Comparisons with RVW are inevitable but very flattering to Powell, whonever achieves the visionary heights of the English master; the nearestmeaningful comparison I can make would be with E J Moeran's splendidSymphony in G, though Powell never manages to bring off the sort ofintense climaxes Moeran achieves in his piece. Performances andrecordings very good.
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