Russell: Horn Rhapsody / Middle Earth / Gate City

The highlight on this Naxos American Classics disc by California composer Craig Russell is the expansive Horn Rhapsody, 41 minutes long, composed for and played by horn virtuoso Richard Todd. In five movements, it demonstrates Russell's ability to write beautiful and exciting music in a number of jazz-inflected and American concert-music styles. 'Morning's Decision' and the third movement, 'Wistful Musing,' are in harmonies reminiscent of Aaron Copland's Western America style; although the Coplandesque open fifths are present in abundance, they are surrounded by richly harmonized passages and the soloist not only gets to sing long melodies, he gets to do some wa-wa scatting. 'Dizzy Bird' is a tribute to both Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie 'Bird' Parker; energetic, rhythmic, drive-ahead bop-time. The similarly exciting fourth movement, 'Tito Machito,' with its insistent clave rhythm and brass ostinato, is salsa on speed, with terrific licks from the horn, often sounding like a jazz valve trombone. The windup, 'Flash,' is a three-minute moto perpetuo--the tempo indication is 'at the speed of light...or as fast as possible.' Todd is a fabulous hornist and he is more than ably backed by the terrific San Luis Obispo Symphony conducted by Michael Nowak. [As I have mentioned elsewhere, we are in a golden age of American orchestras when a regional orchestra like this one can sound like one of the majors!] 'Middle Earth' is a suite illustrating various aspects of Tolkien's classic tale. [By the way, composer Craig Russell is not, as far as I know, the same fellow, also named Craig Russell, who did illustrations for a comic-book edition of the Tolkien tales.] Originally written for a youth orchestra, he expanded it later. The music is generally illustrative and one can hear, for instance, the gulps of Gollum and the slithering and stomping of the Orcs and Ring Wraiths. One can easily imagine this suite being used in a Children's Concert with suitable visual projections. Expertly done and a lot of fun. The final piece, 'Gate City - A Methodist Hymn,' is a tribute to the composer's mother and her hometown of Gate City, Virginia. It is from his Second Symphony and recreates the nostalgic ambience of a rural Southern town by the use of fiddle tunes and hymns. Craig's style combines the rhythmic sophistication of late 20th-century jazz and advanced orchestral technique with the 'comfort food' harmonies of the Copland-Barber axis. I enjoyed every moment of it. Review by Scott Morrison