Overview

PHCD169

Lou Harrison

1. Elegy, to the Memory of Calvin Simmons

2. Solstice (excerpts)

3. Concerto in slendro

4. Symphony No.4

5. Double Music

California Symphony

Barry Jekowsky, conductor 

Maria Bachmann, violin           Concerto in slendro

Al Jarreau, vocalist                     Symphony No.4

This Phoenix USA release offers a portrait of American composer Lou Harrison, whose music blends Western classical traditions with global influences and a deeply personal expressive style. The album features performances by Al Jarreau, Maria Bachmann, and the California Symphony under Barry Jekowsky, highlighting the breadth of Harrison’s artistic voice. Together, the works on this recording illuminate Harrison’s unique contribution to American music and his lifelong commitment to cross‑cultural creativity.

Lou Harrison (1917-2003) has stated that music is essentially “a song and a dance” – expansive melody (which he calls “the audience’s take-home pay”) and lively rhythm. The rhythmic strain is apparent not only in his many percussion ensemble works (e.g. Double Music. Concerto in slendro), but also in the wealth of dance movements that permeate his chamber and orchestral compositions (e.g. the ‘stampede’ from the Last Symphony). The melodic strain appears even in the most dissonant of his compositions. Harrison’s devotion to melody and rhythm was strongly encouraged by his mentor, Henry Cowell, whose course ‘Music of the Peoples of the World’ he took in San Francisco in 1935. Cowell taught that most of the world’s music consists of a melodic line with rhythmic support. He encouraged his students to explore world musical cultures, to seek new sound-producing media, and to unite disparate musical styles – all traits that figure prominently in Harrison’s work.