Gillis: Symphony 7

 

This recording is the first Albany Records release where I hear the mature innate sounds of U.S. composer Don Gillis identifiable across the entire program, something I didn't experience in Symphonies 1 through 6. Now that I have heard such a program, it is almost too much of a good thing.

Let me start with Gillis' Symphony no. 7, 'Saga of a Prairie School', positioned as the last work on this recorded program. In the first movement, subtitled 'The Vision', Gillis bandies between the somber evocations of the prairie and the busy doings of its people. All of the composer's musical styles are here for the hearing, with a quotation of the hymn How Firm a Foundation running throughout the work. If you want a glimpse of what a 'Gillis sound' is, this movement would be the perfect glimpse. Gillis also has concert chimes appearing throughout the work, apparently another important carry-through for the whole piece.

Without pause, Gillis moves onto his second movement 'The People', which is unsurprisingly forward moving and filled with wit and high spirits. Snatches of this and that married with mixed meter rhythms are typical of the populous Gillis. That, and a collection of colorful, percussive sounds.

Albany Records actually combines both the third movement 'The Dedication' and the fourth movement 'The Fulfillment' onto a single track. The third is more noble and pensive sounding, while the finale lays towards the celebratory side of the composer's music. An oboe / English Horn solo reminds listeners of the first movement in the transition to the connected third movement, where How Firm a Foundation is finally given its last airing out in the upbeat fourth movement, set alongside a vivacious parade march setting.

To my ears, Symphony no. 7 finally reaches the ultimate mature symphonic expression from Don Gillis, synthesizing all of his favorite styles of orchestral settings in a single whole. Sure, this is purely light Americana, but it is very well done at that.

The symphonic poem The Alamo is more Impressionistic in comparison to the symphony, reveling in its orchestral colors, wind solos, and brass features. One can hear some of the same orchestral effects from the Seventh Symphony, especially in the lower strings at the most intimate musical moments, showing the listener a certain musical blueprint coming from Don Gillis. Only halfway through a 13-minute The Alamo, do horn calls announce anything resembling battle music, something most will associate with the Texas locale.

By the time the listener arrives at Don Gillis' five-movement orchestral suite Portrait of a Frontier Town, one almost wishes for something a little less generic, for we have all heard these musical ideas done better in the previous works I mentioned and across The Oozy Channel Keep. This is an element which can be sensed even if you listen in program order, where Portrait of a Frontier Town is the first to be heard. 

Listen to the third-movement 'Ranch House Party' and tell me you can't hear a dozen other Gillis works in its music. Some laud the more intimate 'Where the West Begins' and 'Prairie Sunset', but even these feature many of the same musical gestures we have heard from the composer in similar style, with cowboy ballads and percussion colors galore. I think these portions do the Americana Impressionism better than The Alamo, however, and the shorter movements work better for Gillis in suite form.

That said, this is fun music to listen to anyway, displaying an Americana vitality rarely heard with such a clear vision as only Don Gillis could create. Certainly, the Sinfonia Varsovia under the direction of pianist Ian Hobson have this music fully in their hands.

 

 

Works
Symphony 7 'Saga of a Prairie School' (25.58)
Portrait of a Frontier Town (20.25)
The Alamo (12.49)

Performers
Sinfonia Varsovia
Ian Hobson, conductor

Label: Albany
Year: 2006
Total Timing: 59.34

 

While I know I will get more of the same from Don Gillis in the further Albany Records recordings, I also know the performing musicianship will be high and the music will entertain and delight.

Here, it is Gillis' Seventh Symphony which represents the complete composer at his best. One would do well to start here with the composer's music, finding Gillis in full flower.

 

Find more Gillis recordings HERE!