ANDERSON, L.: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2

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Woodbury Fanfare (more info)
Performed by: BBC Concert Orchestra
Composed by: Leroy Anderson
Conducted by: Leonard Slatkin


1.   Woodbury Fanfare - 0:54


Harvard Festival (more info)
Performed by: BBC Concert Orchestra
Composed by: Leroy Anderson
Conducted by: Leonard Slatkin


2.   Harvard Festival - 6:11


Forgotten Dreams (more info)
Performed by: BBC Concert Orchestra
Composed by: Leroy Anderson
Conducted by: Leonard Slatkin
Alistair Young, piano


3.   Forgotten Dreams - 2:21


Whistling Kettle (more info)
Performed by: BBC Concert Orchestra
Composed by: Leroy Anderson
Conducted by: Leonard Slatkin


4.   Whistling Kettle - 1:41


Horse and Buggy (more info)
Performed by: BBC Concert Orchestra
Composed by: Leroy Anderson
Conducted by: Leonard Slatkin


5.   Horse and Buggy - 3:41


The Waltzing Cat (more info)
Performed by: BBC Concert Orchestra
Composed by: Leroy Anderson
Conducted by: Leonard Slatkin


6.   The Waltzing Cat - 2:35


Home Stretch (more info)
Performed by: BBC Concert Orchestra
Composed by: Leroy Anderson
Conducted by: Leonard Slatkin


7.   Home Stretch - 2:46


The Girl in Satin (more info)
Performed by: BBC Concert Orchestra
Composed by: Leroy Anderson
Conducted by: Leonard Slatkin


8.   The Girl in Satin - 2:16


March of the Two Left Feet (more info)
Performed by: BBC Concert Orchestra
Composed by: Leroy Anderson
Conducted by: Leonard Slatkin


9.   March of the Two Left Feet - 2:22


Waltz Around the Scale (more info)
Performed by: BBC Concert Orchestra
Composed by: Leroy Anderson
Conducted by: Leonard Slatkin


10.   Waltz Around the Scale - 2:41


Lullaby of the Drums (more info)
Performed by: BBC Concert Orchestra
Composed by: Leroy Anderson
Conducted by: Leonard Slatkin


11.   Lullaby of the Drums - 3:02


Jazz Legato (more info)
Performed by: BBC Concert Orchestra
Composed by: Leroy Anderson
Conducted by: Leonard Slatkin


12.   Jazz Legato - 1:42


Jazz Pizzicato (more info)
Performed by: BBC Concert Orchestra
Composed by: Leroy Anderson
Conducted by: Leonard Slatkin


13.   Jazz Pizzicato - 1:58


Song of the Bells (more info)
Performed by: BBC Concert Orchestra
Composed by: Leroy Anderson
Conducted by: Leonard Slatkin


14.   Song of the Bells - 3:27


Song of Jupiter (arr. of Handel: Semele, HWV 58, "Where'er You Walk") (more info)
Performed by: BBC Concert Orchestra
Composed by: Leroy Anderson
Conducted by: Leonard Slatkin
David McCallum, trumpet


15.   Song of Jupiter (arr. of Handel: Semele, HWV 58, "Where'er You Walk") - 4:10


Suite of Carols (more info)
Performed by: BBC Concert Orchestra
Composed by: Leroy Anderson
Conducted by: Leonard Slatkin


16.   Suite of Carols - 12:24

Reviews

The lost world of Leroy Anderson (Apr 28, 2008)
Reviewer:Jim Shine
Three months after volume 1, here's volume 2 in Naxos's complete orchestral works; I think there's 3 (or maybe 4) more discs to come. This one offers 5 first recordings as well as more familiar fare such as The Waltzing Cat. I enjoyed volume 1, my fears that I would suffer an overdose of too-sweet light music proving unfounded. Importantly, Anderson's gift for a good tune was accompanied by... Three months after volume 1, here's volume 2 in Naxos's complete orchestral works; I think there's 3 (or maybe 4) more discs to come. This one offers 5 first recordings as well as more familiar fare such as The Waltzing Cat. I enjoyed volume 1, my fears that I would suffer an overdose of too-sweet light music proving unfounded. Importantly, Anderson's gift for a good tune was accompanied by great skill as an orchestrator, so there's always plenty of variety and the idiom doesn't pall. The music is very much of a particular time - to someone such as myself who was born around the time of the latest compositions on this album, Anderson's music always conjures up images of a fifties America that seems long gone. Those pieces from 1970, then, certainly don't sound like 1970 (the year of, for example, George Crumb's Black Angels and Philip Glass's Music With Changing Parts). Fortunately, music may change but popular taste isn't obliged to change with it, and I suspect there's a new audience out there now for a proper Anderson revival.
As for this volume, I find I enjoyed it even more than its predecessor. Why this might be, I'm not sure - there just seemed to be more highlights. Or perhaps the BBC Concert Orchestra were more settled in the idiom - these pieces were recorded a year after the first volume. Anyway, the highlights include some of the premieres, such as the nice bright Woodbury Fanfare that kicks off the disc, the oddly baroque-sounding Whistling Kettle, and the Lullaby of the Drums, which is guaranteed not to send anyone to sleep. Another gem is the March of the Two Left Feet, a manic dance with tricky off-beat percussion. The disc ends with 2 examples of Anderson's orchestrations of music not his own: Song of Jupiter is a version of Handel's Where'er You Walk, with trumpet, and the Suite of Carols is - well, you can probably work that out yourself (unusually for Naxos, the individual pieces aren't separately tracked here).
So, if you're already an Anderson fan there's no need to hesitate, and if you've not yet sampled the series, I'd recommend this ahead of volume 1 (which is also recommended!). (read more)