Music of Irvin Bazelon

It is obvious that Albany Records thinks highly of the music of the late American composer Buddy Bazelon, for other of his compositions appear on TROY54, TROY01, TROY74, TROY82, and TROY63. The Symphony No. 6 was composed in 1969. It was commissioned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Temple B'nai Jehudah in Kansas City, Missouri. The symphony exploits the link between the circumstances of its commission and the music Bazelon had written for the 1968 Jules Dassin feature-film documentary on the Six-Day War, Survival 67. The first performance was given by the Kansas City Philharmonic in November, 1970. Overture to Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew was composed in 1960. It is based on music written for a production of The Taming of the Shrew by the American Shakespeare Festival Theater in 1957. The Overture already bears the fingerprints of the mature Bazelon style in its colorful orchestration and clearly etched musical profiles. Shakespeare's characters spring off the page and engage the listener in this effervescent and effective musical portrait. The first performance of the work was given by the National Gallery Orchestra conducted by Richard Bales in May, 1964. The Short Symphony was composed in 1961. The numbering Bazelon used for his Symphonies shows that he regarded this as his second symphony. The Short Symphony makes a quantum leap in focusing orchestral forces to create the bristling rhythmic energy that marks all of the composer's later scores. The first performance of the work was given by the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer in December 1962. If you enjoy a big, 20th century, American orchestral sound, then this is a disc you will enjoy.