Search - Virgil Thomson, William Bolcom, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco :: The Mask

This collection of vocal works runs a wide gamut, from the Spanish guitar tinges of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Romancero Gitano to the Elizabethan accompaniment Virgil Thomson scripted for his Four Songs to Poems of Thomas Campion to the discordant piano enjambment that opens William Bolcom's The Mask. Thomson's Hymns from the Old South kicks the CD off with a low-end vocal depth that sweeps with cautious rhythm and harmonies that coloristically resemble those of the Campion poem settings. Bolcom's Mask takes its texts from African-American poets and composers and moves from clustery piano interludes into elongated vocal lines that run from slow to fast in breathtaking leaps. This is a strong recording of U.S. works, incorporating cultural strains from Europe and examining their refractions through a variety of contemporary angles. For Castelnuovo-Tedesco's stirring take on of Federico Garcia-Lorca's Gypsy Ballads alone, this CD is a great find. --Andrew Bartlett