Master of the Miniature

On the Verge: Chamber Music by Sebastian Currier. Music From Copland House. (Koch 77691)

True musical humorists, working without the aid of a comic opera libretto, are few and far between. Haydn is the most obvious example, followed closely by the dry Richard Strauss and the sardonic Shostakovich. American composer Sebastian Currier is the closest to a modern-day wit—a quality that undoubtedly endeared him to the committee for this year’s Grawemeyer Award, which he received in March for his 2003 piece Static for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano. No sooner than the award, which carries a hefty $200,000 prize, was announced came this recording by the chamber-music organization Music From Copland House.

A faculty member at Columbia University, Currier also has deep Juilliard connections. He received an M.M. in composition in 1987 and D.M.A. in 1992, before going on to teach at the School in the ’90s. His teachers included Milton Babbitt, a composer whose affinity for clever titles appears to have worn off on Currier. Static, for instance, refers both to being motionless and to the white noise that interferes with radio signals. Thus there are moments of floating, ethereal chords juxtaposed with stretches of rough, chaotic material that seem to blur the lines between music and pure sound. This is particularly found in the third movement, “bipolar,” in which the pseudo radio static rudely interrupts the more meditative passages.

Currier’s jokester instincts surface elsewhere on the CD. Verge, a 1997 piece for clarinet, violin, and piano, is inspired by a movement of Schumann’s Scenes From Childhood titled “Almost too serious.” Each of Currier’s nine contrasting movements is similarly “almost too” something—fast, slow, fractured, mechanical, etc. Night Time for violin and harp is a series of five nocturnes that gracefully explore the boundaries between rest and restless, night and twilight. And Variations on Time and Time Again, a 2000 piece for flute and piano, features four whimsical variations on a theme that is presented only at the end in the context of a ticking “clock,” rendered by the soft clicking of keys on the flute.

Master of the Monumental

Mahler Symphony No. 5. London Symphony Orchestra, James DePreist, conductor. (Naxos 8.557990)

If Currier is a master of miniature forms, Mahler, of course, liked to think big. His Fifth Symphony lasts around 70 minutes, the same length as the entire Currier CD. More importantly, this disc is a relative rarity: a new studio recording of Mahler played by a prestigious orchestra under a respected conductor. Maestro James DePreist, recently appointed permanent conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, has made his mark principally through his admired recordings of Shostakovich and Prokofiev during his tenure with the Oregon Symphony, but he is something of a latecomer to recording Mahler.
Here DePreist, director of Juilliard’s conducting and orchestral studies department (and who leads the Juilliard Orchestra on May 23 in the annual commencement concert), makes a worthy first go at Mahler’s all-embracing sound world, with the polished players of the London Symphony Orchestra. He delivers the steady tread of the funeral march with austere gloom, the trumpet fanfares commanding and unhurried. The second movement is appropriately stormy while the third is noticeably slower than average, clocking in at nearly 20 minutes. This might irk some Mahler purists but it stays in the bounds of good taste. The Adagietto (used famously in Visconti’s film Death in Venice) is decidedly straightforward with graceful phrasing and lush string gestures, while the finale is the highlight: robust and colorful. While there are plenty of Fifths to choose from, DePreist’s offers a snapshot of the L.S.O. at the peak of its abilities and, with any luck, a preview of more to come.

Mention this column at the Juilliard Bookstore to receive a 5-percent discount on this month’s featured recordings. (In-store purchases only.)

Brian Wise is a producer at WNYC radio and writes about music for The New York Times, Time Out New York, Opera News, and other publications.