Gd 155 GIDEON WALDROP - Compositions, SOFIA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Symphony No.1, Songs of the Southwest
Pressures, Prelude and Fugue
Suite for Orchestra "From the Southwest"
Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra
conducted by Remus GEORGESCU
Issued: 1993
Style: Classical Music
Company: Gega New GD155
Gideon WALDROP (b. 1919, Texas) is presented in this release with five compositions created in the decades after World War II, in which he has taken part. For a period of time he was a conductor of the orchestra in his native city, then a publisher and editor of musical magazines. From 1960 onwards he has been president of the Juilliard School of Music, later of the Manhattan School too. During the last three decades of the 20th century he has gained international reputation - both as musician-pedagogue and as musical and public figure. His symphonic, chamber-instrumental and vocal works are performed frequently. The Symphony No. 1 (1951) in three movements has been elaborated on classical symphonic principles. In the Symphony one can clearly trace the influence of the American folklore and, according to the composerÂ’s words, that of the Mexican songs. The composition expands in an epic narration and is indicative of the authorÂ’s melodic invention. From the Southwest, a suite for baritone and orchestra composed about ten years later, re-creates intonations and images from the style of living of West Texas, Arizona and New Mexico and demonstrates Waldrop's skills in orchestration. It features a combination of primitive melodies and interesting modal patterns that bring together the flavor of these lands with the complicated counter-pointing European techniques and songs from the Southwest for baritone solo (the well-known Bulgarian bass-baritone Plamen Hidjov). The composition is imbued with lyricism and poetic figurativeness and is an expression of the authorÂ’s love to his native land. Prelude and Fugue for orchestra speaks of Waldrop's mastery in building up complicated polyphonic figures. The works included in the CD are performed by the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Remus Georgescu (Rumania).
Contents:
Symphony No. 1 (1951)
• Moderato
• Allegretto
• Andante con moto; Allegro
• "Songs of the Southwest", for Baritone and Chamber Orchestra (1983)
• Pressures (1955)
Suite for Orchestra : " From the Southwest" (1964)
• Arid Landscape
• Rancher's Whistling Song
• Primitive Dance
• Prelude and Fugue (1963)
view full size
