Search - Henry Hadley, John McLaughlin Williams, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine :: Henry Kimball Hadley: Symphony No. 4, The Ocean, and The Culprit Fay

A Near-Forgotten American Romantic Pictorialist

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 04/09/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'd heard the name of Henry Hadley (1871-1937) and remembered that John Tasker Howard, in his landmark 'Our American Music' made the sly comment that his music was 'so agreeable that people like to hear it. And that is a great deal in these days.' But I'd never heard a note of his music as far as I could recall. In addition to being a prolific composer, Hadley was a busy man as conductor (Seattle and San Francisco Symphonies, associate conductor of the New York Philharmonic), music organizer (he was instrumental in the early days of what became the Berkshire Music Center [Tanglewood]) and all-round proselytizer for American music. He was the first American to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic. He had an opera commissioned by the Metropolitan ('Cleopatra's Night,' a one-acter that was quickly forgotten).Here we have three orchestral pieces dating from the early years of the last century, all of them descriptive in the manner of 'tone poems' à la Liszt, Strauss or Dukas. 'The Ocean' is a fifteen minute musical depiction of the sea from 1920, inspired by poetry of Louis K. Anspacher, another once celebrated artist whose work has disappeared from our collective consciousness. It portrays a sea storm as well as the glassy stillness of a becalmed sea. It builds to a Straussian climax before ending with a brief and serene coda. The program notes quote extensively from Anspacher's 'Ocean Ode,' and provide a program of sorts. 'The Culprit Fay' is another quarter-hour tone poem based on a poem, this time the early 19th century American poet, Joseph Rodman Drake's eponymous paean to the mighty Hudson River. Written in 1908, the music, which tells the story of a male water fairy who makes the mistake of falling in love with a mortal woman, is rather more impressionistic than 'The Ocean' and sounds at times like Dukas. It displays Hadley's mastery of French-influenced orchestration and is really quite effective. There was a time when it was quite popular with American orchestras, we're told.Although a true symphony, Hadley's Fourth Symphony (1911), is also descriptive. Each of the four movements is named for a direction. 'North' protrays winter weather and there is a blizzard every bit as stark as the wintry music of Sibelius, say. It begins with a solemn chorale in the brass before bursting forth with a wild and wicked storm, all crafted skillfully. 'East' abounds with Orientalisms reminiscent of Ketèlbey, but sounding a good bit more authentic. Granted, the materials sound rather more like what we later came to hear in film music, but we must remember that Hadley was writing a good twenty-five years before that sort of music was common in our movie theaters. (A side note: Hadley is credited with writing the very first synchronized film score, for 'When a Man Loves,' in 1926.) 'South' obviously refers to the American South, and this scherzo is my favorite of the four 'directions' primarily because it is an expert and early use of ragtime rhythms in concert music. Plus, it swings! 'West' also seems to be describing an American region, the wide-open spaces of our Western states. It abounds with Elgarian nobilmente and Straussian instrumental brilliance allied with some use of what sound to be Native American melodies. It is interesting that our modern conception of Western music exemplified by the open harmonies of Copland has no place here, but the music still manages to convey the grandeur of the region.This release is a part of the increasingly valuable 'American Classics' series. It matters not that the orchestra involved is the Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra; under John McLaughlin Williams's expert direction they play with conviction, suavity and rhythmic point. I don't think an American orchestra could have done it any better. The informative notes are by the CD's (and the American Classics') producers, Victor and Marina Ledin. Lifelike sound.TT=69 mins.Scott Morrison"

An American Romantic Master shows his stuff...

Eric D. Anderson | South Bend, IN United States | 07/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Henry K. Hadley was an important figure in America's musical life during the first decades of the 20th century. He was one of the first American conductors and composers to be recognized in Europe, where he conducted in Berlin, London, and Warsaw. His first opera, "Safie" premiered in Germany. He was the first conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, and the first American composer to conduct his own opera, "Cleopatra's Night", at the Metropolitan Opera. The opera was a success, and was revived the following year, and given a radio broadcast in 1929. Mahler conducted Hadley's works, and Richard Strauss once said that he was the only American to really know the orchestra! It is sad that so much of his music, including all his 8 operas, lie unrecorded. So "bravo" to Naxos for introducing this lovely music to modern listeners!



The finest work on this disc is the opening work--the symphonic poem "The Ocean", from 1921. This is an exhilerating work, with a transcendant, etherial ending. His earlier work, "The Culprit Fay" is also lovely, with much imagination in the orchestral writing.



The symphony is also attractive, if not quite as emotionally compelling as the others.



John McLaughlin Williams is an exciting conductor, and the orchestra plays beautifully. The sound is also excellent.



Here's hoping Naxos will give us more Hadley! How about "Cleopatra's Night"?...Please? I read that after playing this music for the first time, the Ukrainian orchestra members were much impressed, and asked Williams, "Is he famous in America?" My answer to their question? He should be.





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A good tone poem with five sides of corn.

Ethan | Chicago, IL, USA | 03/29/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Ocean is a third-rate conflation of the kinds of tone poetry you expect from Bax and Ravel. That description is not as bad as it sounds; "third-rate" is surprisingly decent when the corresponding "first-rate" has been defined as something totally awesome. Unimportant, but evocative, entertaining, and very pretty. (Has there ever been a tone poem about a body of water that fails at any of those last three things?)



The Culprit Fay is an inconsequential bit of banality saved by cute orchestration and general pandering niceness.



The Symphony is... well... bad. North is an overwrought, repetitive lesson in how to fail to evoke your supposed subject matter. East is like North, but fares a bit better due to the snappier pace and reduced self-importance. South is like a 5-paragraph "hamburger" essay on ragtime. West veers between fluttery lightness and dubious regality, and is punctuated by these ridiculous "Indian" passages that show the ethnic sensitivity of an early John Wayne movie.



Even though I'm in general agreement with the two-star review that preceded me, I think three stars are in order due to this being possibly the only recording of The Ocean that will ever exist. I also see some value in having at least one really crappy symphony in a classical collection for demonstration purposes.



The playing and recording live up to the Naxos name honorably."