''Spirit of the American Range'' is a classical music album by the

Oregon Symphony The Oregon Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded as the 'Portland Symphony Society' in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States. I ...

under the

artistic direction An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since th ...

Carlos Kalmar Carlos Kalmar (born February 26, 1958, in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan conductor.Macaluso, p. 194 Biography Kalmar began violin studies at age six. At age fifteen, he enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Music where his conducting teacher was Karl ...

, released by the Dutch record label Pentatone on February 10, 2015. The album was recorded at the

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (opened as the Portland Publix Theatre before becoming the Paramount Theatre after 1930) is a historic theater building and performing arts center in Portland, Oregon, United States. Part of the Portland Cent ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

in April 2013 and January 2014. It contains works by three American 20th-century composers:

Walter Piston Walter Hamor Piston, Jr. (January 20, 1894 – November 12, 1976), was an American composer of classical music, music theorist, and professor of music at Harvard University. Life Piston was born in Rockland, Maine at 15 Ocean Street to Walter Ha ...

's ballet suite from ''

The Incredible Flutist ''The Incredible Flutist'' is a ballet composed by Walter Piston in 1938, his only composition for the stage. The ballet received its premiere by the Boston Pops under Arthur Fiedler on May 30 of that year. The libretto, written by Piston and Han ...

'',

George Antheil George Johann Carl Antheil (; July 8, 1900 – February 12, 1959) was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author, and inventor whose modernist musical compositions explored the modern sounds – musical, industrial, and mechanical – of t ...

's " A Jazz Symphony", and

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

's Symphony No. 3. The recording was the third by the orchestra under Kalmar's leadership, following the highly successful '' Music for a Time of War'' (2011) and '' This England'' (2012). ''Spirit of the American Range'' received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

nomination for Best Orchestral Performance, and its producer, Blanton Alspaugh, was nominated for

Producer of the Year, Classical The Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Classical is an honor presented to record producers for quality classical music productions at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors ...

Background and composition

''Spirit of the American Range'' was released by the Dutch record label Pentatone in February 2015, following a pre-release by the

on January 8. The album contains compositions by three 20th-century American composers: the ballet suite from ''

'' by

, " A Jazz Symphony" by

, and Symphony No. 3 by

. These works were recorded live at the

in Portland, Oregon. The Piston suite was recorded on April 13–15, 2013, and "A Jazz Symphony" was recorded on April 20–22, 2013, and Copland's symphony was recorded on January 5, 2014. The album was the third recording by the orchestra during

's tenure, following the highly successful '' Music for a Time of War'' (2011) and '' This England'' (2012). Like these albums, ''Spirit of the American Range'' was recorded in hybrid multichannel (

surround sound Surround sound is a technique for enriching the fidelity and depth of sound reproduction by using multiple audio channels from speakers that surround the listener (surround channels). Its first application was in movie theaters. Prior to s ...

)

Super Audio CD Super Audio CD (SACD) is an optical disc format for audio storage introduced in 1999. It was developed jointly by Sony and Philips Electronics and intended to be the successor to the Compact Disc (CD) format. The SACD format allows multiple a ...

format by Soundmirror recording engineers John Newton and Blanton Alspaugh. Mark Donahue served as the mixing and mastering engineer. The album's

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

are credited to Elizabeth Schwartz with German translations by Franz Steiger; its cover photo was taken by Martha Warrington, and it features designs by Freshu. Angelina Jambrekovic served as a product manager. Job Maarse, artistic director of Pentatone, said of the album's origins:

From day one the cooperation between Pentatone and the Oregon Symphony and its Music Director Carlos Kalmar has been something magical. The quality of the orchestra and the program ideas of Carlos Kalmar attracted the attention of a large group of music lovers in and outside the U.S. During a pleasant meeting at the Chicago airport almost two years ago the idea for this new album was discussed. I believe all at the table liked it and now everybody can hear how these three pieces, although by composers with different styles, fit perfectly in one program. And of course the Copland Symphony is one of the best pieces ever written by an American composer.

Kalmar said of the recording, "It is a great pleasure to share these important American works for which I have the greatest fondness and appreciation. They aren't widely performed and certainly deserve to be enjoyed by a wider public." ''Spirit of the American Range'' was funded in part by the James DePreist Fund for Broadcast and Recording.

Works

''The Incredible Flutist'' (1938), Piston's only composition for the stage, received its premiere at Symphony Hall on May 30, 1938 by the

Boston Pops The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Sym ...

under

Arthur Fiedler Arthur Fiedler (December 17, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was an American conductor known for his association with both the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one ...

. The performance featured work by dancer-choreographer Hans Wiener and his ballet company. The ballet is about residents of a small village becoming enchanted by a flutist affiliated with a traveling circus. Antheil's "A Jazz Symphony" was composed in 1925 and premiered at Carnegie Hall on April 10, 1927. It is written for two oboes, two clarinets, one soprano saxophone, one alto saxophone, one tenor saxophone, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, percussion, a drum set, two pianos, two banjos (one doubling guitar), strings, and solo piano. According to Antheil, the work is: "one of the very first symphonic expressions which attempted to synthesize American jazz as a legitimate symphonic expression". Copland's third symphony was composed between 1944 and September 1946, and was premiered by Serge Koussevitzky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra on October 18, 1946. It is written for three flutes, two piccolos, three oboes and English horn, two clarinets, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones and tuba, timpani, two harps, celesta, piano, strings, and a variety of percussion instruments, including bass drum, tam-tam, cymbals, xylophone, glockenspiel, tenor drum, wood block, snare drum, triangle, slapstick, ratchet, anvil, claves, and tubular bells. Copland said the work would "reflect the euphoric spirit of the country at the time".

Broadcasts and reception

KQAC All Classical Portland (89.9 FM, "KQAC") is an American classical radio station licensed to serve the community of Portland, Oregon. KQAC is owned by All Classical Public Media, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. This classical music ser ...

(89.9 FM, "All Classical Portland") broadcast the album on January 8, 2015 and made it available to stream on its website. The station offered the album as a thank-you gift to donors during a fundraising campaign. ''Classical Voice North America'' Paul E. Robinson said the album's contents were unrelated to its title, and had "nothing whatever to do with the early days of the American West", but complimented the orchestra's performances. He praised the "excellent" flute soloist in ''The Incredible Flutist'', called the performance of Copland's symphony "more careful than inspired", and noted the "vast dynamic range" created by the label's sound technology. Peter Dickinson of '' Gramophone'' compared Kalmar's interpretation of Symphony No. 3 to other available recordings: "Kalmar and the Oregon Symphony are impressive and create a challenge to the established choices. Kalmar is a minute shorter than Bernstein in both the opening movement and fanfare finale. Overall his interpretation is similar to Bernstein's, and the orchestra's expert handling of the work suggests that they should record more." Furthermore, he wrote, "Engineering is excellent but individual tracks for the Piston would have been a help."

Anthony Tommasini Anthony Carl Tommasini (born April 14, 1948) is an American music critic and author who specializes in classical music. Described as "a discerning critic, whose taste, knowledge and judgment have made him a must-read", Tommasini was the chief ...

, music critic for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', called the recording "exciting" and said the Piston piece received a "supple, colorful performance". He complimented "A Jazz Symphony", which he said "emerges here as a savvy, audacious score", and ended his review with: "Best of all is an urgent, superbly played account of Copland's Third Symphony." ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...

'' David Stabler praised the Oregon Symphony for recording the lesser-known works by Piston and Antheil. The album received a

nomination for Best Orchestral Performance at the

58th Annual Grammy Awards The 58th Annual Grammy Awards was held on February 15, 2016, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognizes the best recordings, compositions and artists of the eligibility year, which was from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 20 ...

, marking the third for Kalmar and the orchestra. In addition, Alspaugh was nominated for

. Kalmer said of the recognition, "I think this is a confirmation of the excellent quality that the orchestra is offering. In my mind, it's very important that we get nominated. Whether we get the Grammy or not has so many other components." Christine Whiteside, executive director of the Oregon Symphony Association in Salem, said, "It validates the quality of the Oregon Symphony, and what a great honor it is to have a Grammy-nominated orchestra play in Salem."

Track listing

# "Suite from ''

''" (

) – 17:12 # " A Jazz Symphony" (

) – 7:07 ; Symphony No. 3 (

) #

"Molto Moderato, with simple expression'" – 9:55 # "Allegro molto" – 7:55 # "Andantino quasi allegretto" – 10:13 # "Motto deliberato (Fanfare) – Allegro risoluto" – 12:55 Track listing adapted from the album's liner notes. Includes: Introduction; Siesta Hours in the Marketplace and Entrance of the Vendors; Dance of the Vendors; Entrance of the Customers, Tango of the Four Daughters, Arrival of Circus and Circus March; Solo of the Flutist; Minuet: Dance of the Widow and Merchant; Spanish Waltz; Eight O'Clock Strikes; Siciliano: Dance of the Flutist and the Merchant's Daughter; Polka; Finale.

Personnel

* Blanton Alspaugh – recording engineer * Mark Donahue – mixing and mastering engineer * freshu – design * Angelina Jambrekovic – product manager *

– conductor * John Newton – recording engineer * Elizabeth Schwartz –

* Franz Steiger – German translation (liner notes) * Martha Warrington – cover photography

Orchestra roster

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

– Sarah Kwak, Peter Frajola, Maria Stanley Smith, Erin Furbee, Chien Tan, Inés Voglar Belgique, Fumino Ando, Keiko Araki, Clarisse Atcherson, Ron Blessinger, Lily Burton*, Ruby Chen, Emily Cole, Julie Coleman, Dolores D'Aigle, Eileen Deiss, Lisbeth Dreier*, Jonathan Dubay, Gregory Ewer, Daniel Ge Feng, Lynne Finch, Kathryn Gray, Shin-young Kwon, Ryan Lee, Vali Phillips, Deborah Singer, Raffaela Wahby* *

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

– Joël Belgique, Charles Noble, Jennifer Arnold, Silu Fei, Leah Ilem, Brian Quincey, Viorel Russo, Stephen Price, Martha Warrington, Kenneth Freed^, Jin Ningning^ *

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

– Nancy Ives, Marilyn de Oliveira, Kenneth Finch, Trevor Fitzpatrick, Gayle Budd O'Grady, Timothy Scott, David Socolofsky, Heather Blackburn^ * bass – Frank Diliberto, Edward Botsford**, Jeffrey Johnson, Kate Munagian*, Jason Schooler, Brian Johnson, David Parmeter^ * flute – Jessica Sindell, Alicia DiDonato Paulsen, Zachariah Galatis, Molly Barth^, Sarah Tiedemann^ * piccolo – Zachariah Galatis *

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

– Martin Hebert, Karen Wagner, Kyle Mustain * English horn – Kyle Mustain * clarinet – Yoshinori Nakao, Todd Kuhns, Mark Dubac, Carol Robe^ * bass clarinet – Todd Kuhns * bassoon – Carin Miller Packwood, Evan Kuhlmann**, Adam Trussell * contrabassoon – Evan Kuhlmann, Steve Vaccchi^ *

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

– John Cox, Joseph Berger, Graham Kingsbury, Mary Grant, Alicia Waite *

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

– Jeffrey Work, David Bamonte, Micah Wilkinson, Charles Butler^, Steve Conrow^ *

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

– Aaron LaVere, Robert Taylor, Charles Reneau * bass trombone – Charles Reneau *

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

– JáTtik Clark *

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

– Jonathan Greeney *

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

– Niel DePonte, Sergio Carreno, Michael Roberts, Brian Gardiner^, Gordon Rencher^, Chris Whyte^ * harp – Jennifer Craig, Jenny Lindner^ *

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

– Yoko Greeney^, Carol Rich^ Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. "*" denotes acting musicians; "**" denotes principals on Copland; "^" denotes guest musicians.

References

External links

George Antheil, Walter Piston, Aaron Copland – Spirit of the American Range
at Pentatone *
''Spirit of the American Range''
at Native DSD, Pentatone
Oregon Symphony Discography

at Musicweb
The Oregon Symphony: Spirit of the American Range
at Soundmirror {{Good article 2015 albums 2015 in Portland, Oregon Albums produced by Blanton Alspaugh Albums recorded at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall Oregon Symphony albums PentaTone Classics albums