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5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant band performances, Dec 4 2003
Here is more proof of the wonderful accomplishments that Mercury Records achieved in its "Living Presence" classical recordings between 1951 and 1968. Those were golden years for American music as Mercury utilized the talents of such conductors as Howard Hanson, Antal Dorati, Paul Paray, and, in this case, Frederick Fennell. Fennell is heard here in vintage, superb high fidelity recordings (circa 1955) with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, one of the outstanding musical groups associated with the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.These works for band or wind ensembles were often performed by college or university bands. Indeed, I heard some of them at the College of San Mateo and San Jose State College during the 1960's, right at the time that Mercury was continuing to issue such fine classical recordings. These performances were all recorded with a single microphone, much like RCA's "New Orthophonic" series, but I have often felt that these had better overall sound than the RCA Red Seal recordings of the early 1950's. The effects of superb, monophonic, high fidelity have seldom been better represented than in the very colorful "La Fiesta Mexicana" by Herbert Owen Reed, given an absolutely dazzling performance by the Eastman musicians. The two suites for military band by Gustav Holst, as well as Ralph Vaughan Williams' "English Folk Song Suite" and "Toccata Marziale" are representative of a high point in British music, the early twentieth century. Holst and Vaughan Williams for good friends and compatriots and they both wrote exceptionally well for wind and brass. These are top-notch performances that set a benchmark for the numerous college and university bands who dared to perform these challenging works. Less known are Peter Mennin's "Canzona for Wind Band" and Vincent Persichetti's "Psalm for Band," but these works by twentieth century American composers are also well performed in these recordings. This compilation is definitely a musical "treasure" and have seldom sounded as good as in the digital remastering by Phillips.
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~ Gustav Holst
