Nature in the Concert Hall: Another Awkward Fit

Some readers may recall that, at the end of last week, I wrote at some length about my discontent with the composer Gabriella Smith’s attempts to take a “back to nature” approach to her compositions. I had just listened to “Rewilding,” which had followed up on a previous encounter with “Tumblebird Contrails.” Both of these pieces had credentials that were at least satisfactory, but they both left me cold. The only positive information I could muster was my previous satisfaction with a program Cheryl E. Leonard had presented entitled Antarctica: Music from the Ice.

Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)

This morning the pendulum swung back to the negative side when I listed to an Aria Classics album, which was released a little less than a month ago. The title of the album is Orchestrating the Wild, and it consists of four compositions by Sarah Louise Bassingthwaighte. The good news is that the major work on the album has nothing to do with the “natural world.” It is a three-movement concerto for double bass and orchestra, with the solo performed by Stephen Schermer. Since I tend to be a sucker for jazz bass solos, I have to say that this “contemporary concerto” was as good a specimen in that genre as I have encountered for some time. Fortunately, it had nothing to do with the album’s title!

Sadly, the other selections were not as engaging. The album was framed by two compositions for full ensemble, beginning with “Cape Flattery Symphonic Poem” and concluding with “A Mountain Symphony.” The latter was preceded by a chamber orchestra composition, “Let There Be Sparrows, then.” The composer had the following to say about these offerings: “I’m inspired by the sound and spirit of everything that is outdoors. … Over the course of 55 minutes, you’ll soar with sparrows, take in stunning views from a mountaintop, feel the air sizzle with insects, and feel the spray of the ocean as you crash against the rocks.”

Now, to be fair, trying to evoke the natural world through concert music is no easy matter. I remember reading the liner notes from my first LP album of Claude Debussy’s “La Mer.” They included a quote from Vincent d’Indy to the effect that he could not “smell, feel, or taste the sea” while listening to the music! Without going to such an extreme, I can only say that none of the “natural” compositions on this album held my attention for very long (the shortest being the first, which was less than seven minutes in duration).

I suppose that my preference for Leonard’s work has to do with her having found just the right “sweet spot” between music and natural sounds. This is a very narrow slice of geography. Nevertheless, she figured out how to make the best of it. In the three “natural” selections on Orchestrating the Wild, Bassingthwaite does not yet seem to have found her own “sweet spot.”