ORFF: Carmina Burana Suite; ARTHUR BIRD: Serenade for Wind Instruments; H. OWEN REED: La Fiesta Mexicana – Peabody Conservatory Wind Ensemble/ Harlan D. Parker – Naxos 8.570242, 74:15 ****:
Shades of those “Opera Without Singing” transcriptions of yore… here are two unexpected arrangements which arrived the same week of the choral classic Carmina Burana – one for large brass ensemble and the other for concert band. The Washington Brass give us more than 40 minutes of the Orff score; Phil Snedecor does all of their arrangements. The rest of their program is fun too – the most unexpected being their version of the grand finale of St.-Saens’s Organ Symphony. This alternate-Universe view of the classic work retains all the original organ and piano parts but reduces the orchestra to 13 brass players and some percussionists.
John Krance was the arranger of the version of the Orff score presented by the Peabody Wind Ensemble. While much shorter – at a bit over 27 minutes – it has more variety of sounds with the capabilities of the concert band, and cleverly captures the primitive simplicity and incisive rhythms of the original without all that Latin and German. It dispenses with some of Orff’s repeats of the songs, which is fine with me. Its disc mates are of special interest too: Arthur Bird is a neglected American composer who lived until 1923, and his Serenade is packed with attractive melodies, occasionally reminding one of Mendelssohn. Reed’s La Fiesta Mexicana was a big hit on Mercury Living Presence years ago – I believe back in mono days. The symphony using Mexican folk song themes is a rousing impression of a religious festival, and the Peabody Winds skillfully bring out both its exuberant and meditative moments. I vote for this CD, but Orff zealots may want to have both.
– John Sunier
