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Symphony 1;
Song for America;
Oboe Serenade; Hangoverture
H
David Myers, St. Petersburg Symphony/Yuval Waldman –
Centaur 2885 –
49
minutes.
This is the kind of music you can listen to for
hours and hours and find nothing to complain about.
It happened to me. American composer Stephen
Perillo writes music that is cheerful, perky, and in
places downright goofy. Yet along the way he
suggests moods from Prokofieff and Shostakovich
without stealing from either one (as in the manner
of George Antheil or Ellen Taaffe Zwilich). The
composer openly admits this. He has absorbed all
that is truly good from the American composers of
the 20th Century. His Symphony 1 (no
date given) has dance cadences from Peter and the
Wolf (intentionally) but you’ll also hear some
of Rachmaninoff’s lyricism. It’s a work dedicated
to the Russian romantics, and the opening strings in
1 will make you swoon. (Who writes like this
anymore?) It also helps to have a competent Russian
orchestra and conductor sympathetic to the material.
What a delight!
Song for America
(2002) is a throwback anthem to something you might
hear on the town lawn in the summer of 1940. Of
course, back then, what you’d hear would sound
either like Roy Harris or Aaron Copland; Perillo
sounds nothing like those guys. His Oboe
Serenade (no date) was written for – and is
performed very well by – H David Myers. This work
reminded me of some of the mid-century British
romantics, notably Finzi, Ireland and Moeran.
I
used the word “goofy” earlier; I was thinking mostly
of Hangoverture, which Perillo wrote for the
aftermath of December 31st 1999, the
turnover to the next century. The title says it
all. Mr. Perillo has written hundreds of songs,
quartets, trios and a few other large pieces for
orchestra—and all of them at night. During the day
he runs Perillo Tours in New Jersey. And if you
look up his web site, you’ll see a happy, smiling
face to go with the music. I enjoyed these
compositions immensely. I hope some of you take the
time to track this music down.
-COOK |
