Jeffrey Powers' recital of music for the horn and piano, Into the 21st Century, is something of a misnomer; three of the four pieces were written in the twentieth century, one as early as 1942, and none are forward looking from a musical standpoint. That being said, the CD is a thoroughly engaging presentation of some very attractive music, played with technical security, full, rounded tone, and nuanced musicality. Belgian composer Jane Vignery's appealing sonata is thoroughly French sounding, with impressionistic tendencies fortified by the cosmopolitanism of Les Six. Daniel Baldwin's 2006 Appalachian Suite is expertly written for the horn, emphasizing its mellowest, most sonorous lower middle register. Its four evocative movements are strongly melodic with a folk-like character, in keeping with the regional associations of the piece. The title of Karl Pilss' Three Pieces in the Form of a Sonata might be taken as a riff on Satie's Trois morceaux en forme de poire (Three pieces in the form of a pear), if it were not for the work's utter earnestness. It's described in the program notes as what a horn sonata by Richard Strauss might have sounded like, but except for several of its harmonic moves, it actually more closely resembles the work of Richard's father Franz; that is, it's entirely rooted in a late nineteenth century German Romantic aesthetic. Pianist Vincent Devries provides a sensitive and flexible piano accompaniment. MSR's sound is warm and close enough to pick up on some valve clicks and breaths, which may or may not be a distraction for the listener, depending on his or her requirement for absolute clinical cleanliness in a recording.
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