By Nereffid
25-Jan-2008

Old-fashioned lyricism  On the evidence of this disc, Fuchs produces music that's undemanding of its listeners but never shallow. The first track was written for the LSO, who perform it here. The name United Artists of course suggests movies, and the LSO has recorded a lot of music for movies; thus it's perhaps no surprise that it sounds the way it does - an orchestral workout that gives everyone something to do, with plenty of fanfarey brass. It's enjoyable. The other orchestral work on the disc is Canticle to the Sun. Based on the hymn that begins "All creatures of our God and King", it's a concerto written for horn player Timothy Jones. Essentially it's an easy-going celebration of nature. There are some wonderful moments throughout, and the peaceful coda is a lovely way to end the disc. The rest of the program consists of 3 works for various quintet groupings. Quiet in the Land is scored for flute, cor anglais, clarinet, viola, and cello and mostly in contemplative vein; it's an absolutely gorgeous piece and the disc's highlight.

Fire, Ice, and Summer Bronze, written 1986 and the only work more than 5 years old, is a brass quintet based on a pair of abstract expressionist works by Helen Frankenthaler. It moves from restlessness and to a vague serenity and then to repose.

Another piece of abstract expressionism appears in the form of the woodwind quintet Autumn Rhythm, inspired by Jackson Pollock's painting of the same name. My inital reaction was sceptical, but looking at the painting while the music played I could see where Fuchs was coming from. An intriguing feature of the music is that some of the players change instruments toward the end, so that the piece ends in a lower register than it began. Again, this is a charming and relaxed piece.

This is all old-fashioned-sounding music, but it surely will please anyone who appreciates lyricism. This is feel-good music.more....

By Steven Ritter
Audiophile Audition
25-Jun-2008

Based on two Grammy nominations for the first disc of Fuch's music that Naxos produced in 2005 with the LSO and Falletta, the company has apparently decided to see if lightning will strike twice in the same place. Based on what I hear here, it may, though not everything is of consistent quality. I have made no bones about my admiration for JoAnn Falletta, and the LSO is playing like the best orchestra in the world these days, so any disc will stand a chance of success with these two ingredients. Add to the mix the amazing first chair hornist of the LSO and a concerto that serves him well, based on the poem by Francis of Assisi ("All creatures of our God and King", etc.), and you have a winning combination. This work is startling in its technical proficiencies, based on a four-note motif that is battered and transfigured endlessly (and deliciously, and even hints of Britten in places, particularly in the scoring), and has a flowing, graceful feel to the phasing. This is an important work, and horn players especially can be glad.

Quiet in the Land is scored for flute, English horn, clarinet, viola, and cello, and is a delightful meditation on the expanses of the Midwestern United States. Fuchs indicates it was written during the time of Gulf War II, and as such provides a needed and responsible respite from hyperbole while reflecting on the true spirit of this land. Fire, Ice, and Summer Bronze seems to me the weakest work here, though by no means negligible. It is the third work of the composer inspired by the abstract expressionist Helen Frankenthaler, and perhaps that is the problem; the music is seems disjointed without any sort of tangible connectedness. Nicely scored, but ultimately falling just short of the meaningfulness present in these other pieces.

Autumn Rhythm is for woodwind quintet, and successfully captures the spirit of the painting of the same name, by American iconoclast Jackson Pollack, whose fantastically beautiful "drip" paintings are among the collective genius of American art. This work is brilliantly scored for the perfect ensemble, as it seems like only winds could successfully provide both the lyrical and the spiky moments so needed for such a portrayal as this. United Artists is a work for orchestra inspired by the first recording sessions that Fuchs had with the LSO--it is an effective opener to this disc, broad spaced and nicely fanfare-ish in nature.

The sound is first class here, and Naxos has done a fine service by presenting more of Fuch's muse to the public. A definite winner all around!

By Gimbel
American Record Guide
01-May-2008

Kenneth Fuchs (b. 1956) studied at Juilliard with Diamond and Persichetti, absorbing that 40s and 50s Americanist spirit still in the halls back then (he studied previously with Alfred Reed, who also must have nurtured the style). The music here is soundly tonal, resolutely conservative, and devoid of abrasion. Half of the pieces are for orchestra; the other half is chamber music.

United Artists (2006) is a joyous, highly cinematic opener for orchestra (hence, I imagine, the title). Mr Fuchs is a fine orchestrator (Reed's doing), and the LSD responds enthusiastically. The three 'Idylls' for chamber quintets are beautifully played by LSD members. Quiet in the Land (2003) is a peaceful bit of Midwestern Americana for mixed quintet of winds and strings.

The next two of these pieces were inspired by visual art. Fire, Ice, and Summer Bronze (1986) is a two-movement essay for brass quintet on works by Helen Frankenthaler (it is her sunny silkscreen that graces the jewel box). The two movement's characters are fanfare­like and pensive. The second of these works, Autumn Rhythm (2006) for woodwind quintet, takes its title from the painting by Jackson Pollock. In three casually structured, improvisatory sections, the piece retains the composer's Americanist language while simulating Pollock's drips and random motion. (Dan Trueman's cheery string quartet Spring Rhythm, on Bridge 9149 [N/D 2004], offers another interesting "hearing" of this venerable painting.) Like all of these pieces, the emphasis is on optimistic lyricism, not at all of our time (or Pollock's, for that matter). All of these pieces should take their place in the university chamber music repertoire, sure to be enjoyed by players and audiences alike, especially if played as well as they are here.

The best is saved for last with Canticle to the Sun (2005), a vivacious Horn Concerto written for LSD Principal Timothy Jones. The 20-minute, single-movement piece is based on a hymn tune from the Geistliche Kirchengesang, set in 1906 by Vaughan Williams but mostly sung today in William Draper's 1925 version ('All Creatures of our God and King'). The concerto is thoroughly cheerful, warm, and delighted with life–an unusual description for most music and art today. Soloist Jones is a formidable virtuoso and puts forth the work with stunning assurance. The orchestral works in particular are good reasons to pick up this disc. Notes by the composer.

By S.G.S.
ClassicalCDReview.com
01-Apr-2008

Kenneth Fuchs studied with, among others, Babbitt, Diamond, and Persichetti. In sound, Persichetti exercises the dominating influence, but Babbitt probably wields more in Fuch's habits of construction.

Most immediately, the sound of Fuchs's music grabs your attention in ways similar to Copland's. Bright, lean sonorities -- high strings, widely-spaced chords, big-shoulder brass, and so on -- prevail. Yet, also like Copland, Fuchs has more to offer than orchestration -- namely, real matter and argument.

By David Denton
01-Feb-2008

Writing about a previous Kenneth Fuch’s disc issued by Naxos in August 2005, I described the American-born composer as one of a growing breed who are bringing listeners in from the cold world of ‘Contemporary’ music. Critics, of course, have been notoriously inaccurate when judging composers of their own time, and those totally peculiar sounds we all too often hear may well prove to be the music of tomorrow. But for the present time today’s composers must tempt back into the concert hall audiences alienated by Schoenberg and his merry gang. It was the making of that earlier disc with the London Symphony Orchestra that Fuch’s conceived the idea of writing Canticle to the Sun and United Artists in tribute to the orchestra, and to the principal horn, Timothy Jones, in particular. United Artists will easily excite the most conservative ears, every department of the orchestra given scope to exhibit their virtuosity. At times Fuchs does ask us to journey with him to a different sound world, as you will encounter in Fire, Ice and Summer Bronze, for brass quintet composed in 1986 in response to abstract paintings by Helen Frankenthaler. Fuchs wrongly describes his attractive Autumn Rhythm  as for ‘woodwind quintet’ when he really means ‘wind quintet’, the work including the French Horn in a solo role. Canticle to the Sun is not a virtuoso score in the accepted meaning, though the solo role must be very demanding. Jones is outstanding both in the ease with which he plays the technically difficult sections and in the smoothness of legato passages. The London Symphony is superb, the chamber group drawn from the orchestra playing with total conviction. The conductor, JoAnn Falletta, and Fuchs have worked with one another since they met as students, a fact that guarantees Falletta’s high level of insight into the orchestral pieces. Recording quality is impressive.