John Powell is one
of those America composers who fits
chronologically between the New England
School (Chadwick, Parker, Beach) and
the "classics" (Copland, Thompson,
Harris). Although well-known in the
mid-years of the century he has been
mostly forgotten since then, partially
because of his reactionary political
and cultural views. Regardless of the
latter he did produce some interesting
music, which the soloist on this disc,
Nicholas Ross, seems anxious to revive.
Powell spent a number
of years in Europe touring as a pianist
before the First World War but had started
composing before this. This recording
contains three of those early works,
written almost simultaneously. They
demonstrate Powell’s preoccupations
with the American South, Anglo-Saxon
folk music and the pianistic style of
Liszt. As a composer Powell became well-known
with In the South, the first
section of which combines slightly salon-style
music with American folksiness. However
the degree of pianistic difficulty is
amazing. Love Poem is a similar
mixture, with a little ragtime thrown
in. It could be described as gracious
but not especially stimulating. The
Negro Elegy is based on both
black and Anglo-Saxon material and proves
more substantial than its two predecessors.
The Pioneer Dance is based on
"The Arkansas Traveler" and
the old tune "Soapsuds". It
proves lively and inventive.
At the Fair
explores different types of American
music of the time and is somewhat simpler
in style but more original in development
than In the South. The first
two sections especially show Powell
developing as a composer. The third,
Merry-go-round is slight, but
Clowns is definitely the most
original section of the suite with its
mixture of blues and ragtime. The
Snake-charmer contains a lot of
charm but I couldn’t find the snakes.
Powell’s handling of the three well-known
folk-melodies in Banjo-picker
again demonstrates his growing compositional
ability, to be further demonstrated
in the Sonata noble and its two
companions, as well as his most famous
work, the Rapsodie Negre of 1917.
Having heard the old
LP recording of Powell’s Sonata teutonica
I expected something rather heavy
and bombastic from the Sonata noble.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The first movement is simple in tone
and almost Bachian in its purity. It
suggests folk music without actually
quoting any folk tunes. The theme of
the second movement is even simpler
with a very imaginative second variation
and a third that is Schumannesque. The
last two variations are the only instances
of more conventional pianistic bravado.
The third movement is a minuet that
has some fascinating manipulation of
the original material in its middle
section. I would have to say that the
last movement is the most interesting
in the piece - the manipulation of the
material is quite striking, accompanied
by trills and repeated figures in the
bass. The overall feeling is one of
nostalgia, which seems to be Powell’s
favorite emotion.
Nicholas Ross’s playing
and advocacy are both to be applauded.
He handles the entire range of emotional
and technical expertise required by
these works almost effortlessly. It
is obvious that he finds Powell not
only unjustly neglected, but possessing
real qualities of originality. The sound
quality on this disc is also commendable:
much more life-like than many piano
recordings that come my way. I assume
from the excellent notes that Mr. Ross
is planning another disc of Powell’s
music and while I am not as convinced
as he is regarding the composer’s stature,
I will definitely be interested to hear
such a disc, both from the point of
view of the music and for the qualities
Mr. Ross contributes.
William Kreindler
for details
Nicholas Ross (piano) 
