Ferde Grofé - Death Valley Suite; Hudson River Suite; Hollywood Suite (William T. Stromberg)

Information

Composer: Ferde Grofé

• 6 Pictures of Hollywood
• Hudson River Suite
• Death Valley Suite

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

William T. Stromberg, conductor

Date: 2002

Label: Naxos

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Review

Richard Strauss once famously remarked: “I may not be a first rate composer, but I am a very good second rate composer.” The same might be said of Ferde Grofé. He’s not going to win any medals for formal ingenuity, expressive depth, or contrapuntal mastery, but he knew how to orchestrate, he could turn out a good tune, and, like Gershwin’s, his particular take on symphonic jazz remains irresistibly attractive. What once may have sounded cheap and glitzy now has period charm, and we can only hope that this second Naxos disc devoted to his symphonic suites won’t be the last.

There’s some great stuff here. The opening Hollywood Suite contains a dazzling movement called “Carpenters and Electricians” and a delightfully toe-tapping “Production Number”. The Hudson River Suite offers evocative nature sounds and some authentic dog barks in “Rip Van Winkle”, and concludes with a calamitous, Ivesian tribute to New York City. The Death Valley Suite features a vivid portrait of a wagon train, and like the more famous Grand Canyon Suite ends with violent weather (in this case a sandstorm). William Stromberg leads the Bournemouth Symphony in totally enjoyable performances, vividly recorded, with some particularly brilliant work from the brass section. If you like the Grand Canyon Suite, you’ll be pleased to know that there’s a lot more where that came from, and it’s no less worthy of your attention.

— David Hurwitz

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Ferde Grofé (27 March 1892 – 3 April 1972) was an influential American composer and arranger. Raised in a musical family, he became a versatile performer and later introduced innovative arranging techniques that separated brass and reed sections, contributing to early big band jazz. As pianist and chief arranger for Paul Whiteman orchestra, Grofé orchestrated George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and helped blend jazz rhythms with classical forms. His own notable works include Grand Canyon Suite and Mississippi Suite, along with later programmatic orchestral compositions and film scores.

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William Stromberg (born 1964) is an American composer and conductor. Influenced by composers such as Korngold, Herrmann and Steiner, he pursued formal training in Hollywood under film composer John Morgan. Stromberg has composed music for over a dozen feature films and earned recognition as a skilled conductor. In collaboration with Morgan, he has reconstructed and recorded numerous classic film scores for major labels including Naxos and Marco Polo. He has also conducted acclaimed recordings of American concert music and remains active internationally as a conductor and recording artist.

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