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Dundonnell
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I hesitate to use the word "masterpiece"(any longer ;D) about a piece of previously unknown music because what I probably really mean is that it is music which presses all the right buttons for me........
...BUT I am simply bowled over by Arnold Rosner's Symphony No.6 on a new Toccata cd. It is a work of extraordinary dramatic power, frequently extremely violent and angry music ("volcanic ferocity and vehemence" as Toccata describes it) but also of hieratic grandeur and magnificent, dignified eloquence. To my ears the work far exceeds Rosner's youthful hero, Alan Hovhaness. Alongside the swirling waves of exciting and shocking power there is a glorious, modal beauty which makes this Rosner's magnum opus....in my opinion at least.
I know that Rosner and his great friend and advocate, the musicologist Walter Simmons (who was the executive producer of the cd) hoped that one day the symphony would be recorded and, although the composer is now sadly deceased, Toccata has done him proud.
The Nocturne for orchestra-which is also on the cd-is a short but equally spell-binding piece....but the symphony! Wow!!
(and yes, I know, Toccata-for whatever reasons-lets one listen to the music in its entirety on their own website 8) The opening bars of the finale will give you a fair idea of the soundworld,)
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