The name of Ingolf Dahl might not be an easily familiar one to the average or casual classical listener, but he was a giant in the 20th century American West Coast school, as a teacher at USC, composer, and conductor. Despite Dahl's undeserved obscurity, such is the devotion of his former students to Dahl's memory that tributes to him, in various forms, periodically appear. A major tribute is this recording, which appeared in 1995. Coordinated by Dahl's former student Michael Tilson Thomas, it was released under the title Defining Dahl on the British Argo label. Tilson Thomas leads the New World Symphony in Dahl's Hymn (1947) and the symphonic legend The Tower of Saint Barbara (1954), the brass section of the New World Symphony pitches in on Dahl's Music for brass instruments (1944) and ace English saxophonist John Harle tackles the lead in the Concerto for alto saxophone (1954).
Although Dahl stuck a tentative toe into serial techniques, particularly late in his short life, his signature sound was based in neo-classicism, but utilized a renewed form of it that threw open the windows and allowed a little California sunshine in by way of its special modality and character. Dahl was a former student of Nadia Boulanger, and close to Igor Stravinsky, and both of these influences, and more, are apparent in Dahl's music which is solidly scored, brightly rhythmic, and serious in intent, but packed with attractive and occasionally off-kilter harmonies. The qualities of the brass writing in Music for brass instruments should easily commend itself to university-based brass ensembles and the Saxophone Concerto -- viewed as a key concerto in concert saxophone circles -- is literally like no other; the saxophone and ripieno commingle rather than clash, and Harle does a splendid job of making the solo part sparkle. The Hymn, based on a piano piece and orchestrated by Lawrence Morton after Dahl's death, is solemn and dynamically evolutionary, taking its time over the course of 10 minutes to evolve an eloquent statement of faith. The Tower of Saint Barbara is the only purely orchestral work Dahl created; it is dramatic, quite sober, and was intended as a ballet, though it also has strong cinematic overtones.
The Argo release of this disc swiftly disappeared, but with the re-release of this fine and important CD on the Phoenix USA label as Music of Ingolf Dahl, one is hopeful that it will find a wider audience than it managed to attract in 1995.
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