The brief Woodbury Fanfare that opens Naxos' Leroy Anderson: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2, could almost be said to herald the sound of the floodgates opening, as this disc, performed in expertly idiomatic fashion by the
BBC Concert Orchestra under
Leonard Slatkin, introduces five
Anderson compositions never before heard on recordings. Given the relatively high concentration of
Anderson's attention into short pieces, one might get the mistaken impression -- not discouraged by
Anderson himself -- of a Sunday composer who knocked off pieces here and there as a form of recreation. Nothing would be further from the truth; he was a notoriously hard-working composer who also created numerous occasional pieces and arrangements for the
Boston Pops that were played once or twice, tucked in a drawer, and never revisited. These range very widely in expression and purpose; A Harvard Festival (1969) is a sturdy and solid revision of a work written in the 1930s and based on Harvard student songs. By comparison, Whistling Kettle (ca. 1966) was an easy piece for strings that formed part of a projected suite, never finished, entitled The Musical Household. Based around a ciphering E, the piece is strangely nostalgic but unsentimental, and it comes from the side of
Anderson that can roughly be called "experimental" in that it is equally invested in sound as it is to
Anderson's penchant for delivering memorable tunes.
The balance of the program is made up from
Anderson's less familiar material. Much of it is well worth getting to know, such as the comical March of the Two Left Feet (1970), the masterful Victorian miniature Horse and Buggy (1951), and the Suite of Carols for strings (1955), one among a handful of pieces relating to the Christmas season written for the
Boston Pops.
Anderson's music always sparkles with enthusiasm and has that one quality he never worked without -- inspiration -- the component that sets
Anderson apart from other composers in his day who were busily cranking out orchestral bon bons for the public. The extent to which
Anderson's creativity knew no bounds can be awe inspiring to other composers and musicians alike, but for the non-expert listener, there is an awful lot here to enjoy; the version of Jazz Pizzicato (1938) is especially good.
Anderson did all the work so listeners didn't have to, and while not all composers are on the same page with such work ethic, it has helped ensure that
Anderson will have listeners for eternity no matter what more seriously applied minds may think of his work.