Album

This entry in Decca's The Originals series reissues a long-standing favorite from the Decca catalog, available as a full-price Argo CD for many years and present as an LP for as long as Decca continued to make them: Barber: Adagio for Strings by Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Recorded in 1976, in its LP incarnation this issue went a long way toward dispelling the notion that English orchestras were too heavy in body and provincial in tone to interpret American orchestral music in an effective way. Marriner's reading of the title work is the very model of restraint, and he employs a careful building up of mood in Barber's somber masterwork that suits it to a "T." Ives' Symphony No. 3 is likewise well served, if delivered at a tempo that seems a shade quick, particularly in the last movement "Communion." Copland's Quiet City, however, is just about perfect, featuring fine trumpet playing by Michael Laird and the generous reverberation that characterized St. John's in Smith Square, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields' longtime recording "home." Cowell's Hymn and Fuguing Tune No. 10, still relatively obscure in 1976 but in 2007 his most frequently performed orchestral work, is interpreted with sensitivity and expansiveness and features the strong solo work of oboist Celia Nicklin. Creston's A Rumour was not then and was not, in 2007, a famous work, but as a propulsive and clever American orchestral miniature, it fits with the rest of the program.

Since Decca adopted The Originals from Deutsche Grammophon, with which it is a partner since the consolidation of the former Polygram under the Decca banner, the potential for making valuable back catalog issues available remains impressive. Decca did not have a consistent reissue program before, and some of the best Decca reissues in the past have come through licensing agreements with labels other than Decca, particularly Dutton. Barber: Adagio for Strings may seem like a comparatively conservative choice as opposed to some reissues Decca might consider, but in terms of American orchestral literature, this album was about the best album it ever made, and its return to the catalog is certainly welcome. So would be Marriner's superb 1976 recording of Appalachian Spring were it restored to the catalog as well.

© Uncle Dave Lewis , All Music Guide

CD 1
Samuel Barber Composer Adagio for Strings (arr. of 2nd mvmt. of String Quartet), Op.11 Work Sir Neville Marriner Conductor, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Orchestra
1	Adagio for Strings (arr. of 2nd mvmt. of String Quartet), Op.11	8:42			$1.49
Charles Edward Ives Composer Symphony No.3: The Camp Meeting, S.3 Work 21:20 Sir Neville Marriner Conductor, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Orchestra
2	1.Andante: Old Folks Gatherin'	7:49			$1.49
3	2.Allegro: Children's Day	7:19			$1.49
4	3.Largo: Communion	6:12			$0.99
Aaron Copland Composer Quiet City, for English horn, trumpet, and strings Work Celia Nicklin English Horn, Sir Neville Marriner Conductor, Michael Laird Trumpet, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Orchestra
5	Quiet City, for English horn, trumpet, and strings	8:41			$1.49
Henry Cowell Composer Hymn and Fuguing Tune No.10, for oboe and strings, HC813 Work Celia Nicklin Oboe, Sir Neville Marriner Conductor, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Orchestra
6	Hymn and Fuguing Tune No.10, for oboe and strings, HC813	6:51			$0.99
Paul Creston Composer Rumor for orchestra Work Sir Neville Marriner Conductor, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Orchestra
7	Rumor for orchestra	5:51			$0.99