Caprice Variations

One of the most prolific American composers in the 20th century, Naxos continues to champion the works of George Rochberg with the first volume of his flute music. Having suffered two traumatic experiences, the first in front-line service during the Second World War, and the later death of his 15-year-old son, we have very differing versions of Rochberg depending on the music’s date of composition. The present disc covers the period from 1970 through to 1982, which places them after the second of those events, a confused era where he was seeking to reintroduce beauty into his scores with a return to tonality. The first is a flute transcription, by the disc’s soloist, Christiana Jennings, of his Caprice Variations, originally composed for solo violin, the theme taken from Paganini’s much used 24th Caprice. Rochberg’s original concept was a quite monumental score of fifty-one variations, from which Jennings has taken twenty-one, playing them in the original order, but omitting some along the way. She has created a virtuoso showpiece that uses a whole spectrum of flute techniques, none more fascinating than in her twelfth (close to the original 24th), the work still taking almost half an hour. It is very attractive for the listener, and should really form part of the standard flute recital repertoire. […] The soloist’s friendship with the composer goes back to the days when the Concord String Quartet—of which her father was a member—gave the first performances of four of Rochberg’s quartets. With that backdrop we can take this disc as offering worthy benchmark recordings, the sound quality of the highest order. Much commended.
-David Denton© 2015 David’s Review Corner

Stateside composer George Rochberg (1918-2005) was one of the first prominent serialists to abandon the imposed rigor of high modernism when he suffered the death of his son in 1964. From that point on his music turned back to a modern tonality, using baroque, romantic and original means to craft an equally personal style.

It is music from the later period we hear in his Complete Flute Music 1 (Naxos 8.559776), the first in a series of volumes featuring flautist Christina Jennings in the spotlight role. Christina is not only a flautist of great technical and artistic ability, she also is the daughter of Andrew Jennings, the second violinist of the celebrated Concord String Quartet, who rehearsed Rochberg String Quartets in the Jennings home as she grew up. So Rochberg's music was something she absorbed at an early age.

The sympathy she early-on gained comes through nicely in her performance here of three very evocative works.

‘Caprice Variations’ is a series of 20 freely treated variations on the well-known Paganini theme, originally written for solo violin. Ms. Jennings has transcribed 20 of them for the solo flute, with the principal theme stated at the end. It all sounds perfectly suited for flute and Ms. Jennings projects the various melodic moods with a beautiful tone and lively phrasing that seems quite right. There are times when her virtuosity seems virtually unparalleled in this performance. Bravo!

[…] then you get the engaging ‘Caprice Variations’ as a very pleasurable bonus. Christina Jennings soars with wondrous performances that satisfy, and Johnson and Han sound perfect in their parts as well.

It is vintage later Rochberg, music that is accessible to all listeners who make the effort, but a welcome addition to those who already appreciate Rochberg and his version of later modernism. It is a winner!
-Grego Applegate Edwards © 2015, Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review