Carl Ruggles - Men and Mountains

Описание: Carl Ruggles (1876 - 1971) - Men and Mountains (1924, rev. 1935)

I. Men: A Rhapsodic Proclamation [0:00]
II. Lilacs [2:59]
III. Marching Mountains [5:34]

The Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi (1994)

Carl Ruggles's Men and Mountains is a work for orchestra in three movements, typically lasting around 10 minutes. The work's title and the titles of the first and third movements come from a quote by William Blake: "Great things are done when Men and Mountains Meet." The second movement pays homage to Walt Whitman’s poem "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d." Originally completed and premiered in 1924, Ruggles later revised the work for a larger orchestra.

"The tumultuous opening to the first movement is a bold rhapsodic proclamation for horns and orchestra. This music is quintessential Ruggles, with angular melodies, long dynamic leaps and music littered with complex meter changes. The dramatic high pitched strings opening that leads to a general pause across the orchestra adds to the sheer drama of this music. The brass take centre stage in this movement, with the french horns being at the forefront with their highly Romantic fanfare lines. The piano also plays an essential part in this movement, as Ruggles often uses it as a transition into a new section of the music. The climax built up from the middle of the movement until the end explodes in colour and sound, with the strings playing in a very high octave, the winds and most notably the piccolo flute, also playing high. This stormy first movement sets a very dynamic and powerful atmosphere.

Contrary to the stormy first movement, the second movement Lilacs is scored for strings alone. There is a sense of lyricism, however Ruggles’ unique point of view is still embedded throughout the music. The persistent angular melodies and constant changes in metre gives you a real insight into the sound world of Ruggles. The movement opens with a descending two-note motive, that is then repeated throughout the music. The music in this movement is very intense in its own right. It aches and pulsates through the jaunty movements and the added vibrato being used. The dissonant harmonies, similar to the opening movement, brand this work as modernist. This movement has been described as being 'modernist mysticism' – a description that Ruggles would have likely agreed with. Throughout this intense slow movement there are opportunities to witness Ruggles’ artistic integrity through what seems like a very personal account.

Similarly to the first movement, Mountains opens with a similar brass-led, general pause populated beginning. The strong unity in the chordal movement brings to life Ruggles’ complex harmonic language throughout the work. The aggressive temperament of this movement is highlighted through this unity, as well as the bold proclamations given by the whole brass section this time. After a whirlwind of sound, the texture and dynamics quickly drop to an intimate passage led by the winds. This fragment offers some sort of soloistic reply to the strings heard before.This more gentle section has soon moved on, and the original aggressive intensity of the music begins reaching its largest climax. The strings lead us out of this section back into the tumultuous storm of the journey over the mountain. The orchestra unite once more in a what seems a much more dramatic account of Ruggles’ harmonic movement. With general pauses adding drama and a breath of silence before it starts again, the music is thrilling and it’s tricky to know where it will go next which adds to the excitement. The build up to the end of this movement has been likened to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony due to Ruggles’ use of the short-short-short-long structure. Rhythmically the brass and strings move together here to play this theme, which leads to fateful climax at the end of the work."

(source: https://classicalexburns.com/2019/04/...)