Simone Dinnerstein: An American Mosaic
Supertrain Records

Richard Danielpour's An American Mosaic emerged, quite literally, in response to earlier recordings by Simone Dinnerstein. In May 2020, the Grammy Award-winning composer called her from Los Angeles—“out of the blue,” in her words—to say how much her Bach recordings had sustained him through the initial period of the pandemic and, even more significantly, to tell the pianist about a new piece he intended to write for her. Wanting to compose a work that would bring comfort to those suffering, he devised the fifteen miniatures of An American Mosaic to acknowledge segments of the population affected by the pandemic, from doctors and nurses to teachers, parents, frontline workers, and others.

Like its predecessor, Dinnerstein's 2020 release, A Character of Quiet, the new release was recorded at her Brooklyn home, the earlier one in June 2020 and the latter five months later. It's a requiem of sorts for one of the darkest times in our collective history, but it also celebrates the resilience and determination of the human spirit. Danielpour and Dinnerstein collaborated on the material from separate coasts during summer and fall 2020 via phone, e-mail, and Zoom. Consistent with that, the pianist premiered the work online on December 6, 2020 in a virtual concert from home, the album version the physical document of that performance.

Structurally, An American Mosaic is given cohesive form by its interspersing of four “consolations,” each elaborating on its predecessor: after the monodic first is a two-part invention, the third a graceful three-voiced fugue, and the last an elegiac four-part chorale. In addition to the parts that honour heroic individuals, one is dedicated to Black lives lost to the pandemic, while “The Invisible Enemy” is about the virus itself and “The Visible Enemy” written with the Trump administration in mind. Dinnerstein is her usual invested self; every note is given full attention, and her sensitivity to the work's stylistic shifts is unfailing. Some passages are solemn and contemplative, others call upon her technical virtuosity (see “Documentary Filmmakers and Photographers,” which barrels forth torrentially in places, and the boisterous, almost bacchanalian “Journalists, Poets, and Writers”). The performances presented suggest any composer would be thrilled to have her as an interpreter.

Minimal patterns spread insidiously like a virus at the start of “The Visible Enemy” before expanding into an engulfing mass. Darker tonalities understandably surface in a work created against the backdrop of the pandemic, yet Danielpour's writing is often imbued with a lyrical quality that humbly honours individuals and groups. Whereas the rollicking character of “Parents and Children” suggests the restlessness of infants with energy to burn, a quiet, reverential dignity informs “Rabbis and Ministers.” Other episodes are pensive (“The Invisible Enemy”), plaintive (“An Elegy for Our Time”), playful (“Teachers and Students”), and even bluesy (“Prophets and Martyrs”).

Connecting An American Mosaic even more directly to earlier releases by Dinnerstein, the project augments the title work with three Bach transcriptions by Danielpour of material derived from the Mass in B minor and St. Matthew Passion. They don't tie the release to A Character of Quiet, which features material by Glass and Schubert, but instead to her 2018 collaboration with A Far Cry, Circles, which includes Bach's Keyboard Concerto no. 7 in G minor, and a 2007 recording of the Goldberg Variations. The segue from Danielpour to Bach is noticeable the moment “Chorale” begins, but the change doesn't jar when the timeless resonance of “Aria” and “Epilogue” bring such a satisfying resolution to the recording. Enhancing the appeal of this handsomely packaged release is the cover painting Underground, Together, created by Harvey Dinnerstein in 1996, that itself captures the rich tapestry of the American citizenry.

April 2021