David Kaplan: New Dances of the League of David
New Focus Recordings

A more fascinating and original treatment of Robert Schumann's music than David Kaplan's New Dances of the League of David would be hard to imagine. On this splendid release, the LA-based pianist presents the composer's Davidsbündlertänze but with a twist: having commissioned a decade ago miniatures by American composers that idiosyncratically reply to Schumann's 1830s creation, Kaplan has coupled the new with the old, the result a riveting portrait in twenty-eight parts, thirteen short pieces from the original alongside fifteen reimaginings. Also known as the “League of David” for the fact that the original includes contrasting pieces representative of the musical society Schumann fashioned (including the impetuous force-of-nature Florestan and dreamy introvert Eusebius), the already eclectic work becomes exponentially more so when the new additions are factored into the equation.

Yet while the differences between the parts are sometimes pronounced, one of the recording's most striking aspects is how cohesive and uniform it sounds. While that's explained by the fact that each composer created material in direct response to a particular Schumann setting, their creations so seamlessly blend into the project that New Dances of the League of David, with an exception or two, could pass for a Schumann work full stop. And it's not that the commissioned composers effaced themselves to achieve that result, but that they managed to produce material that expresses who they are whilst also staying true to the poetic originals. Followers of contemporary composition will recognize many of the participants involved, among them Caroline Shaw, Caleb Burhans, Ted Hearne, Han Lash, Gabriel Kahane, Timo Andres, Augusta Read Thomas, and Martin Bresnick.

Kaplan plays with finesse throughout, his technique of course at a level that enables him to meet any technical and interpretative challenge with seeming ease. Currently Assistant Professor and Inaugural Shapiro Family Chair in Piano Performance at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music (where he has taught since 2016 and where the album was recorded in June 2017), Kaplan is a graduate of UCLA and Yale who's performed as a soloist and recitalist worldwide. As distinguished a music scholar as pianist, Kaplan also wrote liner notes that illuminate the work in general and then one part at a time.

He was largely hands-off when it came to directing the interpreters, his primary instructions being that they align themselves with either Eusebius or Florestan and that they create their pieces as “interruptions or interludes” to the original movements. As the pianist notes, some elected to alternate their music with that of Schumann phrase by phrase, whereas others dealt with the original material holistically from a macro view. Some elaborated on fragments, others re-harmonized the composer's melodies. Beyond performance, Kaplan's greater task involved overall arrangement with respect to determining the most effective sequence for the parts. Detailed explanations for why he placed them where he did are included in his notes for those wanting a deeper dive.

Melodic ingenuity is abundant, whether we're talking about the original or the new material. Evoking Florestan dynamism, Schumann originals such as “Mit Humor,” “Wild und lustig,” and “Frisch” are grandiose, playful, and high-spirited. A poetic reverie such as “Balladenmässig. Sehr rasch,” on the other hand, alludes to Eusebius, while “Zart und singend” seems to oscillate between the poles. Two parts by the composer set the scene—the floridity of “Lebhaft” followed by the serenity of “Innig”—before Thomas initiates the set of new miniatures with Morse Code Fantasy – Homage to Robert Schumann, her contribution a jittery combination of code communication gestures and Schumann's trademark mischievousness.

Bresnick's Bundists (Robert, György and me) Etwas ungeduldig pulls Ligeti, one of Bresnick's own teachers, into its spiraling orbit. Testifying to the at times seamless flow engendered by Kaplan's sequencing, Michael Brown's Ungeduldig follows Bresnick's so smoothly one might not even be aware of the change. The same might be said of the sequence late in the recording when the transition from Shaw's piece to Schumann's “Mit gutem Humor” and then Samuel Carl Adams's XVII. (Quietly, from Afar) transpires as subtly.

Marcos Balter's contribution—its title nothing more than three stars—plunges into the cryptic and crepuscular sides of Schumann's world by reharmonizing one of the Davidsbündlertänze melodies. By comparison, Kahane's No. 6 Sehr rasch und in sich hinein is rousing in the extreme, even if a few hushed moments enter into the somewhat percussive design. Speaking of percussive, the piece that's most disruptive to the overall feel is Hearne's Tänze (with a sense of urgency) for its involving “thumping around inside the piano” (Kaplan's words); the pianist himself acknowledges that Hearne's piece was “too disorienting to audiences” when positioned at the beginning of the work and so decided to place it halfway through.

Andres' Saccades presents one of the most tender expressions, while Andrew Norman's Vorspiel is hushed too yet more enigmatic in its coupling of shadowy dissonance and rhythmic buoyancy. Ryan Francis's pretty, Eusebius-associated Reminiscence (Delicate, wandering) is as wistful and lyrical as expected. Elsewhere, Lash's Liebesbrief an Schumann tickles the ear with tiny ascending chromatic flourishes that segue into a skeletal nocturnal statement. Blossoming from the kernel of a micro-motive, Shaw's XVI. (mit gutem Humor, un poco lol ma con serioso vibes) gallops at a brisk space until pausing halfway through for a lovely chorale. In the encore position, the stateliness of Burhans' elegiac Leid mit Mut (Molto Rubato) proves an effective partner to Schumann's entrancing “Einfach.”

September 2024