Virgil Thomson: A Gallery of Portraits for Piano and Other Piano Works
Everbest Music

Virgil Thomson (1896–1989) beams as radiantly from the cover of A Gallery of Portraits for Piano and Other Piano Works as he does on the earlier one for Portraits and Self-Portraits, which after its 1990 appearance on Northeastern Records re-emerged in 2020 on Everbest Music under the title Portraits, Self-Portraits and Songs. And why wouldn't he? With the distinguished pianist Craig Rutenberg, a dear friend and a seasoned performer of the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer's works, at the helm and with more than 150 minutes of material spread across two CDs, Thomson's legacy is honoured splendidly. Together the volumes present the composer's complete set of 150-plus portraits (Thomson's official biographer Anthony Tommasini contends that the “final tally was around 160, though it's hard to pin down since some were left in sketch form”), as beguiling a collection of miniatures as one might hope to encounter. Though the material was recorded in two 2010 sessions and one in 2014, it sounds no worse for wear in arriving a decade later in its physically released form.

Thomson's portraits exude the character of impromptus or perhaps the better word would be sketches, given their analogical similarity to a visual artist's portraits. Rather than labour over the musical evocation, Thomson would compose it in the presence of the subject in a session lasting no more than ninety minutes. Eighty-one portraits were created between 1928 and 1945, four from 1951 to 1972, seven between 1966 and 1975, and after 1981 until the end of his life sixty-seven. Sketches were created of artists and friends, with this latest volume including near its end affectionate portraits of Karen Brown Waltuck, Thomson's long-time secretary, and Rutenberg himself. A scan of the contents includes the names of cultural icons such as Aaron Copland, Tristan Tzara, Pablo Picasso, Lou Harrison, Paul Bowles, John Houseman, and others. In addition to sixty-nine portraits, the release includes Two Sentimental Tangos (comprised of the lustrous “Slow and Smooth” and lyrical “Not Fast”), five selections from the score of the ballet Filling Station, and a four-part suite of music created for the film The Plow That Broke the Plains.

To the degree that it was possible, Thomson attempted in a given portrait to capture the inner person and not just the outward details (in his words, “I do not try evoking visual art; in all my portraits only the sitter's presence is portrayed, not his appearance or his profession”). At the same time, he believed in the value of surrendering to his muse and allowing the music to spontaneously arise as an unedited creative flow. The affection he had for his sitters, many of them friends and acquaintances with whom he interacted daily, is omnipresent, no matter how contrasting stylistically one is from the next. Some are simple, others complex; some as melodious as a pop song, others as refined as a classical sonata (e.g., Prelude and Fugue, his portrait of Miss Agnes Rindge). That he was able to establish the character of a piece so succinctly speaks to his remarkable powers of invention and imagination.

A joyful tone is established immediately by the lively Madame Dubost chez elle, but other tonal flavours emerge soon enough. Russell Hitchcock, Reading is reflective yet happy, A Portrait of R. Kirk Askew, Jr. elegiac, Malitte Matta florid, and Barbara Epstein effervescent. Whereas Souvenir, Thomson's portrait of Paul Bowles, exudes some of the enigmatic mystery of the man who wrote The Sheltering Sky, Travelling in Spain, the composer's rendering of Alice Woodfin Branlière, is suitably expansive and wide-eyed. Jere Abbott is represented by a solemn Meditation, while Harold Lewis Cook's portrait is an endearing Connecticut Waltz. Interestingly, two portraits of Herbert Whiting appear, with the first A Day Dream performed as it is in the unpublished manuscript that was created in his presence and the second the formally published version. Written for Louis Lange, A French Boy of Ten is marked by youthful joy, while Catalan Waltz, a portrait of Ramon Senabre conveys childlike innocence. Occasional surprises occur. One wouldn't expect, for instance, Thomson's portrait of Tzara, one of the dada movement's prime movers, to be a lyrical Pastorale, but that's seemingly the impression the composer developed during his session with the artist.

Having Selections from "Filling Station" and Suite from "The Plow that Broke the Plains” interspersed is effective for breaking up what would otherwise be an uninterrupted flow of portrait vignettes. A strong American folk influence permeates the five parts of the former, as does a nostalgic tone, and melody and drama are key too; a plaintive quality pervades the “Prelude” in Thomson's elegant film score; “Cowboy Songs,” by contrast, is light-heartedly spirited and jovial, and “Blues” is, well, delectably blues-tinged.

Thomson believed that the presence of Picasso seeped into his portrait of Dora Maar, one of the artist's many romantic partners, by way of an assertive bass part; the composer's musical portrayal of Picasso himself, Bugles and Birds, hints at the mischief and complexity of the man. The treatment of actor John Houseman, known for, among other things, his performance as the stern law professor in The Paper Chase, is appropriately studious. Likewise, Thomson's Power Boothe, accompanied by its “With Pencil” sub-title, is delicately drawn. Whereas Persistently Pastorale, Thomson's Copland portrait, exudes warmth and affection, the one written for Bennett Lerner is serene and wistful. Harp-like piano strums lend Homage to Marya Freund and to the Harp a differentiating character, and particularly lovely is the rhapsodic Christopher Cox (suitably sub-titled “Singing a Song”). Many exude playful charm (Ettie Stettheimer, Norma Flender, Rodney Lister), others, such as With Fife and Drums and Fanfare for France (with a smidgen of “Yankee Doodle” mixed in for added flavour), are declamatory and radiant. The portraits of Carrie Stettheimer, Germaine Hugneton, and Nicolas de Chatelain, on the other hand, are refined and dignified.

August 2024