American composer James Cohn writes music that often employs quotation of popular tunes and dance rhythms, whether literal or cleverly invented. In this he resembles Malcolm Arnold or (at some further remove) Poulenc, and the six works included on this disc are high on charm and craftsmanship, low on pretense and posturing. Least successful is the earliest, Hommage (1959), based on “The Star Spangled Banner”. It’s half-solemn, half-tongue-in-cheek treatment needs a more committed delivery from the brass section than it receives here, but it’s smooth sailing from this point on.
All four concerted works offer good tunes and effectively structured movements that unfailingly leave the listener wanting more. The concertos for piano and trumpet effectively blend jazz elements into their conservatively appealing idiom, while Evocations (Clarinet Concerto No. 2) has a fling with the Latin rhythms of Cohn’s native New York. There aren’t many concertos for solo concertina (a fact most listeners will probably applaud), but this attractive experiment certainly succeeds as well as such novelties as Gordon Jacob’s harmonica pieces or Vaughan Williams’ Tuba Concerto.
The tone poem A Song of the Waters consists of a series of evocative variations on the beautiful folk song “Shenandoah” and completes this portrait of a composer whose innate modesty of means and basically genial character offers an abundance of lively, listener-friendly entertainment. The soloists in the various concertos, well recorded and carefully balanced, all sound comfortable with their parts, and the orchestra plays well except, as noted, where the music calls for the ultimate in brassy brilliance. If you enjoy any of the composers listed above, you should give Cohn’s music your attention.
