Scarmolin Orchestral Works

Anthony Louis Scarmolin was born in Northern Italy in 1890 and emigrated to the United States in 1900. The young Scarmolin showed great promise as a musician and enrolled as a piano student at the German Conservatory of Music in New York. He was a talented pianist, but fate intervened in the form of a hand injury and his Carnegie Hall debut recital was canceled. Scarmolin the composer is the focus of this recording, which features a number of his orchestral works. In his student days, he was a disciple of the atonality of Schoenberg, but the music of the mature Scarmolin is gloriously tonal. The exotic "Dance" from his opera 'The Caliph' opens the disc. The work is lushly scored and ultra-romantic in it's grand sweep, reminding the listener of the film music of Korngold and Waxman. On a lighter note, Scarmolin's 'Three Miniatures' are delightful pieces that charm with their colorful orchestration and pleasant melodies. The composer's more serious side is displayed with 'Invocation,' a tone poem for large orchestra that is, at turns, both reverent and heroic. This generously-filled disc presents a fascinating look at a composer deserving wider recognition.