In her piano music, Louise Talma captured the spirit of her times over several decades. Her Piano Sonata No. 1 from 1943 and the rhythmically vital Alleluia in Form of a Toccata from 1944 share the tonal neoclassicism of colleagues like Irving Fine, while by 1955 her Sonata No. 2 defines her interest in serialism (introduced to her by Fine’s String Quartet). But despite stylistic changes, her distinctive voice remains constant: rapid staccato chords jumping across the keyboard, light-hearted, virtuosic figurations, and bold lyricism recur through all the pieces on this album. Pianist Theresa Bogard expertly negotiates the acrobatic leaps of the Six Etudes from 1954 and conjures up a rich range of colors in the sonatas. Bogard joins her colleagues from the University of Wyoming– flutist Rod Garnett and violist James Przygocki–in the 1987 Seven Episodes, and pairs with clarinetist Gregory Oakes for Three Duologues from 1967. While it’s fascinating to hear Talma’s chamber music, one hopes Bogard will record Talma’s other important works for solo piano, such as the Passacaglia and Fugue, and the Kaleidoscopic Variations.
