Born in 1930, the American pianist David Burge has worn many hats over the course of his long career. He was a highly respected educator, as well as the author of numerous columns for Keyboard magazine and a valuable book on 20th-century piano music. Older collectors may recall Burge’s premiere recording of George Crumb’s Makrokosmos Book One. I have vivid memories of a bygone vinyl release on Candide featuring Burge playing music by Berio, Dallapiccola, Stockhausen, Boulez, and Krenek, which made quite an impact during my teenage years as an aspiring composer/pianist with avant-garde aspirations.
Although Burge is less celebrated as a composer in his own right, his catalog boasts more than 100 works that reflect a wide range of cultures and genres. The present disc focuses on solo piano music dating from Burge’s late teens to early 30s. In general, the music is neo-classical in nature and thoroughly pianistic.
The brief 1948 First Sonata is serious and declamatory, evoking Hindemith’s language but with a fair share of original harmonic twists and turns. A tinge of Prokofiev’s biting whimsy informs the five well-made miniatures that encompass the Five Improvisations (1953). The Second Sonata (1958) also makes use of Prokofiev-like motoric rhythms and deceptively simple melodies, yet these elements are enhanced by Burge’s inventive cross-rhythmic phrase manipulation and assertive dynamic outbursts. By contrast, the Third Sonata (1959) is sparser and more rigorous, if a little dry at times.
The Sonatina’s note-spinning counterpoint features clever yet obvious major/minor key alterations that sound rather generic and academic from a 2011 vantage-point. However, the Fourth Sonata (1961) begins to chart darker, more dissonant waters; certainly the Vivace movement’s spiky phrases and wide interval leaps reveal the benign influence of post-Webern serialists.
You could imagine fuller-bodied, more robust sonics, but that takes nothing away from David Watkins’ meticulous, masterful, and sympathetic interpretations. It’s heartening to see Burge’s piano music getting the attention it deserves, and this disc is a valuable addition to the catalog. [10/12/2011]
