Norman Dello Joio (b. 1913) has lived his professional life through all the major (and minor) movements in American music, but his predilections lie staunchly in a neo-romantic mode–at least as far as melody is concerned. These piano works show, however, how much Dello Joio regards the utility of 19th century architectural strategies in the composition of his shorter pieces. Structurally, they could have been composed by Schubert or Chopin, with some of the moods supplied by Johannes Brahms. The melodies and harmonies, though, are pure 20th century. All three Piano Sonatas (the first two were written in 1943, the third in 1947) are brilliant works of mainstream American Romanticism. The Third has tended to be Dello Joio’s most famous, but the First is a clear challenger, with its perky rhythms and lilting moods. The Second is more assertive in nature, dropping into a more somber second movement somewhat starker in character. Nocturne in E major and Nocturne in F-sharp minor have a more bluesy strategy with some clear suggestions of Gershwin. Both works are the products of the late 1940s.
The most recent work here is the Introduction and Fantasies on a Chorale Tune, composed in 1986, and is a cornucopia of all of the pianistic elements someone such as Chopin would have felt comfortable with (but, again, with a more 20th century bearing in melody and chorale theme). Jaemi Kim is the pianist here and she has a fine feel for the languorous moods Dello Joio presents. We might wish for more precision in execution here and there, especially in the first movement of Piano Sonata 1, but Kim’s overall take on these works makes for a delightful hour of unjustly underrated, very pleasant music.
