The Boston-born composer William Mason (1829-1908) may be less known today than his musical kin (his brother Henry co-founded Mason and Hamlin Pianos, and his nephew was the composer/writer/educator Daniel Gregory). However, in the late 19th century William Mason held forth as an influential piano pedagogue through numerous teaching posts and via many published method and exercise books. His vivid and evocative autobiography Memories of a Musical Life remains one of the best books of its kind, and deserves reissue.
Although Mason’s creative voice is not particularly original in relation to the Romantic piano composers from whom he pilfers (Liszt, Chopin, Brahms, and in his all-over-the-keyboard arpeggios, Thalberg), his keyboard writing is idiomatic, superbly crafted, and often interesting from a harmonic angle. Capriccio Fantasticico, for instance, abounds in striking modulations and introspective, Brahmsian descending thirds that contrast to the salon-like glitter sprinkled throughout works such as the Valse-Caprice, Valse de Bravoure, and the Deux Humoresques de Bal. Caprice Grotesque is a witty send-up of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star that points the way toward Dohnanyi’s better-known variations on the same theme for piano and orchestra. On the other hand, the nine-minute Ballade and Barcarolle, with its watered-down quotes from Chopin’s First Ballade, overstays its welcome by eight minutes and 30 seconds.
Kenneth Boulton’s solid pianism and sensitive musicianship, along with his superb booklet notes, serve Mason’s piano works very well, and JoAnne Barry joins in on the charming duet Badinage. To be sure, there are other ways to play this music. Ivan Davis’ flamboyantly dispatched “three-handed” arpeggios in Silver Spring scintillate more than Boulton’s gentler, rippling rendition. And Noel Lester’s poetic traversal of Lullabye Op. 10 (Centaur) augers well for a full Mason recital from this excellent pianist. Still, this is a first-rate recital all the way, and a bargain to match.
