ENJAMIN LEES
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Symphony No. 4 "Memorial Candles" ...

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On October 26, 1987, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Geoffrey Simon, presented a stirring performance of this work. The Atlanta Journal gave high praise to the work, saying, "Lees has shaped a massive, powerful monument to the victims of Nazi atrocities. Whether the work will find a place in the standard repertory is an open question. It is long (almost an hour), technically difficult and cannot be taken lightly, even by a major orchestra. But Lees' polished instrumentation and his reliance on a musical language readily accessible to attentive listeners suggests that Saturday's performance, though the last of those pre-arranged with the commissioning, will not be the final one."




  Critical reactions of past performances echo that of the Atlanta Journal. John Ardoin, reporting on the world premiere in the Dallas Morning News observed, "It is a major score and an important happening in our musical life. Ultimately, important as the message is, what counts is that Lees delivers it boldly, with passion, extraordinary imagination and remarkable consistency."

  Michael John White, commenting in The Guardian on the occasion of the London Premiere in 1986, said, "The symphony...was driven by a powerful, creative energy, both as a piece of writing and as a performance. The symphonic structure is superbly organized, not altogether classically, but with a sure, coherent sense of drama which is heightened by the use of an incisively-scored mezzo voice to sharpen definition in each movement.


Writing in the Washington Post on the occasion of the East Coast premiere at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under Eduardo Mata, Charles McCardell commented, "Even at such an early stage in the piece's history, there seems little doubt that Lees has created an impressive, emotionally stirring symphony, one whose programmatic implications recall a traumatic period with harrowing detail. Dark and brooding are words that only begin to describe the relentless heaping of intensity upon intensity, manifesting at times into a 'Wailing Wall' of sound, which the orchestra dismantles with wrecking ball efficiency."

Will Crutchfield wrote in the New York Times," The orchestra gave the East Coast premiere of Benjamin Lees' Symphony No. 4, "Memorial Candles," a moving observance of the Holocaust's anniversary and a heartening new contribution to the symphonic repertory. It is a long work (over an hour) In three movements. with vocal solos based in the poems of Nelly Sachs, the German writer who survived the war in Sweden and found her voice as a poet and a Jew in mourning its victims.

"The work has much prominent writing for solo strings, including a violin part that was taken by Pinchas Zukerman, who played with strong dramatic emphasis... I can only report finding myself more rather than less interested in the development of materials as the symphony progressed - the crudest, but perhaps the most valid test of whether the mysterious desideratum of satisfying form has been achieved in a large work...the new symphony emerges as a valuable work, accessible but not without challenge. Orchestras in search of new works geared to traditional resources will no doubt be eager to take it up."

Natan Mishori, writing in Israel's Haaretz newspaper said: "...Lees is a serious symphonist. He surprises us with his command of instrumentation and in his symphonic language, and in his ability to bring out both a strong sound and a sensitive orchestra and even to relay a serious artistic message. His style, always sonorous and effective, one can call conditioned-modern. Nevertheless, his path is not pedestrian, but rather excels in personal characteristics, especially with motive and with reference to the musical themes in the work. The symphonic structure is steady and clear, including the solo sections for violin and cello, which were performed nicely by Moshe Murwitz and Michael Haran, and the prosody around the three songs by Nelly Sachs, which were performed wonderfully by the mezzo-soprano Kimball Wheeler, also created an unusual effect."We have become acquainted with a serious composer, Benjamin Lees, who is deserving of more in-depth familiarity in the future."

DETROIT JEWISH PRESS

New On CD - Reviewed by George Bulanda

Symphony No. 4 "Memorial Candles", Benjamin Lees; National Symphony Of Ukraine conducted by Theodore Kuchar; Naxos.

Trenchant, agitated intense, Lees' craggy soundscape is an angry response to the colossal evil that permitted the deaths of more than 6 million lives. Written in 1985 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust, the symphony has a feeling of immediacy and timelessness.

Like John Corigliano's Symphony No. 1, an outrage against the AIDS debacle, Lees' work is as much a reaction to horror as it is a strident denunciation of the indifference that allows malevolence to thrive.

The composer, born Benjamin Lysniansky in China in 1924 of Russian parentage, subtitles the work "Memorial Candles." However, these candles don't flicker, they blaze bitterly and defiantly.

There are sudden clashes from the brass, screeches from the woodwinds and strings and terrific explosions from the percussion. It isn't until the third and final movement that the symphony subsides in rage but certainly not bitterness. All of the movements conclude quietly but without resolution.

Lees, who has lived in the United States since childhood, represents the human soul through the violin, and the occasional solos, played urgently by James Buswell, are at once unsettling and searching.

The composer also includes three poems by Nobel Prize-winning writer Nelly Sachs: "Someone Blew the Shofar"; "Footsteps"; and "But Who Emptied Your Shoes of Sand?"

Of these, "Footsteps" is the most effective, chilling in its muted intensity and heartbreaking in its desolation. The poems are sung by mezzo-soprano Kimball Wheeler, whose dark, commanding instrument brings a tragic nobility to the text. She leaps up effortlessly to the top of her register just as easily as she plumbs the depths of her chest voice. If Wheeler's diction isn't always precise, her artistic sense is.

Theodore Kuchar leads the National Symphony of Ukraine with controlled tension, but allows the drama to unfold with unbridled passion. He gives his players - and his listeners an emotional workout.

This budget-priced CD on Naxos' American Classics series is worth the money, surely, but it is also a disturbing reminder of the capacity for human cruelty and the unfortunate need to be ever vigilant about its escalation.

PLEASE NOTE:
No reproductions of photos, articles, music or reviews are permitted without permission
of the Estate of Benjamin Lees.
  • Home
  • Biography
    • The Introduction
    • Biography of the Man
    • Biographical Chronology
    • Awards
    • Feature Articles
    • Yale's Acquisition
  • Compositions
    • Written Works >
      • Chronological List of Works
      • A Capella
      • Chamber Works
      • Works for Concert Band
      • Orchestral Works
      • Works for Solo Instrument
      • Stage Works
      • Works for Solo Instrument & Orchestra
      • Song Cycles & Solo Vocal Works
      • Works for Voice(s) and Orchestra
    • Reviews >
      • Reviews - Piano Music 1947 - 2005 >
        • Review - Uncle Dave Lewis (AllMusic Blog)
        • Review - Shirley Ratcliffe
        • Review - Scott Morrison
      • Borealis
      • Concerto for Brass Choir and Orchestra
      • Concerto for Chamber Orchestra
      • Concerto for French Horn and Orchestra
      • Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra
      • Concerto for Violin & Orchestra - April 29, 2008
      • Concerto for Woodwind Quintet and Orchestra
      • Constellations for Orchestra
      • Divertimento-Burlesca
      • Echoes of Normandy
      • Etudes for Piano and Orchestra
      • Fantasy Variations for piano
      • Medea of Corinth
      • Mirrors
      • Oboe Concerto
      • Odyssey 1
      • Odyssey 2
      • Passacaglia for Orchestra
      • Piano Concerto No. 3
      • Piano Sonata No. 4
      • Piano Trio No. 2 "Silent Voices"
      • Scarlatti Portfolio
      • Six Ornamental Etudes
      • Sonata No. 3
      • String Quartet No.1
      • String Quartet No.2
      • String Quartet No. 4
      • String Quartet No. 5
      • String Quartet No. 6
      • Symphony No. 2
      • Symphony No. 3
      • Symphony No. 4 "Memorial Candles"
      • Symphony No. 5 "Kalmar Nyckel"
      • Variations for Piano and Orchestra
      • Violin Concerto
  • Media
    • Interviews >
      • Interview KPFA 94.1 FM
      • Interview KUSC fm 91.5
    • Documentary
    • Photos
    • Audio
    • Video Clips #1
    • Video Clips #2
  • Recordings
  • Contact