Voice Of Venus - Otto Cesana

 

Dreams

Voices Of Venus

Otto Cesana - His Chorus and Sextet

Columbia Records CL 971

1957

From the back cover: The voices of Venus are the voices of love, voices ever present in the dramatic and fascinating music of Otto Cesana. In his first collection, Ecstasy, Mr. Cesana presented a series of instrumental compositions using all the resources of a full concert orchestra to obtain the variety of emotional colorings and tonal sonorities required by his program. Here, however, he uses much smaller forces, obtaining much the same results in a very different way.

In this program, for example, he employs human voices singing actual lyrics, as contrast to his instrumental group, and within the lyrics themselves (written, like the music, by Otto Cesana) rhythm, repetition and internal rhymes are used to express the kind of emotional power expressed by repetition in orchestral writing. The result is unusually interesting, and offers a program of compelling fascination. The selections, moreover, have been designed to present a sort of impressionistic story of unrequited love; there is no story line as such, except insofar as shifts in moods supply a narrative thread, but the basic feeling throughout moves progressively forward to its logical climax.

For his earlier program, Mr. Cesana offered an explanation of his music that is worth repeating here, to place these compositions in their proper setting. "From jazz," he wrote, "and by that I mean jazz as it is played by small groups, I derived sincere sentiment; in fact, it is this naive but deep and honest feeling that is the life-blood of all real jazz. To the great harmonists such as Debussy and Wagner I owe a great deal of my harmonic dexterity; from Beethoven comes my knowledge of thematic development and some sound principles of musical form; and to Rimsky-Korsakov, that meticulous master of orchestration, I owe my knowledge of the orchestra. Of course for over-all sincerity and emotional intensity, I offer a very low bow to that monument of integrity, Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky." From that statement can be seen the sources of Mr. Cesana's inspiration, and for his rare combination of deep respect and admiration for the classics, combined with his equally deep respect and admiration for jazz. A student of the piano, organ, music theory and composition, he also possesses a basic knowledge of all major musical instruments, and uses them in his writing in fresh and unfamiliar ways. He has worked as composer and arranger for Hollywood, and has also done considerable work for radio. In 1941, he conducted a jazz concert in Town Hall in New York, playing his own music; among his large-scale works are six symphonies, four overtures, numerous suites and concertos for various instru- ments, as well as a wide variety of shorter works. His interest in the technical side of music-its orchestration, its composition, its theory – may be traced in four books he has written, "Modern Harmony," "Dance Arranging," "Modern Counterpoint," and "Voicing the Modern Dance Orchestra."

In this program, Mr. Cesana, his chorus and sextet present twelve of his most recent works, all characteristic in their expressive, romantic qualities. Our Romance Is Over is a charming ballad exploiting the contrasting colors of voices and orchestra, as does the somewhat faster I Can't Run Away from You. The next selection, Where Are You Now? is slow and reflective, contrasting with Twenty Days, a de- lightful waltz with a touch of humor. These are followed by the wistful all My Todays Are Tomorrows, and the sweet sentiment of Dreams.

The second half of the program begins dramatically with the opening of As Long as Love Remembers, a lovely new ballad. You Haunt Me comes next, and proves equally affecting, as it leads into I Fear the Night, a lush, flowing melody with the atmosphere of a nocturne. You're So Wonderful appears in an easier, lighter guise, reflecting hope, and Roses at Springtime, too, brings its promise of romance. The program concludes with You've Got Me, a colorful melody set in beguine tempo as a bright finale to Mr. Cesana's group of inventive and original new songs. 

Our Romance Is Over

I Can't Run Away From You

Where Are You Now?

Twenty Days

All My Todays Are Tomorrows

Dreams

As Long As Love Remembers

You Haunt Me

I Fear The Night

You're So Wonderful

Roses At Springtime

You've Got Me