Violinist Callum Smart presents Transatlantic as a quiet coronavirus-period album whose program is shaped by his enthusiasms for music from the two countries where he has worked, Great Britain and the U.S. However, partly because of this personal quality, the album takes on deeper significance. Smart picks an enjoyable set of not overly familiar pieces that have something to say to each other. Both British and American composers, Smart indicates, were shaped by common elements. In the case of Edward Elgar and Amy Beach, the ...
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Violinist Callum Smart presents Transatlantic as a quiet coronavirus-period album whose program is shaped by his enthusiasms for music from the two countries where he has worked, Great Britain and the U.S. However, partly because of this personal quality, the album takes on deeper significance. Smart picks an enjoyable set of not overly familiar pieces that have something to say to each other. Both British and American composers, Smart indicates, were shaped by common elements. In the case of Edward Elgar and Amy Beach, the common element was the grand Germanic tradition, which each composer inflected in his or her own way. In the case of John Adams and Kate Whitley, it's the persistence of the classical chamber music tradition in works that have generally experimental aims. There is a lyrical interlude, the little-known Romance in G major, Op. 39, of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and an arresting finale, a solo arrangement of the hymn Amazing Grace, a piece that is both British and American. With sensitive...
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