Robert Schumann
's
Davidsbündlertänze for piano, Op. 6
, evoked the name of the composer's partly imaginary music society, the "League of David" or "Davidsbündler" (Tänze means "dances"). That was a literary construction of
Schumann
's that attempted to promote the values of musical inspiration and depth over virtuosity and showiness. Here, pianist
David Kaplan
attempts to take up this banner with his
New Dances of the League of David
, commissioning various composers with the direction to take inspiration from
's original. This recording presents 12 of the original
Davidsbündlertänze
, interspersed with the new pieces. The ordering is irregular, not a strict alternation, and the new works have various kinds of relationship to
; some works (sample
Michael Brown
IV. Ungeduldig
) expand a
piece, so to speak, while others focus on a single chord or texture.
Kaplan
does not foreclose experimental ideas;
Ted Hearne
Tänze (with a sense of urgency)
includes passages where the performer must use the piano's housing as a percussion instrument. The humor of
Caroline Shaw
XVI. (mit gutem Humor, un poco lol ma con serioso vibes)
seems apropos. This work is directly paired with the
piece of the same name, while other works are freestanding. There is a freeform feel to the collection, which
captures nicely in his playing, but the best thing about it is that the
originals are enhanced; something about presenting them this way highlights their boldness. An intriguing entry in the growing body of works that use established repertory as a stimulus to further creativity. ~ James Manheim