A native of New York City and graduate of Columbia University, Elie Siegmeister (1909-91) studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris before returning to his homeland to embark on a distinguished career as a composer, writer, teacher and administrator. 'An American panorama, blending jazzy and folk-like themes with purely classical form' is how Siegmeister described his highly approachable American Sonata of 1944 (the first of his five for solo piano) : its rhythmically exuberant outer movements frame a contemplative, but by no means untroubled essay which movingly incorporates, amongst other vernacular elements, the African-American protest song Sisters and Brethren.
After rather too short a gap, the first of the five pieces ('Dream Freely') that comprise the 1971 suite On This Ground comes as something of a shock, its bracingly dissonant sound world allied to a pungent economy and fastidious craft typical of the composer's mature language. None the less, the roistering tail-piece ('Mr Henry's Monday Night') reveals an endearing preoccupation with ragtime, a stylistic synthesis pursued to even more stimulating ends in both the Fourth Sonata of 1980 (subtitled 'Prelude, Blues and Toccata') and its no less rewarding successor from 1987. There's also no gainsaying the exciting resourcefulness displayed by the 1967 Theme and Variations No 2. Challenging though Siegmeister's later music may be, it evinces a lyrical cast and intrepid physicality that never fail to communicate.
Seattle-born Kenneth Boulton (who also wrote the extremely helpful booklet-essay) has made a speciality of the piano music of both Copland and Siegmeister, and his infectiously persuasive advocacy has been vividly captured by the microphones. Collectors with an inquisitive frame of mind should seek out this enterprising collection which, given Naxos's ludicrously low price-tag, certainly won't break the bank.'