The Classical Review

Simon: The Block; Tales: A Folklore Symphony; Songs of Separation; Wake Up! National Symphony Orchestra; Gianandrea Noseda, conductor (NSO).

A new recording from the National Symphony Orchestra, released Friday, celebrates the ensemble’s partnership with Carlos Simon. The American composer, born in 1986, has served as composer-in-residence at the Kennedy Center since 2021. The album brings together live recordings of four orchestral works by Simon, on the heels of the announcement that the Kennedy Center has extended the composer’s residency through the 2026-2027 season.

The disc offers a chance to assess Simon’s achievements in writing for large orchestra, and all these works are recent, composed since 2018.

The Block, from that year, drew inspiration from Romare Bearden’s portrait of life in Harlem, a series of six panels in cut-paper collage. The NSO performed this concise piece in 2021, and the tribute to the polyglot noise of urban life comes across in Simon’s effortless swings between full orchestra swells and the more intimate sounds of piano and drum kit. An effervescent rhythmic pulse unites the work.

Tales: A Folklore Symphony refracts black history through the lens of Afro-futurism. The luscious second movement (“Flying Africans”) uses fantastic sound effects to conjure the myth that African ancestors could fly. Simon’s music is impressively polystylistic, touching on American film music, the heritage of Duke Ellington, his own gospel roots as the son of an Atlanta preacher, and European art music.

Spirituals, like “Steal Away” in the second movement and “Go Down Moses” in the third, are present but not always obvious to the ear. Hints of authoritarian force, reminiscent of Prokofiev at times, haunt the third movement, about the hard-hearted pharaoh oppressing the Hebrews. The fourth movement (“John Henry”) evokes the work song about how hard labor can kill a man. In the latter, percussion and brass hammer out a deliberate pace.

The NSO itself commissioned the other two pieces, beginning with Songs of Separation, which received its world premiere from the NSO in 2023, with lush-voiced mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges. The four songs cover a broad territory, from sentimental platitudes (“The Garden”), through harsh despair (“Burning Hell”), to a Hollywood film ballad (“Dance”). The cycle reaches an upbeat climax in “We Are All the Same,” as the title sentiment is repeated many times like a liturgical litany.

Taking the “National” part of its name seriously, the NSO took Simon’s dynamic concerto for orchestra, Wake Up!, on its 2024 European tour as a concert opener. All sections of the orchestra get moments in the sun, with the flute, the percussion, and the brass making the biggest impressions. 

It is unlikely that any of these works will become regular concert repertoire, yet Simon has set a standard of consistency in his music, taking advantage of the opportunities the NSO has set before him, and for the individuality of his voice. Gianandrea Noseda leads the performances with verve and warmth and the NSO musicians efficiently shift gears between Simon’s stylistic moods, bringing out the moments of energy and beauty.