JEROME MOROSS Piano Quintet Movement III

The legacy of Jerome Morass (1913-1983) may confound those who prefer their composers more neatly pigeonholed in style and musical genre; but the numerous paths Moross followed - ranging from early atonal concert music to film scores to television to Broadway - have left less pedantic admirers a bounty of eclectic gems. For Moross, music was music, whether it was written for a string quartet, a pit theater orchestra or tailored to a film market's vision.

Moross never condescended to cinema, as anyone familiar with such scores as Five Finger Exercise, Rachel Rachel or The Proud Rebel knows. But despite some recognition (including a 1959 Oscar nomination for The Big Country), Moross found Hollywood hostile turf for an independent composer, and his visits became increasingly rare.

The movies' loss was concert music's gain. One happy intersection of these two media is a concert piece derived from a film Moross scored in 1964. The Piano Quintet, based on his music for the little-known short Forget Me Not, is among its composer's most charming later works its evocation of remembered loss (the film chronicles a widower's memories of his wife) is treated not as tragedy but as simple celebration. Moross introduced his chief, song-like theme immediately, exploring it in a series of gentle variations scored with elegant intimacy, and shaped by a propulsive lyricism that characterizes much of Morass' most appealing work. Presented here in its concert incarnation for the first time, the Piano Quintet - like the Forget Me Not from which it flowered, after 27 years- is a moving testament to the power of memory.

Steven C. Smith

THIS RECORDING IS WITH PERMISSION OF Bay Cities

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