Music Album Review: 'Songs Without Words: Classical Music from The War: A Ken Burns Film'

(C) 2007 Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Florentine Films

On September 11, 2007, Sony BMG Music Entertainment’s Legacy label published a soundtrack album titled Songs Without Words: Classical Music from The War: A Ken Burns Film.  This 10-track recording was one of four Legacy records that were made as musical tie-ins to Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s seven-part documentary about the American experience during the Second World War.

The other three recordings from The War’s soundtrack produced and released by Legacy are:

The War: A Ken Burns Film – The Soundtrack

Sentimental Journey: Hits from the Second World War – The War: A Ken Burns Film

I’m Beginning to See the Light: Dance Hits from the Second World War – The War: A Ken Burns Film

Legacy offered all four discs in a deluxe box set and as separate offerings; each album had a specific focus, both thematically and musically speaking, though in general terms Sentimental Journey and I’m Beginning to See the Light emphasized popular music – such as jazz and Big Band songs and instrumental dance music. 

For its part, The War: A Ken Burns Film – The Soundtrack was more of a musical potpourri that included 21^st Century compositions like American Anthem and In the Nick of Time, wartime pop music, and a handful of classical pieces, some of which were written a decade after World War II but were evocative of the emotions Burns wants to elicit from viewers of The War.

To reflect upon the deep and complex emotions that gripped Americans on the home front and battle during World War II, filmmaker Ken Burns turned to classical music to underscore key moments and themes in THE WAR. The gravitas of a full orchestra, the lamenting sound of a cello, the intimacy of chamber music, and the uplifting surge of melody  - songs without words, both familiar and rarely heard combine to create a provocative expression of a nation in the midst of the greatest cataclysm in history. – Back cover blurb from Songs Without Words: Classical Music from The War: A Ken Burns Film

Songs Without Words: Classical Music from The War: A Ken Burns Film is simply that, an album that presents 10 compositions chosen by Ken Burns and the series’ music supervisor Wynton Marsalis to serve as underscore to the images we see on screen.

Track List:

1. "Walton: The Death of Falstaff" - Leonard Slatkin: London Philharmonic Orchestra  3:38

2. "Dvorak: Cello Concerto in B Minor (Second Movement)" - Yo-Yo Ma, New York Philharmonic, Kurt Masur  12:36

3. "Copland: Concerto for Clarinet, Strings, Harp And Piano" - Benny Goodman; Aaron Copland: Columbia Symphony Orchestra  16:58

4. "Ligeti: Lamento from Hommage a Brahms" - Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Marie-Luise Neunecker, Saschko Gawriloff  7:34

5. "Faure: Elegie, Op. 24" - Steven Isserlis, Pascal Devoyon 7:01

6. "Liszt: Nuages Gris" - Barry Douglas 2:13

7. "Messiaen: Quartet for The End of Time (Third Movement)" - Ensemble Tashi 7:44

8. "Copland: Grovers Corners from Our Town" - Aaron Copland & New Philharmonic Orchestra 3:13

9. "Mendelssohn: Song Without Words" - Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax 4:09

10. "Elgar: Nimrod from Enigma Variations" - Leonard Slatkin: London Philharmonic Orchestra 5:06

 Total Album Time: 70:12

My Take

In this 2007 recording – which is “out of print” and mostly available through specialty stores or third-party sellers on Amazon – producers Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein culled 10 selections from several pre-existing recordings, most of which were made by other labels, including BMG and RCA Victor before Sony merged with those companies in the 1990s.

As the album's back cover blurb points out, some of the pieces on Songs Without Words are familiar to classical music aficionados, including the two works by American composer Aaron Copland and Antonin Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in B Minor (Second Movement). Others, such as Franz Liszt’s Nuages Gris, are less-frequently performed and therefore obscure to the average audiophile. 

The music reflects a wide array of moods related to the human experience. Sir William Walton’s The Death of Falstaff – which is also found on The War: A Ken Burns Film – The Soundtrack – is a solemn, even brooding composition that evokes feelings of grief and regret for all the lives lost during the War.

Felix Mendelssohn’s Song Without Words is an extremely long set of “lieder” without lyrics; the performance on this album is the 4-minutes-long Appasionato, played beautifully here by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emmanel Ax. This work is not as somber as The Death of Falstaff; on the contrary, it’s more mellow and has a more peaceful, life-affirming vibe.

Copland’s two contributions - Grovers Corners from Our Town and Concerto for Clarinet, Strings, Harp and Piano are also mellow and even a bit pastoral, but they both have a very American sensibility in tone and style. The Concerto for Clarinet, Strings, Harp and Piano sounds as though it is from the World War II era. Actually, it was written a few short years after the War, but the presence of clarinetist (and Big Band orchestra leader) Benny Goodman makes it sound like a bucolic, yearning-for-home piece of music. Burns and  Marsalis use it a lot in the finished film, and like The Death of Falstaff, it also appears in The War: A Ken Burns Film  – The Soundtrack.

Songs Without Words: Classical Music from The War: A Ken Burns Film is a beautiful recording for both fans of the seven-part documentary and of classical music. For those listeners who watched The War back in 2007 or own DVD/Blu-ray sets of this powerful series, the music will evoke some of the unforgettable images and people who shared their stories, including Quentin Aanenson and Sidney Phillips. And for classical music devotees, this collection of quieter, more reflective works by various composers and performers is a good album to enjoy while reading a book and sipping a cup of wine or a glass of fine beer.