Virgil Thomson: Portraits
Liner Notes   Cat. No. 80429     Release Date: 1993-01-01
Jacquelyn Helin, piano

Virgil Thomson's piano music can best be described as pure direct American plainsong. Hymn tunes get transposed, rhythms overturn or collide, often with comic results; cowboy songs turn into fugues. Thomson made use of all materials, from Sunday School ditties he learned as a child in Kansas City, to the tangos he heard in Paris in the Twenties, to the counterpoint of his formal musical education.

Thomson's portraits often have the feeling of line drawings by a visual artist. This is because he did them "from life", in the presence of the sitter. He was inspired by the idea of depicting character through the use of music. In Thomson's words, "in all my portraits only the sitter's presence is portrayed, not his appearance or his profession."

Jacquelyn Helin is particularly identified with the music of Virgil Thomson, with whom she worked closely. She was a featured artist in the nationally television PBS special honoring Thomson on his ninetieth birthday, and has premiered and recorded many of Thomson's works to high critical praise.

Jaquelyn Helin

Virgil Thomson: Portraits

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Track Listing

Nine Portraits for piano: Madame Dubost chez elle
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Nine Portraits for piano: Russell Hitchcock, Reading
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Nine Portraits for piano: Ettie Stettheimer
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Nine Portraits for piano: Helen Austin at Home and Abroad
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Nine Portraits for piano: A French Boy of Ten - Louis Lange
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Nine Portraits for piano: Pastoral - A Portrait of Tristan Tzara
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Nine Portraits for piano: Awake or Asleep - Pierre Mabille
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Nine Portraits for piano: Prisoner of the Mind - Schuyler Watts
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Nine Portraits for piano: For Eugene Ormandy's Birthday, 18 November 1969 A Study in Stacked-Up Thirds
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Parson Weems and the Cherry Tree: I. The Parson Writes His Book
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Parson Weems and the Cherry Tree: II. The Parson Instructs George & Martha in the Gentle Art of the Dance
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Parson Weems and the Cherry Tree: III. The Hatchet
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Parson Weems and the Cherry Tree: IV. The Pitcher and the Bucket
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Parson Weems and the Cherry Tree: V. Rum is a Demon
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Parson Weems and the Cherry Tree: VI. Martha's Secret Love
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Parson Weems and the Cherry Tree: VII. Molly Whips the Army into Shape
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Parson Weems and the Cherry Tree: VIII. Crossing the Delaware
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Parson Weems and the Cherry Tree: IX. Hard Times at Valley Forge
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Parson Weems and the Cherry Tree: X. On to Glory
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Parson Weems and the Cherry Tree: XI. Cavalry Manoeuvers
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Parson Weems and the Cherry Tree: XII. Chopping the Tree and Winging to Heaven
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Five 2-Part Inventions: With marked rhythm
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Five 2-Part Inventions: Freely
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Five 2-Part Inventions: Flowing
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Five 2-Part Inventions: Rhythmically
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Five 2-Part Inventions: Firmly
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: Molly Davies - Terminations
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: Dennis Russell Davies - In a Hammock
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: Rodney Lister - Music for a Merry-go-round
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: Doña Flor - Receiving
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: Dr. Marcel Roche - Making a Decision
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: David Dubal - In Flight
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: Peter McWilliams - Firmly Spontaneous
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: Vassilis Voglis - On the March
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: Power Boothe - With Pencil
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: Mark Beard - Never Alone
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: Louis Rispoli - In a Boat
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: Malitte Matta - In the Executive Style
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: Glynn Boyd Harte - Reaching
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: Bennett Lerner - Senza Expressione
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: Phillip Ramey - Thinking Hard
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: Charles Fussell - In Meditation
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Seventeen Portraits for piano: Brendan Lemon - A Study Piece for Piano
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