Piano Music

Lukas Foss may be regarded as a mirror of twentieth century music, since his works seem more influenced by other composers and trends than influential in their own right. Whether experimenting with neo-Classicism, as in his Two-Part Inventions (4) (1938), the Passacaglia (1940), the Prelude in D (1951), and the Scherzo Ricercato (1954), or dabbling with popular song in his Grotesque Dance (1938) and the Fantasy Rondo (1944), Foss toys with styles and mannerisms with an amused detachment. Ever mindful of his craft but reticent in expression and apparently unconcerned with originality, Foss seems to approach composition with a utilitarian attitude, and his results are quite similar to Hindemith's Gebrauchs music. Even in such late works as the stylistically varied Solo (1981) and the witty For Lenny, Variations on "New York, New York" (1987), Foss seems a distant observer, and writes what is effective without revealing much of his own personality. Pianist Scott Dunn plays these works with a crisp touch and a disciplined control of line, but at no point does he express more than Foss indicates.