Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3 in C Major (1950)
Symphony No. 3 (1936)
An Indian Symphony (1943)
Six Indian Miniatures (1965)

The opening sentence of the booklet notes reads like this: Who the devil is Walter Kaufmann? And quite rightly so ... I asked myself the same question when I saw this new recording listed within the April 2024 new releases. Whilst living in Berlin, Walter Kaufmann (1907-1984) studied with Franz Schreker, but doesn't sound at all like his teacher. Following this, he made the rounds as a pianist and conductor through various cities, and at one point was Bruno Walter's conducting assistant at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and a few orchestras performed his music. He also wrote a thesis on the symphonies of Gustav Mahler. When he noticed that the Nazi movement was rising to power, he emigrated to, of all places, India. There he landed a post as a film composer and also taught musicology at the University of Bombay, and directed the Bombay Chamber Music Society. One of his compositions became the signature tune for All India Radio, and remains so to this day. He left India in 1946 for a short stint in London where he conducted film music. In 1947 he moved to Canada where he became the professor for piano and composition at the Halifax Conservatory of Music in Nova Scotia. Following this, he was selected by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as their music director and chief conductor, where up until 1957 he worked diligently to bring the orchestra up to professional standards. He then moved to the United States where he worked as the professor for musicology at Indiana University Bloomington. He wrote ten string quartets, piano trios, orchestral pieces, vocal and film music. He seems best remembered for his scholarly work on Indian music.

Maybe the question ought to be: Where the devil is Walter Kaufmann's music? Aside from a recording of some of his chamber music with the Arc Ensemble on the Chandos label, this seems to be the only other available recording of some of the orchestral works from this unacceptably neglected composer. Fine, despite having studied the master, his music doesn't sound anything like Gustav Mahler, and he was out of step with 20th century musical trends but if anything, his music is highly colorful, congenial, and of a generally upbeat character.

For example, his Piano Concerto No. 3 sounds like an odd stylistic blend of Rachmaninov and Poulenc, with highly animated outer movements bookending a melodically rich and evocative inner slow movement filled with somber overtones and dark primary colors, perfectly expressed by pianist Elisaveta Blumina. The first four notes of the Symphony No. 3 would lead you to believe you're listening to the opening of a Mozart symphony, but then 30 seconds in and the playful and boisterous side of Kaufmann takes hold. And once again, as in the Piano Concerto, the mysteriously serene atmosphere, and odd instrumental combinations of the inner slow movement pull you into the symphony's core. On the other hand, the third and final movement invokes in your mind the sounds and music one might hear during a pagan winter festival, chimes and all.

Now in so far as the Indian Symphony is concerned, it doesn't sound Indian intrinsically or harmonically speaking, but rather the impression it leaves is very much akin to Respighi painting tone pictures of ancient and long-standing civilizations. It captures a nation's strong spirit rather than its culture. Raga modes and tala rhythms are subtly interspersed here and there within the Six Indian Miniatures, which help weave all of its six movements into a powerfully colorful tapestry.

The booklet notes point out that Elisaveta Blumina is a painter as well as an accomplished pianist. "When making music, she therefore always has colours in mind, and she experiences tonal harmonies or dissonances as colours...." One of her boldly colourful paintings adorns the cover of this CD. For a different perspective on her superlative pianism, I would strongly recommend you give this 2021 Johann Sebastian Bach recording a listen.

Once your ears and mind attune to Kaufmann's somewhat unique style there is much to enjoy within his music.