"Two Decades of Progress": document by Howard Hanson

Started by dhibbard, Thursday 25 January 2018, 16:41

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eschiss1


Alan Howe

This makes pretty turgid reading, I'm afraid, as it's mainly a listing of names and dates. It's about the Eastman School of Music and its contribution to wider American music life. As Eric points out, it's by Howard Hanson. Still, each to his own, I suppose...

MartinH

For me it was an interesting read. Lots and lots of once-famous names, largely forgotten by many and unheard of by most. The list of Prix de Rome composers was interesting - how many have "made it"? Kent Kennan is known only for his textbooks on Counterpoint (that's what I learned it from!) and Orchestration. The Guggenheim gave us Diamond and not much else. Gardner Read wrote a fine book on music notation, but his music, too, is completely forgotten. The only composer he names whose music I have played is William Dawson. Eastman's greatest contribution to posterity may be the recordings the Band Director, Fred Fennell, made for Mercury.

I found the document interesting and kind of sad for some reason. Thanks for bringing to our attention.

Alan Howe


eschiss1

Brings back memories for me- I heard Read's Night Flight when I was working (food service) at Interlochen one summer- but more suitable for a forum on unsung composers (this is a forum on unsung Romantic composers.)

Alan Howe

OK, following Eric's apposite hint, let me be clear: unless the article in question gives rise to discussion specifically related to UC's remit, this thread has no future.

dhibbard


Alan Howe

What did you think about matters related to UC, though? After all, this is not a general music discussion forum...

semloh

I couldn't find anything relevant to UC in this. I'm sure it was compiled by a dogsbody and Hanson's name added for the sake of respectability/as a courtesy. He had better things to do!

Alan Howe