Coming back recently to the music of the 'Boston Six' (Amy Beach, George Chadwick, Arthur Foote, Edward MacDowell, John Knowles Paine and Horatio Parker) I was struck by the extraordinary quality of music produced by these pioneering Americans: Lisztian, Wagnerian, Brahmsian, Dvorakian, yes, but not stifled by the models which they affectionately embrace.
Chadwick has been fairly well-served by Chandos and MacDowell has always claimed a foothold in the catalogue, but others have been less fortunate. One of the least represented members is Horatio Parker, who beautiful A Northern Ballad has had a couple of recordings - his great choral masterpiece Hora Novissima is represented by a single, less than ideal, recording on Albany: clearly there is much more of value in this composer's output.
What are other members' impressions of this 'school'? ???
Are they a "school"?
I don't really listen much to Amy Beach's music (my loss, I'm sure), and have found Paine surprisingly Beethovenian for someone writing at the end of the 19th century, but I do agree about Parker's A Northern Ballad and have also enjoyed greatly his very muscular Overture Count Robert of Paris and the Symphonic Poem (?) Vathek. Macdowell's debt to Raff and Liszt is too clear in his orchestral music (which I do enjoy, of course) but I very much admire the four Piano Sonatas. Good, strong works. I used to find Chadwick a bit run of the mill Germanic, but his five String Quartets are delightful and have a lyrical swell which is really engaging.
My favourite, though, must be Arthur Foote. Several of his major chamber works have been available on Marco Polo and Naxos for years and they are utterly gorgeous. The orchestral music, what little there is of it, is slowly becoming available and it too is marked by sumptuous harmonies, rich colours and sensuous melodies - try the Omar Khayyam pieces or Francesca Da Rimini. For his time and location, I think Foote is a real original. I have a radio dub of the Cello Concerto and that is a more conventional piece, but still hugely attractive. For me, Foote is The Man.
I too am a big fan of Arthur Foote. I especially enjoy his chamber music, but have not heard anything by him that left me dissatisfied. I have a bunch of LPs and CDs of his music.
I must meekly admit, though, I've never heard any orchestral music by Horatio Parker. I wasn't even aware that there were any recordings.
Parker's organ concerto and some choral music (Hora Novissima, I think) were recorded some while back- maybe other works too...
Re Foote, Tawa's 1997 book "Arthur Foote: a musician in the frame of time and place" - which I see only from Google Books excerpts available only in the US, but which seems recommendable from them - seems a fine book conveying the composer's breadth and abilities. He wrote some vocal and choral music that I have seen but not heard, but which looks fine too...
Google Books also has a preview of a book about Huss- not one of the Boston Six, but an intriguing composer.
... getting back to the Six (not les Six ;) )- have a listen, I suggest, to Beach's opus 89 string quartet in two movements (1921-29, not published until quite recently apparently) (recorded, I think, three times- on Leonarda, Arabesque and more recently- well, 2003 - on Chandos. Maybe a time before that too). Given the 1921-9 date - well, ok, maybe Beach was the Boston Six's Frank Bridge :)
I believe several of these composers were - maybe not surprisingly - at least a little more than the constriction of their reputations (but then I remember being so surprised to find that Piston was, too, in a parallel and different way. My surprise was the problem, and the typecasting maybe but that was my fault too.)
I often think it misleading to think of this group as forming a 'six' and preface it with a definite article. There isn't surely such a thing or group as 'The Boston Six' if that implies they shared a musical 'aesthetic', subscribed to broad agreements about the role or function of music, or composed works in similar style (as did to a large degree 'Les Six'). All you've got here are six damned good composers who lived most of their lives in New England and often Boston itself. (Haven't checked, but I believe what they do have in common is that they made the European pilgrimage when young and, more interesting, studied in Germany with people like Rheinberger.) All went on to write music of high quality - and all of it is very much rooted in late 19th century German music.
Possibly I'm making the mistake of reading too much into 'the Boston Six', and then making the comment that what I assumed isn't in fact to be found? But the collective title seems to indicate something distinctively 'American'. And - doubtless someone will shoot me down - there isn't here anything distinctly 'American' (as there certainly is in the case of the next generation of composers like Ives, Copland, Harris and Schuman).
That isn't of course a dismissive comment - in my view all 6 (but maybe Beach and Foote in particular) are fine composers and their present reputation doesn't do justice to their actual achievements. Foote's chamber music - esp the Pf Quartet and Pf Quintet - is first rate. (But if you listened to it blind, I'm sure you wouldn't think it 'Bostonian', and would think it written by yet another of those many 'second rate great' German composers in the late 19th / early 20th century).
Apologies - all clumsily expressed. A sure sign to pack up from the day's events!
Peter
Note: the below is all just my pure, uneducated opinion. I don't mean to bother anyone; let me know if any of it does, and I will consider rewording it. I don't like mentioning negative opinions in writing, since it seems more harsh in print, but a few pop up here.
While Chadwick's Symphony #2 has become one of my favourite symphonies - and symphonies are my second-favourite musical form after operas - I too must claim Foote as my favourite overall of that company. If there is a Foote work I consider the worst I've heard, I still find it at the very least mildly pleasing; for me to find that from a composer outside the Classical period makes him nearly unique. Foote is one of those composers that I can't believe isn't more famous. In fact, if I were to try to force myself to name five composers that I thought could be more popular regardless of my own personal taste, I think would name Foote to such a list. That may sound like too much praise, but I'm completely enraptured. While there are some chamber works among my most adored pieces, that tends to be the exception... so coming from me, this shows just how incredible I consider Foote to be. I think I might call Foote the greatest composer ever from the USA; I think I might call him the greatest composer born in either of the Americas. Maybe that's unfair considering how relatively little there is to hear thus far. For that matter, I don't think he was all that prolific. But then, relatively speaking, neither was Chopin. In my defence, I believe I have every single work of Foote's that has ever been commercially recorded. To say that I have never been disappointed is a severe understatement.
But I've found at least one nice work by 5 members of the Boston Six, the odd man out being Amy Beach. (Something seems technically incorrect about that sentence, but as I pointed out recently, I'm not a very skilled writer.) I'm open to further exploration, but what pass for the famous works of Beach do not appeal to me at all - yes, including the Gaelic Symphony. Large passages are overtly repellent to me, unfortunately.
If you haven't heard Paine's Symphony #1, you're really missing out; it puts a very fine face on musically looking backwards more than forwards. I've always been a big fan of ladder-climbers, not just ladder-builders. Actually, I think I usually prefer the non-innovators in music! The vast majority of Paine's 1st (1872-1875) seems like it could have been composed 30 years earlier, but this is musical conservatism in the hands of a skilled technician who unashamedly dug in to an earlier decade with some really terrific tunesmithing. Give that first movement a listen if you haven't already, and if you like mid-19th century symphonies, I think you'll be very happy! This one was a real surprise for me. His 2nd sounds more in with the times, but for some reason, just doesn't do it for me. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's terrible or anything, but as I pointed out on this message board once before, I think maybe he was trying too hard to make a symphony that sounded more like what big European composers of the time were doing. Maybe he was born in the wrong decade in some ways, but with his first symphony he seemed to accept it, and I think it worked brilliantly. The 2nd has some passages that just seem dull and rambling to me, but it has a few minutes here and there that are okay.
I mentioned Chadwick's Symphony #2 above, and it's one of my most-frequently visited symphonic companions. My preferred disc is from Chandos, with Neeme Järvi conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where it's paired with the 3rd. Chadwick's 3rd is also a really, really good symphony as far as I'm concerned. I was so swept away by this CD that I went on something of a spending splurge, and bought quite a few works by Chadwick without having any idea what I was getting into. This was a happy accident. He even wrote a piece in honour of another of the subjects of this thread, Elegy, in memoriam Horatio Parker. If you're in a somber mood, I think this might catch you really perfectly. Some of the orchestration sounds like a precursor to film music at times.
MacDowell wrote some really nice stuff. Didn't he study under Raff briefly? I may be in the minority for preferring his 1st Piano Concerto to his second, but I really like both. I don't think his Piano Sonata #2 (Eroica) is very well-known, but I think it would surprise quite a few open-minded folks if they gave it a listen.
What's this Boston Six stuff ;)?!! MacDowell was born here in New York and taught at Columbia University...
Foote and Beach are homegrown in the sense that they did not study in Europe...
Parker, for me, is the greatest talent, and a man who (like Paine) really burned himself out teaching. Hora Novissima is one of the great late 19th century choral works and points to what Parker might have done.
Mark, see if you can get hold of a vocal score of Paine's oratorio St. Peter. Fascinating, and well beyond Beethoven. The really Beethovenish stuff ends with the 1st Symphony, I think. (After that it's Mendelssonh and Schumann ;)...I even hear a little Raff and Rubinstein in the 2nd Symphony, though that big hymn tune in the last movement is pure New England...)
Foote was a man with a real melodic gift. The three pieces for cello and piano are simply gorgeous.
David
from The Second New England School (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_New_England_School) on Wikipedia :) -
"The Second New England School, or sometimes specifically the Boston Six"... "They were particularly based in and around the city of Boston, Massachusetts..."
(ah, just read the brief article - less than a page - which is based on Tawa's 1991 book "The Coming of Age of American Art Music: New England's Classical Romanticists".)
Back in the days before Wikipedia, or, I suppose, the Tawa book I haven't read, it was always The Boston Group or The Boston Five (see John Tasker Howard's classic Our American Music (revised ed. 1939.) Paine, as representative of the older generation and teacher of some of the younger members was not considered part of the group. Howard's five were, sensibly, Foote, Chadwick, Parker, Beach and Arthur Batelle Whiting, who has not shared in whatever modest revival the others have enjoyed, although his very interesting nachlass is housed at the NYPL, Lincoln Center. MacDowell, as a New Yorker, a virtuoso pianist of international standing, and founding Chairman of the Dept of Music at Columbia, merited a separate chapter. The eight years during which he maintained a teaching studio in Boston...and from which he was frequently away on tour...were not enough to make him a Boston Classicist (as the group also used to be known) 'Classicism' did not apply to composers of 'advanced tendencies' who had studied with Liszt and Raff (and still less to even more advanced Bostonians like Loeffler.) Studying with Paine and/or Rheinberger was the ticket. Even an autodidact like Mrs. Beach was really on the fringe of the group.
David
The term 'The Boston Six' has become a good way of keeping the lesser known 'members' in the public eye, like 'The Mighty Handfull' in Russia or The Group of Six in Paris.
I think Amy Beach's piano concerto the finest ever written by a woman and it is a piece that I never grow tired of. Her symphony likewise is one of the finest of its period from the US.
I know of no finer chamber music from the US in the period that Arther Foote wrote his, perhaps others might suggest otherwise.
One composer rarely mentioned in connection with the Boston composers is Tchaikovsky. I believe the reason Foote withdrew his String Quartet 2 was because the first movement is so obviously an homage to Tchaikovsky's String Quartet 1.
Then there's Rimsky-Korsakov. When criticizing nationalism in music MacDowell pointedly refers to Antar, implying that its aesthetic and sound world have a good deal in common with his own "late" (early 1890s) orchestral music, so why label the one style Russian and the other American? Good point, yet I don't really see what the problem would be for a composer who has distinguished between two of his own sonatas by labeling one Norse and the other Keltic. Anyway, the obvious take-away: MacDowell was not only aware of R-K but felt a real kinship.
I totally agree with Giles. Mrs. Beach's concerto is not just one of my "woman's" favorite but on my list of all time favorite PCs. I also am really fond of her Piano Quintet. Her symphony I can take or leave.
And yes, love Arthur Footes music as well. It is such a shame that we have these wonderful Romantics from the US and our own orchestras never play them. If the Minnesota Orchestra has done ANYTHING by the Six, it hasn't been in the last 50 years! And I gave up suggesting things year ago......
Jerry
Somebody who shall remain nameless ;) sent me the Foote Cello Concerto long ago. A particularly fine work, whose neglect is totally inexplicable to me. It bears a strong formal resemblance to Rubinstein's CC 2.
I'm curious and excited about Parker. First, Mark, how did you come to hear Count Robert of Paris?Since I only knew of it, I did not know a performance or recording existed.Hora Novissima and a Northern Ballad do entice so much that one wants more. Relevant to this forum, Parker was affectionately taught by Rheinberger, who, in his turn, was educated by the Franz Lachner who has just spun quite his own long thread here this month.A lineage from Lachner to Rheinberger to Parker spans nearly the entire Romantic Era.With such tutelage, influence, and quality, there must be some beautiful substance hidden from us in his as-yet-undiscovered works. Many orchestral works date from or immediately after his student days in Munich, while Lachner yet lived. If these early works may be derivative of Rheinberger or Lachner, well, we like that here, I think it's more than safe to say.Overtures, in Eb and A major, a "Venetian" Overture in Bb, and a Symphony in either C major or minor, depending on the source, were composed.A scherzoin G major, or minor. The mentioned Count Robert overture.So many Choral pieces.I've heard a Suite for violin, piano, cello that was enchantingly melodic and memorable.Two Operas, "Mona", and "Fairyland" were prize-winners, and critically acclaimed.A few chamber works.These are some creations I've wondered about for a long time. American music has had a renaissance of sorts, such as by Naxos even in a series specifically for it. But noone is touching Parker.
Quote from: jerfilm on Wednesday 16 February 2011, 00:16
And yes, love Arthur Footes music as well. It is such a shame that we have these wonderful Romantics from the US and our own orchestras never play them. If the Minnesota Orchestra has done ANYTHING by the Six, it hasn't been in the last 50 years! And I gave up suggesting things year ago......
There's some obvious exceptions of course - the Detroit Symphony's recordings (and I would presume, and I could try to find out, concerts...) of Chadwick (under Järvi, but let's not go quite
entirely nativist here; Chadwick's 2nd symphony was, yes, the first to be published by an American publisher, but it was a publishing house set up by a German immigrant (Arthur Schmidt), after all :) *tweaktweaktweak* ) the Louisville Orchestra's concerts and recordings likewise (not alas recently either, but well-enough distributed anyway that they were mentioned by Paavo Järvi in an interview he did with Fanfare as part of his musical background, I remember...), ... other counterexamples worse but also better are to hand.
(Though it occurs to me that if I find it noteworthy that orchestras in the mid-20th performed - usually premiered, not more than one performance generally, though occasionally - works by deceased greats e.g. Roger Sessions and before him Ernest Bloch - then it's because name orchestras seem to have three categories - the standards ; modern premieres ; and everything else... and at that time, those works fell into modern premieres, and now they fall, alas, into everything else :( )
Eric
Was the Foote concerto played by Doug Moore? Not my favorite cellist by a long shot, but a serious and helpful scholar. I'd LOVE to hear this (hint.)
Those who would like to enjoy the Foote concerto in non-orchestral clothing may enjoy the Romance and Scherzo, Op.22 for cello and piano. The romance is the slow movement of the concerto in a different key and with minor alterations. Beautiful, beautiful music.
One composer rarely mentioned in connection with the Boston composers is Tchaikovsky. Not as big an influence on this generation of Americans as Brahms, but definitely there. The 2nd Tchaikovsky pf concerto had its premiere in New York in Nov, 1881 and a tune from the first movement (sorry, I don't have a score so I can't give bar #s) figures in a rather obvious ways in Arthur Batelle Whiting's early piano trio.
And speaking of A.B. Whiting (1861-1936), surely his once (relatively) popular Piano Concerto in d minor (1888) and Fantasia for piano and orchestra, Op.11 (1897) are candidates for Hyperion's series??
David
Marcus, a member of this forum with a very broad collection of music, no longer posts here (though he may lurk -- Mark, are you reading?) so I'm going to take the liberty of posting an excerpt from a private communication he once sent:
I love all of Parker's music. The Northern Ballad is one of his best, but equally as good is his symphonic poem Vathek (1903). It runs for 15 minutes with typical lush romantic writing. I also admire Parker's Oratorio "Hora Novissima" which runs for over an hour. At its best it recalls Liszt & Wagner, with the chorus parts, with orchestra & organ, particularly noteworthy. The Concert for Organ & Orchestra is in the same CD set.
Quote(though he may lurk -- Mark, are you reading?)
Marcus last looked in here in October and his last post was in May 2010.
The Boston Six get precious little play here in Boston. I've lived here for almost 40 years now and I can remember the Boston Symphony playing Amy Beach's "Gaelic" Symphony once about 25 years ago - and that's about it! The Trinity Church choir and orchestra performed Parker's Hora Novissima about 10 years ago. The concert hall at Harvard's School of Music is named after John Knowles Paine. Otherwise, the Boston Six are as good as forgotten in their hometown.
Quote from: chill319 on Wednesday 16 February 2011, 11:41
Parker's Oratorio "Hora Novissima" which runs for over an hour. At its best it recalls Liszt & Wagner, with the chorus parts, with orchestra & organ, particularly noteworthy.
You can download a transcript of William Strickland's (less than ideal, but nevertheless highly enjoyable) 1950s recording of Parker's warmly romantic
Hora Novissima with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra here: http://randomclassics.blogspot.com/2010/04/charles-ives-teacher-horatio-parker-and.html (http://randomclassics.blogspot.com/2010/04/charles-ives-teacher-horatio-parker-and.html)
It is taken directly from the Desto LP D 413 (M) with one or two jumps and some distortion.
To supplement the excellent disc of Symphonies 2 and 3 (http://www.chandos.net/details06.asp?CNumber=CHAN%209685 (http://www.chandos.net/details06.asp?CNumber=CHAN%209685)), the best option for Chadwick's orchestral music is the two-disc set conducted by Serebrier on Reference - a conflation of two previously-issued single discs (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aprhrodite-symphonique-George-Chadwick-Serebrier/dp/B000066TVU/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1299261786&sr=8-9 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aprhrodite-symphonique-George-Chadwick-Serebrier/dp/B000066TVU/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1299261786&sr=8-9)).
These interpretations of Melpomene, Tam o'Shanter and the Symphonic Sketches have more bite than Jarvi's Chandos versions. Plus you get super performances of three more little-heard works - the Suite symphonique in particular is splendid. ;D
Does anyone know where the score and parts of Whiting's piano concertante pieces are? The two piano score of theRhapsody is in the RCM, I think. But there is no sign of either in Fleisher or the Library of Congress, where one would expect them to be.
I just noticed an earlier poster mentioning that Tchaikovsky's 2nd piano concerto was premiered in New York. Even more to the point of this thread, his 1st piano concerto was premiered in Boston on October 25, 1875. He later revised it a bit - but yes, we Bostonians heard it first! (Not me. I wasn't there.)
Quote from: Gareth Vaughan on Saturday 05 March 2011, 13:29
Does anyone know where the score and parts of Whiting's piano concertante pieces are? The two piano score of theRhapsody is in the RCM, I think. But there is no sign of either in Fleisher or the Library of Congress, where one would expect them to be.
Hrm. Schirmer in a 1908 set of program notes (Boston Sym. program notes were -big- in those days, magazine sized) advertised the parts and score of Whiting's fantasy as for hire...
Could they possibly, conceivably, still have them somewhere in a back room? Doubt it, but...
Gareth: Whiting's manuscripts are in the Music Division of the New York Public library, Lincoln Center. The library probably also received Whiting's own copies of his published works at the same time, but I have never consulted them. I would speak to someone at the Music Division. Alas, I haven't been down there in years and don't even know who replaced John Shepard as Chief.
David
Quote from: edurban on Saturday 05 March 2011, 18:04
Gareth: Whiting's manuscripts are in the Music Division of the New York Public library, Lincoln Center. The library probably also received Whiting's own copies of his published works at the same time, but I have never consulted them. I would speak to someone at the Music Division. Alas, I haven't been down there in years and don't even know who replaced John Shepard as Chief.
David
the online library catalog lists a few orchestral work manuscripts under Whiting but their print catalog and their staff should be consulted also I would agree.
Compared with Chadwick, Horatio Parker doesn't seem to get much of a look-in when it comes to commercial recordings and I find it hard to understand why this should be the case.
When the Nebraska CD of his splendid cantata Hora Novissima (1893) was issued in 1994 I was at first excited and then rather disappointed and didn't hang on to the disc for very long. The Trinity performance which dafrieze has provided in the download section is a dream come true - far and away the best rendition I've ever come across. If members don't know the work, this is definitely the recording to have: beautifully sung and played, and everything at just the right tempo.
I've not yet listened to mikehopf's files yet, but they are inching their way to the top of the pile of CDRs -
Overture, Count Robert of Paris, Op.24b (1890)
Christmas Cantata, The Shepherd's Vision, Op.63 (1900)
Mona, Op.71 (1910) - excerpts
:)
I've just finally got round to ordering the two Bridge sets and there is some wonderfully off-piste repertoire -
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/6182WYZTY8L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Louis Coerne - Excalibur; Edward Burlingame Hill - Stevensoniana, Suite No. 1, Op.24; Horatio Parker - A Northern Ballad; John Alden Carpenter - Sea-Drift
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/ Karl Krueger
BRIDGE 9190
(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/Nov03/farwell.jpg)
Disc A
Edward MacDowell: Suite No. 1 in D Minor, Op.42; Suite No. 2, Indian, Op.48
Disc B
Horatio Parker: Vathek; Victor Herbert: Hero and Leander; Arthur Farwell: The Gods of the Mountain - Suite, Op.52
Disc C
Henry Hadley: Symphony No. 2 in F Minor, The Four Seasons, Op.30; Salome, Op.55
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/ Karl Krueger, conductor
BRIDGE 9124A/C
;D
It's really quite an embarrassment that these recordings were made by Brits rather than Yanks. And equally disappointing that, in all my years attending concerts, I've not encountered performances of works by any of these composers. A sad commentary on the state of classical music in the U.S.
Quote from: Josh on Tuesday 15 February 2011, 01:38
But I've found at least one nice work by 5 members of the Boston Six, the odd man out being Amy Beach. (Something seems technically incorrect about that sentence, but as I pointed out recently, I'm not a very skilled writer.) I'm open to further exploration, but what pass for the famous works of Beach do not appeal to me at all - yes, including the Gaelic Symphony. Large passages are overtly repellent to me, unfortunately.
I must confess, I've never really been able to warm to Mrs. Beach's larger-scale works all that much. (
Cabildo excepted, and that's not really that much "larger-scale".) But she more than makes up for it with her treasures of chamber music (there's a violin sonata which I adore) and her songs. Some of the smaller choral works are nice, too.
I saw a mention of Henry Holden Huss - might I direct your attention to this disc by the Rawlins Piano Trio? http://www.amazon.com/American-Romance-Adolph-Martin-Foerster/dp/B0002NY8LC (http://www.amazon.com/American-Romance-Adolph-Martin-Foerster/dp/B0002NY8LC) They're an excellent outfit out of South Dakota who have done much to promote American Romantic chamber music in recent years. I own all of their discs:
http://www.amazon.com/s?_encoding=UTF8&search-alias=music&field-artist=Rawlins%20Piano%20Trio (http://www.amazon.com/s?_encoding=UTF8&search-alias=music&field-artist=Rawlins%20Piano%20Trio)
(See also the Parker trio, which they have recorded, and which is lovely.)
I like most everything on their discs (with the exception of the Samuel Adler, whom I never could stand). But the standouts, for me, are the Parker; the Huss; the William Clifford Heilman*; the Edwin Grasse; the Cadman; and the Henry Hadley.
Regarding Cadman, incidentally - oddly enough, I managed to purchase the two recordings of this triop, this and the one on Naxos (http://www.amazon.com/Cadman-Piano-major-Sonata-Violin/dp/B00005QIST/ref=sr_1_9?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1321887299&sr=1-9 (http://www.amazon.com/Cadman-Piano-major-Sonata-Violin/dp/B00005QIST/ref=sr_1_9?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1321887299&sr=1-9)) at exactly the same time, independent of one another. It's possibly my favorite pre-war American piano trio, and is definitely in my top-five list of American chamber works. It's wonderfullly inventive, and as there's sore little else of Cadman's available on disc, I can't recommend it too highly. (Both recordings are worth purchasing for the other works on them, but if I had to choose one, for technical quality it would be the Naxos release. It's a cleaner performance.)
I realize this is rather far afield for a discussion about the Boston Six. But as Dave Barry might say, I don't care. :D Any chance I get to boost American music is fine by me.
*Funny story about Heilman: I bought the disc, but the liner notes aren't of much help in telling his story. So what do I, child of the internet age, do? Go to Wikipedia. There's a short article, not much more help. I get curious to see who wrote it, so I check the article history. It was...me. I'd written it about a year earlier in a flurry of article-creation based on John Tasker Howard. And the worst of it? I
still don't know anything else about heilman.
Quote from: Amphissa on Monday 21 November 2011, 14:28
It's really quite an embarrassment that these recordings were made by Brits rather than Yanks. And equally disappointing that, in all my years attending concerts, I've not encountered performances of works by any of these composers. A sad commentary on the state of classical music in the U.S.
Ugh, don't get me started. When Placido Domingo took the helm as general director of Washington National Opera, he made a big point of programming one American opera every year...a national opera for the nation's capital, as he put it. I'm afraid it didn't work as well as he wanted it to. And the NSO has done
nothing to boost anything that's not new music. I'd like to see more amateur groups get in on the ground floor, but so far not much is being done.
MusicSack (http://musicsack.com/PersonFMTDetail.cfm?PersonPK=100044232) lists 13 sources that at least mention William Clifford Heilman. Have fun.
Quote from: eschiss1 on Monday 21 November 2011, 17:01
MusicSack (http://musicsack.com/PersonFMTDetail.cfm?PersonPK=100044232) lists 13 sources that at least mention William Clifford Heilman. Have fun.
Ooh, thank you. Never seen that site before, but I shall make much use of it in future.
Maybe I can help with some more Horatio Parker orchestral works, viz:
Organ Concerto Op.55
Northern Ballad
Vathek - Symphonic Suite
I've got an old recording of:
PARKER: Suite for Piano Trio
WC HEILMAN: Piano Trio
These may have been reissued on CD?
Mike, who are the performers in your recording of the Organ Concerto?
???
Quote from: mikehopf on Monday 21 November 2011, 20:02
I've got an old recording of:
PARKER: Suite for Piano Trio
WC HEILMAN: Piano Trio
These may have been reissued on CD?
Who are the players? When I get home I can check the ones on my disc and let you know.
Who are the players? When I get home I can check the ones on my disc and let you know.
Rawlins Piano Trio
Quote from: mikehopf on Monday 21 November 2011, 20:58
Who are the players? When I get home I can check the ones on my disc and let you know.
Rawlins Piano Trio
Yep. That's been reissued, then - that's the one I've got.
I'm not sure, John. Probably from this source:
Horatio Parker: Hora Novissima/Organ Concerto
Horatio William Parker (Composer), John Levick (Conductor), Abendmusik Chorus (Orchestra), Nebraska Wesleyan Choir (Orchestra), Anna Soranno (Performer)
This is still available from Amazon
Yes four of the Rawlins Trio's Cds are available for download from Amazon.com
In fact, I just did this afternoon.
Jerry
Responding to reply 28 (Amphissa), if memory serves the Karl Krueger recordings were made in the mid to late 1950s under the auspices of the Society for the Preservation of American Music, which distributed the LPs to libraries. Many have been remastered for CD and issued by the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
My two cents: all of the aforementioned composers wrote fine, estimable and even near-great works (particularly Parker and Chadwick), but the greatest among them isn't mentioned, despite his Massachusetts origins. Henry Hadley outstripped them all in nearly every way. I've been fortunate to become acquainted with very many of his works through commercial and air check recordings, by obtaining piano scores and playing them, and by obtaining full scores and manuscripts. using Finale, I've made new scores and created virtual performances of a few of his larger works. Of all of them, Hadley deserves a recorded edition.
I, too, am a Hadley fan but sadly have not had any exposure beyond the meagre offerings of our recording companys. Do you have any performances that you can share with us?
Jerry
There's a recording of Henry Hadley as a conductor (of the New York Philharmonic), I think, in the Swedish Media Archives, dating from 1925 - hrm. I forget, was he at all known as a conductor, does this make any sense, or would it be a different Henry Hadley?
Quote from: jerfilm on Tuesday 29 November 2011, 14:08
I, too, am a Hadley fan but sadly have not had any exposure beyond the meagre offerings of our recording companys. Do you have any performances that you can share with us?
Jerry
Let me see if I can get permission to share some things.
Quote from: eschiss1 on Wednesday 30 November 2011, 03:20
There's a recording of Henry Hadley as a conductor (of the New York Philharmonic), I think, in the Swedish Media Archives, dating from 1925 - hrm. I forget, was he at all known as a conductor, does this make any sense, or would it be a different Henry Hadley?
It's the same Hadley, equally famous as conductor. He made a number of short recordings as conductor, and they have circulated. I'm sure someone here has them.
Quote from: minacciosa on Monday 26 March 2012, 17:38
Quote from: jerfilm on Tuesday 29 November 2011, 14:08
I, too, am a Hadley fan but sadly have not had any exposure beyond the meagre offerings of our recording companys. Do you have any performances that you can share with us?
Jerry
Let me see if I can get permission to share some things.
I will be able to share some Hadley. Give me a few days to put some things together.
That sounds great. Will look forward to it.
Jerry
Quote from: jerfilm on Tuesday 29 November 2011, 14:08
I, too, am a Hadley fan but sadly have not had any exposure beyond the meagre offerings of our recording companys. Do you have any performances that you can share with us?
Jerry
Here are performances of works by Henry Kimball Hadley. I'm ashamed to say that they are exceedingly rare, as the quality of this composer's work is superb. He wrote a fair amount of lighter music (October Twilight, Piano Concertino being examples) along with his major tone poems, symphonies, operas and narrative cantatas. Unfortunately, to the extent that Hadley has been performed since his death it has been those lighter works (such as Legend of Hani, Ballet of the Flowers) that have been heard. Though Hadley's orchestral works are fantastic, I believe Hadley's greatest achievements lie in his large cantatas (Mirtil in Arcadia, Music: An Ode, Resurgam, etc.), and in his operas. The performances below are all broadcasts except for Othello, said performance of which I have permission to share.
Othello Op.96
M-Tel Classic FM Symphony Orchestra
John McLaughlin Williams, Conductor
2/15/11
In Bohemia Op.28
Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra
Guy Fraser Harrison, Conductor
1/10/54
In Bohemia Op.28
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
Fabien Sevitsky, Conductor
3/5/43
Concertino for Piano & Orchestra Op.131
Eunice Howard, Piano
Philip James, Conductor
Victor Symphony Orchestra
October Twilight Op.95 No.2
Philip James, Conductor
Victor Symphony Orchestra
Moderator's note:
The downloads can be accessed here:
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1523.135.html (http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1523.135.html)