Recent Writings
SAMUEL BARBER: His Life and Legacy
By Howard Pollack SAMUEL BARBER: His Life and Legacy. By Howard Pollack. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2023. 686 pp. Hardcover. $59.95 It has been more than 40 years since the death of Samuel Barber; 13 years have passed since his centenary. At this point it may be safely stated that Barber stands alongside…
Arnold Rosner: Orchestral Music, Vol. 4
Album Information Arnold Rosner: Orchestral Music, Vol. 4 1 Scherzo for Orchestra, Op. 29a (1964) 11:51 Concerto Grosso No. 2, Op. 74 (1979) 24:302 Lento; Allegro 8:473 Adagio 7:094 Allegro molto 8:23 5 Variations on a Theme by Frank Martin, Op. 105 (1996) 18:37 6 A My Lai Elegy, Op. 51 (1971; rev. 1993) 25:36Trumpet…
Piano Music of PAUL CRESTON: Three Narratives; Rhythmicon
Album Information Three Narratives, Op. 79 (1962) 25:25 1 Narrative No. 1 (7:40)2 Narrative No. 2 (7:55)3 Narrative No. 3 (9:46) Rhythmicon (1971-74): Volumes 7-10 44:49 4 Affirmation (2:05)5 A Jest (1:09)6 Offertory (2:39)7 Mirror Etude (1:04)8 Interlude (2:13)9 Salve Regina (3:20)10 Child’s Play (1:11)11 Quasi-Barbaro (2:06)12 Hemiola (1:15)13 Barcarolle (1:49)14 Badinage (1:19)15 Secret Game…
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BLOCH: Piano Quintet No. 1
Program Notes Ernest Bloch lived a long life—79 years—and was creatively productive for six decades. His busy life took him from Switzerland to Brussels, Franfurt, then New York, to Cleveland, San Francisco, back to Switzerland, then back to California, finally spending his last twenty years in Oregon. Throughout his life he continued to evolve both…
THE WAR ON MUSIC: Reclaiming the Twentieth Century
By John Mauceri. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2022. 232 pp. When a book appears that purports to deal with the mid-20th-century estrangement of classical music audiences from the fruits of their own time, which has largely continued since then, I become very interested, as I feel that this is one of the critical…
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Rosner: Requiem, OP. 59 (1973)
Album Information REQUIEM, OP. 59 (1973)BY ARNOLD ROSNER (1945-2013)Premiere Recording Overture: The Seventh Seal* (11:14) Feargal Mostyn-Williams, counter-tenor Thomas Elwin, tenor Gareth Brynmor John, baritone Recitative: Ein Wort, ein Satz (3:24) (Thomas Elwin, tenor) Toccata: Musica Satanica (5:06) Ballade: Les Neiges d’antan (6:13) (Kelley Hollis, soprano) Sutra: Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo* (9:47) (Gareth Brynmor John,…
Rosner’s Requiem: On a Forgotten Genius of American Music
In the spring of 1970, I was about to enter the Manhattan School of Music to pursue the study of musicology. At the time, I was working at C. F. Peters Corporation, then the primary publisher of the music of Alan Hovhaness, a well-known American composer whose unusual style involved combining the modal polyphony of the Renaissance with Armenian, Indian, Japanese, and Korean elements, and who interested me greatly.
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MUCZYNSKI Piano Sonatas
MUCZYNSKI Piano Sonatas: Nos. 1-3 ● Zachary Lopes (pn) ● ALBANY TROY1771 (42:44) This is a most welcome recording of Robert Muczynski’s three compelling piano sonatas—the first to appear since Laurel released its two-CD set of the composer’s own performances of his complete solo piano music. I should mention that though the latter recordings were…
VINCENT PERSICHETTI: Grazioso, Grit, and Gold
VINCENT PERSICHETTI: Grazioso, Grit, and Gold. by Andrea Olmstead. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018. 493 pp. Cloth. $110 The third quarter of the 20th century was an enormously fruitful period in American classical music, which saw the appearance of an extraordinary number of masterworks—indeed, some among the finest works produced in this country. Yet…
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Thoughts on Evaluating Unfamiliar Music
I have been a musicologist and critic for almost 50 years now, during which most of my activity has involved the description, assessment, and–in some cases– advocacy of music composed since 1915. Since there really aren’t generally accepted criteria for such evaluations, most critics—not to mention armchair musicologists—offer their reactions and judgments on an intuitive,…
ROSNER: Nocturne, Op. 68; Tempus Perfectum, Op. 109; Symphony No. 6, Op. 64
ARNOLD ROSNER: Nocturne, Op. 68; Tempus Perfectum, Op. 109; Symphony No. 6, Op. 64 London Phiharmonic Orch., Nick Palmer, cond., TOCCATA Classics. All music available from the Estate of Arnold Rosner; For further information, visit www.ArnoldRosnerMusic.com During his fifty-year compositional career, the American composer Arnold Rosner (1945–2013) produced a body of work that combined diverse influences into a…
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American Traditionalist Composers and the Music of Samuel Jones
Histories of American classical music in the 20th century typically begin with the bold experimentation of Charles Ives, who created sound collages using familiar American tunes. They then move on to the arrival of jazz and its great influence on American composers such as George Gershwin and Aaron Copland, who were seeking a distinctly American…
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ROSNER: Five Ko-Ans for Orchestra; Unraveling Dances; The Parable of the Law
ARNOLD ROSNER. Five Ko-ans for Orchestra; Unraveling Dances; The Parable of the Law. Nick Palmer, cond. Christopher Burchett, baritone; London Philharmonic Orchestra; Nick Palmer, cond. TOCCATA T0CC-0464 During his fifty-year compositional career, the American composer Arnold Rosner (1945–2013) produced a body of work that combined diverse influences into a powerful, distinctly personal musical voice. His catalogue comprises…
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PERSICHETTI: Selected Piano Music
VINCENT PERSICHETTI Selected Piano Music. CENTAUR CRC-3632 Vincent Persichetti was one of the most widely respected American musicians of his generation. A prolific composer, brilliant educator and lecturer, and prodigious pianist, he composed more than 150 works in virtually all genres and for virtually all performing media, while serving for 40 years on the faculty of…
SAMUEL BARBER: Absolute Beauty
SAMUEL BARBER: Absolute Beauty ● Documentary with commentary and performance excerpts, both contemporary and historical ● ZEN VIOLENCE FILMS www.samuelbarberfilm.com, available from amazon.samuelbarberfilm.com (DVD: 130:00) Documentary director: H. Paul Moon This is a most welcome documentary about American composer Samuel Barber. In a relatively leisurely fashion, it covers the scope of his creative output from Dover Beach through…
ROSNER: Violin Sonata No. 1; Bassoon Sonata; Cello Sonata No. 2; Danses a la Mode.
CHAMBER MUSIC BY ARNOLD ROSNER During his fifty-year compositional career, the American composer Arnold Rosner (1945-2013) produced a body of a work that combined diverse influences into a powerful, distinctly personal musical voice. His catalog contains compositions in nearly every genre, including three operas, eight symphonies, numerous works for orchestra and band, several large-scale choral…
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