Six Movements from "New and Old" (1944). Wallingford Riegger /a quiet man in a noisy world/

I'm playing music today in reverse order of composer name. After grinding through lots of Wolfgang A. M. and skipping a fair amount of German composer Wilhelm Killmayer, it's on to Wallingford Riegger as played by Robert Shields. I have to admit I know next to nothing about Riegger other than I liked this piano piece.

From the Wikipedia bio:

Starting in the mid 1930's, Riegger began to write contemporary dance music. Later, as his career progressed, he began to use Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique more and more often, though he did occasionally revert to his earlier styles.[8] From 1941 on, he focused almost solely on instrumental music, and his Symphony No. 3 received the New York Music Critics' Circle Award and a Naumburg Foundation Recording Award...He died in New York in 1961 when he tripped over the leashes of two fighting dogs, resulting in a fall and a head injury from which he did not recover despite treatment.

I also like this description of the composer:

Riegger is a quiet man in a noisy world; he has enunciated no principles, demanded no "rights", made no claims, and written nothing that substitutes size for content.

 

Comments

[Kevin]

Thanks for digging this up; it was delightful. I'm a huge fan of that group of composers centered around Ives, Cowell, and New Music. I wish there was more interest in this stuff.

Also, very much liked the Palestine post. Keep up the good work.