aworks :: "new" american classical music

St. Louis Blues (1914). W.C. Handy /twittering and tooting/

As I continue to explode aworks into micro-entries on twitter and del.icio.us, I'm realizing the flow works in the other direction as well. Or to phrase it differently, blogging requires some thought, unlike twitter. So in this post, I'll correct what I just twittered, after listening to a John Fahey version of a famous composition.

Yes in fact, W.C. Handy's St. Louis Blues is a famous composition. Wikipedia:

"St. Louis Blues" is a piece of American music composed by William Christopher Handy in the blues style. It remains a fundamental part of jazz musicians' repertoire. It was also one of the first blues songs to succeed as a pop song; it has been performed by numerous musicians of all styles from Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith to Glenn Miller and the Boston Pops Orchestra. It has been called "the jazzman's Hamlet". Published in September of 1914 by Handy's own company, it later gained such popularity that it inspired the dance step the "Foxtrot".

I also don't remember what Ken Burns had to say about the work although I see a version by Louis Armstrong included in the Ken Burns' Jazz CD set. I do remember how Armstrong's recording of West End Blues was seen as a momentous work, though...

YouTube with St. Louis Blues as soundtrack:

After work, I stopped by the State Teacher's College* Library to see what they had on Howard Hanson. Not much but I did check out American Composers on American Music by Henry Cowell, published by Stanford Press in 1933.

First, Cowell takes a whack at critics:

The notion that criticism must be vitriolic and destructive in order to be intelligent and interesting is an utter absurdity fostered by professional word-jugglers.

He then calms down and groups American composers of the time:

• those using indigenous materials or particularly interested in expressing an American spirit e.g. Charles Ives
• foreign-born residents who also have indigenous tendencies e.g. Leo Ornstein
• American originals influenced by modern German music e.g. Wallingford Riegger
• Americans "who are somewhat original" and influenced by modern French neo-classicism e.g. Virgil Thomson and George Antheil
• those without original ideas who adapt Americanisms to a European style e.g. Aaron Copland
• conservatives who stick to writing European music e.g. Howard Hanson
• foreign-borns who stick to writing European music i.e. Charles Martin Loeffler and seven other composers unknown to me
• young composers who may develop to become "independently American" e.g. Henry Brant and Bernard Herrmann
• unclassifiables like William Grant Still who may possess the beginnings of a "genuine new style" and T. Carl Whitmer who is both strongly independent and yet conservative (Whitman's The Last Invocation settings list here including from Whitmer but also from Philip Glass. Philip Glass?).

Cowell compares Whitmer to Ives, with both of them emphasizing a poetic and serious side of music but unlike Ives, Whitmer's musical style, while unprecedentedly self-developed, was also conventional.

And regarding the quest to break free of European tradition, Cowell says:

The result of such an awakening should be the creation of works capable of being accorded international standing. When this has been accomplished, self-conscious nationalism will no longer be necessary.

* aka Minns' Evening Normal School, California State Normal School, Los Angeles State Normal School (a branch campus later to become UCLA), San José State Teachers College, San José State College, Cal State University - San José, and currently San José State University.
recent tracks: subterranean homesick alien - rockabye baby!: lullaby renditions of radiohead. the star spangled banner - larry alan smith. lonely fire - miles davis.

So, I've been through a lot of dudes and ladies looking for the foremost American composer. Some finalists, maybe: William Grant Stills, Aaron Copland, Paul Creston, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Douglas Moore, Ezra Sims, George Walker, David Baker, Dave Brubeck, Aaron Copeland, Lennie Bernstein, Howard Hanson, Roger Sessions, Leroy Anderson, Charles Wakefielde Cadman, Gunther Schuller, Henry Cowell, Roy Harris--Jesus, do I have to name them all! thegrowlingwolf for The Daily Growler

Not my list exactly as I've never heard of George Walker and I haven't heard the music of Ezra Sims nor of Charles Cadman although I've had the good fortune to spend the last six weeks becoming acquainted with the music of William Grant Still.

Regardless, the above growling person's post is great, if risque, and mentions Artie Shaw, John Kirkpatrick, Ava Gardner, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Freddie Green, Benny Goodman (aka Benő Guttman. Benő Guttman?), Buddy DeFranco, Tony Scott, John Cage, Lou Harrison, and his/her nomination for greatest (and most original) American composer. If only, in a weak American classical moment, Idolator would link to it. And recent aworks commenter [email protected] would second the nomination...

note: sensitized by a day job discussion re: warnings versus errors, false positives, and (yikes) false negatives, aworks feels compelled to point out some of the preceding wikipedia links warn about the validity of their content. let the clicker beware or else revert to using non-free/legacy and expert-"guided" if not written encylopedias.
bonus google search: dora ohrenstein.
bonus wikipedia link: the year disclosure was written and when the cal football team (believe it or not) beat ohio state in the rose bowl --not this year or in our lifetime of course.

From the LA Opera brochure of the new season:

Straight from Broadway... Audra McDonald joins fellow Tony Award-winners Patti LuPone and John Doyle, star and director of this season's smash hit revival of Sweeney Tood, in an edgy 20th-century masterpiece from the composer of "Mack the Knife."

wikipedia: rise and fall of the city of mahagonny kurt weill los angeles opera mack the knife

I'm listening to songs by Henry Cowell, a composer I associate with the unconventional and ultra-modern. And I find it odd that his setting of these songs are not, for the most part, odd. But the CD is good, nonetheless.

Note: his Mother Goose Rhymes was written while serving time under difficult circumstances in San Quentin.

database of recorded american music: songs of henry cowell

Inspired by The Syntax of Things, Friday's random 10:

1. I'm A Fool To Want You. Jack Wolf, Joel Herron, Frank Sinatra. Dexter Gordon. Ballads. Freddie Hubbard on trumpet. If you like The Gentle Side of John Coltrane...
2. Teo. T.J. Kirk. 10/12/95 Club Toast, Burlington, VT. mp3. Low-key electric guitar jazz.
   
3. The Second Hurricane. Like A Giant Bomb (Act 1). Aaron Copland. New York Philharmonic - Bernstein. High-key high school opera.
   
4. over the rivers. Daniel Stearns. Presumably not equal tempered.
   
5. Kids With Guns. Gorillaz Music. From The O.C.: Mix 5. Collecting the set.
   
6. Cunningham Stories. Laurie Anderson. A Chance Operation: The John Cage Tribute (Disc 1). Merce Cunningham stories, that is. Delightful.
   
7. Adventures in a Perambulator. John Carpenter. Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra. By the way, pram is short for perambulator or baby buggy (device now archaic I suppose).
   
8. Cello Concerto (1966). II. György Ligeti. Siegfried Palm, Asko/Schönberg Ensemble, Reinbert de Leeuw. Ligeti Project III. Unlike the recent passing of Ligeti, I can't begin to make sense of the death of LHL. Title notwithstanding, the Dextor Gordon track back at #1 helps as does Joshua Kosman's appreciation.
   
9. 25'46' x 80'12' Feat. Mr. SoundWave. Otto Von Schirach. 8000 B.C. No clue where (or why) I got this. The cover for his Pukology is graphically repulsive.
   
10. Capital Of The World. 1 The Tailor Shop. George Antheil. Wolff, Hugh / Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. Album nominated for an orchestral performance Grammy. From Antheil's later, tamer years.

For some reason, I'm listening to multiple versions of Charles Ives' "Gyp the Blood" or Hearst!? Which is Worst?!. The Hearst in question is newspaper magnate and California castle owner William Randolph Hearst. Gyp the Blood, aka Harry Horowitz, was an early 20th century New York City gang leader ultimately executed after a trial hyped in Hearst's newspapers.

The Ensemble Modern recording makes the musically odd sound forceful and enchanting.

This is also part of Ives' Set No. 2. The Ives Descriptive Catalogue says Gunther Schuller edited and arranged this music but substituted Ives' Ann Street for Gyp the Blood.

As for why Ives, I've spent the last month listening to Radiohead (before and after the subdued but excellent UC Berkeley concert) and to Kieran Hebden's electronic Four Tet (after adding to the collection). Returning to more traditional sounds, for me anyway, has been problematic e.g. Aaron Copland's music in comparison sounds lifeless and monochromatic. I know the music is worthy but it's like watching John Ford's Stagecoach again after seeing Deadwood. Fortunately, Charles Ives' work is audacious enough to compete.

Today honors, among others, the five Gable brothers. In World War II, three served in the armed forces and returned, one stayed behind to take care of the Indiana family farm, and one served and didn't return. May they and their parents rest in peace.

From Ives' setting of John Greenleaf Whittier's The Brewing of Soma:

Drop thy still dews of quietness,  
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess  
Thy beauty of Thy peace.

wikipedia: indiana memorial day world war ii golden gate national cemetary (in san bruno)
serenity on free napster: thomas hampson jan degaetani dawn upshaw

In Alex Ross' list of 20th-century musical examples, he includes Conlon Nancarrow's Study No. 3a  from the "Boogie-Woogie Suite." This is as wild as American expatriate player piano gets, I suppose.

Earlier today, I was listening to George Antheil's blues parody Little Shimmy from 1923 and a couple of measures reminded me of the repeated notes of Jerry Lee Lewis. And how did Jerry Lee's marriage to his 13-year-old second cousin work out, anyway?

Frank Oteri from his 100 Reasons to Play This Century's Music also comments on Little Shimmy:

A extra-ordinarily short jazzy piano piece to brighten up the afternoon.

I've been listening to Griffes' The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan this week and I just noticed the composer died on this date in 1920, at the age of 35. Wikipedia suggests he died from Spanish Flu although liner notes from DRAM say empyema, a form of pneumonia that may or may not be related to the epidemic.

I don't normally listen to tone poems but each of the musical episodes is varied and appealing, especially in the original piano version. The composer Busoni wrote a letter of recommendation for Griffes but told him to either orchestrate or shorten the piece. He did both.

gbarto on the work:

...a bit gloomy, a touch saccharine here and there, but very nice in places and eminently listenable.

NPR streams here.
 

The Last Invocation (1928). T. Carl Whitmer /american composers on american music/

After work, I stopped by the State Teacher's College* Library to see what they had on Howard Hanson. Not much but I did check out American Composers on American Music by Henry Cowell, published by Stanford Press in 1933.

First, Cowell takes a whack at critics:

The notion that criticism must be vitriolic and destructive in order to be intelligent and interesting is an utter absurdity fostered by professional word-jugglers.

He then calms down and groups American composers of the time:

• those using indigenous materials or particularly interested in expressing an American spirit e.g. Charles Ives
• foreign-born residents who also have indigenous tendencies e.g. Leo Ornstein
• American originals influenced by modern German music e.g. Wallingford Riegger
• Americans "who are somewhat original" and influenced by modern French neo-classicism e.g. Virgil Thomson and George Antheil
• those without original ideas who adapt Americanisms to a European style e.g. Aaron Copland
• conservatives who stick to writing European music e.g. Howard Hanson
• foreign-borns who stick to writing European music i.e. Charles Martin Loeffler and seven other composers unknown to me
• young composers who may develop to become "independently American" e.g. Henry Brant and Bernard Herrmann
• unclassifiables like William Grant Still who may possess the beginnings of a "genuine new style" and T. Carl Whitmer who is both strongly independent and yet conservative (Whitman's The Last Invocation settings list here including from Whitmer but also from Philip Glass. Philip Glass?).

Cowell compares Whitmer to Ives, with both of them emphasizing a poetic and serious side of music but unlike Ives, Whitmer's musical style, while unprecedentedly self-developed, was also conventional.

And regarding the quest to break free of European tradition, Cowell says:

The result of such an awakening should be the creation of works capable of being accorded international standing. When this has been accomplished, self-conscious nationalism will no longer be necessary.

* aka Minns' Evening Normal School, California State Normal School, Los Angeles State Normal School (a branch campus later to become UCLA), San José State Teachers College, San José State College, Cal State University - San José, and currently San José State University.
recent tracks: subterranean homesick alien - rockabye baby!: lullaby renditions of radiohead. the star spangled banner - larry alan smith. lonely fire - miles davis.

Disclosure (?). ? /, full/

So, I've been through a lot of dudes and ladies looking for the foremost American composer. Some finalists, maybe: William Grant Stills, Aaron Copland, Paul Creston, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Douglas Moore, Ezra Sims, George Walker, David Baker, Dave Brubeck, Aaron Copeland, Lennie Bernstein, Howard Hanson, Roger Sessions, Leroy Anderson, Charles Wakefielde Cadman, Gunther Schuller, Henry Cowell, Roy Harris--Jesus, do I have to name them all! thegrowlingwolf for The Daily Growler

Not my list exactly as I've never heard of George Walker and I haven't heard the music of Ezra Sims nor of Charles Cadman although I've had the good fortune to spend the last six weeks becoming acquainted with the music of William Grant Still.

Regardless, the above growling person's post is great, if risque, and mentions Artie Shaw, John Kirkpatrick, Ava Gardner, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Freddie Green, Benny Goodman (aka Benő Guttman. Benő Guttman?), Buddy DeFranco, Tony Scott, John Cage, Lou Harrison, and his/her nomination for greatest (and most original) American composer. If only, in a weak American classical moment, Idolator would link to it. And recent aworks commenter [email protected] would second the nomination...

note: sensitized by a day job discussion re: warnings versus errors, false positives, and (yikes) false negatives, aworks feels compelled to point out some of the preceding wikipedia links warn about the validity of their content. let the clicker beware or else revert to using non-free/legacy and expert-"guided" if not written encylopedias.
bonus google search: dora ohrenstein.
bonus wikipedia link: the year disclosure was written and when the cal football team (believe it or not) beat ohio state in the rose bowl --not this year or in our lifetime of course.

Raise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1927). Kurt Weill

From the LA Opera brochure of the new season:

Straight from Broadway... Audra McDonald joins fellow Tony Award-winners Patti LuPone and John Doyle, star and director of this season's smash hit revival of Sweeney Tood, in an edgy 20th-century masterpiece from the composer of "Mack the Knife."

wikipedia: rise and fall of the city of mahagonny kurt weill los angeles opera mack the knife

Song in the Songless (1921). Henry Cowell

I'm listening to songs by Henry Cowell, a composer I associate with the unconventional and ultra-modern. And I find it odd that his setting of these songs are not, for the most part, odd. But the CD is good, nonetheless.

Note: his Mother Goose Rhymes was written while serving time under difficult circumstances in San Quentin.

database of recorded american music: songs of henry cowell

Adventures in a Perambulator (1914). John Carpenter

Inspired by The Syntax of Things, Friday's random 10:

1. I'm A Fool To Want You. Jack Wolf, Joel Herron, Frank Sinatra. Dexter Gordon. Ballads. Freddie Hubbard on trumpet. If you like The Gentle Side of John Coltrane...
2. Teo. T.J. Kirk. 10/12/95 Club Toast, Burlington, VT. mp3. Low-key electric guitar jazz.
   
3. The Second Hurricane. Like A Giant Bomb (Act 1). Aaron Copland. New York Philharmonic - Bernstein. High-key high school opera.
   
4. over the rivers. Daniel Stearns. Presumably not equal tempered.
   
5. Kids With Guns. Gorillaz Music. From The O.C.: Mix 5. Collecting the set.
   
6. Cunningham Stories. Laurie Anderson. A Chance Operation: The John Cage Tribute (Disc 1). Merce Cunningham stories, that is. Delightful.
   
7. Adventures in a Perambulator. John Carpenter. Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra. By the way, pram is short for perambulator or baby buggy (device now archaic I suppose).
   
8. Cello Concerto (1966). II. György Ligeti. Siegfried Palm, Asko/Schönberg Ensemble, Reinbert de Leeuw. Ligeti Project III. Unlike the recent passing of Ligeti, I can't begin to make sense of the death of LHL. Title notwithstanding, the Dextor Gordon track back at #1 helps as does Joshua Kosman's appreciation.
   
9. 25'46' x 80'12' Feat. Mr. SoundWave. Otto Von Schirach. 8000 B.C. No clue where (or why) I got this. The cover for his Pukology is graphically repulsive.
   
10. Capital Of The World. 1 The Tailor Shop. George Antheil. Wolff, Hugh / Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. Album nominated for an orchestral performance Grammy. From Antheil's later, tamer years.

"Gyp the Blood" or Hearst!? Which is Worst?! (1912). Charles Ives

For some reason, I'm listening to multiple versions of Charles Ives' "Gyp the Blood" or Hearst!? Which is Worst?!. The Hearst in question is newspaper magnate and California castle owner William Randolph Hearst. Gyp the Blood, aka Harry Horowitz, was an early 20th century New York City gang leader ultimately executed after a trial hyped in Hearst's newspapers.

The Ensemble Modern recording makes the musically odd sound forceful and enchanting.

This is also part of Ives' Set No. 2. The Ives Descriptive Catalogue says Gunther Schuller edited and arranged this music but substituted Ives' Ann Street for Gyp the Blood.

As for why Ives, I've spent the last month listening to Radiohead (before and after the subdued but excellent UC Berkeley concert) and to Kieran Hebden's electronic Four Tet (after adding to the collection). Returning to more traditional sounds, for me anyway, has been problematic e.g. Aaron Copland's music in comparison sounds lifeless and monochromatic. I know the music is worthy but it's like watching John Ford's Stagecoach again after seeing Deadwood. Fortunately, Charles Ives' work is audacious enough to compete.

Serenity (1909). Charles Ives /memorial day 2006/

Today honors, among others, the five Gable brothers. In World War II, three served in the armed forces and returned, one stayed behind to take care of the Indiana family farm, and one served and didn't return. May they and their parents rest in peace.

From Ives' setting of John Greenleaf Whittier's The Brewing of Soma:

Drop thy still dews of quietness,  
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess  
Thy beauty of Thy peace.

wikipedia: indiana memorial day world war ii golden gate national cemetary (in san bruno)
serenity on free napster: thomas hampson jan degaetani dawn upshaw

Little Shimmy (1923). George Antheil

In Alex Ross' list of 20th-century musical examples, he includes Conlon Nancarrow's Study No. 3a  from the "Boogie-Woogie Suite." This is as wild as American expatriate player piano gets, I suppose.

Earlier today, I was listening to George Antheil's blues parody Little Shimmy from 1923 and a couple of measures reminded me of the repeated notes of Jerry Lee Lewis. And how did Jerry Lee's marriage to his 13-year-old second cousin work out, anyway?

Frank Oteri from his 100 Reasons to Play This Century's Music also comments on Little Shimmy:

A extra-ordinarily short jazzy piano piece to brighten up the afternoon.

The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan (1912/7). Charles Tomlinson Griffes

I've been listening to Griffes' The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan this week and I just noticed the composer died on this date in 1920, at the age of 35. Wikipedia suggests he died from Spanish Flu although liner notes from DRAM say empyema, a form of pneumonia that may or may not be related to the epidemic.

I don't normally listen to tone poems but each of the musical episodes is varied and appealing, especially in the original piano version. The composer Busoni wrote a letter of recommendation for Griffes but told him to either orchestrate or shorten the piece. He did both.

gbarto on the work:

...a bit gloomy, a touch saccharine here and there, but very nice in places and eminently listenable.

NPR streams here.