aworks :: "new" american classical music

The Passing Measures (1998). David Lang #antidote #rdio

David Lang's The Passing Measures is a fine antidote to the relentless consumption of musical tracks every day, be it from iPod or rdio or other media fountains.

Composer note:

I think one of the reasons our commercial culture likes all music to be fast and snappy is because in fast music it is harder to recognize the passing of time. You listen to the tunes, to the catchy phrases, but you are not allowed to feel just how time slips away. Slow music is good for contemplation but is probably terrible for business, so you don't get much of it in your daily life. 

Elegy for Harpo Marx (1964). Lou Harrison

From guitarist David Tannenbaum's website:

Some months after he died a guitar trio was found in Lou Harrison’s papers called Elegy for Harpo Marx, composed in 1964. The history of the piece is unclear but the version found was certainly written for guitar. 

A sad piece, given the subject, makes it even more poignant.

Lamia (1888-89). Edward MacDowell #100best #wagner

I'm listening to 100 Best American Classics on rdio. Unfortunately, only the artists are listed, not the composers. I probably listen to more American classical music than you do, and yet, at least so far, this is mostly new music to me, Stephen Foster not withstanding. Worse, I can't find anything on the Internet that matches track with composer. I'm tempted to buy the #$%^&*() CD just so I can have the definitive word on composers, without having to google each individual work.

John Fielder Porte in his book Edward MacDowell: a great American tone poet, his life and music:

The chief demerit of of Lamia is that it is obviously influenced by Wagner, and has but little of MacDowell's customary individual expression.

Ah, that pernicious European influence on American classical music. Though, this piece is actually not that bad...

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aworks listening log :: michael daugherty and paul moravec

• Regrets Only. Michael Daugherty. Hong Zhu, Tess Remy-Schumacher, Ben Davis

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• Firecracker. Michael Daugherty. University of Central Oklahoma Chamber Collegium
• Rosa Parks Boulevard. Michael Daugherty. University of Central Oklahoma Wind Symphony
• Walk the Walk. Michael Daugherty. Jared Cathey, Nick Steward, Tommy Goddard
• Blue Like an Orange. Michael Daugherty. University of Central Oklahoma Chamber Collegium
• Diamond in the Rough. Michael Daugherty. Nick Steward, Yida Hu, Michael Jones, Brian Lamb
• Bizarro. Michael Daugherty. University of Central Oklahoma Wind Symphony
• Northern Lights Electric. Paul Moravec. Boston Modern Orchestra Project
• Clarinet Concerto. Paul Moravec. Boston Modern Orchestra Project
• Sempre Diritto! Paul Moravec. Boston Modern Orchestra Project
• Montserrat: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra. Paul Moravec. Boston Modern Orchestra Project

E.T. (1982). John Williams

Film composers were polled on favorite film scores. The aggregated results:

1. The Mission. Ennio Morricone
2. E.T. John Williams
3. Psycho. Bernard Herrmann
4. The Shawshank Redemption. Thomas Newman
5. Star Wars. John Williams
6. Lawrence of Arabia. Maurice Jarre
7. Once Upon a Time in the West. Ennio Morricone
8. Chinatown. Jerry Goldsmith
9. Vertigo. Bernard Herrmann
10. Planet of the Apes. Jerry Goldsmith
11. The Empire Strikes Back. John Williams

Update. Added a period to "E.T" in the post title.

Related articles

Vertigo (1958). Bernard Herrmann /title sequence/

North by Northwest (1959). Bernard Herrmann #wagner

Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959). Bernard Herrmann /even on a good day/

Pros score all-time classics

North by Northwest (1959). Bernard Herrmann #wagner

HopkinsCinemAddicts on Bernard Herrmann:

...he always flaunted his knowledge of Wagner by saturating his scores with Wagnerian waltzes, despite the lack of popular interest in Wagner and despite the films not being set in 19^th century Vienna (a time period which Wagner is more suited for).

This is the best analysis I've read re: the music in North by Northwest.

Synchrony (1931). Henry Cowell #q2 #sfs

Q2 has the new San Francisco Sympyhony recording from the American Mavericks Festival up on SoundCloud:

A Mirror on Which to Dwell (1975). Elliott Carter #q2

Q2 will have a 24-hour Elliott Carter marathon on Tuesday. I take it to mean this will start at 9PM Monday night, here on the west coast.

The composer on his A Mirror on Which to Dwell:

The poems of Elizabeth Bishop impressed me because they have a clear verbal coherence as well as an imaginative use of syllabic sounds that suggest the singing voice. I was very much in sympathy with their point of view, for there is almost always a secondary layer of meaning, sometimes ironic, sometimes passionate, that gives a special ambiance, often contradictory, to what the words say. 

 

aworks ordered list :: elliott carter works #tally

Here's a list of Elliott Carter's works, ordered by number of mentions in writeups since the composer's recent death:

1. String Quartet No. 2 (12)
2. Double Concerto (11)
3. String Quartet No. 1 (10)
4. Concerto for Orchestra (8)
5. String Quartet No. 3 (8)
6. What Next? (8)
7. Holiday Overture (7)
8. Pocahontas (6)
9. Symphonia: sum fluxae pretium spei (6)
10. Cello Concerto (5)
11. Cello Sonata (5)
12. Dialogues II (5)
13. Piano Sonata (5)
14. Symphony No. 1 (5)
15. Night Fantasies (4)
16. A Symphony of Three Orchestras (4)
17. Dialogues I (3)
18. Instances (3)
19. A Mirror on Which To Dwell (3)
20. Epigrams (2)
21. In Sleep, in Thunder (2)
22. Interventions (2)
23. Oboe Concerto (2)
24. Piano Concerto (2)
25. String Quartet No. 5 (2)
26. Syringa (2)
27. Variations for Orchestra (2)
28. Boston Concerto (1)
29. Caténaires (1)
30. Clarinet Concerto (1)
31. Conversations (1)
32. Eight Etudes and a Fantasy (1)
33. Flute Concerto (1)
34. In the Distances of Sleep (1)
35. The Minotaur (1)
36. Of Challenge and of Love (1)
37. On Conversing with Paradise (1)
38. The Siege of Corinth (1)
39. Three Occasions for Orchestra (1)
40. Three Poems of Robert Frost (1)
41. To Music (1)
42. Two Controversies and a Conversation (1)
43. Double Trio (1)
44. Sound Fields (1)
45. Soundings (1)
46. A Sunbeam's Architecture (1)
47. Triple Duo (1)
48. Violin Concerto (1)
49. What Are Years (1)
50. Woodwind Quintet (1)

The quartets, Piano Sonata, and Night Fantasies are probably my favorites. 

Agence France-Presse AP Boosey & Hawkes The Economist The Guardian Opera Chic STL Symphony

Joel Chadabe  Phil Dyess-Nugent Elaine Fine Matthew Guerrieri Ivan Hewitt Allan Kozinn Norman Lebrecht Anne Midgette Nicholas Phan Russell Platt Doug Ramsey Lloyd Schwartz John Schaefer David Patrick Stearns Mark Swed Bryan Townsend

aworks listening log :: laurie spiegel

• Appalachian Grove. The Expanding Universe
• The Unquestioned Answer. The Expanding Universe
• Music for Dance. The Expanding Universe
• Patchwork. The Expanding Universe
• Sediment. An Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music Vol. 4
• East River Dawn. The Expanding Universe

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Early electronic music by Laurie Spiegel. East River Dawn could arguably be proto-Boards of Canada.