performed by the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein, or below by the Detroit Symphony under Neeme Järvi second part of the above video It is based on no program either literary or spiritual. It is not cyclical. I wanted … Continue reading Randall Thompson: Symphony no. 2 in Em
performed by the St. Louis Symphony under Leonard Slatkin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO2wTqo-eqg …a popular concert work which is the epitome of the twentieth-century symphony that could have been written by an American. (cover photo by Les Anderson) Howard Harold Hanson is not … Continue reading Howard Hanson: Symphony no. 2 in D-flat, op. 30, ‘Romantic’
performed by Steve’s Bedroom Band (cover image by Francisco Aceldo) Frederick Shepherd Converse was born on January 5, 1871 in Newton, Massachusetts. He studied at Harvard with John Knowles Paine, and his op. 1 violin sonata from 1893 got ‘highest honors’ as … Continue reading Frederick Converse: String Quartet no. 2 in Am, op. 18
performed by Neeme Järvi and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra second, third and fourth movements (cover image by Kent Henderson) George Gershwin won’t make it into the series, he has plenty of fame already. For a genius jazzy symphony, here’s something … Continue reading William Grant Still: Symphony no. 1 in A flat, ‘Afro-American’
performed by the Japan Philharmonic under Akeo Watanabe …coming back from Europe I found America a very strange place. Some of the musical life had become quite European, with the arrival of so many distinguished musicians who had fled the … Continue reading Roger Sessions: Symphony no. 1
performed by the Eastman Rochester Orchestra under Howard Hanson, or below by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under the late Sir Neville Marriner, who died exactly a year ago today (15 April 1924 – 2 October 2016) … Continue reading Ives Symphony no. 3, ‘The Camp Meeting’
performed by the Rawlings Piano Trio (cover image by Kassey Downard) Horatio Parker was born on September 15, 1863 in Auburndale, Massachusetts. He studied first with his mother, then with Chadwick at the New England Conservatory. He also studied, as did … Continue reading Horatio Parker: Suite for Piano Trio in A, op. 35
performed by the DaVinci Quartet and James Barbagallo, or as below by five other people second and third/fourth movements (cover image by Matthew Landers) Arthur William Foote was born on March 5, 1853 in Salem, Massachusetts. He was organist of the … Continue reading Arthur Foote: Piano Quintet in Am, op. 38
performed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Neeme Järvi (cover image by Igor Goryachev) George Whitefield Chadwick was born on 13 November 1854 in Lowell, Massachusetts. I haven’t seen a lot around about his musical education, but he took organ … Continue reading George Whitefield Chadwick: Symphony no. 3 in F
performed by Neeme Järvi and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra …[w]e of the North should be far more likely to be influenced by old English, Scotch or Irish songs, inherited with our literature from our ancestors. -Amy Beach (cover image by … Continue reading Beach Symphony in E minor, Op. 32, ‘Gaelic’
performed by the Ulster Orchestra under JoAnn Falletta, or below by the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta (cover image by Freddie Marriage) Before Mr. Paine, there had never been an American music writer worthy of serious consideration in the … Continue reading John Knowles Paine: Symphony no. 1 in Cm
or The American Symphony: a Series I’ve been wanting to use that line for so long, and I am positive someone’s used it somewhere but I haven’t even bothered looking because I’m so proud I thought of it. In any case, … Continue reading America’s Next Top Mahler
Fugue for Thought 