Concert Notes
Carl Ruggles, Men and Mountains
Carl Ruggles, Men and Mountains by Matthew Mugmon Written for the concert New York Avant-Garde, performed on Oct 3, 2013 at Carnegie Hall. Ruggles born Mar 11, 1876 in East Marion, MA; died Oct 24, 1971 in Bennington, VT Men and Mountains composed from 1924–41; Premiered on Dec 7, 1924 at Aeolian Hall in NYC…
Read MoreEdgard Varèse, Amériques
Edgard Varèse, Amériques by Matthew Mugmon Written for the concert New York Avant-Garde, performed on Oct 3, 2013 at Carnegie Hall. Varèse born Dec 22, 1883 in Paris; died Nov 6, 1965 in NYC Amériques composed from 1918–21; Premiered Apr 9, 1926 by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski; NY Premiere Apr 13, 1926 at Carnegie…
Read MoreHungary Torn
Hungary Torn By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Hungary Torn, performed on May 2, 2013 at Carnegie Hall. The consequences of the rise of fascism in the 1930s and the Second World War have continued to command our attention, despite the passage of time. The reasons are largely obvious. During the war, millions of…
Read MoreThe Hungarian Jewish Composers of WWII
The Hungarian Jewish Composers of WWII By Péter Bársony Written for the concert Hungary Torn, performed on May 2, 2013 at Carnegie Hall. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Liszt Music Academy had the highest ratio of Jewish students among all Hungarian universities. Between 1915 and 1919, almost half of all music students…
Read MoreErnő Dohnányi, Szeged Mass
Ernő Dohnányi, Szeged Mass By Peter Laki Written for the concert Hungary Torn, performed on May 2, 2013 at Carnegie Hall. “Musical life in Budapest today may be summed up in one name—Dohnányi.” These words were written by Béla Bartók in a 1920 article for the New York Musical Courier. A decade later, when the present…
Read MoreThe Vampire
The Vampire By Leon Botstein Written for the concert The Vampire, performed on March 17, 2013 at Carnegie Hall. The great novelist Vladimir Nabokov ridiculed the common impulse to find symbolic meaning, particularly of a Freudian kind, in any narrative or witnessed event. But he might have made an exception for the long-standing fascination in…
Read MoreMusic and the Romantic Vampire
Music and the Romantic Vampire By Thomas Grey Written for the concert The Vampire, performed on March 17, 2013 at Carnegie Hall. While the vampire as a figure of folklore or legend goes back to ancient times and can be traced around the globe, the modern literary vampire was born in the company of Doctor…
Read MoreMusical Expression and the Challenge of Twentieth Century History
Musical Expression and the Challenge of Twentieth Century History By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Truth or Truffles, performed on Feb 10, 2013 at Carnegie Hall. 19th-century Europe witnessed unprecedented social and economic transformations. Among the most lasting (albeit erratic) of these was the expansion of literacy, most noticeable in Europe’s rapidly growing cities.…
Read MoreKarl Amadeus Hartmann, Gesangsszene
Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Gesangsszene By Byron Adams Written for the concert Truth or Truffles, performed on Feb 10, 2013 at Carnegie Hall. Karl Amadeus Hartmann is a shining example of the composer as a principled dissident. As Michael H. Kater has observed, “we must continue to accept the hitherto reported version that Hartmann was opposed…
Read MoreRichard Strauss, Schlagobers
Richard Strauss, Schlagobers By Byron Adams Written for the concert Truth or Truffles, performed on Feb 10, 2013 at Carnegie Hall. To say that Karl Kraus, the radical Viennese essayist and founder of the satirical journal Die Fackel, disliked Richard Strauss’ ballet Schlagobers, op. 70 (“Whipped Cream”) would be an understatement: “But now even his…
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