Concert Notes
Symphony No. 2 (1910)
Symphony No. 2 (1910) By Leon Botstein Written for the concert The Soul of Poland in Modern Times, performed on Jan 24, 1997 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The Second Symphony was considered by Szymanowski one of his best works. In the context of this concert, it provides the listener with an impressive…
Read MoreSymphony No. 3 (“Song of the Night”) (1916)
Symphony No. 3 (“Song of the Night”) (1916) By Adrian Corleonis, Contributor, Fanfare Written for the concert The Soul of Poland in Modern Times, performed on Jan 24, 1997 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. In the summer of 1914, Szymanowski returned from an extended visit to Sicily and North Africa, stopping over in…
Read MoreA “Politically Incorrect” Masterpiece
A “Politically Incorrect” Masterpiece 11/22/1996 at 08:00 PM – Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center Concert Notes A “Politically Incorrect” Masterpiece – Leon Botstein The Book of the Seven Seals – Peter Franklin, University of Oxford The Book of the Seven Seals (McColley) – Robert McColley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Read MoreThe Book of the Seven Seals
By Peter Franklin, University of Oxford Written for the concert A “Politically Incorrect” Masterpiece, performed on Nov 22, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Reviewing the premiere of Schmidt’s Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (15 June 1938), Dr Friedrich Bayer chose words which any German or Austrian composer of the nineteenth-century might have…
Read MoreThe Book of the Seven Seals (McColley)
The Book of the Seven Seals (McColley) By Robert McColley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Written for the concert A “Politically Incorrect” Masterpiece, performed on Nov 22, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Schmidt (December 22, 1874-February 11, 1939) began writing the second of his two great masterpieces–the first…
Read MoreInventing an American Music
Inventing an American Music By Nicholas E. Tawa Written for the concert The Composer’s Voice, performed on Oct 6, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. A unending cultural debate began in the 1890s on the question of what comprises an American music? Edward MacDowell, an outstanding composer of the 1890s, had maintained it…
Read MoreThe Composer’s Voice: Influence and Originality in Hartmann and Mahler
The Composer’s Voice: Influence and Originality in Hartmann and Mahler By Leon Botstein Written for the concert The Composer’s Voice, performed on Oct 6, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Karl Amadeus Hartmann was, as Andrew D. McCredie, the leading Hartmann scholar, has pointed out, an artist of conscience. The central question for…
Read MoreSymphony No. 1 (1948), Symphony No. 6 (1953)
Symphony No. 1 (1948), Symphony No. 6 (1953) By Robert Maxham, Executive Director, Ames International Orchestra Festival Written for the concert The Composer’s Voice, performed on Oct 6, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. As single-minded as Karl Amadeus Hartmann was as an opponent of Nazism, he was equally multiform as a composer.…
Read MoreDas klagende Lied (1901)
Das klagende Lied (1901) By Edward R. Reilly, Vassar College Written for the concert The Composer’s Voice, performed on Oct 6, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Das klagende Lied is a unique work in Mahler’s output. It is also, as Mahler himself described it, his Schmerzenkind (child of sorrow). In genre it…
Read MoreSounds of Fantasy: Music and Expressionism
Sounds of Fantasy: Music and Expressionism 05/10/1996 at 08:00 PM – Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center Concert Notes Sounds of Fantasy: Music and Expressionism – Leon Botstein Murderer, Hope of Women, Op. 12 (1919) – Leon Botstein Chamber Symphony (1916) – Christopher Hailey, President, The Franz Schreker Foundation The Protagonist, Op. 14 (1925) – Bryan…
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