Concert Notes
Murderer, Hope of Women, Op. 12 (1919)
Murderer, Hope of Women, Op. 12 (1919) By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Sounds of Fantasy: Music and Expressionism, performed on May 10, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Hindemith’s Mörder, Hoffnung Der Frauen, composed in 1919 and the first of his triptych of one-act operas, belongs to the category known in…
Read MoreChamber Symphony (1916)
Chamber Symphony (1916) By Christopher Hailey, President, The Franz Schreker Foundation Written for the concert Sounds of Fantasy: Music and Expressionism, performed on May 10, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. In a letter to Paul Bekker from 22 August 1918, Franz Schreker (1878-1934) wrote of his sometimes “desperate battles” with instrumentation. “One…
Read MoreThe Protagonist, Op. 14 (1925)
The Protagonist, Op. 14 (1925) By. Bryan Gilliam, Duke University Written for the concert Sounds of Fantasy: Music and Expressionism, performed on May 10, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Der Protagonist (1925), Weill’s first significant operatic undertaking, is inseparable from its context of post-Wagnerian operatic reform. Though Wagner had been dead for…
Read MoreBehind the Curtain: Submission and Resistance under the Soviet Regime
Behind the Curtain: Submission and Resistance under the Soviet Regime By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Sounds of Fantasy: Music and Expressionism, performed on May 10, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The first concert of this season focuses on the dilemmas faced by artists in conditions of extreme “unfreedom” and censorship.…
Read MoreFaith: Meditation and Mysticism in Turn-of-the-Century France
Faith: Meditation and Mysticism in Turn-of-the-Century France By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Faith: Meditation and Mysticism, performed on April 28, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Anyone living in the late 1990s in America might be tempted to think that he or she is trapped in an age peculiarly weighed down…
Read MoreLe Martyre de Saint Sebastian (1911)
Le Martyre de Saint Sebastian (1911) By David Grayson, University of Minnesota Written for the concert Faith: Meditation and Mysticism, performed on April 28, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Le Martyre de Saint-Sébastien, Gabriele d’Annunzio’s sacred drama, had rather profane origins. The incident that stimulated the realization of his long-standing ambition to…
Read MoreResurrection: Symphonic Prelude after Tolstoy, Op. 4 (1903)
Resurrection: Symphonic Prelude after Tolstoy, Op. 4 (1903) By Brian Hart, Indiana University Written for the concert Faith: Meditation and Mysticism, performed on April 28, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. At the age of 25, Albert Roussel (1869-1937) left a promising career in the Navy to study music at Vincent d’Indy’s Schola…
Read MoreJ. S. Bach / Leopold Stokowski Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BMV 565 (1952)
J. S. Bach / Leopold Stokowski Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BMV 565 (1952) By Walter Frisch, Columbia University Written for the concert America’s Musical Pioneer, performed on March 3, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Contemporary listeners may recoil in shock when they hear this work. We have become so accustomed…
Read MoreAmerica’s Musical Pioneer: Homage to Leopold Stokowski
America’s Musical Pioneer: Homage to Leopold Stokowski By Leon Botstein Written for the concert America’s Musical Pioneer, performed on March 3, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Fame and success in one’s lifetime do not necessarily ensure respect. Neither do they secure the prospect of a positive posthumous revisionism. The career of Leopold…
Read MoreSymphony No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 63 (1911)
Symphony No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 63 (1911) By Bernard Jacobson Written for the concert America’s Musical Pioneer, performed on March 3, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Why do we value an artist? Is it for the vividness with which he mirrors the society he lives in? Or is it rather…
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