Concert Notes
Nocturne
Nocturne By Carol J. Oja Written for the concert America’s Musical Pioneer, performed on March 3, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Although hardly a household name, Colin McPhee (1900-1964) deserves far greater credit than history has given him for the crucial role he played in opening Western composition to the sounds and…
Read MorePiano Concerto (1925)
Piano Concerto (1925) By Carol J. Oja Written for the concert America’s Musical Pioneer, performed on March 3, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Born in the Ukraine in 1892 and still living in Wisconsin, Leo Ornstein led this century’s first wave of immigration by European composers to the United States. Arriving here…
Read MoreJews and the European Musical Tradition
Jews and the European Musical Tradition 01/26/1996 at 08:00 PM – Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center Concert Notes Symphony No. 2 in B-flat, Op. 52 – R. Larry Todd, Duke University Kol Nidre, Op. 39 (1938) – Walter Frisch, Columbia University Jews and the European Musical Tradition – Leon Botstein
Read MoreSymphony No. 2 in B-flat, Op. 52
Symphony No. 2 in B-flat, Op. 52 By R. Larry Todd, Duke University Written for the concert Jews and the European Musical Tradition, performed on Jan 26, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang Symphony stands as the composer’s most ambitious symphonic achievement, one that figured during his lifetime as one of…
Read MoreKol Nidre, Op. 39 (1938)
Kol Nidre, Op. 39 (1938) By Walter Frisch, Columbia University Written for the concert Jews and the European Musical Tradition, performed on Jan 26, 1996 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. In the summer of 1938 Rabbi Jakob Sonderling of Los Angeles asked Arnold Schoenberg to arrange the traditional melody Kol Nidre for the…
Read MoreMythology: Homer’s Odyssey in Music
Mythology: Homer’s Odyssey in Music 11/10/1995 at 08:00 PM – Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center Concert Notes Homer’s Odyssey in Music – Leon Botstein Mythology: Homer’s Odyssey in Music – John Michael Cooper, Illinois Wesleyan University From “Fuhrer durch den Konzertsaal” (Leipzig 1887/1919) – Hermann Kretzschmar Ancient Greece in the Nineteenth Century – Lynne Meloccaro,…
Read MoreHomer’s Odyssey in Music
Homer’s Odyssey in Music By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Mythology: Homer’s Odyssey in Music, performed on Nov 10, 1995 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Today’s revival of Odysseus by Max Bruch (1838-1920) brings back a work whose popularity was once extraordinary. The work was premiered in 1873. By the end of…
Read MoreFrom "Fuhrer durch den Konzertsaal" (Leipzig 1887/1919)
From “Fuhrer durch den Konzertsaal” (Leipzig 1887/1919) By Hermann Kretzschmar Written for the concert Mythology: Homer’s Odyssey in Music, performed on Nov 10, 1995 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The composer whose name dominated the field of the secular oratorio for a long time is Max Bruch. By the time he turned to…
Read MoreAncient Greece in the Nineteenth Century
Ancient Greece in the Nineteenth Century By Lynne Meloccaro, University of Rochester Written for the concert Mythology: Homer’s Odyssey in Music, performed on Nov 10, 1995 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. “We are all Greeks,” said Percy Shelley. While historians may question whether, in the idealized cultural vision of Shelley’s day, even the…
Read MoreViolin Concerto No. 2, Op. 23 (1975)
Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 23 (1975) By Laurel E. Fay Written for the concert Behind the Curtain, performed on Oct 1, 1995 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Tikhon Khrennikov. Few can utter the name without a sneer of Derision. Amidst the detritus of Soviet culture awash with so many victims, Khrennikov is…
Read More