Concert Notes
American Modernism Seen & Heard: The Abstract and Geometric Tradition in Music and Painting, 1930-1975
American Modernism Seen & Heard: The Abstract and Geometric Tradition in Music and Painting, 1930-1975 By Leon Botstein Written for the concert American Modernism Seen & Heard: The Abstract and Geometric Tradition in Music and Painting, 1930-1975 performed on Dec 20, 1992 at Carnegie Hall. Modernism in music during the twentieth century evolved in ways fundamentally…
Read MoreSteve Reich’s "Music for Pieces of Wood"
Steve Reich’s Music for Pieces of Wood By Leon Botstein Written for the concert American Modernism Seen & Heard: The Abstract and Geometric Tradition in Music and Painting, 1930-1975 performed on Dec 20, 1992 at Carnegie Hall. Steve Reich (b. 1936) is one of America’s leading composers. He was trained as a drummer and quickly became…
Read MoreHenry Cowell’s "Synchrony"
Henry Cowell’s Synchrony By Judith Tick, Department of Music, Northeastern University Written for the concert American Modernism Seen & Heard: The Abstract and Geometric Tradition in Music and Painting, 1930-1975 performed on Dec 20, 1992 at Carnegie Hall. Henry Cowell (1897-1965) used the term Synchrony, because he planned to combine music with the elements of dance and…
Read MoreRuth Crawford Seeger’s "Three Songs to Poems by Carl Sandberg for Voice, Oboe, Piano, Percussion, and Optional Orchestral Ostinato"
Ruth Crawford Seeger’s Three Songs to Poems by Carl Sandberg for Voice, Oboe, Piano, Percussion, and Optional Orchestral Ostinato By Judith Tick, Department of Music, Northeastern University Written for the concert American Modernism Seen & Heard: The Abstract and Geometric Tradition in Music and Painting, 1930-1975 performed on Dec 20, 1992 at Carnegie Hall. As a composer…
Read MoreRoger Sessions’ Symphony No. 5
Roger Sessions’ Symphony No. 5 By Martin Brody, Professor of Music, Wellesley College Written for the concert American Modernism Seen & Heard: The Abstract and Geometric Tradition in Music and Painting, 1930-1975 performed on Dec 20, 1992 at Carnegie Hall. Born (in 1896) in Brooklyn and raised in Hadley, Massachusetts, and New York, Roger Sessions became the…
Read MoreWallingford Riegger’s "Music for Orchestra," Op. 50
Wallingford Riegger’s Music for Orchestra, Op. 50 By Judith Tick, Department of Music, Northeastern University Written for the concert American Modernism Seen & Heard: The Abstract and Geometric Tradition in Music and Painting, 1930-1975 performed on Dec 20, 1992 at Carnegie Hall. Wallingford Riegger (1885-1961), began his long career as a modernist in 1927 with the string-orchestra…
Read MoreMorton Feldman’s "On Time and the Instrumental Factor"
Morton Feldman’s On Time and the Instrumental Factor By Paul Beaudoin, Composer & Clarinetist Written for the concert American Modernism Seen & Heard: The Abstract and Geometric Tradition in Music and Painting, 1930-1975 performed on Dec 20, 1992 at Carnegie Hall. In 1949, John Cage introduced 24 year old Morton Feldman to fellow composers Earle Brown, Christian…
Read MoreSurrealism and Music?: The Musical World Around René Magritte, 1930-1975
Surrealism and Music?: The Musical World Around René Magritte, 1930-1975 By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Surrealism and Music? The Musical World Around René Magritte, 1930-1975 performed on Nov 13, 1992 at Carnegie Hall. This concert is designed to parallel the Metropolitan Museum’s exhibition of the work of René Magritte. Two principles of organization…
Read MoreSurreal Sounds Illicit Images
Surreal Sounds Illicit Images By Ellen Handler Spitz, Cornell University, Psychiatry Written for the concert Surrealism and Music? The Musical World Around René Magritte, 1930-1975 performed on Nov 13, 1992 at Carnegie Hall. Imagine silence and a cold indigo sky with a pregnant Magritte cloud that lowers over a landscape of uncanny imagery. Unpredictably, the…
Read MoreAndré Souris’ "Collage"
André Souris’ Collage By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Surrealism and Music? The Musical World Around René Magritte, 1930-1975 performed on Nov 13, 1992 at Carnegie Hall. André Souris (1890-1970) was one of this century’s most eminent Belgian musical figures. For most of his creative life he was attached to the surrealist movement. Souris was…
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