Sure, it’s artistically satisfying to perform with the New York Philharmonic and to have one’s works choreographed by Léonide Massine and George Balanchine – but at the end of the day, there’s really nothing like a good popular hit to keep food on the table.
This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll enjoy concert music by two artists more frequently associated with the musical theater.
Vernon Duke may be remembered for standards like “April in Paris” and “Autumn in New York,” with his greatest stage success being the Broadway musical “Cabin in the Sky.” However, his early ambition was to become a “serious” composer.
Born Vladimir Dukelsky in what in now Belarus in 1903, Duke studied composition with Reinhold Gliere. His music was championed by Serge Koussevitzky and admired by Sergei Prokofiev. Indeed, Duke continued to write works for the concert hall (as Dukelsky) right up into the 1950s.
In 1921, he arrived in New York City, where he was befriended by George Gershwin. It was Gershwin – himself born Jacob Gershowitz – who suggested Dukelsky’s nom de plume. Thereafter, Duke/Dukelsky lived a double-life, Duke writing for popular consumption and Dukelsky composing symphonies.
Dukelsky’s Piano Concerto was requested of the 19 year-old by none other than Arthur Rubinstein. Allegedly, Rubinstein and Gershwin were delighted with the piece when they heard it in its two-piano form. Unfortunately, so was impresario Serge Diaghilev. When Diaghilev heard Dukelsky play through it in Paris (with Georges Auric on the second piano), he immediately offered the talented young man a commission to write “Zephyr et Flore” for the Ballets Russes. This led to further offers from London’s West End. As a result, Dukelsky never got around to orchestrating the piece. It was left to pianist Scott Dunn to do so, in advance of some Gershwin centennial concerts in 1999.
Meredith Willson is best remembered for “The Music Man” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” However, before his success in musical theater, he had been a flutist in the Sousa Band and with the New York Philharmonic. He worked as an orchestrator on Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator.” He was also a gifted conductor, author, librettist, and humorist. His autobiography, “And There I Stood with my Piccolo,” became a bestseller.
Willson composed two symphonies, both of them extended love letters to California landmarks. His Symphony No. 1 pays tribute to San Francisco. The Symphony No. 2, the one we’ll hear this evening, is evocative of the missions of Southern California, with individual movements devoted to Junipero Serra, San Juan Bautista, San Juan Capistrano, and El Camino Real.
I hope you’ll join me for “Broad Talents from Broadway” – musical theater composers hang on to their day jobs – this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
Dawn Upshaw sings “Autumn in New York”
Count Basie performs “April Paris”
Basie welcomes Sheriff Bart
“The Music Man,” Overture/Rock Island
“76 Trombones” – for 76 trombones!
PHOTO: Are these menacing vampire bats, flittering about the ruins of Castle Dracula? No, they’re just the swallows, come back to Capistrano.
