Classic Ross Amico

Category: Daily Dispatch

Hindemith Hot Weather and Hating the Octet

There are certain pieces by Paul Hindemith that I really, really like. And let’s face it, the gent was extremely influential. But when I came to put together yesterday’s “Music from Marlboro,” it was so miserable hot that I just couldn’t bring myself to subject my listeners to his Octet for Winds and Strings.

The piece is ugly, grey, cranky, and noodly – gebrauchsmusik at its worst. I’m sure there’s a time and a place for this kind of music (I have programmed it before), but at 27 minutes, let’s face it, it’s just too grating for too damn long. I’ll save it for a bleak – and at least cool – winter’s day.

There are times when Hindemith can be glorious, thrilling, or transcendent, even. And then there are those when he just leaves your mouth tasting like gun metal on a too-long car trip.

Here’s a humorous piece written a few years ago that just about nails it. Be forewarned, however, that the language can be a little rough, with the boldest of words in a bold headline. NSFW, then.

Man Discovers Another Fucking Hindemith Sonata

The next time you’re stuck in traffic on a hundred degree day, turn off the air conditioning, roll down the windows, and think of this:

Movement I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6oWa8lB_sY

Movement II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBxgSkwksU8

Movement III https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcZAnNM5_cU

Movement IV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFnV8iBV08o

Movement V https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaNx4faNUh4

Music history would have been a lot different if only Hindemith had been hired as a replacement Stooge ahead of Curly Joe DeRita.

September 6, 2018
Celebrating Joan Tower at 80

Get to know Joan Tower.

Tower, one of America’s foremost living composers, is also one of the most successful women in the field. It’s hard to believe, but Tower turns 80 today. I’m not seeing a lot of action on the internet, so I thought I’d help spread the news about this milestone anniversary, and post a few examples of her work.

“Petroushskates” (1980), which combines Tower’s loves of Stravinsky – and figure skating! Either start or end with this one, because it’s a treat.

“Made in America” (2004), a musical appreciation of the United States by a composer who spent many of her formative years in Bolivia (where her father managed the tin mines). Listen to how she weaves “America the Beautiful” into the orchestral fabric.

“Island Prelude” (1988), an atmospheric landscape employing solo oboe.

“Fifth Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman” (1993). The first five in this loose collection of fanfares were composed between 1986 and 1993. A sixth followed two decades later. The works were conceived as tributes to “women who are adventurous and take risks.”

Tower speaks on the importance of new music. She’s been refining some of these observations for at least the past three decades. There has been some improvement in terms of the development of new music groups, powered by some preternaturally talented young musicians. Still, a lot of the points remain pertinent and many of them sadly unaddressed.

An earlier expression of these concerns in an interview conducted by Bruce Duffie in 1987.

http://www.bruceduffie.com/tower.html

Tower has been on the faculty of Bard College since 1972. Bard will celebrate Tower with a concert of her works on September 16. Check out the roster of performers: Anthony McGill (principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic, formerly of the Met Orchestra), Dawn Upshaw, So Percussion…

The Bard Conservatory Celebrates Joan Tower

Happy birthday, Joan Tower!

September 6, 2018
Sibelius & Schubert Marlboro Chamber Music

Save me, Sibelius! I can’t take it any longer.

We’ll attempt to beat the heat with the one and only chamber work from the great Finnish master’s maturity – the String Quartet in D minor. It’s subtitle, “Voces Intimae,” suggests a looking inward. That’s fine with me. There’s no sun inside.

The piece was composed in 1909, between the Third and Fourth Symphonies. Sibelius wrote to his wife, Aino, “It turned out as something wonderful. The kind of thing that brings a smile to your lips at the hour of death. I will say no more.” Ah, sweet nothings.

We’ll hear it performed at the 2005 Marlboro Music Festival, by Dan Zhu and Sarah Kapustin, violins; Samuel Rhodes, viola; and Amir Eldan, cello.

Then we’ll enjoy another presentiment of death – Franz Schubert’s Introduction and Variations on his lied, “Trock’ne Blumen” (“Withered Flowers”), from the song cycle “Die schöne Müllerin.” Paula Robison will be the flutist and Marlboro co-founder Rudolf Serkin the pianist, in a recording from 1968.

Nothing refreshes on a hot day like cold wind from the grave, on this week’s “Music from Marlboro” – chamber music performances from the legendary Marlboro Music Festival – this Wednesday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

Marlboro School of Music and Festival: Official Page

September 5, 2018
Baroque Italy Concert on The Classical Network

Get a taste of the good life on today’s Noontime Concert on The Classical Network.

“La Bella Vita: Hidden Gems of Baroque Italy” presages a renaissance of GEMS’ Midtown Concerts series. The free lunchtime programs are presented on Thursdays at 1:15 p.m., at St. Bartholomew’s Church, 50th Street and Park Avenue, in Midtown Manhattan.

This afternoon’s broadcast will feature DuoSeraphim – soprano Sarah Hawkey and gambist Niccolo Seligmann – in works by Claudio Monteverdi, Diego Ortiz, Bartolomeo Tromboncino, and Barbara Strozzi. The concert was originally presented on December 28, 2017.

The 2018-2019 season of Midtown Concerts will commence this Thursday with a program of 16th and 17th century music for voice and viol, performed by the duo Lyracle.

Today’s concert broadcast is made possible in part by Gotham Early Music Scene, or GEMS. GEMS is a non-profit corporation that supports and promotes artists and organizations in New York City devoted to early music – music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical periods. For more information about the St. Bart’s concerts and other GEMS’ events, look online at gemsny.org.

Then linger in the Mediterranean a while longer with guitarist John McLaughlin’s “Mediterranean Concerto” and other works. Life is good, from 12 to 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

September 4, 2018
Labor Day Concert: Music for Workers and Wonders

Sorry to be posting so late, but I had some computer woes this morning, so I am racing to ketchup – er, catch up, I mean. Not surprisingly, I am distracted by thoughts of Labor Day.

Get ready for a real labor of love, as we hear selections about work and the worker, punctuated by music inspired by man-made and natural wonders. On the roster is Tobias Picker’s “Keys to the City” (written to mark the 100th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge), John Alden Carpenter’s ballet “Skyscrapers,” Samuel Jones’ Symphony No. 3 (a musical response to Texas’ Palo Duro Canyon), and Jett Hitt, Composer’s “Yellowstone” for violin and orchestra. Hitt, who holds a doctorate in composition, conducts guided horseback tours at the national park!

In addition, there will be lighter pieces about picnic foods and gazebo dances.

I hope your Stanley thermos is full of iced coffee. Put away your hard hat and lunch pail and join me for one final helping of baked beans and corn-on-the-cob for Labor Day, this afternoon from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

PHOTOS: Bernstein, Gershwin, and Copland wring the last from their summer

September 3, 2018

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