Classic Ross Amico

Tag: American Composers

American Composers Hit the Road

I’m not sure that I would characterize Virgil Thomson’s music as being full of gas – though I suppose an argument could be made on occasion concerning his prose! That said, he did write what might very well be the only ballet set in a service station. The success of “Filling Station,” written for Leon Kirstein’s Ballet Caravan, gave Aaron Copland the confidence to follow through on his own Caravan commission, which resulted in “Billy the Kid.”

You’ll have a chance to hear “Filling Station” tonight, on “The Lost Chord,” as American composers hit the road for Labor Day.

Also on the program will be Frederick Shepherd Converse’s “Flivver Ten Million,” which celebrates the Ford Motor Company’s affordable assembly line automobile, from its creation in a Detroit factory to the manifest destiny of America’s roadways.

John Adams’ “Road Movies” has nothing to do with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, alas; what it is, however, is a violin sonata written firmly within the American tradition, with a special affinity at its core with Copland’s Violin Sonata.

Finally, we’ll hear one of Michael Daughtery’s most performed works, the exuberant “Route 66,” inspired by the storied “Main Street of America.”

Join me as we put the pedal to the metal, for “The Last Roads of Summer,” this Sunday night at 10 EDT on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

September 4, 2016
American Composers Road Trip on WPRB

Why is it I feel like Albert Brooks in “Lost in America?” Maybe because I’ve decided to sell my house, liquidate my assets, and drop out of society, “just like in ‘Easy Rider.’” Just kidding. I don’t have any assets. What I do have, however, is a bag full of CDs featuring music by American composers reflective of their experiences traveling across this picturesque country of ours.

We’ll hear works inspired by the nation’s highways and byways, its cities, its vacation spots and its natural wonders. Sure, there’s every chance we may get lost (as in Paul Lansky’s “Travel Music”) or have to top off the tank (as in Virgil Thomson’s “Filling Station”), but that’s all part of the experience, isn’t it?

At any rate, the RV is all gassed up and ready to go. We hit the road from 6 to 11 EDT on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. We’ll try not to blow the nest egg, on Classic Ross Amico.

July 28, 2016
King Arthur American Composers

“Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of all England.” So wrote Sir Thomas Malory in his account of the Arthurian legends, “Le Morte d’Arthur.”

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” the focus will be on treatments of the Arthurian legends by a couple of American Romantics.

We’ll hear “Excalibur,” a symphonic poem after Arthur’s enchanted sword, by Louis Coerne (pronounced “Kern”). Coerne was born in Newark, NJ, in 1870. As was the custom at the time, he studied abroad, in France and Germany, then closer to home with John Knowles Paine. In Munich, he pursued organ and composition studies with Josef Rheinberger.

After that, it was back and forth to Germany, between church and conducting appointments in the United States, and then the assumption of a series of academic posts throughout the American Northeast and Midwest. Despite all the worn shoe leather, in his 52 years he managed to produce 500 works.

The remainder of the hour will be taken up by the Straussian tone poem “Le Roi Arthur,” a work in three movements by George Templeton Strong, son of the famous Civil War diarist, born in 1856. Strong, Jr., studied at the Leipzig conservatory, where Joachim Raff was among his teachers. For a time, he played viola in the Gewandhaus Orchestra. He rubbed shoulders with Liszt and Wagner, then was lured back to the United States by the offer of a teaching position (by former European transplant Edward MacDowell) at the New England Conservatory.

However, in part because the work didn’t agree with him, and in part because of health issues, Strong soon took off for Switzerland, where he settled on the banks of Lake Geneva. There, he dedicated the remainder of his life to painting watercolors and composing. Even after musical fashion had changed, he continued to play an active role in Geneva’s musical life.

I hope you’ll join me for “Kinetic Yankees in King Arthur’s Court” – treatments of the Arthurian legends by peripatetic American composers – this Sunday night at 10 EDT on WWFM – The Classical Network; or that you’ll listen to it later as a webcast, at wwfm.org.

July 24, 2016
Ormandy’s Lost American Legacy

Eugene Ormandy, of course, was born in Hungary. His birth name was Jenő Blau. But he became a naturalized American citizen in 1927 and directed the Philadelphia Orchestra for 44 years.

In that capacity, he championed much contemporary music and works by his adopted countrymen –facts frequently forgotten next to his legacy as a superb interpreter of the 19th century classics.

In fact, much of his American legacy has dropped out of print. In the late 1990s, Albany Records briefly attempted to rectify the situation by reissuing some of Ormandy’s recordings of lesser-heard American music. In the event, the series only reached three discs, but each of them is a treasure.

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll hear two works by Pulitzer Prize-winners, both of whose music has sadly fallen out of fashion. The first is William Schuman, the very first recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1943, for his “Cantata No. 2, ‘A Free Song.’” At the height of his fame, Schuman was also President of Lincoln Center.

We’ll hear music he composed in 1955, called “Credendum – Article of Faith,” which was written in response to the first ever commission by the U.S. government for a symphonic work.

Norman Dello Joio was the recipient of the Pulitzer in 1957 for his “Meditations on Ecclesiastes.” The concert suite from “Air Power” was adapted from 22 individual scores he composed for the CBS television series, about the history of aviation, which aired from November 1956 through spring of 1957. Its individual sections underscore the early days of flight, with its barnstormers and daredevils, followed by those of air battles and war scenes.

I hope you’ll join me for these rarely heard recordings of American music, conducted by Eugene Ormandy. That’s “All-American Ormandy,” tonight at 10 ET, with a repeat Wednesday evening at 6; or listen to it later as a webcast at wwfm.org.

November 8, 2015
Labor Day American Classics on WPRB

I am toiling at programming right now so that I might get you in the mood for Labor Day tomorrow morning on WPRB. Unsurprisingly, I will be playing all American music, though not all of it will be labor-oriented.

Composers you may hear will include David Amram, Romeo Cascarino, John Corigliano, David Diamond, Howard Hanson, Paul Lansky, Jerome Moross, Stephen Paulus, Walter Piston and Elie Siegmeister.

I can pretty much guarantee that you will hear a symphony by Lukas Foss from a new recording of the complete set of four by Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP).

Labor-oriented pieces will include “John Henry” by Aaron Copland, “Skyscrapers” by John Alden Carpenter, and “Flivver Ten Million” – complete with foundry noises – by Frederick Shepherd Converse. In addition, Princeton’s own Paul Robeson will sing the labor anthem “Joe Hill.”

Get ready to punch the clock tomorrow morning at 6 ET. I’ll be with you until 11, on WPRB 103.3 FM or online at wprb.com, busting my hump on Classic Ross Amico.

September 2, 2015

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