Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Philadelphia composer Richard Yardumian. Yardumian served as The Philadelphia Orchestra’s composer-in-residence from 1949 to 1964. The orchestra gave first performances of no less than ten of his pieces, beginning with “Desolate City” in 1945. Eugene Ormandy recorded six of them. I remember well playing these during my apprentice years in community radio. The music is attractive, well-made, and often deeply felt, with insights into the composer’s spiritual convictions and Armenian heritage. Why, why, why, Sony, have you never reissued these recordings?
In the 1990s, Albany Records briefly revived some of the lesser-known American classics that had been championed by Ormandy – among them, works by the equally neglected Louis Gesensway and John Vincent – so my hopes were high to finally acquire those Yardumian recordings on CD. But it was not to be. The series petered out after only three volumes.
Yardumian, who was largely self-taught as a composer, was 19 when he wrote his most popular piece, the “Armenian Suite.” We’ll hear it this afternoon, alongside “Veni Sancte Spiritus” (“Come, Creator Spirit”), another orchestral work, from 1959. In addition, we’ll mark the birthday anniversaries of composers Louis Spohr and Albert Roussel and conductor Herbert von Karajan.
At 4:00, I will be joined by Lyn Ransom, founder and music director of VOICES Chorale, now in its 30th season. Ransom will be directing Brahms’ “Ein Deutsches Requiem” in its rarely-heard London edition, performed on four-hand piano, this Saturday at 7:30 p.m., at The College of New Jersey’s TCNJ-Mayo Concert Hall in Ewing Township; and then again, with orchestra, in collaboration with Riverside Symphonia, at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium, on June 16th at 8 p.m. Tune in this afternoon to learn more, or check the organization’s website, at http://www.voiceschorale.org.
I’ll be sharing the music, from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.