Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Arnold Black

Irish Music on The Lost Chord for St Patricks Day

This week on “The Lost Chord,” we anticipate St. Patrick’s Day, with two contrasting works with ties to the Emerald Isle.

John Kinsella was born in Dublin in 1932. He combined composition with a career in music administration until 1988, when he left his position as Head of Music at RTE, Ireland’s national broadcasting organization.

As a composer, he was influenced by contemporary trends in the European avant-garde, until 1977. Then, following the completion of his String Quartet No. 3, he wrote nothing for a period of 18 months. He emerged from this self-imposed silence a renewed artist, crafting wholly tonal works of great beauty and integrity. Since then, he has completed eleven symphonies, a second violin concerto, a cello concerto, a fourth string quartet, and various other works.

Kinsella’s Symphony No. 3 was composed in 1989-1990. The work falls into two substantial movements, framed by a brief Prologue and Epilogue, and separated by an Intermezzo, all of which return to material stated in the symphony’s opening bars. The movements are performed without break.

Although it is not a programmatic work, the composer dedicated the symphony, with gratitude, to his parents. He intended the piece as a personal expression of certain aspects of the joy of life. Hence, the subtitle, “Joie de vivre.”

More overtly folk-inflected is “Laments and Dances from the Irish,” after melodies by Irish harper Turlough O’Carolan (1670-1738). Philadelphia-born composer Arnold Black was afflicted with cerebral palsy from birth, resulting in limited mobility on his right side. Yet he managed to become a master of the violin. So successful was he on his instrument that following graduation from the Juilliard School, he was hired as assistant concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony, and ultimately concertmaster of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC.

Black’s “Laments and Dances” was commissioned by the Newman and Oltman Guitar Duo. Michael Newman and Laura Oltman reside along the Delaware River in Warren County, NJ. Together or between them, they have taught or been guitarists-in-residence at the Mannes College of Music in New York City, Princeton University, The College of New Jersey, and Lafayette College in Easton, PA. They are also directors of the Raritan River Music Festival, held in historic venues in Central Jersey throughout the month of May. The duo is joined in this recording by the Turtle Island String Quartet.

Pour yourself a pint of stout and find your bliss. We laugh and weep along with the Irish, on “Airs from Erin,” on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – Saturday at 11:00 AM EDT/8:00 AM PDT

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

March 15, 2025
Raritan River Music Last Chance May Concert

Is there something you’ve forgotten?

It’s nearly Memorial Day weekend – time for the last of this year’s Raritan River Music festival concerts!

You’ve one more chance to enjoy live chamber music this May in the intimacy of an historic venue in West-Central New Jersey.

The series will conclude with flutist Clare Hoffman and harmonica virtuoso Robert Bonfiglio, founders of the Grand Canyon Music Festival, and electric violist/composer Martha Mooke. Among the featured works will be “Serenade for the Grand Canyon” by Philadelphia-born Arnold Black, whose centenary it is this year.

The program will also include “Fairy Fantasy,” a new piece commissioned by Raritan River Music from venerable Cuban composer Leo Brouwer, performed by Michael Newman and Laura Oltman of the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo; and a new work by Diné-American composer Raven Chacon, recipient of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Hofmann and Bonfiglio founded the Grand Canyon Music Festival in 1983. Newman and Oltman founded Raritan River Music in 1990. Combined, that’s 74 years of music festival experience!

The concert will take place on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in Pittstown.

For more information, visit raritanrivermusic.org.

Follow the link for a taste of Arnold Black’s evocative “Serenade for the Grand Canyon.”

Then sample past weeks of Raritan River Music concerts on YouTube.

“Le Grand: French Baroque Music from Court & Concert,” with the Four Nations Ensemble performing music by François Couperin and friends at Clinton Presbyterian Church on May 6:

“Laments and Dances: Music from the Folk Traditions,” with the Bergamot Quartet and the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo at Stanton Reformed Church on May 13:

“Musical Monuments: Masterpieces by Arensky and Price,” with the Mohawk Trail Piano Trio performing chamber music by Anton Arensky and Florence Price at Old Greenwich Presbyterian Church in Stewartsville on May 20:

May 25, 2023
Raritan River Music Festival Continues

Three out of four ain’t bad. In fact, it looks pretty good.

The Raritan River Music festival will continue this weekend, with its third concert (of four) held in historic venues in West-Central New Jersey. The Mohawk Trail Piano Trio will present “Musical Monuments: Masterpieces by Anton Arensky and Florence Price.”

Price, whose music is only now being revived in a big way, was the first Black woman to have a symphony played by a major orchestra (the Chicago Symphony in 1933). Arensky studied with Rimsky-Korsakov and taught Rachmaninoff, but his primary influence as a composer was Tchaikovsky.

Trios by these two composers should make for a lovely program. Chamber music by Arensky and Price will be performed by resident artists of western Massachusetts’ Mohawk Trail Concerts, at Old Greenwich Presbyterian Church in Stewartsville this Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Next week, the series will conclude, with flutist Clare Hofmann and harmonica virtuoso Robert Bonfiglio of the Grand Canyon Music Festival. They’ll be joined by electric violist/composer Martha Mooke. Among the featured works will be “Serenade for the Grand Canyon” by Philadelphia-born Arnold Black, whose centennial it is this year.

The program will also include “Fairy Fantasy,” a new piece commissioned by Raritan River Music from venerable Cuban composer Leo Brouwer, performed by the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo ; and a new work by Diné-American composer Raven Chacon, recipient of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

That concert will take place on May 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in Pittstown.

For further details about either program, directions to the venues, and information about online streaming, visit raritanrivermusic.org.

May 19, 2023
Raritan River Music Festival: May Concerts

The Raritan River Music festival will continue this weekend, with its second concert (of four) held in historic venues in West-Central New Jersey throughout the month of May.

Festival directors Michael Newman and Laura Oltman of the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo will join the Bergamot Quartet on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Stanton Reformed Church for “Laments & Dances: Music from the Folk Traditions.”

The musicians will celebrate Philadelphia-born composer Arnold Black, who would have been 100 this year. Black, who was afflicted with cerebral palsy, nonetheless earned degrees for violin and composition from the Juilliard School and went on to perform with the NBC Symphony and as assistant concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony and National Symphony Orchestras.

As a composer, he provided music for the play “Ulysses in Nighttown,” starring Zero Mostel, and the film “Illuminata,” directed by John Torturro. For television, he scored segments for “3-2-1 Contact,” orchestrated Schubert for the Nickelodeon series “Little Bear,” and worked on the animated specials “Simple Gifts” and “A Soldier’s Tale” for R. O. Blechman.

Black’s “Laments & Dances,” based on melodies by the 17th century blind Irish harper Turlough O’Carolan, will be performed on Saturday. If you take a fancy to it, Newman & Oltman made a recording of it, which is available on the Musical Heritage Society label. Also on the program will be new works inspired by traditional music as interpreted by Ledah Finck (Irish), Anna Roberts Gevalt (Appalachian), and Princeton’s own Dan Trueman (Norwegian).

Black’s influence will continue to loom large over the remaining concerts in the series, as he also helped found western Massachusetts’ Mohawk Trail Concerts in 1970. Next week, on May 20 at 7:30 p.m., the Mohawk Trail Piano Trio will perform works by Anton Arensky and Florence Price. That concert will be held at Old Greenwich Presbyterian Church in Stewartsville.

Finally, Black’s chamber work, “Serenade for the Grand Canyon,” will be included as part of a celebratory concert inspired by the long-running Grand Canyon Music Festival. GCMF founders, flutist Clare Hofmann and harmonica virtuoso Robert Bonfiglio, will be joined by electric violist/composer Martha Mooke and the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo.

The program will also feature “Fairy Fantasy,” a new work commissioned by Raritan River Music from venerable Cuban composer Leo Brouwer; and a new piece by Diné-American composer Raven Chacon, recipient of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Music. That concert will take place on May 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in Pittstown.

Last Saturday’s concert of the Four Nations Ensemble performing music by François Couperin and friends at Clinton Presbyterian Church is now posted on YouTube, for your enjoyment, at the link.

For more information about Raritan River Music concerts, visit raritanrivermusic.org.

PHOTOS (counter-clockwise from top): the Bergamot Quartet, Arnold Black, and the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo

May 11, 2023
Raritan River Music Festival Returns in May

Raritan River Music is rarin’ to go! The first of the warm-weather music festivals will beat the summer crush with four concerts held in historic venues in West-Central Jersey throughout the month of May.

Now in its 34th season, Raritan River Music is directed and curated by founders Michael Newman and Laura Oltman of the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo. This year’s theme is “Tributes: The Legacy of Musical Traditions.”

The series will begin tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., with The Four Nations Ensemble performing at Clinton Presbyterian Church. “Les Grands: French Baroque Music from Court and Concert” will feature music by Francois Couperin and colleagues, who composed and performed at the Palace of Versailles and at salons and concert halls around Paris in the early 18th century. The concert will serve as a tribute to New Jersey’s Soclair Music Festival (1975-2005), founded by June and Ira Kapp, with Edward Brewer the founding music director.

Then Newman & Oltman will join the Bergamot Quartet on May 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Stanton Reformed Church for “Laments & Dances: Music from the Folk Traditions.” The musicians will mark the centenary of Philadelphia-born composer Arnold Black. Black, who suffered from cerebral palsy, earned degrees for violin and composition from the Juilliard School and went on to perform with the NBC Symphony and as assistant concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony and National Symphony Orchestras. His “Laments & Dances” incorporates melodies by the 17th century blind Irish harper Turlough O’Carolan. If you take a fancy to it, Newman & Oltman made a recording of it, which is available on the Musical Heritage Society label. Also on the program will be new works inspired by traditional music as interpreted by Ledah Finck (Irish), Anna Roberts Gevalt (Appalachian), and Princeton’s own Dan Trueman (Norwegian).

On May 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Old Greenwich Presbyterian Church in Stewartsville, the Mohawk Trail Piano Trio will present “Musical Monuments: Masterpieces by Anton Arensky and Florence Price.” Price, whose music is only now being revived in a big way, was the first Black woman to have a symphony played by a major orchestra. Arensky studied with Rimsky-Korsakov and taught Rachmaninoff, but his primary influence as a composer was Tchaikovsky. Piano trios by both Price and Arensky will be performed by resident artists of western Massachusetts’ Mohawk Trail Concerts, founded by Arnold Black in 1970.

Another one of Black’s chamber works will lend its name to the concluding program on May 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in Pittstown. “Serenade for the Grand Canyon” was composed for the Grand Canyon Music Festival. It will be played by that festival’s founders (in 1983), flutist Clare Hofmann and harmonica virtuoso Robert Bonfiglio. Also performing will be electric violist/composer Martha Mooke.

In addition, Newman & Oltman will perform a newly commissioned work from Cuba’s venerable master of the guitar, Leo Brouwer. “Fairy Fantasy” was inspired by Brouwer’s “The Book of Imaginary Beings,” which also received its premiere on an earlier Raritan River Music season. Again, Newman & Oltman recorded “The Book of Imaginary Beings” as part of an all-Brouwer program, for the MusicMasters Classical label.

Rounding out the program will be a new work by Diné -American composer – and 2022 Pulitzer Prize winner – Raven Chacon, who was born within the Navajo Nation.

For further details, directions, and information about online streaming, visit raritanrivermusic.org.

May 5, 2023

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