Neoclassicism is the name of the game today, as we celebrate two composers who scored their biggest successes by building on styles and themes of the past.
Ottorino Respighi composed not only his “Ancient Airs and Dances” suites, but also tone poems – while not strictly speaking “neoclassical” (in fact, more like orgiastic) – evocative of Rome’s illustrious and/or notorious history. He also wrote music redolent of the Catholic Church, with works influenced by Gregorian modes. Even his ballet, “Belkis, Queen of Sheba,” is set 3000 years ago.
In 1944, American composer David Diamond was asked by conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos for a “happy” piece. It was still the height of World War II, and Mitropoulos was depressed from conducting too much 12-tone music. Diamond’s response was the clear, cool “Rounds for String Orchestra.” a work alive with imitative counterpoint. The title is a reference to musical canons or “rounds” – you know, like the “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” or “Frère Jacques” – with the different “voices” entering in rapid succession along the same melodic lines.
This is music is full of optimism, vitality, and joy, qualities too often dismissed at the expense of the weightier considerations of human existence. Clearly, it hit the spot. “Rounds” went on to become Diamond’s best-known music, embraced as a bona fide American classic.
Happy birthday, Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) and David Diamond (1915-2005)!
In 1944, American composer David Diamond, at 29-years-old, received a commission from Dimitri Mitropoulos, principal conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. Mitropoulos had only one stipulation. “These are distressing times,” he said. “Most of the music I play is distressing. Make me happy.” Diamond responded, in the exuberance of youth, with his “Rounds for String Orchestra.”
The piece is alive with imitative counterpoint, the title a reference to musical canons or “rounds” – you know, like the “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” or “Frère Jacques” – with the different “voices” entering in rapid succession along the same melodic lines. The melodies are Diamond’s own, but sound every bit as “American” as Copland’s assimilation of an Appalachian fiddle dance or a Shaker tune or a Mississippi riverboat song.
Regarding the piece, Diamond wrote, “The different string choirs enter in strict canonic fashion as an introduction to the main subject, which is played by the violas and soon restated by the cellos and basses. The Adagio is an expressive lyric movement, acting as a resting point between the two fast movements. The last movement again makes use of characteristic canonic devices, though it may be more specifically analyzed as a kind of fugal countersubject for the principal thematic ideas, so helping to ‘round’ out the entire work and unify the entire formal structure.”
There is an inevitability about the piece that makes it almost an ebullient, extroverted flipside of Barber’s “Adagio for Strings.” Both works exude inspiration and are perfectly argued, without a wasted note. “Rounds” is Diamond’s most famous work, but it still deserves to be heard more frequently. It can hold its head high on any classical music concert that aspires to represent what’s best in American music.
It should be considered with the same respect and affection as Barber’s “Adagio,” Copland’s “Appalachian Spring,” Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” and Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” It’s that good. Optimism, vitality, and joy are too often dismissed at the expense of the weightier considerations of human existence.
Today would have been Diamond’s 110th birthday. He went on to write quite a lot of quality music – and not all of it “happy” – including 11 symphonies (criminally, some of these have yet to be recorded), but nothing I’ve heard – and I have heard more than most – equals the sustained inspiration of Diamond’s “Rounds.”
I pray that the impending U.S. Semiquincentennial brings a much-deserved reassessment of the greatest generation of American symphonists, now sadly neglected, of which Diamond is one; but so far, what I’ve seen of the 2025-26 concert season brochures from Philadelphia, New York, and Princeton has not been promising (one Ives symphony aside). If I had the power and a podium, I would see to it that the cream of Walter Piston, Roy Harris, William Schumann, Howard Hanson, Peter Mennin, Vincent Persichetti, Randall Thompson, Harold Shapero, and yes, David Diamond, would flow.
The world should be reminded of the creative promise of this country – its vibrancy, energy, and invention – when it still seemed to be very much on the way up.
Thank you, David Diamond, and happy birthday wherever you are.
I just discovered this remarkable performance of “Rounds” by a youth orchestra, so don’t tell me it’s too “difficult” to program. Too bad somebody in the audience drops an anvil at around 5:45.
It’s Super Bowl/Valentine’s Day/Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday Weekend!
This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we honor our 16th president, on the anniversary of his birth (in 1809), with an hour of monumental selections.
We’ll begin with David Diamond’s setting of the Gettysburg Address as “On Sacred Ground,” a work for mixed chorus, children’s chorus, baritone solo and orchestra. The piece was given its first performance two days before the centenary of Lincoln’s actual delivery of the Address, which he presented on November 19, 1863.
After that, as a bit of a palate-cleanser, we’ll enjoy Paul Turok’s buoyant “Variations on an American Song: Lincoln and Liberty,” also composed in 1963. The song is based on a traditional Irish fiddle tune, “Rosin the Bow,” which was outfitted with new lyrics for use in Lincoln’s 1859 presidential campaign:
“Then up with our banner so glorious,
The star-spangled red-white-and-blue,
We’ll fight till our Cause is victorious,
For Lincoln and Liberty, too!”
Finally, we’ll return to Gettysburg and music by American composer Roy Harris, also born on this date, though 89 years later. Harris was born in a log cabin in Lincoln County, Oklahoma. If that doesn’t fill one with a sense of destiny, I don’t know what will!
In his day, Harris was regarded as one of America’s greatest composers, particularly renowned for his symphonies. His Symphony No. 3 is his most famous work; we’ll be hearing the Symphony No. 6, subtitled “Gettysburg.”
Each movement bears a superscription taken from the Gettysburg Address.
I. Awakening (“Fourscore and seven years ago…”);
II. Conflict (“Now we are engaged in a great civil war…”);
III. Dedication (“We are met on a great battlefield of that war…”);
IV. Affirmation (“…that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain…).
I hope you’ll join me for this memorial to Lincoln, on “Lincoln Portraits,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
And remember, if the game runs long, the show will be posted as a webcast at the WWFM website for you to enjoy later. It would make a fine soundtrack for any Presidents Day hootenanny.
Hey, when you write tone poems that rattle the rafters, you deserve to enjoy a little down time.
Ottorino Respighi may be taking the day off, but we’ll celebrate the anniversary of his birth, with music that’s so over-the-top that Cecile B. DeMille would have blushed.
The ballet “Belkis, Queen of Sheba,” a quasi-Biblical spectacle set at the court of King Solomon, was given its first performance at La Scala in 1932. The finale featured over a thousand performers, which likely accounts for the work’s subsequent neglect. Grandiose even by Respighi standards, the concluding orgiastic dance whipped the opening night audience into a frenzy.
We’ll also observe the birthdays today of composers David Diamond and Paul Chihara, pianist Leonard Pennario, and conductor David Zinman, and remember composer and conductor Oliver Knussen, who died yesterday at the age of 66.
The music will be pretty spectacular, between 4 and 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
Respighi (second from right) hits the beach with quattro amici
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States. Above and beyond his own considerable accomplishments, Lincoln has inspired a lot of music. This Sunday on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll honor him on his birthday, with three diverse works.
Composer David Diamond set the Gettysburg Address as “On Sacred Ground,” a work for mixed chorus, children’s chorus, baritone solo and orchestra. The piece was given its first performance two days before the centenary of Lincoln’s delivery of the actual Address, which he spoke on November 19, 1863. We’ll hear it tonight, to start.
Then, as a bit of a palate-cleanser, we’ll listen to Paul Turok’s buoyant “Variations on an American Song: Lincoln and Liberty,” also composed in 1963. The melody is based on a traditional Irish fiddle tune, “Rosin the Bow,” which had been outfitted with new lyrics for use in Lincoln’s 1859 presidential campaign:
“Then up with our banner so glorious,
The star-spangled red-white-and-blue,
We’ll fight till our Cause is victorious,
For Lincoln and Liberty, too!”
Finally, we’ll return to Gettysburg and music by American composer Roy Harris, who shares Lincoln’s birthday, though born 89 years apart. Furthermore, Harris was born in a log cabin in Lincoln County, Oklahoma. If that doesn’t fill one with a sense of destiny, I don’t know what will!
In his day, Harris was regarded as one of America’s greatest composers, particularly renowned for his symphonies. His Symphony No. 3 is his most famous work; what we’ll be hearing is the Symphony No. 6, subtitled “Gettysburg.”
Each movement bears a superscription taken from the Gettysburg Address.
I. Awakening (“Fourscore and seven years ago…”);
II. Conflict (“Now we are engaged in a great civil war…”);
III. Dedication (“We are met on a great battlefield of that war…”);
IV. Affirmation (“…that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain…).
It’s all music in honor of the Great Emancipator. I hope you’ll join me for “Lincoln Portraits,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.
