Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Princeton University

Stravinsky’s Requiem Canticles Premiere at Princeton

Igor Stravinsky’s late, serial masterwork, “Requiem Canticles,” was given its first performance at McCarter Theatre in Princeton on this date in 1966. It would be the composer’s last major work. (Only his setting of Edward Lear’s “The Owl and the Pussycat” followed.) Stravinsky described the 15-minute, six-movement piece, which is sung in Latin, as his “pocket requiem.” The work would be performed at the composer’s funeral in 1971. It was also played at the funeral of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who attended the premiere.

I wrote about its first performance in 2016, its 50th anniversary, for an article for the Trenton Times, somewhat limited by word count and by the fact that I was tying it in with two Stravinsky concerts to be held at Princeton University – neither of which, disappointingly, included “Requiem Canticles” – but I did get some interesting information from my interview subjects, both eyewitnesses who were working at McCarter in 1966.

There’s conflicting information as to who exactly conducted “Requiem Canticles” on that occasion, the composer or his assistant, Robert Craft. My sources maintain that it was Stravinsky himself.

If you’re interested, you can find the article archived here:

https://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/2016/12/classical_music_puo_pugc_so_pe.html

Robert Craft’s 2005 recording of “Requiem Canticles”

Recording of the actual McCarter premiere (thanks to Mather Pfeiffenberger)

PHOTO: Stravinsky (right) and Robert Craft in 1964

October 8, 2025
Tim Keyes’ Consort Celebrates 30 Years

Tim Keyes’ day job is that of Pastoral Assistant of Music and Liturgy at the Catholic Church of St. Charles Borromeo in Skillman, NJ. But he’s also a prolific composer of oratorios, symphonies, concertos, film scores, chamber music, instrumental works, and choral pieces. His most recent work, “The Pool,” completes a triptych of sacred oratorios inspired by episodes from the Gospel of John. With its first performance at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium this Saturday at 8 p.m., the group of musicians Keyes directs, the Tim Keyes’ Consort, will celebrate 30 years.

The orchestra and chorus are made up of professional and amateur musicians. Mentorship is central to the Consort’s mission. Saturday’s concert will open with a work by Rutgers Mason Gross student Amelia Cunningham, “Irish Overture,” and Ithaca graduate Kathryn Dauer will return to conduct Keyes’ “Adagio.” Read more about it in my article in the Princeton weekly U.S. 1, out today.

https://www.communitynews.org/princetoninfo/artsandentertainment/three-decades-three-oratorios-for-tim-keyes/article_20876a40-2d2a-4e8a-8799-c8901ac4b582.html

June 11, 2025
Joan Lippincott Legendary Organist Remembered

Somehow, I am the last to learn of the passing of Joan Lippincott. But just in case I’m not, Lippincott, who was so much a part of the fabric of the local music community, as a student and later a professor of organ at Westminster Choir College and the Curtis Institute of Music and, for a time, principal organist at Princeton University, died on May 31 at the age of 89.

Here’s an appreciation, with reminiscences and an obituary, shared by one of her former students.

Legendary Joan Lippincott

And another, from current University Organist at Princeton University, Eric Plutz.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10163013703036215&set=a.155434051214

Over the years, I played her recordings for the Gothic Records label on my radio shows. R.I.P.

June 4, 2025
Paul Robeson Passover Princeton Birthday

Paul Robeson for Passover.

Happy birthday to Princeton’s own!

April 9, 2025
Einstein Martinů and Princeton’s Pi Day Fest

I’ve yet to lay my hands on a copy of this month’s Princeton Echo, but apparently my article on Albert Einstein and Bohuslav Martinů made the cover. It’s a good time for me to mention it, as the story also appears in the Princeton weekly, U.S. 1, out today.

The timing couldn’t be better, since 3/14 is Pi Day (by coincidence, also Einstein’s birthday), and as always Princeton will pull out all the stops, this year with the celebration spanning two days, Friday and Saturday. So get ready for the Einstein look-alike contest, the Pi Day tours, the pie-throwing, pi memorization and recitation, and of course the fooderies offering deals on pie.

An amateur violinist who adored Mozart, Einstein knew and even played with a number of notable musicians and scientists, both in Princeton and abroad. While he wasn’t exactly at home with music of the 20th century, Einstein liked and respected Martinů, who taught composition at Princeton University from 1948 to 1951. The two shared much in common, and Martinu wound up writing a piece of music for him.

It just so happens that the composer, who is not exactly a household name, but perhaps should be, will be the subject of his own music festival, “Martinů and His World,” to be held at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, August 8-17.

You’ll find lots of information at the links below:

Cover story in Princeton Echo (March 1)

https://www.communitynews.org/towns/princeton-echo/relatively-musical-albert-einstein-and-bohuslav-martin/article_64f724c8-f840-11ef-81f3-77d946927c50.html

Reprinted in U.S. 1 (out today)

https://www.communitynews.org/princetoninfo/artsandentertainment/relatively-musical-albert-einstein-and-bohuslav-martin/article_68a1ba00-fe7d-11ef-a05a-2f8ce43f2de6.html

Princeton Pi Day events (March 14-15)

https://princetontourcompany.com/tours/pi-day/

Bard Music Festival, “Martinů and His World” (August 8-17)

https://fishercenter.bard.edu/whats-on/programs/bard-music-festival/

Fisher Center at Bard

March 12, 2025

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