Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Princeton University

Gardiner’s Troubles Impact Princeton Performance

Unfortunately, Sir John Eliot Gardiner clocked somebody again, so he’s taking off the rest of 2023 to seek professional help and reflect. When he backed out of a touring production of Berlioz’s “The Trojans” last week, I was afraid it would come to this. Gardiner was scheduled to appear in Princeton this October to conduct Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists. If the show goes on as scheduled, I’m guessing it will be taken over by his assistant conductor, Dinis Sousa. With all respect to Maestro Sousa, who may well do a fantastic job, this is a great disappointment.

I had the privilege to see Gardiner live in Princeton twice, in 2014 and 2015, thanks to the munificence of late philanthropist and humanitarian William H. Scheide, who kindly picked up the tab. I was hoping to have a chance to see him again, as both those concerts were stunners.

I also interviewed Gardiner in connection with his book, “Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven.” I confess I was a little nervous, as he is a large man, and already there had been stories spread through social media about his temper. At the time, he had recently been alleged to have punched out a trumpet player in the London Symphony Orchestra! But I must say, I saw no evidence of any such prickliness. On the contrary, I found him to be quite the gentleman.

Gardiner established the Monteverdi Choir in 1964. He is especially renowned for his interpretations of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. In 2000, he undertook a Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, performing and recording all the sacred cantatas in liturgical order, in churches in Europe and New York City.

More recently, he conducted at the coronation of King Charles III in May.

I hope he gets the help he needs and that he is able to return to Princeton soon. Gardiner is 80 years-old.

PHOTO: Note the ponytail. If I were Gardiner, I would definitely have punched me!

August 31, 2023
Old Nassau The Story of Princeton’s Song

I posted yesterday about my article on Princeton musician (born in Germany) Carl Langlotz. Langlotz, a student of Franz Liszt who played in the premiere of Wagner’s “Lohengrin,” must be one of the most overqualified composers of a university song ever. With Reunions upon us, “Old Nassau” will reverberate across town and gown all weekend, 164 years after Langlotz dashed it off while enjoying a smoke on his front porch on Mercer Street. Since the image wasn’t available yet at the time I posted, here’s a detail of the cover design. Enjoy the article in this week’s edition of the Princeton weekly U.S. 1 Newspaper – PrincetonInfo.

https://www.communitynews.org/princetoninfo/coverstories/in-praise-of-old-nassau-meet-its-composer/article_3729e04e-f982-11ed-acc8-53b68127b320.html?utm_campaign=blox&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR2e15QKRr6Sn5es3iRMBjXn1YSP4hx2rhSp-G8wjmcua46a2b4PkfkjiQM

May 25, 2023
Old Nassau The Story of Its Composer

Carl Langlotz studied with Franz Liszt and played in the orchestra at the premiere of Wagner’s “Lohengrin.” At 19, he emigrated to the United States and lived much of his life in Philadelphia, Trenton, and Princeton – in the case of the latter for some 25 years. But he would be long forgotten now – a footnote of a footnote in the most arcane of music histories – if not for “Old Nassau,” which he essentially dashed off while enjoying a smoke one afternoon on Mercer Street. His spirit endures in Princeton University’s alma mater, which will be sung incessantly at Reunions, poised to engulf the town this weekend. Learn more about Langlotz in my article in – also the cover story of – this week’s U.S. 1 Newspaper – PrincetonInfo, out today.

https://www.communitynews.org/princetoninfo/coverstories/in-praise-of-old-nassau-meet-its-composer/article_3729e04e-f982-11ed-acc8-53b68127b320.html

May 24, 2023
Princeton’s Unknown Composer You Know

Here’s my editor, after I just squandered another day of my life pounding out a 1700-word piece against a 1200-word quota. I won’t spill the beans about it just yet, but it has something to do with a composer who lived in Princeton for about a quarter century, beginning in 1856. You may not know his name, but if you’re at all connected to the university, you know his music. I’m hopeful the article will run in next week’s U.S. 1 newspaper – out on Wednesday – unless it’s waylaid by vampires, extraterrestrials, or Jack the Ripper!

May 18, 2023
Milton Babbitt Beyond the Monster Myth

The headline read “Who Cares if You Listen?” And the notoriety was instant and long-lasting.

All at once, Milton Babbitt was a musical monster.

Babbitt, a staple at Princeton University for many years, was born in Philadelphia on this date in 1916. He received lasting blowback from angry villagers wielding torches and pitchforks for an essay he wrote for High Fidelity magazine, which bore the title stated above.

Unfortunately, the headline wasn’t Babbitt’s. It was actually an editorial decision. Babbitt’s original title had been “The Composer as Specialist” – not nearly as eye-catching or provocative. Today, we might describe it as clickbait. But it stuck like Karloff’s neck-bolts, as both a source of animation and a signal of abnormality, branding him in the eyes of the superstitious rabble as an outcast to be feared.

Also, it is kind of arrogant.

While it’s true that Babbitt frequently composed in a serial style, which might be off-putting to some coming to it for the first time, his music is often fairly lucid, without undo congestion and with a minimum of soul-crushing dissonances. On the contrary, he often achieved a paradoxical simplicity under the guise of complexity.

In the 1960s, Babbitt became interested in electronic music, apparently for its rhythmic precision, as opposed to any unusual timbral considerations. I find it endearing that he was also fond of jazz and musical theater and that late in life he enjoyed a friendship of sorts with film composer John Williams. (They bonded over Bernard Herrmann.) His one-time student, Stephen Sondheim, characterized him as “a frustrated show composer.”

Babbitt himself was a saxophonist. In 1946, he penned a musical, “Fabulous Voyage,” a retelling of Homer’s “The Odyssey.”

Yes, we all have our off-days, but the lasting impression Babbitt left on his students and colleagues seems to be that he was largely a warm and personable human being. He loved Broadway, beer, and football. Simple pleasures for someone portrayed as so lofty, he didn’t give a hang if you listened.

Babbitt was the recipient of an honorary Pulitzer Prize in 1982. He died in Princeton in 2011, at the age of 94.

Listen to “Penelope’s Night Song” from “Fabulous Voyage” and tell me if it seems to you like the product of a rampaging monster.

“Composition for Twelve Instruments” (1948):

“Reflections” (1974) for piano and synthesized tape:

Milton Babbitt on electronic music:

John Williams talks Babbitt in The New Yorker

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/the-force-is-still-strong-with-john-williams?fbclid=IwAR1gsLDyvvw7MFV_1NTP2OYNFwkYSOqHhiwBatZFtCT1FFYe4qWw6pt0Ems

If you’re interested in learning more about Princeton’s important role in the history of computer music and haven’t done so yet, do check out this podcast, produced by the Princeton University Engineering Department.

Composers & Computers, a podcast

I profiled the podcast’s creator, Aaron Nathans, in September for the Princeton weekly U.S. 1.

https://www.communitynews.org/princetoninfo/artsandentertainment/a-good-ear-for-stories-and-electronic-music-inspires-a-princeton-podcast/article_93780110-3384-11ed-93a9-1ba8b9106ed7.html?fbclid=IwAR0vF9aavdWS2hecaAE5XkVs62EOYFY9fFHcQYRVr1jReBT6_-WFPuPoyyg

A refresher on “Milton the Monster”

“Milton the Monster” Mixed Horror with Humor

Happy birthday, Milton Babbitt!

May 10, 2023

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