Robert Muczynski: Complete Works for Flute

This is a fine recording of many of the wind works of Robert Muczynski (1929-2010).  Although these pieces date from 1960 - 1992 a very consistent style is apparent.  I really related to these pieces because they are so nicely constructed and rhythmically dynamic.  I particularly enjoy the way that Muczynski juxtaposed angular and linear elements as a method of creating structure.  The two works on this recording for wind quintet performed by the Stanford Wind Quintet, the Quintet for Winds, op. 45, and the Movements for Wind Quintet, op. 16, reveal the composer's affinity for the wind instruments.  The winds really seem to suit Muczynski's mode of expression because they are so adept as a group with changes of harmonic color.  The lines grow out of the combination of kaleidoscopic harmonic shifts.  The composer's harmonic palette is a plentiful and provides a constant freshness.

The Movements for Wind Quintet would make a sophisticated introduction for a young performing group to the workings of American neoclassical sounds.  These miniatures would also serve as a launching point for Muczynski's Quintet for Winds, which is much more substantial work which has become a standard repertory piece.  This work has very strong solo lines for all of the instruments.  Even though the Quintet dates 22 years after the Movements the same stylistic traits can be recognized.

The Flute Duets, op. 34, are very nice miniature abstract inventions which involve more chromaticism than the other pieces.  They all create a gentle atmosphere, with an almost Far Eastern meditative quality, even in the faster movements.  They are performed here by Alexandra Hawley and Jean-Pierre Rampal.

In the Moments for Flute and Piano, op. 47, the writing fluctuates between a rhythmic and a longingly lyrical central episode.  The darkly second movement seems to express like lonely thoughts in the night, but activates into pleasant memories, and back again to dark and distorted thinking.  Waves of introspection.  The last movement has a very assertive sense of movement and seriousness, with some brief episodes of calm.
© 2017 Steve D. Matchett

Developing Our Listening Selves, and Understanding Classical Music

by Steve D. Matchett

When we apply the term "classical" to a piece of music, what does that say about that music?  It usually means that the music takes a larger form than most of the popular music that we are used to.  Popular music is recognized as songs, or what we could call the "minstrel" art.  Songs can be simple and they can be complex.  They can have strong instrumental content or very simple strumming to underlie the lyric.

Classical music has it's early roots in musical forms like chant, hymns, dances, minstrelsy, and many other smaller forms.  It developed over centuries into larger dramatic forms.  Symphonies, operas, extended sonatas, oratorios, and large scale chamber works, were the culmination of this development, although the smaller forms still remain vital too.  What we think of as "classical" music, could also be thought of as "drama" music.  This is why we hear so much "symphonic" music used as the soundtracks for films, because the symphony orchestra developed as the "instrument" of the large drama.  In opera, like in film, the music reflects on the emotions and feelings of individual characters and groups of characters in the drama, as well as the action.  The music "partners" in telling the story.  This flow of emotion and story can change moment by moment, and can have drastic shifts.  Changing tempos, shifts of key, changes of instrumental combinations and dynamic (volume) levels, all contribute to this changing dramatic flow.

Some writers have talked about the fact that purely instrumental music is like an "opera" for the instruments.  I prefer to think of it as a "drama" BY the instruments.  The instruments trade thoughts and gestures on the various topics (themes) contained in a piece.  In purely instrumental works there are no words to guide us; just the gestures of rhythm, key, etc., that the instruments convey to us through their interplay.  The music becomes self-defining; a unique world of it's own.  This kind of unfolding drama is not just the purview of classical music.  Larger works of jazz, rock "concept" albums, and individual songs themselves can have strong dramatic flow to them.  Classically oriented music tends to have a lot of this changing dramatic content since it developed this style over such a long period of time.  Contemporary Classical music has drawn influence from all kinds of music including jazz, rock, and world folk musics.  All of the different types of music that we listen to and enjoy draws influences from other forms of music.  This is what keeps the art of music constantly evolving, in all it's forms.

Music has become ubiquitous in our culture.  It's with us in electronic form almost every minute of the day.  At the grocery store, in the car, on the TV, at the doctors office, and hundreds of other places.  We learn over time to tune out the music, because it is often imposed on us, and not something we choose.  Our ears are assaulted everywhere we go.  It is hard to imagine a time when people only heard music when it was made by the actual human voice, hands and instruments.  If music were only made by real people, in our presence, we would probably have a very deep appreciation of it when we heard it.  It would be much more rare, and we would deeply value the efforts that it takes to make it, since it would only happen before our eyes.  This is how music was for millennia, and why it became so important to the cultures in which it developed.  I'm afraid we have become numb to it's constant and sometimes unwanted presence!  We hear it chopped up and predigested as the servant of every commercial scheme.  I hope we can put aside the constant background noise, and learn to hear and appreciate music anew, for itself.  It requires a leap of imagination and a willingness to be discriminating in our listening.  All music is not created equal and some music defies classified labels.  We all have to give ourselves over to the microcosm of experience that each piece of music creates.  This will help us develop our "listening selves" in order to find the full joy that music can give us.

- Steve D. Matchett, August 5, 2009
© 2009 Steve D. Matchett

Striking a balance on Copland

Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man,
by Howard Pollack
Henry Holt and Company, New York, NY USA (ML410.C756P6)

This book exudes a tone of high admiration for the composer. The brilliant essays on the music reveal to the reader how Copland was able to integrate the modernism he absorbed in France with the varied moods of American musical culture. Pollack's deep appreciation for the music is catching. He balances this by giving candid reports of contemporary reviews of the music; good, bad and mixed. The book profiles aspects of the composer's personal life by discussing them topically. In all the detail Copland is revealed as a private and magnanimous man, and a sincere statesman of American music. Pollack also comments on the many recordings of the music, which can guide the reader in their listening and collecting. - Steve Matchett, Houston, TX USA - January 21, 2000

Energy Surrogation Made Cheap

By Steve D. Matchett

We are assaulted everywhere we go with music that we may not want to listen to, and with distracting flashing images that we may not see.  Pop culture is fed to us whether we want it or not.  Many of us don’t want it imposed on us; some of us are neutral but take it for granted that it will be there; some desire it and would feel lost without it.

When I go to my gym, there is a constant barrage of rock videos playing on one of the TV screens.  This is the only screen with its sound piped into the room.  There are other screens with captioned news and sports shows.  The most essential pieces of equipment I take with me to the gym are my earplugs.  Alas, I’m not lucky enough to have a “soundless” gym like some people are, and switching gyms would be luxury I can’t afford.  Gyms are supposed to be “high energy” places, but for me I would like it to be a peaceful place where I can de-stress and think my own thoughts while I sweat.

All this unwanted saturation of pop culture makes me question the reason that we all put up with it.  This saturation is ubiquitous!  I guess in many ways it makes us feel included in the culture around us, but in too many ways it irritates us and “dumbs us down.”  I feel that so much of it is about our need for energy, and we turn over our ability to create energetic feelings in ourselves to the “energy surrogates” of the pop culture world.  We want to relate to the energy of others because they will make us feel energetic ourselves.  These false, airbrushed, packaged, and edited visions and sounds, which are put in front of us, remind us of powers that we don’t feel we possess.  Or we feel we possess them, but they can lie dormant and “toned down” within us until the moment is called for their expression.  We surrogate the creators of pop culture to become a representation of our dormant energy source, so we can feel that it’s always there, safely on call, if we need it.  We expect ourselves to be at peak energy.  Why?…because pop culture tells us we should be!  When we are not at peak energy, and only on “slow simmer,” we feel like we are betraying the culture we live in.  For those of us who are older, we want to be reminded of our youth when sexual energy propelled us.  Pop culture gives us that reminder galore.  The falseness of most pop culture blurs the impressions that help us decide what things are important in this life, and what our cultural priorities should really be.  In an “adolescence” inspired culture like ours, the worst aspects of our culture get unduly glorified to the point of nausea.  Instead of our kids “growing up to us” we too often “grow down” to them, or we get stuck in a far less mature phase of our past.  This doesn’t serve the generations well, as we all succumb to the lure of the advertiser who uses all this as a prime manipulation tool.

Wouldn’t it be heaven to go to most public places and be greeted with silence?  Silence while we shop, eat out with our friends, work out at the gym, or even just read at the bookstore!  Libraries are such great places aren’t they!  If for nothing more than too seek refuge from the storm!

© 2012 Steve D. Matchett

John Williams Presents…The Sensation of Flight

By Steve D. Matchett

Composer John Williams has impacted the world like no other composer in modern times.  His brilliant film scores saturate the global consciousness…there barely being a person on the planet that couldn’t hum something that he has written.  Few composers can be described as creating an entire “musical iconography.” His music is as vital to the characters that it suffuses, as are their voices, costumes, and dialogue.  His music brings such power to the screen that audiences are washed along in its wake.  He is a composer who “nails it” so much of the time, that we forget that setting the right music to film, and by doing so, intensifying what we see, is an arduous process.  An entire industry of pops concerts has developed with the world’s symphony orchestras, which has his film music at the center, and has pulled other fortunate composers into the productions, along for the trip.  In many ways he has downright saved the symphony orchestra business, and given the public at large an important justification for the perpetual maintenance and support of a 19^th century institution.  His music makes us feel that the symphony orchestra also belongs to all of us in our own day.

Of the many things I could say about his music (which would take several weeks of continuous commentary), I wanted to point out here that his music has so brilliantly expressed the sensation of “flight” in so many films.  His music manages to propel us all into aeronautical plunges and ascents without ever leaving our seat.  Of course as a kid one of my favorite shows (and sooo Sci-Fi) was Lost in Space (“danger Will Robinson”), for which he did the theme music.  The music so humorously depicts a rickety flying saucer trying to find a place to plop itself down (hopefully smoothly, so that June Lockhart’s hair doesn’t get mussed).  William’s use of chromatic flourishes to represent the topsy-turvy flight of the Jupiter 2, would be revisited later when he helps propel the also hapless Millennium Falcon to fly into an asteroid and settle there (barely digested!).

When Superman decides that it’s time to give Lois Lane the ride of her life in his arms, the composer is there to make us safe with a soaring theme and a smoothly orchestrated landing (whew!).  Stephen Spielberg decided to give Mr. Williams free reign in the flying sequence at the end of E.T. E.T.’s boy rescuers and their friends take flight on their bikes, under the charm of the alien’s spell, to get the gnomish and homesick creature to his launching area.  Spielberg edited the film here in accordance with the music; reversing the norm of "film first, music later;" doing this in order to honor the composer with a rare Hollywood creative salute, which is one of the best composed “long” musical sequences on film.

Hippogriff

I would say that my favorite flight sequence is in the third movie of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  Harry is introduced to Buckbeak the hippogriff, and after making his “acquaintance” is very reluctantly placed on the imposing animal’s back and told to hang on. Harry’s flight is accompanied by music, which is effective thematically and colorfully embellished orchestrally, and produces an oceanic sense (in us and in Harry) as it reinforces the powerful flap of the mythic creature’s giant wings.  In the first three films of the series we also get the hyper-flights of the Quidditch players who travel dangerously fast on their broomsticks to play their airborne sport.  [I wish I could find the video with John Williams conducting the Boston Pops brass section in the Quidditch music! His fanfare/ceremonial music “nails it" here too!] The creative musical mind that concocts and coordinates this affect of flight, to such success, seems to be one with strong synesthetic abilities between the visual and the musico/sonic—his ability to hear harmonic and rhythmic structure in what his eye sees, represents an intellect that few of us can comprehend.  To do this in such a musically sophisticated way, helps the art form and elevates the taste of audiences. We all joyfully succumb to the ride that his music takes us on!

© 2012 Steve D. Matchett

The Houston Ballet takes on “The Shrew”

Publicity still for Houston Ballet's
production of The Taming of the Shrew

by Steve D. Matchett

The Houston Ballet performed The Taming of the Shrew June 9 – 19, 2011.  This comic ballet based on Shakespeare was premiered by the Stuttgart Ballet March 16, 1969 and has since entered the repertory of many of the world’s great ballet companies.  Houston Ballet’s staging of this work was outstanding and played to full houses during it’s run.

The Taming of the Shrew ballet is a brilliant and effective interpretation of the stage play and is very clever in the way it conveys it’s comic message.  The work combines the efforts of the brilliant choreographer, John Cranko (1927-1973), and the composer Kurt Heinz-Stolze (1926-1970).  The music for the ballet is strongly influenced by Stravinsky’s Pulcinella.  Like the Stravinsky work, the composer has relied on pre-existing music, namely that of Dominico Scarlatti (1685-1757).  Stravinsky’s work (premiered 1920) ushered in the master composer’s neoclassical period, and his work was based on music of Giovanni Pergolesi (1710-1736) and others.  We have to be careful when we say “based on” because both Stravinsky’s work and Heinz-Stolze’s music have transformed these Italianate pieces into something quite original. I define these works in a special category that I call "Re-Creations" (see Composer and Arranger). Heinz-Stolze clearly modeled his work on Stravinsky’s, using a very similar orchestra with one-to-a-part scoring in the winds.  The chamber orchestra Heinz-Stolze called for includes a few other instruments as well, notably piano and harpsichord.  Stravinsky also used harpsichord in his neoclassic operatic masterpiece The Rake’s Progress.  The instrument provides a wonderful flavor to the music, especially because it alludes to classical Mozartean era sources.  Heinz-Stolze was himself a pianist and harpsichordist and was well familiar with his source music by Scarlatti.

Much of the harmonic language that Heinz-Stolze uses is quite similar to Stravinsky, and the resemblance can be heard easily.  The frequent use of multi-meter also gives this piece it’s modern sensibilities, while at the same time giving a gentile feeling of the past.  This was the brilliance of the Neoclassical style in music, and Heniz-Stolze’s score follows this artistic course in first-class fashion.   In The Taming of the Shrew, music and choreography are matched perfectly in their sensibilities.

John Cranko had a brilliant choreographic career having worked with the Sadler’s Wells Ballet (which became the Royal Ballet), the Stuttgart Ballet and others.  He worked with composer Benjamin Britten for the original production of The Prince of the Pagodas in 1957.  His choreography for The Taming of the Shrew is a sensational combination of classical ballet and modern dance.  The work incorporates movements like pratfalls, wrestling holds (as an hilarious means of controlling the shrew, Katherina’s impetuousness), drunken swaggers, prancing, and many others.  There are wonderful corps numbers which are beautifully aligned. This is why this work functions so well on both the musical and dance levels, the music and the dance blend traditional modes with telltale modern ones.  As brilliant as the choreography is, one is never overwhelmed by a stage that is too busy to be fully absorbed.

Sadly both the composer and the choreographer did not live long after the original production of The Taming of the Shrew.  The composer died just months after the premiere.  A good audio recording of this work is not extant as far as I can tell from research.  This work deserves a quality recording and the Houston Ballet Orchestra would be the perfect ensemble to produce it.

I can’t say enough good things about the Houston Ballet, which is truly a world-class company.  Their repertory is a powerful combination of works from the classical ballet repertoire and many of the great ballets of the 20^th century, including Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and many others, as well as 21^st century pieces.  I was taken aback at how incredible their production of Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin was several years ago.  Ben Stevenson, their former artistic director, had created the production for Li Cunxin (see Mao’s Last Dancer).  The company toured with it and performed it at The Kennedy Center.  The orchestra performed the work with such precision and transparency that all the details of this difficult Expressionistic score could be heard.  I had never heard any recording of it played as well–the result of having perfected it through so many performances.  We could not be luckier to have this organization as part of our city’s cultural life!

© 2011 Steve D. Matchett  

Americans We

An Introductory and Annotated Listening List From America’s Musical Heritage

by Steve Matchett

Flag and Map by Jasper Johns

I wanted to provide a list of pieces to help introduce my friends to the American classical music repertory.  I’m very concerned that most people out there don’t know much about America’s classical music and its history.  I can’t imagine that any school children in Russia don’t know the names Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, or Prokofiev.  I heard an interview with Simon Rattle on the Charlie Rose show a few years ago.  He made a statement that really spoke to me.  To paraphrase it, he said “European countries define themselves by their classical music.”  There are deep cultural reasons that this is so, but I think that our musical culture should be just as important to us.  America has exported Jazz and Rock to all corners of the world, but there are aspects of musical expression that these two forms have a difficult time expressing.  They tend toward a highly personal expression, often in simple terms.  Jazz, and Rock to a smaller degree, have absorbed influences from classical music, and classical music around the world has certainly absorbed the influences of these forms.  This is a process of cultural overlap, and exchange, which is too large a subject for me to discuss here.  The lack of cultural education in our schools is appalling.  The kids who are fortunate enough to participate in school music programs learn about some of the composers that I list below, especially in secondary school.  I think that ALL children of school age should learn about these cultural figures just like they learn about Hawthorne, Thoreau, or Whitman.  Cultural literacy is just as important as literacy in math and science, and without it we can’t be complete citizens.

The Art of the States website has recordings of many composers.

For most of the recordings I would recommend iTunes or Amazon.com to at least hear some audio clips.

Shown by category chronologically:

Orchestra Music

Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major (1886) by George W. Chadwick

This piece is very much a romantic work in the Brahms/Dvorak vein, and predates Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony of 1893.

Variations on America (1891) by Charles Ives, orchestrated by William Schuman

The tune “My County Tis of Thee” appears in many guises in this tongue-in-cheek romp.  The work was for organ in its original version and really challenges the skills of the performer.  Schuman also made a version for band.

The Unanswered Question (1906) by Charles Ives

This philosophical work was described by Ives himself as a “cosmic landscape.”  Ives was very influenced by the Transcendentalist Poets, and this piece contemplates the question of existence using wordless music.

The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan (1917) by Charles Tomlinson Griffes

Griffes is America’s impressionistic composer, and this work reflects the impressionists’ fascination with exotic subjects and orientalism.

An American in Paris (1928) by George Gershwin

This travel fantasy is one of the great symphonic works.  Gershwin provokes so many of the sounds, sights, and emotions of visiting a great city.  A movie of the same name (1951) stars Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, and Oscar Levant.

Symphony No. 2 “Romantic” (1930) by Howard Hanson

Hanson was unabashedly emotional in his music during a period when procedural modernism was dominating all the academic circles.  This piece is a great introduction to his music and aesthetic.

Grand Canyon Suite (1931) by Ferde Grofé

This multi-movement tone poem (tone-picture would be more appropriate), reflects on America’s awe-inspiring natural wonder. Grofé’s colorful orchestration illustrates his skills gained as a jazz arranger.  This iconic piece has drama and some humor in the solo violin depiction of the braying donkey in the third movement “On the Trail.”  Other movements are I. Sunrise, II. The Painted Desert,  IV. Sunset, and V. Cloudburst.

Overture to “The School for Scandal” (1931) by Samuel Barber

This is an amazing work, especially considering that it was written by such a young composer.  This piece went a long way in launching Barber’s career as a composer.  This is a concert overture and takes it name and influence of the comic play of the same name.

Symphony No. 1 “Afro-American” (1931) by William Grant Still

Still draws on the melodic style of black culture, and brings to life a disciplined, knowledgeable, and heartfelt orchestral landscape.  Gershwin drew on the same sources for Porgy and Bess and its hard not to relate Still’s work to Gershwin’s for this reason.  However Still’s Symphony predates Porgy and Bess by at least 4 years.  There’s no question that Still knew and performed Gershwin’s famous songs from the 20’s.

Cuban Overture (1932) by George Gerswhin

This is the composer’s symphonic portrayal of Cuban jazz.  It is very high energy.

Compare this to other Latin American inspired works—El Salon Mexico by Aaron Copland, and “America” from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein.  Gershwin’s very “showy” style is obvious here.

Adagio for Strings (1938) by Samuel Barber

This emotionally moving music has become a famous work for expressing grief.  It was performed at Ground Zero just after 9/11 and at the funeral of Princess Grace, just to name two occasions.  The version for string orchestra is an expansion of the slow movement from Barber’s String Quartet.

Billy the Kid (1938) by Aaron Copland

This is a ballet about the gunslinger.  This work is most often performed as a concert work, rather than staged.

Symphony No 3 (1938) by Roy Harris

This symphony is in one movement and shows Harris’ very open and shifting modal sounds and direct rhetorical style.  This piece established his reputation, and reflects the vastness of the western landscape and spirit of the heartland.

Suite from “Rodeo” (1942)  by Aaron Copland

These pieces incorporate several important cowboy songs.  The “Hoe-Down” movement is always instantly recognizable because of its use in commercials and as theme music.

A Lincoln Portrait (1942)  by Aaron Copland

It’s hard to believe that this work for narrator and orchestra was banned for performance at Eisenhower’s inaugural in 1952.  Copland had associations with socialists in the 1930’s and was called forth during the Red Scare to account for himself before McCarthy’s committee.  Copland was never really a political person, music was always the complete focus of his life. This is such an irony for someone who represented American culture all over the world during his lifetime.

Appalcahian Spring (1944) by Aaron Copland

This work is originally for chamber orchestra, but is heard more often in the version for symphony orchestra.  It’s incorporation of the Shaker Hymn Tune “The Gift to Be Simple” is another iconic symbol in American culture.

Overture to “Candide” (1957) by Leonard Bernstein

Bernstein wrote his opera based on Voltaire’s farce Candide.  His overture reflects on the youthful exuberance of the composer himself.  This piece ranks very high on the appeal meter!  This piece has also been transcribed for band by Clare Grundman.

Musical Theater and Opera

Treemonisha (1910) by Scott Joplin

Few know that Joplin, who was the king of Ragtime, wrote two operas.  This opera was not performed in Joplin’s lifetime and his score only existed in piano form.  It has been orchestrated into different versions by various composers and given many performances in the U.S.. Houston Grand Opera did a very important revival and recording of the work in the 1970’s.  Treemonisha is a young black woman who fights to overcome the superstition and ignorance of her plantation community.

Porgy and Bess (1934) music by George Gershwin, libretto by Dubose Heyward, lyrics by Ira Gershwin

This opera was an affront to the cultural elite with its all African-American cast.  The songs “Summertime,” “Bess, You Is My Woman Now,” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So” have become song staples and the score is buoyant and full of energy.  The opera had an important tour in the 1950’s.  Houston Grand Opera did an important revival of it in 1976.

Regina (premiered 1949) by Marc Blitzstein

Based on the Lillian Hellman play The Little Foxes.  Blitzstein was very outspoken with his leftist politics, like so many artists who went through the Great Depression.  There is no denying his skill as a composer and this work has some brilliant and beautiful musical numbers.  This work walks the line between Musicals and Opera.

The King and I (1951) music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

This musical should always be performed with the original full orchestration.

Contains the songs, “I Whistle a Happy Tune” “Getting to Know You” and “The March of the Siamese Children.”  It also contains an incredible show within the show, “The Small House of Uncle Thomas” ballet.

West Side Story (1957) music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, script by Arthur Laurens

also Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story”

A modern urban take on the Romeo and Juliet story of young love.  Bernstein  contributed a lot of songs to the repertory in this musical—“Maria”, “Somewhere”, and “Tonight” are just a few.  The score is heavily jazz based, with a lot of Latin rhythm contained as well.

Band Music

The Stars and Stripes Forever (1896) by John Philip Sousa

This iconic march was designated by Congress as the national march of the United States.  It has represented America well around the world, and no 4^th of July pops concert can happen without it.  The trio section was actually given lyrics by Sousa.  Others have done their own lyrics and the work has been parodied all around the world.  This is a sign of just how iconic and well known it is.

George Washington Bridge (1950) by William Schuman

This is a starkly powerful work about a majestic landmark.

Psalm for Band (1952) by Vincent Persichetti

This is a very moving piece by one of our most skilled composers and makes a good introduction to his very personal style.

American Overture (1956) by Joseph Wilcox Jenkins

This is very appealing piece that features the horns in a big way.  It has a lot of Americana contained in it and depicts, at least somewhat referentially, the American West, cowboys and Indians—and John Wayne is probably in there somewhere.

Variations on a Korean Folksong (1965) by John Barnes Chance

The composer was also a native of Texas.  He was stationed in Korea and this work came as a result of his time there.  He was himself a percussionist and his superb percussion writing is very much on display in this piece.  This piece is also an example of the interest in exotic and Eastern influences for Western artists.

Sketches on a Tudor Psalm (1972) by Fisher Tull

A very different setting of Thomas Tallis’ music than the work for strings by Vaughn Williams.  Tull was a Texas native and this is his most performed work for band and a staple in the band repertory.  I include it here to pay tribute to my teacher and mentor.

Solo Works with Orchestra

Schelomo for cello and orchestra (1916) by Ernest Bloch

Bloch’s music gives voice to his Jewish heritage.  In this moving work, the cello takes on the role of King Solomon (Schelomo) with the orchestra portraying the world at large.  The piece was inspired by the book of Ecclesiastes from the Bible, and reflects on the lamentations found there.


Poem for flute and orchestra (1919) by Charles Tomlinson Griffes

Griffes took a cue from Claude Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun in writing this piece for flute.  The flute part is sensuous, expressive and virtuostic.

Rhapsody in Blue (1924) by George Gershwin, orchestrated by Ferde Grofé

Lush sounds, jazz age sensibilities, piano virtuosity—one of the great American contributions to the symphonic literature.

Concerto in F for piano and orchestra (1925) by George Gershwin

Like all of Gershwin’s concert music this one also has a lot of jazz influence.  In the movie American in Paris, Oscar Levant humorously fancies himself as the piano soloist (as he really was), and also as playing all the instruments of the orchestra as well as being the conductor of this piece.  It’s a funny tribute to egomania using a serious piece of music.

Clarinet Concerto (1949) by Aaron Copland

This piece is also dubbed the “Benny Goodman” concerto since it was commissioned by Benny Goodman and first performed by him.  The last movement is colored with jazz figurations in honor of its famous dedicatee.

Chamber music

Sonata eroica (1895) for solo piano by Edward MacDowell

MacDowell is an extremely important composer for piano.  His Woodland Sketches are still played regularly by young piano students.

Concord Sonata for solo piano (1915 premiered 1938) by Charles Ives

Each movement is titled in honor of the transcendentalists that Ives admired so much.

I. Emerson, II. Hawhorne, III. The Alcotts, IV. Thoreau.

Ives wrote a literary work, Essays Before a Sonata, which discusses and outlines his aesthetic ideas that go with this piece.

String Quartet in one movement (1921) by Amy Beach

This is a pensive work by this important composer of chamber music and art songs.

Quintet for Winds (1986) by Robert Muczynski

This is a fine piece written in a neo-classic style.  The harmonies and rhythms are quite modern and adept.  The composer recently passed away in May 2010.  He was of Polish decent and born in Chicago.

Works by Living Composers

Tournaments (1965) by John Corigliano b.1938

This wide ranging composer has very keen skills in all areas of composition—concert music, films, chamber music and opera.

http://www.johncorigliano.com/

Also by John Corigliano: an opera The Ghosts of Versailles, Black November Turkey for string quartet, Gazebo Dances for both orchestra and band, and the film score to The Red Violin.

Symphony: Water Music [Symphony No. 1] (1985) by Libby Larsen b.1950

I imagine this piece as music for sailing on the Great Lakes, clear skies, wind in the hair, speed over the water.  This is a very nice piece with fresh sounds and interesting orchestration!

Full audio: http://libbylarsen.com/index.php?contentID=236&profileID=1196&startRange=

Also by Libby Larsen:  Songs of Youth and Pleasure

Full audio: http://libbylarsen.com/index.php?contentID=240&profileID=1124&startRange=

http://libbylarsen.com/

A Short Ride in a Fast Machine (1986) by John Adams b.1947

This piece is a good introduction to Adams’ whirling style.

Also by John Adams: an opera Doctor Atomic

http://www.earbox.com/

Piano Sonata (1999) by Alex Shapiro b.1962

This piece has a powerfully self-contained and mystical sense to it, at the same time very robust and challenging.

Audio clips: http://www.alexshapiro.org/ASSonataCD1.html

Alex is a skilled and positive spokesperson, interviewee, and essayist for new music.  Her musical experience is wide ranging in the commercial and serious music fields, which she bridges with ease.

Also by Alex Shapiro: Paper Cut for band, Introspect for string quartet, Bioplasm for flute quartet, Current Events for string quintet

http://www.alexshapiro.org/

blue cathedral (2000) by Jennifer Higdon b.1962

Audio clip: http://www.jenniferhigdon.com/audio/blue-cathedral.mp3

Higdon was just awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 2010 for her Violin Concerto.

An American Place (2002) by Kenneth Fuchs b.1956

I was introduced to Mr. Fuchs’ music through this piece.  For me it’s a tribute and updating of the grand rhetoric of the American composers of the 1930’s and 40’s; expertly composed and colorfully orchestrated.

Also by Kenneth Fuchs, String Quartet No. 4 “Bergonzi”

http://www.kennethfuchs.com/

Te Deum (premiered 2007) by Mark Hayes b.1953

Mr. Hayes is a very active composer, pianist and performer.  His prolific output of sacred music, both in arrangements and original works, has had a strong influence throughout the country.  His distinct talents and uplifting message have inspired congregations and concert goers.

Audio clip: http://www.shawneepress.com/producttitle.asp?title=te%20deum

http://www.markhayes.com/

© 2010 Steve D. Matchett