The Great American Symphony

[shostakovich]

John Nowacki's Symphony Sunday and my own concern about the loss of some good 20th C music got me thinking about Leonard Bernstein's The Joy of Music. In it there is a chapter called "Whatever Happened to the Great American Symphony?" It's a fictionalized correspondence between a Broadway producer (BP) and Bernstein (LB). BP is trying to get LB to write for a musical, since nobody wants another symphony, and LB is arguing for the nobler music. The following are just some lines picked out of the text.<P>BP: Why continue to write symphonies in America for a public which does not care one way or another about them?<P>LB: There has never in history ----- been so great an interest in the symphony and in the symphony orchestra as is at this moment manifested in the United States.<P>BP: Sure, there are some American composers who will have to go on writing their symphonies which may get heard twice with indifference. <P>Ultimately, Bernstein loses the argument, and joins BP for a musical. My interpretation is that LB agrees Broadway is doing in (or has done in) "serious" American music. The book was written in 1954.<BR>This may have been prophetic. When I read this 40 years ago I could not have imagined BP was right. But looking back from a few years ago, I concluded that serious music started to die around that time. My theory is that the LP record is the principal culprit. It was invented (1948) FOR classical music. The inventor, whose name I'm too involved to look up, had been thinking about the deficiency of 78s. They were OK for pop, but caused unbearable breaks in classical, since they had a max of 5 min per side. One day, while listening to Brahms' 2nd concerto, the inventor could take it no more, and he created the LP. Classical began to thrive again, but so did pop, musicals, and soundtracks. By the 1960s, tradition in many areas was turned on its head in this country, and "serious" music started dying.<P>What I'd like to do is suggest several American symphonies worth searching for. There's a neat set of thirds. Copland's 3rd (1944-46) needs no introduction. Roy Harris' 3rd (1938) was already (and still is) highly touted. William Schuman's 3rd (1941) won a 1942 NY Critics Circle award. Schuman is better known for New England Triptych (gets my award). Walter Piston's 3rd (1947) won a Pulitzer prize. He's better known for the Incredible Flutist Ballet. <P>Here are some other winners, not numbered 3: Paul Creston's #2 (1944), David Diamond's #4 (1948), Howard Hanson's #2 (1930), which has been played on beethoven.com, and Randall Thompson's #2 (1930-31). Note that all these works were written BEFORE 1950.<P>A couple of symphonies by non-standard composers are worth mentioning, especially since they can be found on the same disc. Alan Hovhaness (a "mystery composer") wrote in an Armenian, quasi-oriental personal style. Try his Mysterious Mountain. Lou Harrison, still alive as far as I know (as is David Diamond), wrote with Balinese instruments at times. Try his Elegiac Symphony.<P>This last suggestion is the biggest surprise. It's my favorite American symphony' and I really like all those mentioned. It's the Symphony in D by John Vincent. It was a remarkable find. I gambled on an Ormandy-Philadelphia Columbia record with Vincent's Symphonic Poem after Descartes on one side. I never warmed to that, but the symphony was on the flip side. GREAT DISCOVERY. The down side is that you probably can't find it.<P>Anyway, I've done my bit for the American symphony. I suggest you take down the names for FUTURE reference. Don't go searching for them en masse. Sample them one at a time from your libe if you can, giving them 6-10 hearings to know if you're ready. Good luck. <BR>Shos<P>

[ReedMan]

The 20th century gave us an incredible number of new styles and composers. I am looking forward to the creations of the 21st century. Art seems to progress with new ideas and I am always open to creativity with its promise of meaningful communication. <P>Symphony Orchestras need new material. Conductors get very excited when they can perform the world premiere of a piece. Most of the late 20th century works that I have heard seem to resemble noise, but it is an interesting combination of sounds !<P>I am still working on my 1st American symphony. It will be dedicated to my 2nd son. <p>[This message has been edited by ReedMan (edited 02-14-2001).]

[~Leslie]

Now would be as good a time as any to mention Ferde Grofe (1892-1972). I first became familiar with his Grand Canyon Suite during a wild search for suitable music for performing dressage freestyles .<P>My mother suggested Light Calvary by Suppe, and Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite. Neither piece worked, but they were a marvelous find. I recognized both from Warner bros cartoons. (of course!) <P>Grofe clearly conjured images of pack mules toodling and braying their way down the Grand Canyon, but what's more, I thoroughly enjoyed the panoramic sonic beauty of the sunrise and sunset. <P>I searched the net for more details on this composer, and came up with very little. My mother said during the Kennedy administration, Grofe performed this piece in the White house upon request from Jacqueline Kennedy; but I was unable to verify this.<P>Shos, do you know?

[shostakovich]

Hi Leslie. I was around at the time and recall no such performance. I find it hard to think of an orch performing IN the White house. I would probably have remembered that. If Grofe played a piano reduction of a section at the White House I wouldn't have noticed. The upshot is that I don't know.<P>There is a story (and I believe it) that one of Jackie's functions was to applaud at the end of a classical piece so that Jack and some of the dignitaries would know it's over. Painted Desert from Grand Canyon would have been one of them.<P>As for Grofe, he came to prominence as orchestrator for Paul Whiteman's Orch when he did Rhapsody in Blue for its first performance. I also have his Hudson River, Mississippi, and Death Valley Suites. They are all enjoyable, but only Grand Canyon has that indefinable "it".<BR>Shos

[Bob the Composer]

Interestingly enough, I am known on another forum as BP!! <P>To this list I would add Howard Hanson's 4th symphony, which is what introduced me to this composer, John Corigliano's Symphony #1, Alan Hovahness's 50th, and Roger Sessions's 2nd. Hopefull, I'll be good enough to add one or two to the list.<P>Bob

[Peter]

Hi Shos, Leslie, all. This seems as good a thread as any to pose this:<P>The distinguished American pianist/composer, Edward MacDowell (1860-1908), once declared: "The weakness of our music is in its borrowing." He was trained, & lived, in Europe, so was exposed to European culture & influences, & was thus better qualified than most to this assertion. As a non-American, I`m curious to know, 100 years on, the general state of home-grown classical music these days, on your side of the pond. Not so much the quality (CM is in a world-wide recession), as the American-ness(?) of it. Are the roots growing stronger or is the fruit falling from the tree?<P>

[shostakovich]

Hi Peter. I can't answer your question, but was happy to see MacDowell's name come up. He was probably the finest American composer of his time. His Indian Suite and 2nd concerto are well worth a listen. His Keltic Sonata was once popular, too. His contemporary, George Chadwick, also adopted European models with some Americanizing. His Symphonic Sketches (particularly the 1st one, Jubilee) were popular and with an American flavor. I wish I could be enthusiastic about our music a century after those guys.<BR>Shos

[Peter]

Shos, thanks for the kind welcome back. I`ve been working away, but my girlfriend has been keeping a watchful eye on the posts for me.<P>I didn`t mean to throw you such a doozy(?) re: MacDowell, whose music I don`t know. I really just wondered how any upcoming new composers cope when trying to emulate the achievements of legendary compatriots of the past. I wonder especially how young German & Austrian composers cope with the weight of expectation, presumably, on their shoulders? If I were one of them right now, I think I`d change my nationality to Belgian or something (much less pressure)!!

[shostakovich]

Exactly so, Peter. The composers of the 18th and 19th C (and the early 20th) have cast such a long shadow that there is no point in anybody imagining they can compete. Even if there were some miracle composer who had something of great merit to say, it would be lost on the audiences of today. Preserving the past is the best we can do, I think. And that is a very good goal.<P>By the way, my thought of Beethoven's mother as the "immortal beloved" is based on nothing but the words "immortal" (she was dead) and "beloved" (he loved and missed her). That and the fact that no satisfactory solution among the living women in his life stands out made me consider it as a possibility.<BR>Shos