On a recent trip to the Czech Republic, I took only CDs of American music with me. The idea was to catch up on numerous new releases, but I wonder if I was not self-consciously carrying the flag. I recall a summer in Taiwan at National Chengi University eons ago when the leader of our … Read more
What should I get myself for Christmas? An immodest question, you may suppose, but my family and friends will not buy me classical music CDs as gifts. They think I already have “everything” or, in the case of family, “enough.” The former is the product of envy, the latter of a storage problem and the … Read more
If you are tired of the endless CD duplication of the basic repertoire and wonder what musical treasures may remain unheard, do I have a new label for you. On his 50th birthday this last September, music critic and musicologist Martin Anderson formally launched the Toccata Classics label in London, where this Scotsman lives. I … Read more
If I can curb my logorrhea, I will attempt to cover more new releases in capsule reviews in this article than ever before. The number of new CDs from my favorite labels belies the mourning over the demise of the classical music business, and I must catch up with them. The major labels may be … Read more
If I can curb my logorrhea, I will attempt to cover more new releases in capsule reviews in this article than ever before. The number of new CDs from my favorite labels belies the mourning over the demise of the classical music business, and I must catch up with them. The major labels may be … Read more
Because this month marks the 60th anniversary of the death of Bela Bartók, I had thought that this column would be dedicated to him. However, the death of two of my heroes has intervened, and it is of them that I must speak. Though they may be largely unfamiliar to you, my hope in writing … Read more
So you want to be a composer. You might want to think twice about it after reading Ivan March’s June 2005 column in Gramophone magazine: “Beginning in the 1950s and 60s, real music and its composers were sidelined in favour of what I call ‘barbed wire’ repertoire…. Atonalism, arguably, was the 20th century’s biggest musical … Read more
Several new CD releases bring to mind the fate of music after the 1917 Russian Revolution. Heady times, they were—for a while. Not only did the epaulets come off the uniforms and the bands from marriage, but the conductors dropped their batons in the new classless society. When the proletariat paradise did not emerge from … Read more
John Paul II was a shaker of world events. He regraded the political landscape of the 20th century and was counted among the few who were responsible for the relatively peaceful demise of the Evil Empire. Pundits were busy assessing his impact in this realm and wondering about his broader political legacy. They were having … Read more
The big classical music news from this year’s Grammy Awards was the three-prize sweep by John Adams’s composition On the Transmigration of Souls, written to commemorate the victims of 9/11. Transmigration, performed by New York Choral Artists, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and the New York Philharmonic, under Lorin Maazel, picked up awards for Classical Album … Read more
Once upon a time, the ancients believed that there was a harmony of the spheres, a harmony in the world of earthly sounds, and one in the souls of men that all sympathetically vibrated with each other in a universal order of music—some of which could be heard and some of which could not, since … Read more
I have been having some fun catching up on recent releases of works by composers previously covered here, as well as a few new surprises. Roy Harris’s music, long neglected after great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s, is slowly making a comeback. Credited with writing the great American symphony, his Third, Harris (1893-1960) suffered … Read more
There are certain “one-work” composers whose renown, however unfairly, seldom extends beyond a single composition. Take English composer Gustav Hoist, who lived to rue the popularity of The Planets, which eclipsed his many jewel-like compositions. His countryman and exact contemporary Frank Bridge (1879-1941) seems to have suffered a similar fate, though in his case as … Read more
It’s Christmas season and I’m supposed to be thinking of others. What would they like for Christmas? Of course, this is very hard for a narcissist. I continue the childish habit of giving people close to me gifts that I want. That way I will eventually get those things back—with the added advantage of seeming … Read more
In the final presidential debate, Senator John Kerry explained that he could not come to the defense of innocent human life because he is a Catholic. That would, he explained, be imposing his privately held beliefs. It apparently did not occur to him that babies obtain their inviolable right to life not because they are … Read more
I am not a conductor groupie, following every move of a superstar or cult figure on the podium. My priority is always the music and its meaning, not the musician. However, as you might have surmised from my interview with conductor Jose Serebrier in last month’s Crisis, I readily acknowledge the huge difference a conductor … Read more
Jose Serebrier is one of today’s premier conductors. He burst on the scene at a very young age as a protege of Leopold Stokowski, who proclaimed him “the greatest master of orchestral balance.” Born in Uruguay of Russian and Polish parents, Serebrier started composing music at the age of nine, shortly after he had begun … Read more
Last November, I marshaled some evidence against the inanity of the proposition that the symphony is dead. Despite attempts to execute it, the symphony thrived in the 20th century and has prospered into our own era. It is hardly necessary to guide you to Sibelius, Shostakovich, Martinu, Prokofiev, Vaughan Williams, and the other big names. … Read more
Summer spells leisure because the days last longer. I plan to spend them listening to things I enjoy. This means new discoveries, which I particularly delight in, and visiting some old friends. Here are some brief notes on a lineup for the lazy days. For refreshment, I am turning to the piano concertos of Bohuslav … Read more
There is a lot of territory to cover to bring a flood of spring releases to your attention for this summer’s delectation. This will have to be done at the expense of a general theme tying them all together or of a detailed analysis of each CD. I am, however, taken by American composer Beth … Read more