As Halloween approaches, our thoughts turn to horror movies—at least mine do, since I am a Halloween baby and have a disordered soul. I have followed this genre avidly and find that it contains some interesting and unexpected messages beyond “Boo!” While working for the Reagan administration, I was once dispatched on a speaking tour … Read more
Why, you are probably wondering, have there been so few, if any, French symphonists? What about Arthur Honneger (1892-1955) and his five symphonies? Sorry—though the French claim him for their own, he was Swiss. Yes, Cesar Frank (1822-90) wrote one symphony, and Vincent d’Indy (1851-1931) wrote several, but that hardly qualifies them as symphonists (and … Read more
Relax. Premised on pleasure, summer is not the time to delve into the complete works of Arnold Schoenberg or bring Alban Berg’s Wozzeck to the beach. It is a fun period to explore more accessible music and to pretend that you have the leisure to do so. Happily buried under a flood of superb new … Read more
Since 1938, Lucerne, Switzerland, has been the venue for one of the world’s famous music festivals, attracting each summer the highest-caliber orchestras, soloists, and conductors. Ten years ago, the International Festival of Music Lucerne expanded its program to include a spring session, which, this year, coincided with the week and a half preceding Palm Sunday. … Read more
One of the most distinctive voices in 20th-century music was that of Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959), a composer from a small Bohemian town in Czechoslovakia. Like his predecessor, Leos Janacek (1854-1928), Martinů was able to fashion an inimitably unique musical language that distinguishes each of his mature compositions and brings his name to mind within the … Read more
I recently had a chance to talk with one of America’s most sought-after conductors, John Nelson. Maestro Nelson is currently music director of the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris. He also conducts regularly at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Chicago Lyric Opera. His many recordings have won such prestigious prizes as the Grammy … Read more
The abundance of first-rate symphonic music produced by Scandinavians in the 20th century is a mysterious secret to most music lovers. Is there life after Jean Sibelius and Carl Nielsen? Try Herman Koppel, Niels Bentzon, Aare Merikanto, Einar Englund, Klaus Egge, Hilding Rosenberg, Gosta Nystroem, Lars-Erik Larsson, or Geirr Tveitt, to say nothing of Vagn … Read more
When the history of 20th-century music is written in the next several hundred years, will it bear much resemblance to how we think of it now? My encounter with the works of Mieczyslaw Vainberg (1919-1996) makes me doubt that it will. So much music has been ignored or suppressed for aesthetic or political reasons during … Read more
This article represents my fifth anniversary as Crisis music critic—55 consecutive articles in this space, not counting ravings at greater length that have been published during the past five years. I will celebrate by quickly gorging on a number of worthy releases that there is neither time nor space to treat adequately. And herein lies … Read more
The best prescription for millennium jitters is the liturgical year. In a sense, each liturgical year is millennial because it contains within itself a complete cycle of salvation history, which is what gives the term millennium its biblical significance. It also anchors us to the source of the temporal millennium as we celebrate the approach … Read more
Charles De Gaulle once said that Brazil is a country of enormous potential—and always will be. The musical analog of that quip could well be the work of Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazil’s greatest 20th-century composer. Not only did his music portray Brazil as a place of exciting potential, but the music itself promised greatness. Was it … Read more
Ritual and ceremony are essential parts of life. We need them so that we do not take life too personally. After all, life is not about us in the way in which we would like to think it is. Ritual teaches us that we are part of something larger than ourselves. The highest form of … Read more
As the most immaterial art, music is often thought to be the most spiritual. By its nature, is music sacred? If so, what is sacred about it? These might seem strange questions to ask in a secular age, but the presumption that there is something special about music pervades even our culture. Consider the poster … Read more
Mention of Wales almost invariably calls to mind the famous line from Robert Bolt’s play, A Man for All Seasons, in which Sir Thomas More says to his perjurious betrayer, Richard Rich, “Why Richard, it profiteth a man nothing to gain the whole world and lose his soul, but for Wales?” Actually, Wales is a … Read more
The classical music business is supposed to be in dire straits. With the profusion of new releases, many featuring compositions that one never dared dream to hear, one can only wonder what things would be like if they were going well. The spring issue of the Schwann/Opus Catalog, which lists available classical music recordings, is … Read more
Several years ago in The New York Times, critic Richard Taruskin spoke of Danish composer Vagn Holmboe, who was born in 1909, as “possibly the greatest living traditional symphonist.” I wish I had written that. In fact, I had intended to, but it was too late, as Holmboe died in 1996. However, I believe that … Read more
Albany records’ new CD of Morton Gould’s music, including his Pulitzer Prize winner from 1995, StringMusic, has sold well over 3,000 copies—bestseller status in the classical music world. This issue was preceded by a tribute album at the time of Gould’s death in 1996, featuring some of Gould’s Americana and his popular American Symphonette No. … Read more
From recent releases, I have found a number of intriguing additions to the discographies of composers previously reviewed in this column, as well as several discoveries of note. More than ten years ago, Crisis publication committee member Stephen Hough started the Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837) revival with his brilliant, prize-winning performances of what are probably … Read more
In the waning days of the Soviet empire, I had the chance to visit Estonia. After a lecture at the University of Tartu, I was invited to dinner by my hosts. As was usual in “special” restaurants in the Soviet Union, the scene was surreal. The faded decor was a bizarre attempt at elegance, the … Read more
“Movie music!” is the exclamation of recognition that newcomers often make upon first hearing classical music. They seem as delighted with this discovery as was Moliere’s Middle-Class Gentleman when he realized he had been speaking prose all his life. One tries not to wince noticeably when explaining to the neophyte that William Tell rode long … Read more