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United States Music

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jowcol
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« Reply #165 on: September 30, 2014, 11:30:07 am »

Music of James Barnes-- Part 2

Symphony # 3 ("Tragic")
My “Third Symphony” was commissioned by the United
States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C. The conductor of the band at that time, Col. Alan Bonner, told me that he wanted a major work for wind band. He said that he did not care about style, length, difficulty, or anything else -- I was  given complete freedom to write whatever I wished.

I began work on it in earnest at a very difficult time in my life, right after the death of our baby daughter, Natalie, passed away.This symphony is the most emotionally draining work that I have ever composed.

If it were to be given a nickname, I believe that “Tragic” would be appropriate. The composition progresses from the deepest darkness of despair all the way to the brightness of fulfillment and joy. The third movement is a fantasia about what my world would have been like if Natalie had lived. It is a farewell to her.

The Finale represents a rebirth of spirit, a reconciliation for us all. The second theme of this movement is based on an old Lutheran children’s hymn called “I am Jesus’ Little Lamb. This hymn was sung at Natalie’s funeral.

Three days after I completed this symphony, on June 25, 1994, our son Billy Barnes was born. If the third movement is for Natalie, then the Finale is really for Billy, and our joy in being blessed with him after the tragic death of his sister

Fourth Symphony: Yellowstone Portraits
Portraying the beauty of nature with music is certainly not a new idea. Vivaldi‘s cycle of violin concertos entitled The Seasons, Beethoven‘s Pastorale Symphony, Smetana‘s tone poem The Moldau, and Respighi‘s The Pines of Rome are but a few outstanding examples of this procedure. Composed in the spring and summer of  1999, James Barnes‘Fourth Symphony (Yellowstone Portraits)is a new contribution to the longstanding symphonic tradition of program music. Commissioned by the Kansas City Youth Symphony... the band version was completed in the spring and summer of 2001.

The initial moments of the first movement, Dawn on the Yellowstone River , invoke the sound of river water and th  awakening of birds. It is intended to portray the stillness and calm of nature in the early morning; from the first scant, shadowy rays of daybreak to the moment when the sun rises above the crest of the mountains and glistens in all its glory upon the waters of the magnificent Yellowstone River.

The second movement, Pronghorn Scherzo, describes the humorous and chaotic scrambling of an alerted herd of pronghorns. The first sounds in this movement signify the alert,when all the pronghorns raise their head to what they perceive to be the sound or appearance of danger. The composer has marked this movement Lickety Split, and that is exactly what the animals begin to do, running helter skelter in all directions, seemingly at the speed of light. This general panic progresses to a great climax, when the herd finally follows its leader over the top of a hill. However, one confused and inexperienced baby antelope remains in sight. He soon realizes that he should follow his mother over the hill. With the blink of an eye, he is gone, and so is the second movement.

The composer describes the third movement,Inspiration Point (Tower Falls), as outdoor music; music to take one‘s breath away. Inspiration Point begins with a tremendous fanfare by the trumpets that leads to the initial statement of the main theme by the unison horns, a melody that was first heard in the opening movement of Fourth Symphony. The music is intended to portray the awesome beauty of the greatest waterfall in Yellowstone Park, and its fascinating natural setting at the end of a great canyon. After moments of contemplation and admiration, the music begins to build to a gigantic climax, evoking the immense power and timelessness of nature which is so evident when viewing this seemingly endless journey of water.

(Personal Note:  Althought the very last few measures sound a bit a like a band piece to my uneducated ears, the last few minutes of the third movement do have some of the most majestic moments I've ever heard, and I've had to listen to this over and over many times.)

Scenes from the Aztecs
These notes are not by the composer, but from a Descripton from Murray State.Info
Concluding the concert will be the American permiere of a work by University of Kansas composer, James Barnes entitled, “Escenas de los Aztecas” or “Scenes of the Aztecs”. The work was written as a “test piece” for the 44th World Music Contest which is held in Kerkrade, The Netherlands once every four years. “At this prestigious contest, entering bands are assigned a grade level and then every band in that grade level must perform a certain test piece,” stated Johnson. “I was extremely fortunate to be invited to be on the jury for the contest this past July (which runs for three weeks) and heard this work during the contest. Normally, upon hearing a work that many times, you become almost immune to it but this work captured my attention each time I heard it. At times it is mysterious, then gentle, quietly eerie, and at the end – downright scary – as musical depictions of the sacrificial rituals become ever so prominent. Undoubtedly one of the most complex and emotional works I have ever conducted.”
Personal Note:  It's not suprising that this work has echoes of Reveultas, but I also hear "My Favorite Things" in it.  Go figure.


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« Reply #166 on: September 30, 2014, 11:31:48 am »

Music of James Barnes- Part 3

Fifth Symphony

Fifth Symphony was commissioned in 2000 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force Central Band. It was premiered in May 2001 at Tokyo Metropolitan Hall with Col. Toyokazu Nonaka conducting. The Central Band, the premier army band in Japan, was formed when Japan instigated its Self - Defense Forces in 1951 at the conclusion of the Allied occupation. This 43 - minute work, scored for very large band including six antiphonal trumpets, is in four movements:
  • I.Eulogy,
  • II. Scherzo,
  • III. Reverie, and
  • IV. Jubilation.
The symphony carries the subtitle "Phoenix" to portray in spirit the resurgence of Japan since World War II. The composer writes:

Like the legendary Phoenix bird, which self-immolates, then arises from its own ashes more resplendent than ever, Japan has recovered from the massive devastation of World War II to become a greater and more respected nation than ever before.

Pagan Dances
The Pagan Dances completes the cycle of four “primitive” works for symphonic band I began with Visions Macabre in 1978, followed by Invocation and Toccata in 1980, and Torch Dance in 1984.  All of these works employ highly dissonant harmonic combinations, repetitive melodic material, and driving rhythm to showcase the symphonic band’s immense power and dramatic color combinations.  This suite is intended to portray an imaginary scene from prehistoric times as if it were a scene from a ballet.  It begins with the entrance of the worshipers performing a Ritual dance before their idol god.  Mystics, or high priests, appear, evoking incantations and performing feats of sorcery before the worshipers.  Suddenly, The Master of the Sword enters, performing a savage dance that culminates with his execution of a sacrifice on the high altar with his broadsword.


Danza Sinfonica
THESE NOTES BY RICHARD KUSK
Music in the Spanish style composed by non-Spaniards is certainly nothing new. One need only consider orchestral works such as Emmanuel Chabrier’s Espana Rhapsody,Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Rimsky-Korsakov’sCapriccio Espagnole, and many others that have made music with a Spanish color a significant part of the rapidly expanding repertory of the wind band. James Barnes’ Danza Sinfonica continues this tradition. The first 50 measures encapsulate the thematic material employed. After opening with solo marimba and bassoon, brief flurries introduce the principal motive of the piece, before the timpani fades into silence. An abrupt fanfare by the full band introduces the other principal theme of the work. The remainder of the piece is cast in a broad three-part format. Danza Sinfonica is permeated with colorful soloistic passages, brilliant outburst by the full band, surprise modulations and splashes of pure instrumental color, as the music transports the listener on a brief journey to the Iberian peninsula for a taste of classic Spanish flamenco.


Lonely Beach
To me, the most tragic vision of D-Day is the film footage of American troops disembarking from a landing craft onto the intense machine gun fire of Omaha Beach. One soldier runs out and makes it up the beach to the wall. Then two more. The fourth soldier gets perhaps 15 yards from the landing craft beforehe is hitand
falls. He doesn't move- he was probably dead when he hit the ground. It is an unforgettable and excruciatingly painful moment.

Seeing this newsreel always makes me think these same things: Who was that soldier, and where was he from? How old was he? Who were his parents? Was he married; did he have children? He lies on that beach with thousands of men around him, but he dies alone. On battlefields, all men die alone. The first half of this tone poem attempts to depict what that soldier might have seen on that cold, misty morning. It begins with the wind and the sound of the waves, then gradually builds as the assault begins. Off-stage trumpets and off-stage percussion are employed  in this work to help portray the incredible panic and total chaos of the situation. The music builds into a frenzy and becomes more complex and confusing until, ultimately, the soldier runs up the beach and is struck by the bullet which kills him. The second half of this work is a eulogy for all the soldiers, Allied and German alike, who died on this insignificant length of sand and
rocks. The shouting and gunfire are now but echoes in our imagination. Little remains  on these beaches to show that anything so significant as the Allied invasion of Northern Europe ever occurred along these shores, but, like Waterloo, Gettysburg, Verdun and Pearl Harbor, this will always remainn hallowed ground. Today,almost 60  years later, the ageless constancy of the wind and the waves reminds us of man's comparative insignificance in relation to the world around him, and it reinforces our realization of the waste, the horror and the tragedy of war.






About James Barnes:

Info from University of Kansas Web Page

James Barnes
Professor of Music Theory & Music Composition
jbarnes@ku.edu
785-864-4514
Murphy Hall, room 222

Professor James Barnes teaches music composition, orchestration, arranging and wind band history/repertoire courses at The University of Kansas. At KU, he served as Staff Arranger, Assistant, and later, Associate Director of Bands for twenty-seven years. Barnes served as Division Director for Music Theory and Composition for ten years. This spring, he will complete his fortieth year of teaching at KU.

His numerous publications for concert band and orchestra are extensively performed around the world. His works (including seven symphonies and three concertos) have been performed at such venues as Tanglewood, Boston Symphony Hall, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow and Tokyo Metropolitan Concert Hall.

Barnes twice received the coveted American Bandmasters Association Ostwald Award for outstanding contemporary wind band music. He has been the recipient of numerous ASCAP Awards for composers of serious music, the Kappa Kappa Psi Distinguished Service to Music Medal and the Bohumil Makovsky Award for Outstanding College Band Conductors. In 2009, Barnes was awarded the first annual

BMI Award for Excellence in Teaching Creativity from the Music Educators National Conference. The world-famous Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra has recorded three compact discs of his music. Over the years, Mr. Barnes has been commissioned to compose works for all five of the major American military bands in Washington, DC. A recent CD release by the United States Air Force Band features two different works by James Barnes: Dreamers, written to commemorate the 100th anniversary of powered flight by the Wright brothers and Wild Blue Yonder, commissioned to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the United States Air Force. The U. S. Army band recently released a new recording of his Symphonic Requiem (Seventh Symphony), commissioned to commemor-ate the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. One of his recent works, Escenas de los Aztecas, was the required work at the World Band Competition in Kerkerade, Netherlands during July 2013.

Mr. Barnes has traveled extensively as a guest composer, conductor and lecturer throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, Taiwan and Singapore. He has guest conducted in Japan over 35 times. He is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), the American Bandmasters Association and numerous other professional organizations and societies.


There is a good article about him here:
http://issuu.com/sunflower_publishing/docs/lms09/56
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« Reply #167 on: September 30, 2014, 12:11:07 pm »

Mr. Jowcol - many thanks for these; had some of the symphonies from YT, but this really builds up a good collection of his very listenable work !
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« Reply #168 on: October 02, 2014, 11:26:11 pm »

Thanks for James Barnes' works Jowcol, I've listened to the Symphony No.2 and really enjoyed it. I loved the slow movement where a first climax was very liquid, like hot magma under the surface, which doesn't quite erupt, but the second climax does (very Brucknerian). I'll enjoy listening to the rest.

[I had a smile when I saw Barnes' name, in Australia we have a musician called Jimmie Barnes, who is an original hell-raising rocker from the 70s still going strong. Somewhat different kind of music!]
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« Reply #169 on: October 05, 2014, 04:49:34 pm »

In doing research, I also found out there is a convicted killer on Death Row in Florida with that name. 

Glad you liked the second- I'm sorry I didn't find program notes-- his quote of Veni Emmanuel was very moving.
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« Reply #170 on: December 04, 2014, 04:18:52 pm »

Music of William Bergsma


From the collection of Karl Miller




Paul Bunyan Suite
Oregon All-State Orchestra
Vilem Sokol
Source LP: Century 23578

Documentary One, Suite for Orchestra
Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra
Vilem Sokol
Source LP: Seattle Youth Symphony 10775-7

Symphony #1 (1949)
Ditson Festival
Columbia University
Izler Soloman

Wikipedia Bio Posting:
William Laurence Bergsma (April 1, 1921 – March 18, 1994) was an American composer.

After studying piano with his mother, a former opera singer, and then the viola, Bergsma moved on to study composition; his most significant teachers were Howard Hanson and Bernard Rogers. Bergsma attended Stanford University for two years (1938–40) before moving on to the Eastman School of Music, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees. In 1946 he accepted a position at Juilliard, where he remained until 1963, eventually holding such positions as chair of composition and from 1961 to 1963, associate dean. In 1963 he moved on to the University of Washington, heading the music school until 1971, remaining a professor from then on after stepping down from the administrative post. In 1966 Bergsma founded the Contemporary Group at the University of Washington, which is an organization of composers and musicians who stage performances of new musical works and educate students and the public about contemporary music; the group remains active to this day. He is the recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Students of Bergsma include composers Jack Behrens, Philip Glass, Karl Korte, Robert Parris, and Steve Reich.

Bergsma's music is noted for its lyrical, contrapuntal qualities. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Bergsma rejected serialism in favor of a more conservative style, though one distinctly rooted in the 20th century. He eschewed the avant-garde—his obituary in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer describes him as having "never deserted tonality" and seeing "dozens of his former avant-garde colleagues returning to the fold"—though he did embrace aleatoric techniques later in his career.

He composed two operas, The Wife of Martin Guerre (1956) and The Murder of Comrade Sharik (1973), which are markedly different in style. The first is a somber tale of a 16th-century French peasant's disappearance and return upon which he is suspected to be an impostor; the music is marked by dissonance which emphasizes the tension in the story, particularly in the final courtroom scene. The second is more lighthearted and comic; Bergsma wrote his own libretto after the story Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov, which involves a dog transforming into a citizen of 1920s Moscow as a result of a doctor's experiments. The partially aleatoric orchestral writing is intended to be the voice of Stalin, and uses quotes from Carmen, La traviata and Don Giovanni for comedic effect. He was also a skillful composer of smaller works, including many for chamber ensemble and solo piano as well as orchestral writings.

Bergsma died in Seattle of a heart attack, at the age of 72.


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« Reply #171 on: December 05, 2014, 04:41:09 pm »

Music of Cecil Effinger

From the collection of Karl Miller



Works


Symphony No. 3
Denver Symphony Orchestra
Composer, Conductor
Date, venue unknown


Symphony No. 4 for Chorus and Orchestra (1952)
Crane School of Music Chorus and Orchestra
Helen Hosmer, Conductor(?)
May 14, 1954


Symphony No. 5 "The Iceland" (1958)
Denver Symphony Orchestra
Jan 5, 1960

Symphonic Prelude in D Major
(For Boy's Chorus and Orch)
Denver Symphony Orchestra
Saul Castron, COnductor
Feb 24, 1959


The Invisible Fire
Members of the Kansas City Conference Choir
Kansas City Philharmonic
Thor Johnson, Conductor
Dec. 31, 1957



If you are at all interested in Effinger, please read the interview at: http://www.bruceduffie.com/effinger.html.  Not only is it insightful, but offers more details on Effinger's Inventions -- the MusicWriter and Tempo Watch.

The "Musical Typewriter" from www.bruceduffie.com.








Cecil Effinger
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Cecil Effinger (July 22, 1914 – December 22, 1990) was an American composer, oboist, and inventor.


Effinger was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and resided in that state for most of his life. Reversing the usual cliché, he was the son of musicians and teachers, but initially studied mathematics at Colorado College, receiving a BA in 1935, before deciding to follow in his parents' footsteps (Bono 2008, 6). In the meantime, he had studied harmony and counterpoint with Frederick Boothroyd in 1934–36, and went to Paris in 1939 to study composition with Nadia Boulanger. He was first oboe in the orchestras of Colorado Springs (1934–41) and Denver (1937–41) and taught at the Colorado College before the Second World War (1936–41). A lifelong friendship with Roy Harris began in 1941 (Worster 2001). During the Second World War he served as conductor of the 506th US Army Band in Fort Logan (Bono 2008, 6). After the war, he resumed his position at the Colorado College from 1946 to 1948, when he was appointed professor of composition at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He remained in that position, becoming the head of the composition department until 1981, and was composer-in-residence there until his retirement in 1984 (Worster 2001).

In 1945 in Paris, Effinger conceived the idea of a music typewriter, and by 1947 had developed a rough prototype. In March 1954 he patented his machine as the "Musicwriter", and exhibited his first production model in July 1955, in Denver. It was simple and robust in construction and was a commercial success throughout the world for more than thirty years (Boorman and Selfridge-Field 2001, §5 (iv)). He also invented a device to accurately determine the tempo of music as it is being performed, which he called the Tempowatch (Worster 2001).
Compositions

Effinger was a prolific composer, with 168 works in his catalog, including five numbered symphonies, two Little Symphonies, and five String Quartets. Choral works figure among his most popular compositions, several of which are large scale and based on sacred subjects, including especially Four Pastorales for oboe and chorus (Worster 2001). Effinger never embraced experimentalism, and settled on an idiom he described as "atonal tonality". He never achieved a national reputation, but was esteemed as a regional composer of high standing (Bono 2008, 6).







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« Reply #172 on: January 06, 2015, 05:36:39 pm »

Charles Frink

I just received a note from Charles wife that he had passed away at the end of last month. 
There is a fine article about him here:

http://www.theday.com/local/20141229/charles-frink-whose-talents-touched-a-city-dies


I've posted a few of his works from Karl's collection on this site-  I'm not supposed to put the links on this page- but if you search on "Frink" you can find out more about the man and his music.
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« Reply #173 on: January 09, 2015, 08:54:05 pm »

Lukas Foss: American Cantata


From the collection of Karl Miller

First Performance 
Bicentennial Chorus
World Youth Symphony Orchestra
Waldie Anderson, tenor; Rosalind Reed, soprano
Composer, Conductor
Source LP: Audio House AHSI 164F76
July 25, 1976


Intro
First Performance Revised Version
Joseph Evans, tenor; Patricia Ludvigson, soprano
Linda Herrman, speaker, Robert Convery, speaker
Westminster Choir; New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
December 1, 1977

Outro
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« Reply #174 on: January 21, 2015, 03:45:22 pm »

Music of John Donald Robb



From the collection of Karl Miller


Works

Intro
Matachines Dance Op.28a (1958)

Houston Symphony/Maurice Bonney
[possibly 8 January 1957]


Piano Concerto Op.18 (1950)
Andor Foldes, piano
Albuquerque Civic Orchestra/Hans Lange
[25 February 1952]


Symphony No.2  in C major, Op.23 (1952)
El Salvador Symphony Orchestra/Composer


Symphony No.3 Op.34 (1962) (complete?)
Guatemala National Symphony Orchestra/Composer

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
Ricardo; Borreguero; Leonore
Andor Foldes, Piano
Albuquerque Civic Symphony Orchestra/Hans Lange
Carlisle Gymnasium, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
[25 February 1952]


Sonatina for Piano
(Manuscript Title: “Sonatina for Piano, Three Incidents from Iliom” – “To George Robert”) The Carnival; The Star;?
John Ranck, Piano
Composers Group of New York Concert
Carnegie Recital Hall, New York, NY
[13 October 1955]


Variations on a Chromatic Line with Interludes, For Horn and Piano, Opus 29, 1957
Joseph Singer, Horn;  Antonio Lara, Piano
Composers Group of New York Concert
Carnegie Recital Hall, New York, NY
[3 October 1957]
B&C Recordings 13391


About the Composer (from http://www.robbtrust.org)



John Donald Robb (1892-1989) led a rich and varied life as an attorney, composer, arts educator, and folk song collector and preservationist. He composed an impressive body of work including symphonies, concertos, sonatas, chamber and other instrumental music, choral works, songs, and arrangements of folk songs, two operas, including Little Jo, a musical comedy, Joy Comes to Deadhorse, and more than 65 electronic works. Robb’s orchestral works have been played by many major orchestras in the United States and abroad under noted conductors, such as Hans Lange, Maurice Bonney, Maurice Abravanel, Leonard Slatkin, Gilberto Orellano, Yoshimi Takeda, Guillermo Figueroa and James Richards.

During his two decades as an international lawyer in New York City, Robb studied composition with Horatio Parker, Darius Milhaud, Roy Harris, Paul Hindemith and Nadia Boulanger. In 1941, at the age of 49, Robb left his law career to become head of the Music Department at the University of New Mexico. He served as dean of the UNM College of Fine Arts from 1942-57.

During his tenure at UNM, Robb’s fascination with Hispanic folk music led to his recording of more than 3,000 traditional Hispanic folk songs and dances from the American Southwest and South America, all of which formed the nucleus of the John Donald Robb Archive of Southwestern Music at the University of New Mexico. He wrote two books on the subject, including Hispanic Folk Songs of New Mexico (1954; revised edition by UNM Press, 2008) and his authoritative book, Hispanic Folk Music of New Mexico and the Southwest: A Self Portrait of a People (1980), which is scheduled for re-publication in 2014. Robb received numerous honors and grants, including the honorary Doctor of Music from the University of New Mexico.

Robb's music has been performed by more than 16 symphony orchestras in the U.S., Central America and South America, including the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. His compositions have been performed in many other venues, such as six recitals in Carnegie Recital Hall in New York (some of which were reviewed by the New York Times).

The St. Louis Symphony premiered his Third Symphony in 1962, and his music is performed every spring at the renowned UNM John Donald Robb Composers’ Symposium. His folk opera, Little Jo, was conducted by Guillermo Figueroa at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in 2005, and the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra under Figueroa performed his Dances from Taxco in their 2007 season.

In June 2008, KNME-TV, New Mexico's PBS station, premiered a documentary about Robb entitled, "The Musical Adventures of John Donald Robb in New Mexico." The documentary can be viewed at an interactive website that features folk song recordings and photographs from the Robb archives in UNM Libraries' Center for Southwest Research.


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« Reply #175 on: January 21, 2015, 04:13:16 pm »

Music of Arne Oldberg

From the collection of Karl Miller


Piano Quintet in c minor
(one movement only?)
performers, date, venue  unknown


Violin Concerto in D major
John Weicher, violin
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Tanno Hainnakainen, conductor
[25 June 1947]


Bio from Northwestern University

Arne Oldberg was born July 12, 1874, in Youngstown, Ohio. He joined the music faculty of Northwestern University in 1897, eventually becoming the Director of the Graduate Music Department in 1924. Oldberg possessed a consuming interest in musical composition and wrote a large number of concertos, symphonies, quartettes and quintets for piano, string, and wind instruments. Oldberg was granted an emiratus appointment in 1941 and died in 1962.

With his parents, Oscar and Emma (Parritt) Oldberg (see Northwestern University Archives Series 61/1), he moved to Chicago in 1886. At a very early age Oldberg exhibited musical talents and his father taught him to play the piano. He studied music with several piano instructors at the Gottschalk Lyric School in Chicago and in 1892 was graduated with honors. He continued his musical education for two years with Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna. On his return to his family's home, now in Evanston, Illinois, Oldberg was occupied with composing, presenting piano recitals, and teaching piano in Chicago.

He joined the music faculty of Northwestern University in 1897. Oldberg traveled to Europe again in 1898 to study composition with Joseph Rheinberger at Munich's Royal Academy of Art. In 1899 Oldberg accepted an instructorship on the faculty of the School of Music at Northwestern. Subsequent appointments at Northwestern included: Professor of Piano and Composition (1901-1941), Director of the Piano Department (1919-1941), and Director of the Graduate Music Department (1924-1941). The University awarded Oldberg with an emeritus appointment in 1941.

Oldberg possessed a consuming interest in musical composition and wrote a large number of concertos, symphonies, quartettes and quintets for piano, string, and wind instruments. As early as 1908 his compositions were performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Oldberg attained widespread recognition by many of the great orchestras of the United States. For several summers in the 1930s he was a guest professor of composition at the University of California at Los Angeles. Oldberg also taught music at Mount St. Mary's College, again in Los Angeles. One of Oldberg's compositions won first prize at a Hollywood Bowl music contest in 1931.

Oldberg married Mary Sloan on July 2, 1900. Both were honored in 1941 when the City of Evanston named a park near Northwestern's School of Music after them. When this land was used for a University building another property was named in their honor. In 1976 Northwestern University sponsored a recital and reception dedicated to Oldberg s memory. Northwestern and Evanston joined in celebrating Arne and Mary Sloan Oldberg Day on December 10, 1976, a recognition of their many contributions to the community.

The Oldbergs had five children: Eric (see Northwestern University Archives Series 55/30), Karl, Elsa, Richard, and Robert. Oldberg died in Evanston on February 18, 1962. Mary Sloan Oldberg died in Evanston in April 1968.
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« Reply #176 on: February 06, 2015, 07:23:45 pm »

Music of Ross Lee Finney


From the collection of Karl Miller


A copy of the contents of this collection is available in pdf at:  http://www.mediafire.com/view/xjg2yx24oxsq3gf/Music_of_Ross_Lee_Finney.pdf


Note: There were some extraction issues with the radio program No. 6, and it is currently not included, althought I've listed the contents for it.


Works:
Programs 1-13 are from radio broadcasts hosted by Finney.

Volume 1:

Radio Program No.1
Intro
Poems of Archibald MacLeash
Karen Lovejoy, voice
Commentary
Viola Sonata No.1

Paul Doktor, viola; Benning Dexter, piano
Commentary
Piano Sonata No.3

Melita True
Commentary

Radio Program No.2
Commentary
String Quartet No.2
Walden String Quartet
Commentary
Anon:Pilgrim Songs
Finney voice and guitar
Commentary
Pilgrim Songs for Chorus
Michigan Choral/Lester McCoy
Commentary
Trio No.1 for Piano and Strings
American Arts Trio
Commentary

Volume 2:

Radio Program No.3
Commentary
Piano Sonata No.4 “Christmas  Time”

Benning Dexter, piano
Commentary
Poor Richard Songs

Sam Jones, tenor
Commentary
Symphony No.1

Louisville Orchestra/Robert Whitney
Commentary


Radio Program  No.4

Commentary
Spherical Madrigals

University of Kansas Chamber Choir/Clayton Kreihbiel
Commentary
String Quartet No.5

Stanley Quartet
Commentary
Piano Concerto No.1

Benning Dexter, piano
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra/Wayne Dunlap
Commentary


Volume 3:

Radio Program No.5
Commentary
String Quartet No.4

Stanley Quartet
Commentary
Nostalgic Waltzes

John Kirkpatrick, piano
Commentary
Cello Sonata No.2

Jerome Jelinek, cello
Rhea Kish, piano

Commentary

Radio Program No.6
[size=14]NOTE: There were some problems with the disc, so it is not included with the initial posting of this set. I'm including this description so that we will have everything in  one place going forward. [/size]
Commentary
String Quartet No.6

Stanley Quartet
Commentary
Quintet for Piano and Strings

Stanley Quartet
Beveridge Webster, piano

Commentary

Radio Program No.7
Commentary
Violin Sonata No.3

Emil Robb, violin; Benning Dexter, piano
Commentary
Variations on a theme by Berg

Benning Dexter, piano
Commentary
String Quartet No.7

Stanley Quartet
Commentary

Volume 4:

Radio  Program No.8
Commentary
Violin Sonata No.2

Gilbert Ross, violin; Helen Titus, piano
Commentary
Fantasy in 2 movements for solo violin

Yehudi Menuhin, violin
Commentary
Sonata quasi una fantasia for piano

William Doppmann, piano
Commentary

Radio  Program No.9
Commentary
Fantasy for Organ

Marilyn Mason Brown, organ
Commentary
Symphony No.3

Wichita University Symphony/James Roberts
Commentary
Divertimento for Woodwind Quintet

University of Michigan Wind Quintet
Commentary
Stranger to Myself for Choir

Colgate University Chapel Choir /Dr. Skelton
Commentary
Fanfare for Band

University of Michigan Symphony Band/William Revelli
Commentary

Volume 5:

Radio Program No.10
Commentary
Trio No.2 for piano and strings

Albeneri Trio
Commentary
Three Love Songs

Norma Hieda (sp?) soprano
Commentary
Quintet for Strings

Dartmouth String Quartet w. Channing Robbins, cello
Commentary


Radio Program No.11
Commentary
Symphony No.
2
(live performance not commercial recording)
Louisville Orchestra/Robert Whitney

Commentary
The Edge of Shadow, Cantata

Choral and Instrumental Ensembles at the University of Michigan
Joseph Bloch, conductor

Commentary

Volume 6:

Radio Program No.12
Commentary
String Quartet No.8

Stanley Quartet
Commentary
Piano Quintet No.2

Dartmouth String Quartet; Martin Cannon, piano
Commentary
Three Pieces for Strings, Woodwinds, percussion and tape
Thomas Hilbish, conductor
Commentary


Radio Program No.13
Commentary
Divertissment for Instrumental Ens.

William Doppmann, piano; Ling Tung, violin; Richard Waller, clarinet; Camilla Doppmann, cello 
Commentary
Nun’s Priest’s Tale

Narrator: Michael Best
Chanticleer: Ellen Evans
Pergola: Sarah Franklin
Fox: Joseph Shenard (sp?)
Folksinger: James W. Symington (sp?)
Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra/Mario di Boniventura
[21 August 1965][/i]
Commentary

 Volume 7:

Composer’s Forum broadcast with Martin Bookspan
Intro and interview with Finney
Landscapes Remembered

Cornell University Symphony Orchestra
Karel Husa, conductor

Commentary
Piano Concerto No.2 (finale only)

William Doppmann, piano
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra
Theo Alcantara, conductor

Commentary
Symphony No.4

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Sergiu Comissiona, conductor

Commentary


Additonal Works:

Piano Sonata No.4 in E major  “Christmastime 1945”
Arthur Tollefson, piano
Seven Variations on a Theme by Alban Berg
Benning Dexter, piano [Date unknown]
O God, Be Gracious To Me

University’s Women’s Choir
Michigan Singers  [Date unknown]

Sonata (No.1?) for Violin and Piano

Tranquilly; Humorously; Vigorously in March Tempo; Tranquillity
Gilbert Ross, violin; Helen Titus, piano [Date unknown]



Volume 8:

Violin Concerto in e minor
Gilbert Ross, violin
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra
Wayne Dunlap, conductor
[24 May 1951]

Violin Concerto No. 2
Robert Gerle, Violin
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Louis Lane, Conductor
[31 March 1976]

Piano Concerto No. 2
William Doppmann, piano
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra
Theo Alcantara,  conductor.


For a good online bio, there is a chaper on Finney's life in this thesis--
http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-10182007-110446/unrestricted/PerniciaroDissertation.pdf



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« Reply #177 on: February 06, 2015, 08:19:10 pm »

Jacob Weinberg: Isaiah  Oratorio


From the collection of Karl Miller

Spoken Intro
Isaiah, Oratorio

(1st Performance)
Lillian Rothschild, soprano (boy soprano part)
Evelyn Sachs, mezzo soprano
Emile Renan, Baritone
Alexander D. Richardson, organ
George Fractman(sp?), trumpet(Note  from Karl: Having a bad day?)
YMHA Chorus/Abraham Wolf Binder
[21 February 1948]
Spoken Outro


Bio from Milken Archive

Jacob Weinberg belongs to that pioneering school of composers who, together with Jewish performers, folklorists, and other intellectuals in Russia, attempted during the first two decades of the 20th century to found a new Jewish national art music based on authentic Jewish musical heritage. It was his membership in the Moscow section of that organization, known as the Gesellschaft für Jüdische Volksmusik (Society for Jewish Folk Music) in St. Petersburg, that first defined for him the nature of his own Jewish identity and ignited the interest in Judaically based art that informed most of his work from then on.

Weinberg was born in Odessa (The Ukraine) to an intellectually sympathetic and cultured but thoroughly assimilated and Russified affluent family, with little if any Judaic observance. His family traveled in the sophisticated musical and literary circles of the intelligentsia. His uncle, Peter Weinberg, a respected poet and professor, was known for his translations of Shakespeare and Heine into Russian; and another uncle was a brother-in-law of the world-famous pianist, composer, and head of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Anton Rubinstein—who converted from Judaism to the Russian Church. Weinberg’s pianistic gifts were evident at an early age, but his middle-class family insisted that he prepare for business or the professions, and he was sent to the local government-sponsored commercial school. Upon his graduation at the age of seventeen, he assumed a position as a bank clerk in Rostov-on-Don, but he resigned shortly thereafter and went to Moscow. He enrolled at the Moscow Conservatory for piano studies and later studied counterpoint—as had Rachmaninoff and Scriabin—with Sergey Taneyev, a disciple of Tchaikovsky’s. Typical of the practical middle-class path followed by a number of Russian as well as Jewish composers in Russia then (including Tchaikovsky in the 1850s), and still under pressure from his family, he also studied law at Moscow University, and he qualified in 1908.

During that same time frame Weinberg also began to compose, and his early works include his Elegy for Violoncello (his first piece, dedicated to Tchaikovsky), his Sonata in F-Sharp Minor for violin and piano, and his first piano concerto, in E-flat minor, which he played in concerts in St. Petersburg, Kiev, and Odessa. In 1905 he went to Paris to compete in the Anton Rubinstein Competition, the most prestigious competition of the time for pianists and composers. Although he was unsuccessful in that competition (as was Bela Bartók), losing to the German pianist Wilhelm Backhaus, the event helped to bring his gifts to public attention and to launch a career as a virtuoso pianist.

In 1910 Weinberg studied for a year in Vienna with the legendary piano pedagogue and author of piano methodology Theodor Leschetizky, after which he returned to Moscow, where he taught various musical subjects as well as piano, and where he wrote two scientific works on music. During that period he became active in the relatively new Moscow branch of the Gesellschaft, and he was profoundly influenced in particular by critic and composer Joel Engel, head of its music committee. A few of Weinberg’s early works were published by the Moscow branch, independent of the better-known publication series of its parent organization in St. Petersburg. “There began my interest in things Jewish,” he later remarked. “I became very much absorbed in Jewish music, and I began to collect and study Jewish folksongs. A new, great, and practically unexplored vista was opening before me.”

In 1916 Weinberg returned to Odessa to teach at the Imperial Conservatory there. He remained until 1921, when, out of step personally and spiritually with the new Bolshevik order and the fallout of the civil war, and still imbued with the Zionist cultural incentives he acquired from the Gesellschaft affiliation, he left to resettle in Palestine. During the five years he lived there, he resumed his influential association with Joel Engel, who was one of the founders of a Jewish National Conservatory in Jerusalem. Weinberg absorbed much of the Near Eastern melos—Arabic as well as oriental Jewish modes, melodies, and flavors that had been largely unknown in Europe—and soon added these to his pool of musical resources for compositions. Among his works from that sojourn are a twelve-movement piano album, From Jewish Life; Jacob’s Dream, a setting of Richard Beer-Hofmann’s play, which later became one of his most frequently performed pieces; and Heḥalutz (known in English as The Pioneers), one of the earliest operas in Hebrew, set to his own libretto about European settlers in Palestine. Heḥalutz won first prize in a competition of the Sesqui-Centennial Association in America, where it also received several performances. But its most poignant performance occurred in the 1930s in Berlin, during the Nazi era, where, forbidden from non-Jewish public venues as the work of a Jew, a concert version was presented at the Prinzregentenstrasse Synagoge under the auspices of the Jüdische Kulturbund in Deutschland, with soprano Mascha Benya in one of the lead roles.

Weinberg came to the United States in 1926, and he was soon actively involved in New York’s intellectual Jewish music circles, delivering scholarly papers and lectures at various learned societies, directing concert programs, performing, teaching, and composing. He became a prominent member of a coterie of established Jewish composers and other leading Jewish music exponents on the New York scene, including some of his former colleagues from the Gesellschaft in Russia, such as Lazare Saminsky and Joseph Achron (and later, Solomon Rosowsky), as well as Abraham Wolf Binder, Gershon Ephros, Moshe Rudinow, and Frederick Jacobi.

In 1929 Weinberg joined the piano and theory faculty of the New York College of Music, where he taught for many years, and later he taught at Hunter College’s extension division. In the early 1940s he organized a series of annual Jewish arts festivals (music and dance) in New York, which occurred at major concert venues and proved extremely successful; and he spearheaded Jewish music festivals in other cities, sometimes involving major orchestras. Those events are credited with being the impetus behind the formation of the National Jewish Music Council of the Jewish Welfare Board, which until recently initiated and coordinated annual Jewish Music Month celebrations throughout the United States, for a long time an acknowledged and important part of America’s Jewish cultural landscape.

In addition to individual liturgical settings and two biblical cantatas, Isaiah and The Life of Moses, Weinberg wrote three complete Sabbath services (excerpts from one of the services are included in Volume 7.) Yet for a long while he was best known in the United States for his patriotic American works, such as a setting of part of one of President Roosevelt’s addresses; The Gettysburg Address; and I See a New America, on words from a presidential campaign address by Governor Adlai Stevenson.

Among Weinberg’s other Judaically related secular works, apart from those presented in the Milken Archive, are a piano trio on Hebrew themes; Sabbath Suite; Carnival in Israel; and Yemenite Rhapsody—all for chamber orchestra; Berceuse Palestinenne for cello or violin; incidental concert encore pieces for virtuoso klezmer clarinet and orchestra (included in Volume 5, played by David Krakauer); various piano pieces on Judaic as well as secular Hebraic themes; numerous Hebrew art songs; and other chamber music.
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« Reply #178 on: February 10, 2015, 09:05:40 pm »

Music of Louis Mennini



From the collection of Karl Miller

Overture Breve
Eastman Rochester Orchestra
Howard Hanson, Cond.
[Broadcast 16 Feb 1954]


Cantilena  for Orchestra
Eastman Rochester Orchestra
Howard Hanson, Cond.
[c 1951-2]


Andante for Orchestra
Eastman Rochester Orchestra
Howard Hanson, Cond.
[date unknown]



Allegro Energico for Orchestra
Eastman Rochester Orchestra
Howard Hanson, Cond.
[c. 1949-50]


Symphony No. 2 "da Festa"
Oklahoma City Symphony
Gury Fraser Harrison, conductor
[date unknown]





From the Gordon Skene Sound Collection
Arioso
Eastman Rochester Orchestra
Howard Hanson, Cond.
[Broadcast 9 Feb 1953]

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« Reply #179 on: March 02, 2015, 09:12:28 pm »

Update to Karl Millers Ross Lee Finney Collection
If you have downloaded the original, I have just posted a link for the files for Radio Program 6 from that collectiion.
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