Music of Gardner Read #1This collection of music has been pulled together from several private collections and radio broadcasts by Karl Miller , who has also applied a large amount of pitch collection and other restoration.
To the best of my knowledge, none of these recordings are commercially available in any form.
Karl's Notes: Most of these recordings come from the collection of Paul Snook. Read was a
guest on Paul’s radio show and Paul got copies of some of Read’s personal
recordings.
The performance of the Second Symphony was not broadcast. It was put on disc for
Read. Other recordings were probably in house as well, but, as you will hear,
the rest of the recordings were either featured in broadcast programs devoted to
the music of Read or from direct broadcasts. This is especially true of the
program with Arthur Cohn that may have featured some performances broadcast only
on that program. You will hear the voice of Paul Snook at the opening of the
Steinberg performance of the Third Symphony.
The performance of the First Symphony suffers from substantial cross talk and is
incomplete. From what I can tell, a complete performance can be found at the
Eastman Archives, which houses the Read Archives. They also have two sets of
discs of the Second Symphony.
I am trying to convince the NY Phil and the Boston Symphony to get copies of
their respective performances from Eastman. We shall see. The Barbirolli Society
is checking their copy of the First Symphony, to see if it is complete.
Pitching of these recordings was difficult. The Fleisher Collection refused to
make available any photocopies of the score for the unpublished Second Symphony.
So much for their devotion to research! The tape I have of the First Symphony
was pitched incorrectly, with the First movement being off by a certain amount
and the other movements being off by differing amounts. Needless to say, this
has taken several weeks to do the restoration and get the performance
information correct.
Special thanks to Paul Snook. Also thanks to conductor Peter Bay who caught one
of the side overlaps I missed, and who caught mistakes in the pitching…he had
scores!
All are MP3 @ 192 kbps
Karl
Contents of the Collection:
Music of Gardner Read #1 Symphony No.1, Op.30(incomplete)(1934-36)1. Lento Mistico-Allegro molto deciso;
2. Largo e molto espressivo;
3. Allegro Vivace;
4. Allegro feroce (portion)
New York Philharmonic/Sir John Barbirolli
[4 November 1937]
Symphony No.2, Op.45 (1940-42)5. Presto asssai e molto feroce;
6. Adagio;
7. Largamente – Allegro Risoluto e Molto
Energico
(alternate tempi indications)Presto assai e molto feroce; Adagio e molto mesto;
Allegro frenetico.Boston Symphony Orchestra
Composer, conductor
[27 November 1943]-First performance
8-10 Same source recording with different noise reduction applied
(both from the collection of Paul Snook)
Music of Gardner Read #2 1Commentary
Symphony No.3, Op.75 (1946-48)2. Introduction and Passacaglia;
3. Scherzo;
4. Chorale and Fugue
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
William Steinberg, conductor
[2 March 1962]-First performance
5. Commentary
6-11. The Temptation of St. Anthony, Op.56 (1940-47)
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Composer, conductor
[19 March 1954]
(both from the collection of Paul Snook)
12Commentary13- 15.
Pennsylvaniana Suite, Op.67 (1946-47)I. Dunlap's Creek, II. I'm a Beggar, III. John Riley
Pittsburgh Symphony
Loren Maazel, conductor
[12/14 April 1996]
Music of Gardner Read #3 Symphony No.3, Op.75 (1946-48)1. Introduction and Passacaglia;
2. Scherzo;
3. Chorale and Fugue
National Gallery Orchestra
Richard Bales, conductor
[27 May 1979]
4. Commentary
5. Commentary (Gardner Read and Arthur Cohn
6. First Overture, Op.58 (1943)
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra/Guy Fraser Harrison
[13 February 1947]
7. Commentary
8. Threnody, Op.66 (1946)
George Hambrecht, flute
Eastman Rochester Symphony/Howard Hanson,
[12 May 1949]
9. Commentary
10. Soundpiece for Brass and Percussion, Op.82
Cincinnati Brass Ensemble/Ernest Glover
[15 November 1950]
11/12Commentary
13. Prelude and Toccata, Op.43 (1936-37)
Pittsburgh Symphony/Fritz Reiner
[2 November 1945]
14. Commentary
(from the collection of Edward McMahan)
Music of Gardner Read #4 The Prophet, Op.1101-12: Prologue: The Coming of the Ship; On Love; On Marriage; On Children
II O Joy and Sorrow; On Reason and Passion; On Pain
III On Teaching; On Beauty; On Death;
Epilogue, The Farewell,
Text by Gibran
William Cavness, narr.; Eunice Alberts, Mac Morgan, soloists
Boston University Chorus and Orchestra
Composer, conducting
[23 February 1977]
(from the Pizer collection)
Music of Gardner Read #5 1. Arioso Elegiaca, Op.91 (1950-51)
Zimbler String Sinfonietta
[8 April 1953]
(from the collection of Bret Johnson]
2Commentary
3. Night Flight, Op.44
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
[16/18 April 1970]
4. Commentary
5. Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Op.55 (1939-45)
Barry Sills, cello
New Haven Symphony Orchestra/Eric Kunzel
[14 October 1975]-First performance
(from the collection of Paul Snook)
Music of Gardner Read #6 1. Prelude and Toccata, Op.43 (1936-37)
National Gallery Orchestra/Richard Bales
[21 March 1976]
2. Commentary
3. Commentary
4. Prelude and Toccata, Op.43 (1936-37)
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra/Fabien Sevitzky
[7 January 1943]
(from the collection of Fred Fellars)
5 -7.
Pennsylvaniana Suite, Op.67 (1946-47)I. Dunlap's Creek, II. I'm a Beggar, III. John Riley
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Reiner
[21 November 1947]
(from the collection of Paul Snook)
8. Dance of the Locomotives, Op.57a
Boston Pops/Arthur Fiedler
[20 May 1978]
(from the collection of Paul Snook)
Background Material about Gardner ReadFrom Wikipedia: Gardner Read (January 2, 1913 in Evanston, Illinois – November 10, 2005 in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts) was an American composer and musical scholar.
His first musical studies were in piano and organ, and he also took lessons in counterpoint and composition at the School of Music at Northwestern University. In 1932 he was awarded a four-year scholarship to the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Bernard Rogers and Howard Hanson. In the late 1930s he also studied briefly with Ildebrando Pizzetti, Jean Sibelius and Aaron Copland.
After heading the composition departments of the St. Louis Institute of Music, the Kansas City Conservatory of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music, Read became Composer-in-Residence and Professor of Composition at the School of Music at Boston University. He remained in this post until his retirement in 1978.
His Symphony No. 1, op. 30 (1937, premiered by Sir John Barbirolli) won first prize at the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Society's American Composers' Contest, while his second symphony (op. 45, 1943) won first prize in the Paderewski Fund Competition. Another first prize came in the 1986 National Association of Teachers of Singing Art Song Competition, won by his Nocturnal Visions, op. 145. He wrote one opera, Villon, in 1967.
His book Music Notation: A Manual of Modern Practice is a standard text at most music schools and conservatories in the United States. It is considered by many to be a place of first (and last) authority when trying to determine the proper method of notating musical performance techniques, ideas and gestures.
Bio from the Gardner Read Website:
Biography
Composer, teacher, conductor, and author Gardner Read was born January 2, 1913, in Evanston Illinois. As a high school student, he studied piano and organ privately and took lessons in composition and counterpoint at Northwestern University’s School of Music. During the summers of 1932 and 1933, he studied composition and conducting at the National Music Camp, Interlochen, Michigan, to which he returned in 1940 to teach composition and orchestration.
In 1932, he was awarded a four year scholarship to the Eastman School of Music, where his principal teachers were Bernard Rogers and Howard Hanson. In 1938, on a Cromwell Traveling Fellowship to Europe, he studied with Ildebrando Pizzetti in Rome and briefly with Jan Sibelius in Finland just prior to the outbreak of war in 1939. A 1941 fellowship to the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood enabled him to study with Aaron Copland.
From 1941 to 1948, Read headed the composition departments at the St. Louis Institute of Music, the Kansas City Conservatory of Music, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 1948, he was appointed Composer-in-Residence and Professor of Composition at the School of Music, Boston University, retiring as Professor Emeritus in 1978. In 1966, he was a visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Read has held resident fellowships at both the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, and the Huntington Hartford Foundation in California. In 1964, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in music by Doane College. His major awards include first prize in the 1937 New York Philharmonic-Symphony Society’s American Composers Contest for his Symphony No. 1, Op. 30, which was premiered by the orchestra under the baton of Sir John Barbirolli; first prize in the 1943 Paderewski Fund Competition for his Symphony No. 2, Op. 45, given its first performance by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the composer; the Eastman School of Music Alumni Achievement Award in 1982; and first prize in the 1986 National Association of Teachers of Singing Art Song Competition for his Nocturnal Visions, Op. 145.
Read was Principal Conductor with the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra in 1943 and 1944, and he has been guest conductor with the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Kansas City Philharmonic, and various university orchestras in his own works. In 1957 and 1964, he conducted and lectured throughout Mexico on grants from the U. S. State Department.
In 1996, Greenwood Press published Gardner Read: A Bio-Bibliography by Mary Ann Dodd and Jayson Rod Engquist (ISBN 0313293848), which includes an annotated and indexed catalog of Read’s compositions, performances, literary writings, and recorded works, as well as a biography, reviews, and other extensive information about Read’s life and work.
Gardner Read passed away at his home in Manchester by the Sea, Massachusetts, on November 10, 2005.
InterviewThere is an transcript of a very informative interview with Read by Bruce Duffie here:
http://www.bruceduffie.com/read3.htmlFinally: I know I've dropped off the radar the last few weeks-- I've had a lot of other projects and commitments keeping me busy, but you should be seeing more posts from me soon enough.