Listening, in considerable astonishment, to Kevin Puts's Second Symphony it occurs to me that if the composer had produced this in the early 60s in an American university music school he would have suffered the same fate as Arnold Rosner. His teachers would have utterly rejected the music as unacceptably over-emotional with a ridiculously old-fashioned approach to an outmoded reliance on beauty of utterance.
How the world has changed that music like this is performed by a music conservatory orchestra under a leading conductor when the music of those who condemned and rejected Rosner is, if not forgotten, no longer the Only acceptable music permitted a hearing!!
....and Puts is chair of the Peabody composition faculty rather than being driven into suburban New York obscurity (like Rosner)
My deepest thanks for bringing it to my attention! This is what participation in a music forum is for!!
Puts is also a very good public representative of contemporary music. The public adores him and he is frequently commissioned by patrons. Despite his academic skills (he has a doctorate in composition and studied at the finest music conservatories in America), he is tall and athletic and friendly. Basically, doesn't fit the old loner weirdo stereotypes of what some think a composer would be. I've been fortunate to hang out with him on occasions including rehearsals of some of his premieres. We went for a walk after the rehearsal and he had absolutely no ego, was fully curious in my musical experiences and very engaging. I'm a huge fan of the person as well as the music he creates. I met him for the first time back in 2002 when he was quite unknown but his music was searing and powerfully moving. Marin Alsop was a huge fan of his already and he taught at the school I graduated from. He was quite young (I believe 30 years old back then) and brilliant and I love everything he's written.
