The Incredible Walter Piston (1894-1976)

[vandermolen]

I've only just gotten around to checking out the samples of that Naxos 2^nd/6^th disc . . . I really need to listen to those two in their entirety . . . .

Think you'll enjoy these Karl- in particular the slow movement of No 2. If you get 'New England Sketches' see if you agree with me about the opening of 'Mountains' (No 3) compared with the opening of Vaughan Williams's 9th Symphony (although it also reminds me of Ruggles's 'The Sun Treader'!) - they both date from 1958. There is a good Naxos CD (Schwarz) with this work on, alongside Symphony No 4.
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[cilgwyn]

My favourite American symphonist! Vandermolen,I was particularly suprised by the Albany (Louisville First Editions) cd of Symphonies 5,7 & 8. First of all,how good these, less well known symphonies were,and secondly, amazement that there are no other recordings (at least,as far as I know). The dreaded Hurwitz praised this cd on Classics Today &,for once,he seems to have come out with a decent review. Wonderful! But why no new recordings or cycle,good as these old recordings are?!!!

[TheGSMoeller]

These Piston discussions are brining back fond memories of seeing the Philiadelphia Youth Orchestra perform his 2nd Symphony, my brother was a member close to 18 years ago. Always really enjoyed Piston's music. I'll need to revisit my Schwarz/Seattle recordings, I still have the original Delos recordings.

[Dundonnell]

Whilst those of us who live in the United Kingdom are fortunate enough to have record companies like Chandos, Hyperion and Dutton (and. formerly, Lyrita) to release performances of British music, the USA seems now to have only Albany interested in recording American music. And the Albany catalogue gets stranger every month with music by composers one has never even heard of.

Say what you like about Gerard Schwarz-and there is no doubt that his time at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic was not a happy one-he, at least, was committed to recording music by composers like Piston, Schuman and Hanson. Of which other American conductors can that be said?  Marin Alsop? Yes, she was pretty good in some/most of the Barber she recorded for Naxos but her Roy Harris was a major disappointment. JoAnn Falletta? Theodore Kuchar? John McLaughlin Williams? Yes..all promising if they were given more opportunities.

We complain-or at least I do -about the lack of complete symphonic cycles by composers like Arnold Cooke, Daniel Jones, William Wordsworth, Peter Racine Fricker but at least we do have complete sets of the symphonies of William Alwyn(3 in fact), Edmund Rubbra, Robert Simpson, Richard Arnell, Benjamin Frankel, George Lloyd, Lennox Berkeley and Humphrey Searle.  It is possible to patch together a complete set of the symphonies of Walter Piston, Roger Sessions or Peter Mennin(although many of these recordings are more than showing their age) but, apart from the Naxos William Schuman and Howard Hanson, that is about it for the American composers of that generation.

And that is really sad

[vandermolen]

Interesting last three posts - thank you. I think that I have the Albany CD with symphs 5,7 and 8 on and will be digging it out. I am in the middle of a Piston/Ben Haim (v fond of Symph. 2) and Weinberg listening marathon today. I was aware that Gerald Schwarz's time at Liverpool was unhappy, but I have nothing but the greatest respect for him on the basis of his recordings.  As for Colin's point, I was thinking, why do we not have a complete cycle of the symphonies of David Diamond - one of my favourites?

[Mirror Image]

Think you'll enjoy these Karl- in particular the slow movement of No 2. If you get 'New England Sketches' see if you agree with me about the opening of 'Mountains' (No 3) compared with the opening of Vaughan Williams's 9th Symphony (although it also reminds me of Ruggles's 'The Sun Treader'!) - they both date from 1958. There is a good Naxos CD (Schwarz) with this work on, alongside Symphony No 4.
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That's a fine recording, Jeffrey. I have all the Schwarz Piston recordings (plus the MTT DG recording) and seeing all these new replies certainly makes me want to have a Piston revival.

[vandermolen]

That's a fine recording, Jeffrey. I have all the Schwarz Piston recordings (plus the MTT DG recording) and seeing all these new replies certainly makes me want to have a Piston revival.

Pleased to hear it John 

[cilgwyn]

What got me into Walter Piston was his Symphony 8.  It is a real mysterious crawler, superbly imaginative use of the orchestra for one who has been accused of being 'dry'.

But I don't have any program notes so you'll have to put up with my havering.

It is a symphony which reflects some kind of lost yearning in a musical stream which sounds like Bartok in some places.  This work has a habit of taking you by the hand and leading you through some places where danger may be close by, but the music itself confronts and conquers it at each turn.
If you want to go on a wee journey where music is your lover, protector and illuminator, this is it.

The body of music by Piston that I have tells me he is BY FAR the most listenable and enjoyable of all American composers I kmow of.  Why this stuff isn't paraded around Europe as part of our staple Classical diet I don't know....

That's the one 'the Hurwitz' droned on about! And,although I'm not going to drone on about it like he did ,No 8 was a bit of a suprise! Snyprrr isn't so convinced,I see;so I'd better find the cd now & make sure! But,let's face it,this isn't the Roy Harris thread! We're not just filling up post after post after post,trying to decide whether Walter Piston wrote more than one,solitary composition worth listening to!!!! )

Perhaps,I could rename the Roy Harris thread,"the not so incredible Roy Harris?!!!"

[Dundonnell]

Interesting last three posts - thank you. I think that I have the Albany CD with symphs 5,7 and 8 on and will be digging it out. I am in the middle of a Piston/Ben Haim (v fond of Symph. 2) and Weinberg listening marathon today. I was aware that Gerald Schwarz's time at Liverpool was unhappy, but I have nothing but the greatest respect for him on the basis of his recordings.  As for Colin's point, I was thinking, why do we not have a complete cycle of the symphonies of David Diamond - one of my favourites?

Because Diamond, like Piston and Creston and Mennin etc etc are forgotten by those in positions to remedy the current situation. And because Delos went out of business for a number of years after getting Schwarz and his Seattle orchestra to record some of the Diamond symphonies. Sadly, towards the end, Delos even had the shocking cheek to issue one movement of the Diamond 11th symphony on disc.

Ask Bruce when the NYPO last played a Diamond symphony Oh...for the days of Bernstein . Now there was a great conductor who would programme American symphonies of that type.

[vandermolen]

Because Diamond, like Piston and Creston and Mennin etc etc are forgotten by those in positions to remedy the current situation. And because Delos went out of business for a number of years after getting Schwarz and his Seattle orchestra to record some of the Diamond symphonies. Sadly, towards the end, Delos even had the shocking cheek to issue one movement of the Diamond 11th symphony on disc.

Ask Bruce when the NYPO last played a Diamond symphony Oh...for the days of Bernstein . Now there was a great conductor who would programme American symphonies of that type.

Yes, there is that great Bernstein Sony/CBS CD with Diamond's 4th Symphony, Harris's 3rd (best performance on disc) and Thompson's 2nd.

[cilgwyn]

And the Thompson's not bad,either. I was just thinking of taking my 2cd Koch set of his three symphonies to the charity shop,the other day. I put on the First Symphony & the opening just 'grabbed me';so it's staying here!!!
  Koch used to be quite good with obscure stuff,like this. Have they gone like Unicorn? I haven't seen any Koch cds advertised,recently?

[Dundonnell]

Koch International started life in 1975 as an independent label, bought Schwann (to become Koch Schwann) and was bought in 2005 for $80 million by a Canadian company which has rebranded it as E 1 Entertainment and, apparently, killed off its classical arm

Delos still exists, although it appears to have lost its interest in recording American symphonists. Its recordings are distributed by Naxos-which is why so many old Delos recordings now appear on the Naxos label.

[cilgwyn]

  So goodbye to an interesting label! That's big business,eh! Some of the Koch releases (but by no means all of them) can be pricey s/h,too!
  As you have pointed out,Dundonnell,British composers are a pretty lucky bunch compared to their American counterparts!

[Drasko]

I'm looking for Charles Munch/Boston Symphony broadcast recordings of Piston's Symphonies Nos. 3 & 5 (5th in mono from '56, 3rd supposedly in stereo from '59), and for Ormandy's Philadelphia recording of 7th from 1961.

Ormandy had official release in some Philadelphia Orchestra anniversary box, but that is long gone and probably had cost an arm and a leg.

Munch broadcasts are offered as CD-rs by Disco Archivia, but I've read that their quality is generally unreliable. I'd maybe even be willing to risk it but ordering without pay-pal is really a hassle.   

So if anyone runs across any of these being offered on some blog or sharing site I'd really appreciate if they would let me know.

[cilgwyn]

I wonder if anyone at the 'Unsung Composers forum' has anything? They have,probably,one of the biggest collection of rare classical music downloads in the world! It's probably the 10th wonder of the world,by now,after King Kong! (You have to be a member!)Those broadcasts are be A long time ago,though. I wasn't even born,then!!! But performances get re-broadcast,people 'know' people & files get passed around. My off air tape of Rubbra conducting his Fourth symphony was a repeat broadcast (c.1990's?).I grabbed it while I could!!!

Walter Piston is a fine composer. Which reminds me,I must put that Naxos cd of his chamber music,on later!

[Drasko]

I wonder if anyone at the 'Unsung Composers forum' has anything?

Are you a member there? Could I perhaps ask you to pass the question over there, if it wouldn't be too much of a hassle of course.

[cilgwyn]

I'm afraid not! Dundonnell is! I understand a very large proportion of the music there is from his attic!!!
Just register,as you do,on forums, & post about something that interests you. There are hundreds of music files there. Everything except the kitchen sink,quite frankly! I gather you can also place requests for a particular piece of music or recording & who knows? Someone may have what you want?

[Mirror Image]

And the Thompson's not bad,either. I was just thinking of taking my 2cd Koch set of his three symphonies to the charity shop,the other day. I put on the First Symphony & the opening just 'grabbed me';so it's staying here!!!

And your post just reminded me that I didn't have but one recording featuring Thompson's music and it was with Bernstein (performing the great 2nd). I bought this Koch set just awhile ago.

[Drasko]

I'm afraid not! Dundonnell is! I understand a very large proportion of the music there is from his attic!!!
Just register,as you do,on forums, & post about something that interests you. There are hundreds of music files there. Everything except the kitchen sink,quite frankly! I gather you can also place requests for a particular piece of music or recording & who knows? Someone may have what you want?

I might try that, thanks for the info.

[Scion7]

It's a shame we don't hear his work more on classical radio.  It's tuneful, and chromatic, and if radio programmers took the time to spin it now and again maybe he'd be more than just a musical footnote/cult following.