William Schuman (1910-1992)

[Cato]

An article in today's (July 14, 2016) Wall Street Journal tells about the status of several "mid-20th century composers," but focuses mainly on William Schuman:

An excerpt:

What do you think of when you hear the phrase "midcentury modernism"? My guess is that your average educated American is more than likely to respond with the name of a painter like Jackson Pollock or Mark Rothko, a building like Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, or a piece of furniture like the Eames Lounge Chair. In this country, modernism is a visual phenomenon: It's something you see. All other manifestations of the modern movement in 20th-century American art take a back seat.

If that generalization strikes you as too broad for comfort, try answering this question: Who were Roy Harris, Peter Mennin, Walter Piston and William Schuman?...

...Schuman actually appeared in 1962 as the mystery guest on the popular TV game show "What's My Line?" Much of their best music was recorded, and many of those recordings are still in print. Yet I'd be surprised if more than a handful of people reading this column recognize any of their names, nor is their music heard much nowadays. In a column written last month for the Guardian—a British newspaper, mind you— Alan Fletcher cited the following statistic: "Some quick research shows that Harris, Mennin, Piston, Schuman and Elliott Carter (who together wrote more than 100 concert symphonic works) had, in the past five years, a total of just 20 performances by U.S. orchestras." Four performances apiece. That's obscurity.

Mr. Fletcher, who runs the Aspen Music Festival, is determined to put America's mid-century classical-music modernists back on the map. "While we all rightly love 20th-century music from abroad, from Stravinsky to Ravel, for some reason we're in danger of ignoring so much of our own great music, which is to say our own cultural DNA," he says in the news release for a new initiative at Aspen called "An American Musical Century." ...

...Schuman's "American Festival Overture," a nine-minute-long piece composed in 1939. Leonard Bernstein, the great champion of the midcentury American modernists, recorded it in 1982 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic...

...I like what (Leonard Bernstein) said about it then: "'American Festival Overture' is filled with rip-roaring vitality, and reminds you of kids having a marvelous time in the park....It's young music. It's loud, strong, wildly optimistic."

All true—but there's more to "American Festival Overture" than that. ...you can also hear an unmistakable touch of Coplandesque lone-prairie melancholy in the sharp-angled yet lyrical melodies that are woven tightly into the piece. That loneliness is an essential part of what it means to be an American, even a city dweller like Schuman, and its presence adds emotional depth to a piece that might otherwise seem extroverted to a fault...

...If I had to choose a single composition that sums up our midcentury modernists in the shortest possible span of time, I'd pick "American Festival Overture." ...

See:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-forgotten-moderns-1468445756

[Karl Henning]

An article in today's (July 14, 2016) Wall Street Journal tells about the status of several "mid-20th century composers," but focuses mainly on William Schuman:

An excerpt:

See:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-forgotten-moderns-1468445756

Cool, thanks!

[PerfectWagnerite]

Cool, thanks!

Funny I know Schuman and Piston and Harris but have never heard of these that the author thinks the average educated American should know:

Jackson Pollock or Mark Rothko, a building like Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, or a piece of furniture like the Eames Lounge Chair

Also it is quite inaccurate to characterize Igor Stravinsky as from "abroad" since he spent his last thirty some odd years in the U.S.

[Scion7]

At least Schuman got some attention by the press/public/radio/television (and rightfully so.)
Poor Walter Piston never got what was his due.   

Thank God for the recordings.

[Scion7]

Also it is quite inaccurate to characterize Igor Stravinsky as from "abroad" since he spent his last thirty some odd years in the U.S.

LOL, he was Russian through-and-through, no matter how much time he resided here, like other 'exiles.'  Most definitely 'from abroad.'  Like Schoenberg and many others.

[Karl Henning]

Certainly an exile, and no blame to him for the limitations of his abilities to "assimilate" (to dare to refer to a term popular among certain of my countrymen);  and he has been honored with his portrait on US postage, for instance.

[Scion7]

Absolutely, but his psychology was 'a Russian.'
I've lived over 2/3'rds of my life now here in the Colonies, but I'm still English - born, bred, raised, no matter that I'm a U.S. citizen.
Moving one's zip code doesn't change your background, if it's been thoroughly established elsewhere.
If Igor had come over aged 5, and grown up in the U.S., I'd call him a native-American. (so to speak)



If Walter had left in disgust due to the non-attention his music was receiving here, and became a French resident, and gained acclaim, a Frenchman should refer to him as "from abroad" no matter how long he had sampled Paris. (hopefully he'd have gone to Brittany instead)   

[(poco) Sforzando]

Absolutely, but his psychology was 'a Russian.'
I've lived over 2/3'rds of my life now here in the Colonies, but I'm still English - born, bred, raised, no matter that I'm a U.S. citizen.
Moving one's zip code doesn't change your background, if it's been thoroughly established elsewhere.
If Igor had come over aged 5, and grown up in the U.S., I'd call him a native-American. (so to speak)



If Walter had left in disgust due to the non-attention his music was receiving here, and became a French resident, and gained acclaim, a Frenchman should refer to him as "from abroad" no matter how long he had sampled Paris. (hopefully he'd have gone to Brittany instead)   

Colonies? what's that?

Yes and no to your post. It depends on how much the composer assimilates himself to the new environment. With Stravinsky, I'd say the assimilation was greater than with Schoenberg. In literature, Joseph Conrad was born in Poland in 1857, didn't speak English fluently until his 20s, and was granted British citizenship in 1886. But he is part of English literature.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

An article in today's (July 14, 2016) Wall Street Journal tells about the status of several "mid-20th century composers," but focuses mainly on William Schuman:

I heard the Schuman 6th a couple years ago at the CSO, and next month I'll hear the Harris 3rd and Piston 2nd at Grant Park. Anecdotal, but it gives me some hope that a revival might be in the works.

[Karl Henning]

I heard the Schuman 6th a couple years ago at the CSO, and next month I'll hear the Harris 3rd and Piston 2nd at Grant Park. Anecdotal, but it gives me some hope that a revival might be in the works.

All strong pieces, great news.

[Scion7]

Yes, it is - but it seems only a city the size of Chicago, or L.A., or New York - or along those lines - can get enough behinds-in-seats to stage such events for these relatively unknown composers.

I know Charlotte couldn't profitably do it - perhaps not even Atlanta?

[(poco) Sforzando]

Yes, it is - but it seems only a city the size of Chicago, or L.A., or New York - or along those lines - can get enough behinds-in-seats to stage such events for these relatively unknown composers.

I know Charlotte couldn't profitably do it - perhaps not even Atlanta?

No, not Atlanta either if you look at their subscription series. But as you and Terry Teachout both admit, recordings are still widely available. And in a culture where most of us derive our musical experiences primarily from recordings, how significant is it that this music is being performed live in places like Chicago or Aspen which most of us will not be visiting for these occasional events? Very nice that Archaic can get to hear Harris 3 in Grant Park, but it's not going to make me book a flight for a 20-minute symphony I can hear perfectly well on either Bernstein recording. And therefore as long as the recordings exist and are the primary means of musical exposure for most of us, complaints about the lack of live performances are secondary. Yet some of us continue to fasten on live performance as being of primary importance, when in fact the existence of recordings changes everything.

[snyprrr]

Symphony No.4 (1941)

Surely this is the most underrated of Schuman's Symphonies. Who didn't love the opening the first time they heard, presumably, the Louisville/Whitney recording of yore?

The first movement builds, ending in a climax I have to call "opulent", with a hint of .. is it "orientalism" (not "asian", more of the Bruckner type of "non Viennese" melodic??). The slow movement reeks of the hushed and cloudy dinner tables across the heartland, which echoes the same sentiment found in the opening of his 3rd, a feeling that no one captures better than Schuman. I do long to hear the new Albany remake, as one can hear the woodwinds clicking away when things are at their quietest. The finale...

No.4 is undoubtedly the most "pastoral" of Schuman's "7", hence, it has always languished in the shadow of No.3. Sure, maybe it's a little "toned down", but, then again, the war was two years old by this time. I can really see no reason to criticize this work, and would love to hear another Great American 'Pastorale'.

[Mirror Image]

Symphony No.4 (1941)

Surely this is the most underrated of Schuman's Symphonies. Who didn't love the opening the first time they heard, presumably, the Louisville/Whitney recording of yore?

The first movement builds, ending in a climax I have to call "opulent", with a hint of .. is it "orientalism" (not "asian", more of the Bruckner type of "non Viennese" melodic??). The slow movement reeks of the hushed and cloudy dinner tables across the heartland, which echoes the same sentiment found in the opening of his 3rd, a feeling that no one captures better than Schuman. I do long to hear the new Albany remake, as one can hear the woodwinds clicking away when things are at their quietest. The finale...

No.4 is undoubtedly the most "pastoral" of Schuman's "7", hence, it has always languished in the shadow of No.3. Sure, maybe it's a little "toned down", but, then again, the war was two years old by this time. I can really see no reason to criticize this work, and would love to hear another Great American 'Pastorale'.

David Diamond's Symphonies 3 & 4 (both written in 1945) are great examples of "American Pastorales'. I'm sure you've heard at least Diamond's 4th.

[Sergeant Rock]

Symphony No.4 (1941)

Surely this is the most underrated of Schuman's Symphonies.

I confess I like his Fourth more than his Third (of the Thirds that vie for the title Great American Symphony...Copland, Schumann, Harris...my vote goes to Harris). Your hearing it as a pastoral, though, I can't understand. I'm listening to it now and I hear not a single cow pat 

Sarge

[cilgwyn]

I'm going to have to have a listen now! A nice relaxing,pastoral symphony. Ooh,goody gum drops,I can't wait!

[cilgwyn]

This is the cd I have. The fill-ups are quite interesting. I think the 'Epilogue To Profiles in Courage: JFK' by Roy Harris is one of his best compositions. The Becker I really could do without!!! I could add the all Schuman First Edition cd to my collection! The Schwarz Naxos cd couples the Fourth with one of Schuman's thorniest. I might be better off buying that? Which is the best performance,I wonder? I don't mind old recordings,as long as the sound isn't too dry. I like the Albany cd of Ormandy's recordings of Piston,Harris & Schuman symphonies,for example. Conversely,Alsop's recoring of the Harris Fifth was just plain flabby. I'd rather listen to the old Louisville recording,any day!

[pjme]

Now on YT!

https://youtu.be/VDbzzYKLSiE



Lovely!

P.

[cilgwyn]

Just realised,there is another recording of the Fourth,coupled with a Piano Concerto,on Albany!

[cilgwyn]

Whoo! And it's expensive! I'll have to give that one a miss for now!!