John Knowles Paine (1839-1906)

Started by Scion7, August 21, 2015, 11:52:03 AM

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Scion7

quotes from various sources -

"I believe," Paine proclaimed, "in the future, composers will be distinguished more by their individuality of style than by nationality, or what is called local color."

"Until the appearance of composer Johns Knowles Paine during the latter half of the nineteenth century, American musical culture was a pale reflection of its European counterpart. Although it would be decades before Paine's legacy would bear real fruit -- during the explosion of U.S. compositional activity during the first two or three decades of the twentieth century -- his importance as the first professor of music at an American institution of higher learning (Harvard University), and the subsequent dissemination of his ideas by three generations of students, have earned him a special place in the history of American music."

"Throughout his career, Paine's music in general was characterized by a strong sense of tonality, by regular metric organization and distinctive rhythmic figuration, by sensitive orchestration and textural devices, and by controlled harmony marked by an increasing chromaticism."

"Paine's concert music was relegated to the repertoire's fringes, too European to exemplify America, too American to crack the then-forming European canon. But his best works remain some of the most beautifully wrought artifacts of the nation's long identity crisis."


selected works by opus number:

Op           orchestral works
23  Symphony no.1, c, 1875 (Leipzig, 1908); repr. in H.W. Hitchcock, ed., Earlier American Music, i (New York, 1972)
28  As you Like it, ov., c1876, pubd as Was ihr wollt (Leipzig, 1907/R)
31  The Tempest, sym. poem after Shakespeare, c1876 (Leipzig, 1907/R)
33  Duo concertante, vn, vc, orch, c1877
34  Symphony no.2 'In the Spring', A, 1879 (Boston, 1880)
44  An Island Fantasy, sym. poem, c1888, pubd as Poseidon and Amphitrite: an Ocean Fantasy (Leipzig, 1907R; T, x)
—  Lincoln: a Tragic Tone Poem, c1904–6, inc.


Op      chamber music
5    String Quartet, D, c1855 (New York, 1940)
22  Piano Trio, d, c1874
24  Violin Sonata, b, 1875, rev. c1905; ed. J.C. Schmidt (Madison, Wis., 1991)
30  Romanza and Humoreske, vc, pf, c1875; ed. J.C. Schmidt (Madison, Wis., 1991)
32  Larghetto and Humoreske, vn, vc, pf, c1877; ed. J.C. Schmidt (Madison, Wis., 1991)

          piano
1    Sonata no.1, a, 1859
4    Sonata no.2, f, before 1861, lost
7    Christmas Gift, 1862 (Boston, 1864); ed. M. Hinson, Piano Music in 19th-Century America, ii (Chapel Hill, 1975); S
9     Funeral March in Memory of President Lincoln, 1865 (New York, 1865); S
—    Valse Caprice
11    Four Character Pieces, c1868 (Leipzig and Boston, 1872), incl. Welcome Home to my Darling Lizzie! From John
12    Romance, c, c1868 (Boston, 1869); S
15/1 Prelude and Fugue, b, before 1865
15/2 Prelude, f, before 1865
15/3 Fugue, A, before 1865
25    Four Characteristic Pieces, 1876 (Boston, 1876); S
26    Ten Sketches: In the Country, c1873 (Boston, 1876); S
39    Romance, D, c1882 (Boston, 1883); S
41    Three Piano Pieces, c1882–4 (Boston, 1884)
45    Nocturne, B, c1889 (Boston, 1889)

           organ
—   Prelude and Fugue, g, 1859; LS
—   Prelude, c; LS
2/1  Fantasia and Fugue, e, 1860; LS
2/2  Double Fugue on God Save the Queen or Heil dir im Siegeskranz, D, 1860; LS
3/1  Concert Variations on the Austrian Hymn, F, 1860 (Boston, 1876); L, LS
3/2  Concert Variations on The Star-Spangled Banner, c1861 (Boston, 1865); L [as op.4], LS
—    Concert Variations upon Old Hundred, c1861 (Cambridge, 1916); L, LS
6     Fantasia, F, 1865, lost
—  Reverie, after Longfellow's Song of the Silent Land, c1862, lost
17  Andante con variazioni, from lost Fantasia Sonata, c1863; LS
—  Caprice, c1863, lost
19  Two Preludes, D, b, c1864 (Boston, 1892); L, LS
—   Fantasia on the Portuguese Hymn, c1864, lost
—   Pastorale, c1865, lost
13  Fantasie on Ein' feste Burg, c1869 (Cambridge, 1916)

              choral
—    Agnus Dei, 1861, lost
—    Benedictus, 1861, lost
—    Hymn for Harvard Commencement (J.B. Greenough), 1862, rev. 1883 (Boston, 1883)
8      Domine salvum fac, inauguration hymn for Harvard president, male chorus, orch, 1863 (Cambridge, 1915)
10    Mass, D, S, A, T, B, chorus, org, orch, 1865, Berlin, 16 Feb 1867 (New York, 1866)
14/1 Funeral Hymn for a Soldier, male chorus, c1863
14/2 The Summer Webs, male chorus, c1863
14/3  Minstrel's Song (T. Chatterton), male chorus, c1863
—     Peace, peace to him that's gone (T. Moore), male chorus, c1863
—     Radway's Ready Relief (advertisement text), male chorus, c1863 (Boston, 1883)
—     Soldier's Oath (C.T. Brooks), male chorus, 1865
—     O bless the Lord, my soul (I. Watts), male chorus (Boston, 1911)
20  St Peter (orat), S, A, T, B, chorus, org, orch, 1870–72, Portland, ME, 3 June 1873 (Boston, 1872/R)
27  Centennial Hymn (J.G. Whittier), chorus, org, orch, 1876 (Boston, 1876), for Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, 1876
36  The Realm of Fancy (after J. Keats), cant., S, A, T, B, chorus, orch, 1882 (Boston, 1882)
37  Phoebus, Arise! (W. Drummond), cant., T, male chorus, orch, 1882 (Boston, 1882)
38  The Nativity (after J. Milton), cant., S, A, T, B, chorus, orch, 1883 (Boston, 1883), for Handel and Haydn Society, Boston; rev. 1903 as op.39 (Boston, 1903)
—  Divine Love (C. Wesley), 1883, lost
43  Song of Promise (after G.E. Woodberry), cant., S, chorus, org, orch, 1888 (Cincinnati, 1888), for Cincinnati May Festival
—  Columbus March and Hymn (Paine), chorus, org, orch, 1892 (Boston, 1892), for World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893
—  Freedom, our Queen (O.W. Holmes), children's chorus, 1893, for World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893 (London, 1893); arr. SATB (New York, 1902)
—  Hymn of the West (E.C. Stedman), chorus, orch, 1903 (St Louis, 1904/R), for Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St Louis, 1904
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

Scion7

#1
NAXOS recording session for Symphony Nr.2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TuMcNJm7mg

In the second symphony Paine incorporates elements of programme music, and organizes a much larger work in an almost Wagnerian manner through transformation and thematic recurrence.

Any Painesians out there?  Or in here?
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

listener

#2
There's an older recording of the Symphony no.2 with Mehta and the NY Phil on New World, some of the organ works are relatively popular (with American players), I've got op. 2, 3/2 and 13.  And Rafael Druian recorded the Violin Sonata on the GM label.   
I wouldn't flinch seeing his name on a concert program, would be a pleasant change.
"Keep your hand on the throttle and your eye on the rail as you walk through life's pathway."