Leo Ornstein (1893-2002)

Started by schnittkease, August 31, 2017, 08:06:09 AM

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schnittkease

No thread for Leo Ornstein? I can fix that.



Favorites include:
17 Waltzes
Cello Sonata #2
Piano Quintet
Piano sonatas #4, 8

lescamil

Want to chat about classical music on IRC? Go to:

irc.psigenix.net
#concerthall

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,19772.0.html

-------------------------------------

Check out my YouTube page:

http://www.youtube.com/user/jre58591

Maestro267

I stumbled across his name in a Naxos catalogue a while ago, and had to double-check his lifespan. That's extraordinary! Can't be too many people, let alone composers, whose life spans three centuries.

snyprrr

Wow, you're making my job soooo hard!! I try to quell the jealousy over your coups!! Ack, and I coulda had Ornstein!! :laugh:


I think I remember the Piano Quintet sounding a little more rollicking than the Bloch, which is saying something!

snyprrr

Ornstein's Porn Stain?


I know, I know,... :-[ :-\

Karl Henning

Hmm, an Ornstein piano quintet, eh?
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Maestro267

Or would it be "Ornstein's Submarine"?

Scion7

#7
semi-complete works list:

     Orchestral
===========================================

Evening Song of the Cossack, chbr orch, op.14 no.1, 1923
Piano Conc., 1923
Lysistrata Suite, 1930
Nocturne and Dance of the Fates, c1937

   Chamber
====================================

Sonata, op.31, violin, piano, c1915
3 Russian Impressions, violin, piano, Op.37, 1916
Sonata, op.26, violin, piano, c1918
Composition Nr.1, cello, piano
2 Sonatas, op.52, cello, piano, c1918 - c1920
Piano Quintet, 1927
2 Cello Pieces, Op.33, early 20th century
String Quartet no.1, op.28, c1929
String Quartet no.2, op.99, c1929
String Quartet no.3, 1976
6 Preludes, cello, piano, 1931
Nocturne for Clarinet & Piano, 1952
Ballade for Saxophone & Piano, 1955
Allegro (Intermezzo), flute, piano, 1959
Fantasy Pieces, viola, piano, 1972
Hebraic Fantasy, violin, piano, 1975
3 Pieces: Prelude-Intermezzo-Poem, flute, piano, 1979
Ballade for Bb Clarinet
Waltz for Violin & Piano
Violin Sonata Nr.3, 2009

   Piano (solo unless otherwise stated)
==========================

6 Lyric Fancies, op.10, 1911
A Paris Street Scene at Night, op.4 no.3, 1912
Suicide in an Airplane, c1913
Pièce, pf 4 hands, op.19 no.1, 1913
Wild Men's Dance (Danse sauvage), op.13 no.2, c1913
3 Preludes, op.20, c1914
Suite russe, op.12, c1914
Three Moods, 1914
Cossack Impressions, op.14, c1914
Impressions de la Tamise, op.13 no.1, 1914
Impressions de Notre Dame, op.16 nos.1–2, 1914
Dwarf Suite, op.11, c1915
A la Chinoise, op.39, c1918
Poems of 1917, op.41, 1918 [after W. Frank]
Serenade, op.5 nos.1–2, 1918A la Mexicana, op.35, c1920
Arabesques, op.42, c1920
6 Watercolors, op.80, c1921
2 Improvisations, pf 4 hands, op.95, 1921
Nocturnes nos.1–2, c1922
Sonata no.4, c1924
2 Lyric Pieces, c1924
15 Waltzes and 42 numbered pieces, 1950–72
Tarantelle diabolique, 1960
5 Intermezzi, 1965–8
3 Landscapes, 1968
A Morning in the Woods, 1971
Some New York Scenes, 1971
Biography in Sonata Form, 1974
Burlesca, 1976Impromptu no.1 (Epitaph), no.2 (A Bit of Nostalgia), 1976
A Dream almost Forgotten, 1978
An Autumn Fantasy, 1978
Barbaro, 1978
5 pieces, 1978
Just a Fun Piece, 1978
The Recruit and the Bugler, 1978
A Small Carnival, 1978
Valse diabolique, 1978
A Reverie, 1979
Chromatic Dance, 1980
Sonata no.6, c1981
The Deserted Garden, 1981
2 Legends, 1982, Sonata no.7, 1988
Sonata no.8, 1990
Works for children
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."

Cato

Quote from: Maestro267 on September 02, 2017, 06:11:54 AM
I stumbled across his name in a Naxos catalogue a while ago, and had to double-check his lifespan. That's extraordinary! Can't be too many people, let alone composers, whose life spans three centuries.

I discovered Leo Ornstein many decades ago: another marvelous creation of Eastern European Jewry, and chased away by the ungentle Gentiles around him, Ornstein  became an enigma, a sensationalist who eventually tired of sensations, an "ultra-modernist" whose music could be as Romantic as Rachmaninov's, as proven by one of his last works:

https://www.youtube.com/v/TPnyct6P52A
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

snyprrr

Quote from: Maestro267 on September 02, 2017, 11:10:56 AM
Or would it be "Ornstein's Submarine"?

something like that... is it "stine" or "steen"? "Frankensteen" :laugh:

schnittkease

Quote from: Cato on September 03, 2017, 02:49:57 AM
I discovered Leo Ornstein many decades ago: another marvelous creation of Eastern European Jewry, and chased away by the ungentle Gentiles around him, Ornstein  became an enigma, a sensationalist who eventually tired of sensations, an "ultra-modernist" whose music could be as Romantic as Rachmaninov's, as proven by one of his last works:

https://www.youtube.com/v/TPnyct6P52A

Nice, thanks for sharing.

Quote from: snyprrr on September 03, 2017, 06:04:25 AM
something like that... is it "stine" or "steen"? "Frankensteen" :laugh:

I always thought it was "stine"... ???

Cato

Quote from: schnittkease on September 03, 2017, 08:55:50 AM

I always thought it was "stine"... ???


It is: "ei" in German is always a long "i" (eye) sound, despite what one might hear in Noo Yawk City!   ;)
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

pjme


Karl Henning

Quote from: Cato on September 03, 2017, 02:49:57 AM
I discovered Leo Ornstein many decades ago: another marvelous creation of Eastern European Jewry, and chased away by the ungentle Gentiles around him, Ornstein  became an enigma, a sensationalist who eventually tired of sensations, an "ultra-modernist" whose music could be as Romantic as Rachmaninov's, as proven by one of his last works:

https://www.youtube.com/v/TPnyct6P52A

Very nice!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Cato

"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

pjme

#15
 :)

I can easily melt away on the sounds of gentle music (from a Mediaeval complainte to RVW, Debussy...) , but a regular dose of "danse sauvage & barbaric onslaught" keeps me alert and equally happy. I have no recordings (yet) of music by Ornstein, but I'll gladly add him to my collection of "wild composers" - Mossolov, Jolivet, Ruggles et al.

Possibly a strict teacher could have disciplined him a bit, but the sheer exuberance of this music is already a joyous gift. And, yes, he can be as sweet as Rachmaninov.

P.

ahinton


zamyrabyrd

Quote from: Cato on September 03, 2017, 09:25:07 AM
It is: "ei" in German is always a long "i" (eye) sound, despite what one might hear in Noo Yawk City!   ;)

Some people still say "Bernstein" as "Bernsteen" but at least it should rhyme with "Ornstein".
The funny part is in Israel his name is pronounced "Lee-o-nard".
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one."

― Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

zamyrabyrd

I just listened to this, shades of Reflets dans l'eau by Debussy:

https://www.youtube.com/v/Z-XzRU_32Ec

I wonder how many people can claim they lived in three centuries. They must be a very exclusive club!
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one."

― Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

kyjo

Ornstein's two cello sonatas are among the finest in the genre and deserve to be part of the standard cello repertoire. The First a deeply emotional work that recalls Bloch, Scriabin, and Rachmaninoff. Its slow movement is particularly powerful as is the "fading into the abyss" ending. The Second is a lighter, more impressionistic work with a ravishingly beautiful opening.
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff