William Bolcom

[Cato]

I have seen this name floating around and I have wondered a bit about this composer. It seems quite well and good for the fans to discuss recordings, but I would be interested to know what the fans can tell us (the unenlightened ) about Bolcom.

If you have some time, check this out: the player for the c. one-hour program is under the picture.

https://www.classicalmpr.org/story/2018/05/18/composer-william-bolcom-at-80-a-celebration

[vandermolen]

I really like the Violin Concerto. Bartok, Walton and Shostakovich came to mind although he is his own person.

[Cato]

I really like the Violin Concerto. Bartok, Walton and Shostakovich came to mind although he is his own person.

Such is Bolcom's eclectic style!

[kyjo]

I really like the Violin Concerto. Bartok, Walton and Shostakovich came to mind although he is his own person.

Good to know, Jeffrey. I recently listened to the Fifth Symphony from the same album and found it rather tough going for the most part, though I enjoyed the rhythmically charged energy of the last movement (Machine).

[vandermolen]

Good to know, Jeffrey. I recently listened to the Fifth Symphony from the same album and found it rather tough going for the most part, though I enjoyed the rhythmically charged energy of the last movement (Machine).

Yes Kyle, on first hearing I thought that the Fifth Symphony was a bit too crash, bang, wallop for my taste but I really like the often lyrical Violin Concerto. This and the Piano Concerto have been great discoveries for me.

[vers la flamme]

I'd like to resurrect this thread by echoing Vandermolen's admiration for this excellent disc:

I just discovered this composer - through his extraordinary Piano Concerto coupled with Bernstein's 'Age of Anxiety' on Hyperion. Its a mad hotch-potch of styles, at times showing the influence of Charles Ives, Gershwin, Copland and  juxtaposing eloquent and poetic sections (such as the memorable opening) with jazz, dance music, popular American songs etc. Anyway, I really enjoyed it and would like to discover more of this composer:
[asin]B00004WMWR[/asin]
I like this CD very much, not least for the wonderful Edward Hopper painting on the front.

Well said.

Where to from here, with Bolcom? I know nothing about this composer. Seems like he was somewhat of an eclectic... like an American Alfred Schnittke? Or am I way off...?

Edit: Thoughts on his Blake settings? This is a very extensive work at over three hours:

[relm1]

I'd like to resurrect this thread by echoing Vandermolen's admiration for this excellent disc:

Well said.

Where to from here, with Bolcom? I know nothing about this composer. Seems like he was somewhat of an eclectic... like an American Alfred Schnittke? Or am I way off...?

Edit: Thoughts on his Blake settings? This is a very extensive work at over three hours:

I wouldn't compare him to Schnittke who is more of a collage technique.  He's definitely eclectic but more like in a Leonard Bernstein way.  There are clearly musical theater allusions, quite traditional (tonal), jazzy, art song.  His Symphony No. 9 is taught, around 20 minutes, dramatic but not excessive.  I don't think Songs of Innocence and of Experience is the best place to start because it's 3 hour scale is so massive, but it is a very fine work.  Sort of like Bernstein's Mass as a hybrid between oratorio and musical theater.  The symphonies and concertos are more traditional and economical in scale.

[vers la flamme]

I wouldn't compare him to Schnittke who is more of a collage technique.  He's definitely eclectic but more like in a Leonard Bernstein way.  There are clearly musical theater allusions, quite traditional (tonal), jazzy, art song.  His Symphony No. 9 is taught, around 20 minutes, dramatic but not excessive.  I don't think Songs of Innocence and of Experience is the best place to start because it's 3 hour scale is so massive, but it is a very fine work.  Sort of like Bernstein's Mass as a hybrid between oratorio and musical theater.  The symphonies and concertos are more traditional and economical in scale.

Thanks for your perspective. I love Bernstein's Mass, so you've only piqued my interest further about the Songs of Innocence & Experience, but I would be willing to try on some of the symphonies first. Is the 9th available on CD anywhere?

[Maestro267]

I haven't listened to Songs of Innocence & Experience for years, but it was the first work I ever came across that incorporated all these different styles in one piece. Rock band, madrigal group and so on.

[krummholz]

Surprised and a bit tickled to see my old composition teacher from Michigan getting a thread of his own! That was back in the '70s, when there were very few recordings of his music, and he was of course still rather young. So regretfully, I have never heard any of his works in performance... now, some 45 years later, I see the situation has changed and I must start to explore his work!

I will say that Mr. Bolcom was the most open-minded of all the teachers I had back at Michigan, in that he never dissuaded me from writing in a tonal idiom. Again, this was back in the '70s, when if you didn't follow the trends of the avant-garde you would be told "this sort of thing doesn't belong in a contemporary composition class". Bolcom was very different, and I have to say that he was one of  only two composition teachers I had (the other was Albright) who didn't try to steer me toward what was considered acceptable for a contemporary composer in those days.

[vandermolen]

Surprised and a bit tickled to see my old composition teacher from Michigan getting a thread of his own! That was back in the '70s, when there were very few recordings of his music, and he was of course still rather young. So regretfully, I have never heard any of his works in performance... now, some 45 years later, I see the situation has changed and I must start to explore his work!

I will say that Mr. Bolcom was the most open-minded of all the teachers I had back at Michigan, in that he never dissuaded me from writing in a tonal idiom. Again, this was back in the '70s, when if you didn't follow the trends of the avant-garde you would be told "this sort of thing doesn't belong in a contemporary composition class". Bolcom was very different, and I have to say that he was one of  only two composition teachers I had (the other was Albright) who didn't try to steer me toward what was considered acceptable for a contemporary composer in those days.

That's very nice to hear. He sounds like the best kind of teacher.

[relm1]

Thanks for your perspective. I love Bernstein's Mass, so you've only piqued my interest further about the Songs of Innocence & Experience, but I would be willing to try on some of the symphonies first. Is the 9th available on CD anywhere?

Not yet.  It was available only as part of a masterclass with the composer as it's a very new work.

[vandermolen]

I've enjoyed listening to his Piano Concerto today (Hyperion CD).