Peter Mennin(1923-83)-a Great American Symphonic Composer

[Ken B]

A loss, but the team can survive it. Now if we'd lost Roy Harris's Third ...

[Mirror Image]

A loss, but the team can survive it. Now if we'd lost Roy Harris's Third ...

If we'd lost Harris' 3rd, I certainly wouldn't mind.

[Ken B]

If we'd lost Harris' 3rd, I certainly wouldn't mind.

Give it time John. Harris'll be in your top spot eventually.

[Mirror Image]

Give it time John. Harris'll be in your top spot eventually.

Lol...I never cared for Harris. My favorite American composers are Barber, Ives, Schuman, Copland, and Diamond.

[cilgwyn]

A loss, but the team can survive it. Now if we'd lost Roy Harris's Third ...

Harris might have done himself a favour by losing his third,considering how much misery it caused him trying to come up with something as successful. On the other hand,if he had,the Harris thread would probably be just posts about why he never came up with anything on a par with his Seventh;so maybe he should have lost that one as well!!
When I was a youngster I had the Bernstein Lp of the Harris & Copland thirds. I played the Harris all the time and never bothered with the Copland. Nowadays it's the Copland I go back to;although not that particular recording. Harris is just so gung ho. It's like listening to some politician ranting! And there's just not enough variety in his music. Having said that,I quite like 5,6 & 7 now and again;but phewee! It does get a bit much after a while!! I think his music needs an Ormandy or Bernstein to bring it off anyway,and there aren't many of those these days! Even,if there were I'd rather they recorded the composers MI mentions. I think they have so much more to offer!

[Ken B]

Harris might have done himself a favour by losing his third,considering how much misery it caused him trying to come up with something as successful. On the other hand,if he had,the Harris thread would probably be just posts about why he never came up with anything on a par with his Seventh;so maybe he should have lost that one as well!!
When I was a youngster I had the Bernstein Lp of the Harris & Copland thirds. I played the Harris all the time and never bothered with the Copland. Nowadays it's the Copland I go back to;although not that particular recording. Harris is just so gung ho. It's like listening to some politician ranting! And there's just not enough variety in his music. Having said that,I quite like 5,6 & 7 now and again;but phewee! It does get a bit much after a while!! I think his music needs an Ormandy or Bernstein to bring it off anyway,and there aren't many of those these days! Even,if there were I'd rather they recorded the composers MI mentions. I think they have so much more to offer!

I found that Bernstein in the radio station library and got to really like it. But I can remember being disappointed with everything else I tried by Harris, until I stopped trying.  I suspect I have the Naxos 7 and 9 tucked away somehwere.
Copland's is certainly the better music.

[cilgwyn]

Lol...I never cared for Harris. My favorite American composers are Barber, Ives, Schuman, Copland, and Diamond.

I like allot of composers now I didn't like when I was young and vice versa! But Harris? I don't think MI will change his mind in thirty years time,somehow! I just don't think there's enough variety in his music. I just can't see that there's anything to Harris,some erstwhile hidden facet,that is going to hit MI in middle age and he'll be thinking,"Wow! Why didn't I get that?!"

I don't wish to disparage Harris,of course. If you are someone who enjoys his music,good for you. I wish I could compose just one symphony worth listening too,or even a song!!

Anyway,back to Mennin!!

[Karl Henning]

I dig Mennin.

[springrite]

Harris would be worse if he spells his name Harrisi.

But Mennini would be just as great as Mennin.

Still love his cello concerto the most, and just about all the symphonies I listened to (I think 6 of them).

[Mirror Image]

I like allot of composers now I didn't like when I was young and vice versa! But Harris? I don't think MI will change his mind in thirty years time,somehow! I just don't think there's enough variety in his music. I just can't see that there's anything to Harris,some erstwhile hidden facet,that is going to hit MI in middle age and he'll be thinking,"Wow! Why didn't I get that?!"

I don't wish to disparage Harris,of course. If you are someone who enjoys his music,good for you. I wish I could compose just one symphony worth listening too,or even a song!!

Anyway,back to Mennin!!

Well you never know. I could end up liking Harris. I think the thing that irks me about him the most is he's often just declamatory and, yes, there's just not enough variety in the music itself to keep my attention.

[Mirror Image]

I dig Mennin.

I'm trying to appreciate Mennin. Could you tell me, Karl, in your own view, why you enjoy his music so much? My Mennin collection is pretty scrawny, so I'm hoping to add some more recordings soon. Thanks in advance.

[Karl Henning]

Harris would be worse if he spells his name Harrisi.

But Mennini would be just as great as Mennin.

Still love his cello concerto the most, and just about all the symphonies I listened to (I think 6 of them).

Hm, a Mennin cello concerto, eh?

[springrite]

Hm, a Mennin cello concerto, eh?

Yes, it is the first that was recommended to me, by Martin Bertheimer, of all people.

... there's just not enough variety in the music itself to keep my attention.

But lots of wheat, barley and hay.

[Mirror Image]

But lots of wheat, barley and hay.

[Karl Henning]

I'm trying to appreciate Mennin. Could you tell me, Karl, in your own view, why you enjoy his music so much? My Mennin collection is pretty scrawny, so I'm hoping to add some more recordings soon. Thanks in advance.

Well, part of it I couldn't hope to describe, really, since I first "met" his music playing his Canzona in a region band when I was in junior high;  it felt like the most exciting music I had taken part in yet!  So that initial Wow! factor won't translate well, I fear.

I'll try to write something more musically coherent a little later.

[cilgwyn]

I can understand the impact the Harris third had at the time! I just don't think it has worn very well. Anyway,if I had to pick one I would go for No6,which I do quite like when I'm in the right mood;but not in that awful Naxos performance! No7 conducted by Ormandy would come next,followed by No5,in the old Louisville recording.

I suppose some people might accuse Mennin of 'sameness'. Yes,his symphonies tend to be a bit grey and angry;but underneath all the steely rhetoric I feel there is a far wider range of expression,and his slow movements are very beautiful in a brooding kind of way.
Anyway,I remember hearing his Fifth symphony years ago on the radio. It was the first piece of music I had ever heard by him. I just remember thinking it was so power packed. Not a wasted note!
There are some lovely luminous sounds in some of the Harris slow movements. A bit more repose and allot less tub thumping might have helped his cause!!

[Karl Henning]

I don't hear anger there;  I hear bristling energy . . . I love it.

[springrite]

I don't hear anger there;  I hear bristling energy . . . I love it.

Same here.

[Karl Henning]

. . . Anyway,I remember hearing his Fifth symphony years ago on the radio. It was the first piece of music I had ever heard by him. I just remember thinking it was so power packed. Not a wasted note!

Hearty agreement, there!

[Mirror Image]

Well, part of it I couldn't hope to describe, really, since I first "met" his music playing his Canzona in a region band when I was in junior high;  it felt like the most exciting music I had taken part in yet!  So that initial Wow! factor won't translate well, I fear.

I'll try to write something more musically coherent a little later.

Ah okay, Karl. You know I feel a similar experience with Barber. I remember playing an arrangement of I believe the School for Scandal Overture in junior high band and I remember that 'Wow' factor still to this day. So Barber has always been a long-standing favorite of mine I suppose.

I look forward to reading your commentary further.