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WHAT IS AMERICAN MUSIC?
America, being a country of great size, with a large a
population in which many racial elements are
represented, took many years to develop what might be
called a distinctive “American school” of music.
It was only at the turn of the 19th century that America
found its own musical character, reflecting American
ways of life and thought. What is immediately striking
is the sheer diversity of American music.
During the First World War and the following years, the
United States gave the whole world a new type of dance
music, Jazz. Composers incorporated the unique sounds
and rhythms of jazz, blues, Negro spirituals and ragtime
into many forms of classical music. As a result the
boundaries between popular and classical music in
America became less sharply defined..
AMERICANA arranged by Arthur HARRIS
America is particularly rich in traditional music –
folk songs and spirituals – which have been passed down
through generations. Arthur Harris uses five
unforgettable American melodies in this skilfully
orchestrated medley. In case you have forgotten any of
them, they are: When Johnny comes marching home,
Shenandoah, Camptown Races, Deep River and Yankee Doodle
Howard (Harold) HANSON (1896-1981) Symphony No.2
(Romantic) Op. 30
Howard Hanson, born at Wahoo, Nebraska, was of
Swedish descent. In 1924 he became director of the
Eastmann School of Music (Rochester, New York) where he
did much to encourage American composers.
In America classically trained composers sought to
integrate the music they grew up with – folk tunes,
hymns and marches – with the classical music they
studied. Thus the fresh, sometimes brash qualities of
American tunes were blended with the seriousness and
high ideals of European Romanticism. This was especially
the case in the splendid Second Symphony Hanson wrote
for the fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Symphony
Orchestra in 1930. The Romantic subtitle is wholly
appropriate, for although the richly drawn, lyrical
music has a strong transatlantic flavour, the
Scandinavian influence of Nielsen and Sibelius is
clearly there. In the programme notes the composer
provided for the first performance Hanson wrote: My aim,
in this symphony, has been to create a work young in
spirit, Romantic in temperament, and simple and direct
in expression.
I. The first movement begins with a memorable Adagio
introduction, full of longing and yearning. It is like
an overture to the great “romantic” opera that is to
come. The theme finds its way into all three movements.
II. The second movement, Andante con tenerezza begins
with a buoyant melody played by six solo woodwinds. A
new melody in the solo trumpet leads to a statement of
the nostalgic “longing motive” of the introduction of
the first movement..
III. The third movement, Allegro con brio, is brilliant
almost throughout. It begins with a new fanfare motive
played by the horns and trumpets.
The symphony, if not breaking any new ground
harmonically, is by no means lightweight. It is
imaginatively laid out and the construction is a little
“like one door opening on to another until we finally
step out into the blue beyond”.
Aaron COPLAND (1900-90) “Appalachian Spring”
Variations on a Shaker Hymn
Copland was born in Brooklyn and spent his first
twenty years there. He had some early piano lessons and
at about the age of fifteen had the idea of becoming a
composer. At twenty-one he went to Paris where he became
the first American composition student of Nadia
Boulanger. In 1924 he returned to his native country
and, whilst earning his living as an hotel pianist,
composed, at Nadia Boulanger’s request, an organ
concerto for her to play during her American tour. The
production of this work made him known to a large and
influential public and definitely established his
position in American musical life. A great variety of
compositions quickly followed, including El Salon Mexico
and Billy the Kid.
In 1943 the dance director Martha Graham commissioned
Copland to compose a score for a ballet called
Appalachian Spring. The premiere took place in
Washington in October 1944. The title was borrowed from
a poem by Hart Crane, but the ballet bears no relation
to the text of the poem itself..
In fact, the ballet is set in the early 19th Century and
the scene is a Pennsylvanian Shaker wedding. The
penultimate scene begins with a series of variations on
the Shaker hymn, ‘Tis the Gift to be Simple, usually
sung here to words written by Sydney Carter, and known
as Lord of the Dance.
BRAHMS (1833-1897) Variations on a Theme by Haydn (St.Antoni
Chorale)
First of all, not one note of the theme used by
Brahms was written by Haydn. It appears in the first of
six Divertimenti for woodwind, long thought to be by
Haydn, but possibly by one of his pupils. (As the
composer of the original Chorale St. Antoni is also
anonymous, and in view of there being no evidence to the
contrary, we will assume, for the purposes of this
concert, that it is of American origin!).
In 1873 while on holiday Brahms completed a set of
variations for two pianos on the theme, and later that
year he conducted the first performance of an
orchestrated version of the same work in Vienna. In
this, his first large work for orchestra alone, he
showed a mastery of orchestral technique far more
developed that that of other works he had written until
then. Only three years were to separate these Variations
from his long awaited First Symphony.
The theme (Andante 2/4) is in two repeated sections. It
displays melodic charm and an unusual rhythmic
structure. It closes with a knell like repeat of B flat
– 4 long notes and 5 of half the value.
Variation 1 (Poco piu animato 2/4) makes use of the last
three bars of the theme (one note repeated five times)
against which the strings weave a quaver pattern.
Variation 2 (Piu vivace 2/4) is dominated by the rhythm
of the first bar of the theme which is developed by the
woodwind.
Variation 3 (Con moto 2/4) is a double variation in
which the theme acquires a smooth quaver motion.
Variation 4 (Andante con moto 3/8) Though the mastery of
the construction is deftly concealed I am sure you will
all recognise a brilliant example of double invertible
counterpoint.
Variation 5 (Vivace 6/8) is Scherzo-like in character.
As in the previous variation, the connection with the
theme is slender, except for the unchanging rhythmic
scheme.
Variation 6 (Vivace 2/4) with its biting horns and its
somewhat martial atmosphere returns closer to the
original tune.
Variation 7 (Grazioso 6/8) Here we return to the real
lyrical Brahms.The theme is given to violins and
clarinets, while flutes and violins play a tender
Siciliano tune above it.
Variation 8 (Presto non troppo 3/4) presents a
mysterious, hurrying variant of the theme.
The Finale (Andante 2/4) uses a simplified version of
the theme repeated seventeen times, with further
variations in the upper parts. The movement gradually
gathers intensity and at length surges forward to a
brilliant conclusion..
John Philip SOUSA (1854-1932) March - The “Liberty”
Bell
Every country has tunes to inspire national pride
and patriotism. John Philip Sousa was one of America’s
greatest exponents of that type of music. His marches
composed for military band are known the world over and
played to this day.
Sousa was born in Washington DC . His father was a
trombonist with the United States Marine Band. By the
age of six the boy’s musical talent had become apparent
and he began to study the violin. At 21 years of age,
Sousa landed a job in the first violin section of an
orchestra specially formed for guest conductor Jacques
Offenbach. Four years later Sousa conducted the Broadway
premiere of H.M.S. Pinafore. The same year he was chosen
to become Director of the United States Marine Band, a
post he held for twelve years, before leaving to set up
his own “Sousa’s Band”, which won an international
reputation, by touring regularly throughout the United
States and visiting Europe. His band came to an end in
1931 and Sousa died in the following year
Sousa said a march “should make a man with a wooden leg
step out”. If any march could have such a Monty
Pythonesque effect, it is probably the stirring
“Liberty” Bell.
Leroy ANDERSON (1908-1975) Sleigh Ride
The world-famous creator of the Christmas standard
Sleigh Ride was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and
from an early age was immersed in classical music. His
mother, a noted organist, gave him his first piano
lessons. Later he studied both organ and double bass. He
was appointed organist and choirmaster at Harvard
University from 1929 to 1935 and he conducted the
University Band. Having worked free-lance as an organist
and conductor in and around Boston, he was by 1935
already an experienced dance-band arranger and
orchestral bass-player. He then forsook the security of
academia to arrange for, and sometimes conduct, Arthur
Fiedler’s Boston Pops Orchestra. He finally emerged as a
composer in his own right of short, witty orchestral
trifles, beginning with Jazz Pizzicato and Jazz Legato.
His international reputation was helped by the many
recordings he made.
In 1948 he wrote Sleigh Ride, which had words added to
it by Louisiana-born lyricist Mitchell Parish, and
became Anderson’s greatest hit.
Programme notes by Michael Bell
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