Wallingford Riegger(1885-1961): a Catalogue of the Orchestral and Choral Music

[Dundonnell]

A composer whose style changed considerably during his career, Riegger wrote a good deal of dance music in the 1930s but adopted the twelve-tone technique post-war. Even during his later years however Riegger sometimes reverted to a more romantic idiom.

WALLINGFORD RIEGGER: A CATALOGUE OF THE ORCHESTRAL AND CHORAL MUSIC

1916:   Elegy for Cello and Orchestra
1922/28:"Triple Jazz"(American Polonaise) for orchestra, op.3: 8 minutes
1926:   Rhapsody for orchestra,op.5
1927:   Study in Sonority for ten(or multiples) violins, op.7: 7 minutes   *
             Holiday Sketches for violin and orchestra
1930:   Fantasy and Fugue for Organ and Orchestra, op.10: 21 minutes  +  (CRI cd)
             "In the Country" for school orchestra
1931:   Dichotomy for chamber orchestra, op.12: 12 minutes   *
1932:   Scherzo for chamber orchestra, op.13: 7 minutes    *
1933:   Evocation for orchestra,op.17: 4 minutes
1935:   New Dance for orchestra: 5 minutes   *    +  (Cala cd)
             Ballet for Band, op.18
1936:   "Chronicle-Dance Piece" for orchestra, op.21
1938:   "Machine Ballet"-Dance Piece for Piano and Orchestra, op.28
1939:   "Consummation" for orchestra, op.31
1941:   Canon and Fugue for strings or orchestra, op.33: 8 minutes  + (CRI cd)
1942:   Passacaglia and Fugue for orchestra or band, op.34: 8 minutes    *
1943:   Processional for band, op.36
1944:   Symphony No.1, op.37  (withdrawn)
1945:   "Little Black Samba" for small orchestra, op.40
              Symphony No.2, op.41  (withdrawn)
1946-47/
1960:   Symphony No.3, op.42: 26 minutes   *    + (CRI cd)
1948-49:Music for brass choir, op.45: 8 minutes   + (CRI cd)
1951:   Cantata "In Certainty of Song" for soprano, contralto, tenor, bass, chorus and chamber orchestra, op.46: 23 minutes
             Music for Orchestra, op.50: 6 minutes   + (CRI cd)
1953:   Prelude and Fugue for band, op.52
             Variations for Piano ( or Two Pianos) and Orchestra, op.54: 14 minutes     +  (First Edition cd)
1953-54:Suite for Younger Orchestra, op.56: 7 minutes
                 (and Romanza for string orchestra, op.56a: 3 minutes   + (CRI cd))
1954:   Dance Rhythms for orchestra or band, op.58: 6 minutes   + (CRI cd)
             "The Dying of the Light" for voice and orchestra, op.59: 4 minutes   *
1955:   Overture, op.60: 10 minutes
             Preamble and Fugue for orchestra, op.61: 10 minutes
1956:   Symphony No.4, op.63: 29 minutes   *   +  (First Edition cd)
             A Shakespeare Sonnet for baritone, chorus and orchestra, op.65: 4 minutes
1957:   Festival Overture, op.68: 10 minutes   *
1958:   Variations for Violin and Orchestra, op.71: 15 minutes    +  (First Edition cd)
             "Quintuple Jazz" for orchestra, op.72: 7 minutes   *
1959:   Sinfonietta, op.73: 24 minutes   *
1960:   Introduction and Fugue for Cello and Concert Band, op.74: 8 minutes
             Duo for Piano and Orchestra, op.75: 25 minutes

[shamokin88]

In Riegger's case his music for the dance is important. His opus 20 is a ballet score entitled With my Red Fires. Not only did he "mine" these scores to use in his later music - some of this score turns up in his Symphony #4 - the scenarios reflect his essentially Marxist political views of the 1930s. At the time of his death he had begun a fifth symphony.

A two-piano version of Evocations appeared on an NMQR 78 rpm disc. Paul Creston and Edwin Gershchefski were the performers.

I have been curious about his first two symphonies for many years. Were they ever performed?

[Dundonnell]

Symphony No.1 was premiered on April 3, 1949 in New York (whether by the New York Philharmonic or some other orchestra I do not know).