Lee Actor VC

[Alan Howe]

Does anyone know the Violin Concerto of 2005 by American composer Lee Actor (b.1925)? It seems to me to be a modern-day Barber VC - very much up the street of forum members. You can get an idea of it here...

http://www.leeactor.com/works.htm#VC_works

[Peter1953]

Wow... This sounds surely fascinating to me. The beginning reminds me a bit of Shostakovich. What a lovely lyrical theme.
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I could not resist the temptation... and ordered the CD.

[Alan Howe]

You are right, Peter. There is certainly a lot of Shostakovitch in the mix as well.

[jimmosk]

Yes, coincidentally I just did this writeup of the disc, for an auction I started last night (before I knew about this thread):

About a year ago I came across a copy of this CD, and was starting to write up a description of it for an eBay listing... when I realized there was no way I was going to sell it; I liked it too much. Well, I've finally come across another of it, so here's someone else's chance to discover the music of American composer Lee Actor.
Charles Ives was a composer who also had a lucrative career as an insurance broker; Actor was able to retire at age 49 and devote himself to composition full time because of his success as a video-game programmer! Not that he was a stranger to music before that -- he was a violinist with the Albany Symphony Orchestra while doing his graduate work at Rensselaer Polytechnic.
Actor's 2005 Violin Concerto is neoromantic and vital, reminding me at times of Bloch and of Barber -- and in the finale of Khachaturian. It commands your attention and leaves you with a smile; the work is the pick of the disc. The short Timpani Concerto is made of small-scale melodic cells with an American midcentury sound like late Hanson, and a bit of jazziness. It's more of a curiosity. The Symphony #2 is very dramatic, with a Shostakovichlike sense of tension but gentler, again more American melodies.

-J

--
Jim Moskowitz
The Unknown Composers Page:  http://kith.org/jimmosk/TOC.html
My latest list of unusual classical CDs for auction:  http://tinyurl.com/527t7

[JimL]

Wow!  THIS concerto definitely needs wider exposure.  Not only is it accessible and memorable, it is unmistakably contemporary, yet at the same time hearkens back to the grand Romantic spirit.  Where'd you say the CD could be found?

[Alan Howe]

Try Amazon.com, Jim....

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=lee+actor+violin&x=14&y=23

[Peter1953]

Yes JimL, that's a good suggestion. I've ordered the disc a few days ago at Amazon.com.

Interesting to learn that Lee Actor (born in 1952) wrote his VC for the young virtuoso violist Pip Clarke, "one of the leading violists of her generation". She has something in common with a few other young female violists, namely the British Chloë Hanslip (I have her disc with the Godard VCs) and the Dutch Janine Jansen. All three of the same generation, outstanding violists, and quite pretty as well.

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jimmosk, it's with great interest that I've visited your website. Please allow me quoting you and give my comment with a wink:

Sergei Taneyev (Russian, 1856 - 1915)
There ain't no justice. Here's someone who wrote the second-best Russian symphonies of the 19th century (after Tchaikovsky). Yes, better than Glazunov; yes, better than Borodin (much as I like them both).

I fully agree that Sergei Taneyev deserves more attention. He composed wonderful music. But second-best?? IMHO third-best perhaps, because Anton Rubinstein is, also as the composer of six symphonies, definitely the winner. I know, it's my personal opinion.

[Alan Howe]

Taneyev 4 is as great a symphony as any written in Russia in the 19th C - and certainly superior to anything written by Rubinstein.

[JimL]

Back to the Actor VC, I just ordered it.  And it's violinist, Peter, not violist.  Violists play the viola.  I believe that's Bratsche in German, IIRC.  And as for hot, young female violinists, don't forget Tasmin Little.  If I were younger, available, and on a different Forum, I'd have a lot more to say about her... 

[Alan Howe]

Actor's VC is just magnificent. It does come across as inhabiting a sort of softened Shostakovitchian landscape, but the work just teems with invention - and memorable tunes. It's a modern-day classic, and it is wonderfully played by both soloist and orchestra on the Albany CD. If you have any shirts left, sell them and get this recording...

[Mark Thomas]

I've just been listening to his Prelude to a Tragedy - what a fine piece. Melodic but not in any way a pastiche of romantic works, it's well worth the download.

[JimL]

Got my copy of the VC/Symphony/Timpani Concerto CD last night.  So far, I've just had a chance to listen to the first movement of the VC.  Gents, if there were one  piece that I could say qualifies as a 21st Century masterpiece of the literature, this would be it.  How to get it to the attention of major orchestras and soloists is the question, but it is imperative that it be done.

[DennisS]

Hi Jim

By coincidence, I have just been listening to the VC again this morning. I have had the cd for a couple of weeks now and have listened to it a number of times. I too am a huge admirer of Lee Actor and fully agree with your comments. As one of the members said in this thread, I am at times reminded of Shostakovich and I am a great admirer of Shostakovich! I am keeping an eye out for other releases from this talented composer.

Cheers
Dennis

[Peter1953]

Absolutely a lovely and stunning concerto, but let's not forget the superb performance by Pip Clarke, so for her a big 

[JimL]

Talented, maybe.  I have yet to hear the other two works on the CD.  So far what I've heard of the VC qualifies it as a work of bloody genius!  It seems to be in the "key" of C, with a definite sense of major at the end of the first and final movements, but minor inflections at the beginning of the first movement.  The "Meditation" movement seems to be more tonally progressive, like Nielsen.  The metric variety of the work is astounding!  Just look at all the changes in meter in the PDF score.